The successor to the original Matter and Form 3D Scanner, the Matter and Form 3D Scanner V2 +Quickscan ($749) offers improved speed and, according to the company, an improved bed assembly for better accuracy.
This laser-based 3D object scanner, geared to consumers and hobbyists, can scan small objects and save the scans as 3D files for importing into a virtual environment or printing out on a 3D printer.
Although scan speeds were better in the V2 in our testing, quality wasn't notably improved, and the new device also comes with a $100 boost in list price, which—coupled with the original Matter and Form 3D Scanner now being steeply discounted—will make upgrading less desirable for some.
Well-heeled artists, archivists, and hobbyists (as well as folks in need of quicker scans) may want to invest in the V2 for its better speed and design.
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The World of Turntable 3D Scanners
Like its predecessor, but unlike the Occipital Structure Sensor —a 3D sensor that attaches to an iPad to provide 3D scanning, mapping, and other functions—the V2 is a dedicated 3D scanner that's controlled from a computer.
Its turntable design is very similar to that of the MakerBot Digitizer.
The Ortery 3D MFP, an enormous self-contained product photography studio for which 3D scanning is just one of many features, also uses a turntable design.
The V2's appearance is identical to that of the Matter and Form 3D Scanner ($864.50 at Amazon) , apart from a different color scheme—it is almost all black with a small amount of white trim inside, while the original scanner was black with a mostly white interior.
When closed, it looks like a box with a handle.
When you stand it on end, it measures 13 by 5 by 3 inches (HWD).
One side of it can unfold outward to reveal a 7-inch turntable.
The handle swings down to act as a riser to keep the turntable, which holds the object to be scanned, level.
The remaining tall side holds the scan elements—a camera, flanked by three lasers, two red and one green—set on a carriage that can move vertically.
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Getting Started
Before you start scanning, you must download the MFStudio +Quickscan software from the Matter and Form site after registering for a free, password-protected account.
Once you've set up the software and attached the scanner to your computer via the included USB cable, you calibrate it using a calibration target with a checkerboard pattern on it, a two-step automatic process.
Be aware that the V2 is very finicky regarding lighting.
As the user guide says, situations to avoid are uneven lighting, direct sunlight, spotlights (or other lights) shining on the scanner, variable (in brightness) lighting, and no lights.
Finding the best-lit location for your scanner may take some trial and error.
Lighting was perhaps the main determinant of scan quality in my test scans.
Some that were done in poor lighting clearly suffered.
With the software open, you are given the choice of starting a new Project (to consist of multiple scans of the same object), which you then give a filename to, or continuing with an existing project.
In the scan interface, the controls are on the left side, while the right side of the screen is open to show the object to be scanned.
Before you start scanning, you can adjust the Geometry and Texture settings, as well as the Scan Path.
Geometry really means exposure, in this case, and to optimize it you adjust a slider that darkens or lightens your view of the object, as you seek the point where a line formed by the green laser beam is most easily visible.
If the beam doesn't appear as a solid line, you may have to adjust your lighting.
Also under the Geometry settings is a box to enable high-contrast scanning, which lets you get the best data possible from an object with contrasting colors, such as black and white.
Texture captures color information, which can be preserved, when a scan is important, to .obj format.
It is enabled by checking the Capture box under Texture settings.
You can also adjust a slider until the object's color looks most realistic.
Scanning in Motion
The Scan Path settings let you control how far the turntable rotates—in case you don't want to scan the entire object—as well as how high the carriage containing the scan elements climbs.
If you're scanning an inch-tall object, you can set the V2 to scan just the lowest of its five vertical levels, which will save you a lot of time.
When you initiate a standard scan, the lasers train a beam in a narrow vertical slice on the object.
The camera records the reflections from the beams, from which the scanner's software creates a point cloud—a mathematical representation of the object's three-dimensional structure.
The turntable rotates slightly, and the two lasers play over the object again.
The process is repeated until the object has been fully rotated.
The carriage then rises to the level of the highest point the beam reached on the object (roughly 3 inches), the lasers resume scanning from that point, and the turntable turns the object through another full rotation.
The process continues until the entire object is scanned.
Depending on how tall the object is, it can take several full rotations to complete the scan.
As was true in the original Matter and Form scanner, scans can take up to an hour, depending on how many passes the scan element needs to take.
Scanning in a Flash: Point Clouds and Meshes
The V2 adds +Quickscan, which lets you quickly scan an object's geometry, as well as choose between its two red lasers to do the scan.
One of them is closer to the turntable, but it can cast a shadow so that the other may capture more detail.
The +Quickscan software can scan an object in mere minutes, with each scan pass taking as little as 65 seconds and a full scan, a few minutes.
While a scan is ongoing, you can see the point cloud forming in the Scan Progress window.
The cloud may not look like much, and there may be gaps or spurious points scattered or grouped onscreen.
When you have captured a series of scans of an object, you can edit and align them in the Editing window, which by default opens to Point Cloud.
(The other option is Mesh.)
Editing is largely removing spurious noise points.
You can automatically remove points from the outside, top, or bottom of the scan with the aid of three sliders, and/or use a brush tool to manually select the points to delete.
Alignment makes certain that the points from multiple scans line up to form one cohesive object, no matter how the object was oriented in each scan.
The other choice in the editing tab is the Mesh window.
Although you could export your creation to either .ply or .xyz, they are point-cloud formats, and few 3D programs can open them.
Mesh lets you convert your scans into formats usable by 3D (including 3D-printing) programs.
In effect, it creates a virtual mesh consisting of a large number of triangles and other polygons made from linking points, in order to turn a somewhat diffuse set of points into a "substantial" object.
To make a mesh from a point cloud, all you do is press the Mesh button.
Exported Mesh files can be saved in .obj or .stl, formats extensively used in 3D design and 3D printing.
I scanned a number of small objects with the V2, including one each that I saved in .stl and .obj format and printed out on a LulzBot Mini 2 3D printer.
The quality of the scans varied widely, with lighting being a major determining factor, and for the most part, the lighting in PC Labs for the purposes of 3D scanning isn't optimal.
On the poorer scans, there was considerable loss in finer detail—for example, with smooth detail appearing bumpy—while the better scans showed little or no obvious loss of detail.
The +Quickscan mode provided for much faster scan times without any substantial reduction in quality when I combined several scans of the same object.
Overall scan quality seemed about the same as the original Matter and Form scanner.
The V2 Verdict? The Speed "Matters" Most
If you want a 3D scanner to make digital representations of real-world objects for use in 3D printing or design, the Matter and Form V2 +Quickscan 3D scanner can get the job done.
The new +Quickscan mode allows for much faster scans.
Overall scan quality is satisfactory, comparable to the original Matter and Form 3D scanner.
Although the V2 can scan more quickly than its predecessor and has some other improvements under the hood, its higher price makes it a less-than-essential upgrade for most current Matter and Form users.
New users on a budget would do fine with the original Matter and Form scanner, which is currently deeply discounted, though designers and hobbyists may want to spring for the faster V2.
Matter and Form 3D Scanner V2 +Quickscan
Pros
Cons
The Bottom Line
The Matter and Form 3D Scanner V2 +Quickscan has much faster scan speeds, but a higher price, than its predecessor.
