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3D SCANNING SOFTWARE: AN INTRODUCTION 
Wolfgang BOEHLER, Guido HEINZ, Andreas MARBS, Mirko SIEBOLD 
i3mainz, Institute for Spatial Information and Surveying Technology, FH Mainz, University of Applied Sciences, 
Holzstrasse 36, 55116 Mainz, Germany, 
i3mainz@geoinform.fh-mainz.de 
KEY WORDS: 3D, scanning, close range, cultural heritage, CAD, surface models, image mapping. 
ABSTRACT: 
The software tools needed in 3D scanning comprise a large number of modules. Software for scanner control is used to define which 
parts of an object are scanned at which resolution. Software for treating the huge data volumes of point clouds must allow visuali 
zation, data cleaning, filtering, point thinning and registration. If geometrically simple objects are encountered, software is used to fit 
primitives to the respective points. In the case of more complicated objects as they are frequently encountered in cultural heritage 
documentation, polygonal meshing is used to replace the surface by a mesh of small triangles. Meshing software must work in true 
3D for these tasks and should be flexible enough to adjust to smooth surfaces and edges. Furthermore, it should be possible to map 
images onto the 3D meshes. A review of presently available software products shows that no ideal software product is available yet. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
Software for 3D scanning actually comprises several software 
modules of very different types. Considering the whole process 
from data collection to final product, a rough distinction may be 
made as follows: 
• Software for scanner control, 
• software for point cloud treatment, 
• software for fitting of primitives to the point cloud, 
• software for the creation of complex surface models, 
• software for texture and image mapping, 
• software for data and project management. 
The quality of these software modules will have a considerable 
influence on the quality of the final 3D model and on the time 
needed to achieve this result. Thus, a smoothly performing 
software product is a basic requirement for the acceptance of 
3D scanning. 
Whereas the performance of some scanners is really im 
pressive, the software supplied with these instruments is often 
disappointing. No company has yet a satisfying set of software 
modules to offer with its hardware. Since some of the modules 
needed (e. g. for surface modeling) are rather complex, the 
software development departments of the producers are too 
small to handle this demanding job. On the other hand, com 
mon powerful CAD and 3D modeling software packages are 
available on the market, lacking the ability to handle the large 
amounts of points encountered in scanning projects, however. 
Apart from this, some small companies have decided to pro 
duce stand-alone software for the treatment of 3D scanner 
data. From a commercial point of view, it seems to be super 
fluous to develop the same modules at many places, con 
sidering the relatively small number of copies that can be sold. 
Presently, a user looking for fast and high quality data 
processing is obliged to switch between several software 
products during data processing. For certain tasks, it may even 
be necessary to develop own modules. Considering the 
growing market on one side and the economical constraints on 
the other, it may be expected that a certain consolidation and 
concentration may occur in the near future, hopefully leading 
to better software solutions (and support), thus promoting the 
acceptance of 3D scanning as a method for 3D modeling. 
2. SOFTWARE FOR SCANNER CONTROL 
2.1 Scan window and scan resolution 
A very simple solution for a fixed scanner without motorized 
axes would be the use of a fixed window with a pre-set resolu 
tion. In this case, the only control element would be a start 
button, and the only purpose of the scanning software would be 
the computation of 3D coordinates from the measured elements 
and the storage of those in a pre-described file and format. 
For a more sophisticated approach, especially for instruments 
with axes, it should be possible to chose from a range of 
possible resolutions and to select one or more individual scan 
windows. 
The scanning process can be organized much more intelligently, 
however. Among possible improvements are 
• a choice of different possibilities of window definitions 
(digital input, using the laser beam itself, or using a fram 
ing function in a camera image), 
• ‘moving’ windows that can follow long bent structures 
(e.g. pipes), 
• automatic or semi-automatic adjustment of scan resolution 
for the registration targets detected in object space, 
• automatic adjustment of scan resolution in order to achieve 
(near) constant grid sizes on surfaces at different distances 
from the scanner, or depending on object definition (low 
resolution in smooth areas, high resolution at edges). 
2.2 On-site visualization and registration 
During the scanning process on site it is highly desirable to 
have reliable information about the progress and the complete 
ness of the scan. Since this matter can get totally out of hand 
when complex 3D structures with many hidden areas are 
surveyed, a tool to register several point clouds should be 
available as well as a point cloud viewer and at least a simple 
tool to create a rough surface mesh.