Shining 3d Einstart S Desktop 3d Printer Review
I learned about the Chinese manufacturer Shining 3D in late 2014—back when I was however reviewing 3D printers—when they released their Einstart-S Desktop 3D Printer. And although I wasn't actively blogging in 2015, I did detect thesuccessful Kickstarter entrada for their start 3D Scanner, the Einbrowse-S, which was released in July 2015.
I've also reviewed the Einscan-Pro an compared it to the Einscan-Due south in every attribute—read my Einscan-Pro Review here.
Specs, Price & Competition
The Einscan-S (also known as the ScanMaster Plus in Australia) is a combination of a structured light 3D scanner and a turntable which currently costs $999.
This allows you to browse object with a maximum size of 20 10 xx x 20 cm. For an additional $100, you likewise get a small tripod which tin be used for "Free Scanning" objects up to seventy x 70 x lxx cm.
Shining 3D's offering is competing agains other turntable-based 3D scanners in the marketplace. On the lower, more consumer focussed, end in that location'southward the $799 MakerBot Digitizer and the $520 Matter And Class. Both have similarly sized turntables, but use light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation technology to scan at a lower resolution of 0.v and 0.43 mm respectively, while the Einscan-Due south tin scan details af small as 0.1 mm. This higher accuracy is achieved faster, too: the Einscan-South takes nigh 3 minutes to browse an object versus 12 minutes and 5 minutes for the Digitizer and Matter and Grade. Plus, the Digitizer can't scan colour textures. These depression-end scanners are fixed to the turntable and offering no Gratis Scanning mode.
The scanner didn't fit on any of my own tripods because it has no standard tripod thread
On the higher and there'south the $2995 NextEngine Ultra Hard disk drive 3D scanner (0.one mm accuracy) and the DAVID 3D scanning system (0.05 mm accuracy), which starts at $4435 is you have the non-Hard disk SLS-2 (the Hard disk drive SLS-3 is $720 more than) and the separately-sold TT-1 Turntable. These high-end scanner practice offer mounted Complimentary Scanning to scan larger objects.
Shining 3D's ain make new Einscan-Pro (0.05 mm accuracy in turntable way) joins these high-stop scanners by too offering a bundle with tripod & turntable for $4984 (a split color-capturing module is $849 actress), but calculation a handheld scanning mode on top of that.
So the Einscan-S is positioned every bit an offering with high-terminate accuracy for a low-end price. Seems similar a expert place to be in, so let'due south detect out if information technology's indeed great value for money. I got the bundle without the tripod and the scanner didn't fit on any of my own tripods because information technology has no standard tripod thread. You could, however, make your ain tripod adapter by 3D printing this or this adapter. For this review I'll mainly focus on scanning with the turntable.
Hardware Setup
The arrangement comes in a large box with shiny letters. Information technology'due south pretty low-cal and has a handle which makes information technology kind of portable if you continue the box. Inside you'll find all components and a Quick Guide. This sheet guides you through the hardware assembly and software installation, and likewise shows you how to solve the calibration board puzzle:
The scanner itself contains iii parts: an RGB projector (which projects calorie-free visible to the human being middle) in the center and two monochrome cameras on the sides.
The first thing I noticed while setting everything up is the corporeality of cables: both the turntable and the scanner have their ain ability supply and are connected to the reckoner with a USB cable. On top of that, the scanner's projector is connected through a very thick VGA cablevision. So y'all'll have 5 cables on your desk, which is quite a lot in this increasingly wireless world.
Later on connecting the turntable and scanner to their power supplies, the logos on both lit blue and the scanner's vent started making a humming audio. Cipher besides noisy. Although it seemed that everything was powered on, I noticed that the projector wasn't projecting anything. I couldn't find out why, until I wanted to plough the scanner off using the blue-lit power button on the back. Then the projector started beaming a bluish paradigm on my wall. So, while the turntable and the remainder of the scanner turn on directly afterward connecting them to a ability source, the projector has to be turned on separately. Strange beliefs if yous ask me.
Yous'll have 5 cables on your desk, which is quite a lot in this increasingly wireless earth.
There'southward no Mac version of the software, then I tested the scanner by running Windows 7 through Kick Camp on my Macbook Pro. Since the concluding Apple tree laptop with a VGA brandish connector was the 2001 Powerbook G4, I used the VGA-to-HDMI adapter that came with the scanner. I didn't get it to piece of work at first, but after some research I discovered that VGA needs an active power electric current, which HDMI ports don't evangelize. That's when I noticed that the VGA-to-HDMI adapter also has a micro-USB port to power it (like a Chromecast). Information technology's nowhere in the manuals and no micro-USB cablevision was supplied, simply after plugging-in ane of the thousands of cables from my cable drawer I got my Windows desktop wallpaper projected on the wall.
Since the the HDMI adapter needs a third USB port for power, and my Macbook Pro only has two, I powered information technology with a USB phone charger. Since this only added to the amount of cables on my table, I just ended up using a (generic brand) Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter which doesn't need external power.
The VGA-to-HDMI adapter as well has a micro-USB port to power information technology (like a Chromecast)
According to the Quick Guide, the resolution of the projector has to exist set to 800 x 600 pixels at 60 Hz. Since that setting was missing from the option in the Windows Brandish Panel, I had to manually add it through the Nvidia driver. Nothing shocking for adept users, but certainly not the nearly user-friendly feel. Or possibly I'thou merely a spoiled Mac user…
Software Setup & Calibration
Installing the software is directly frontward and takes a few minutes. After that, the scanner has to exist calibrated using the triangle-shaped calibration board assembled earlier. The software gives clear instructions about the process:
Equally y'all can see in the screenshot above, the software shows the video feed from i of the monochrome cameras in the bottom left corner. It instructs yous to place the scale board in a certain way and then performs a 360 degrees rotation on the turntable. This procedure has to be repeated two more times with the board in different positions.
While the lath itself is made from plastic, the white stand is made from cutout foam board. I noticed information technology had very tight tolerances, which makes information technology hard to insert and remove the calibration board without moving the stand, which could mess up the calibration. If y'all have a 3D printer, you lot might want to take a look at this alternative stand.
Scale takes a few minutes in total, which didn't seem very long at first. Except when I realized that this calibration has to be performed every time the scanner or the turntable is moved out of position. Unfortunately this is very easy to practice, because the stand of the scanner isn't very heavy and easily moved by accidentally touching ane of the many cables—specially the thick and heavy VGA cable—or simply bumping the table.
The production version of the Einscan-Southward comes with a placemat with pre-printed footprint of the stand up and the turntable to ensure the right distance. I discovered that the original design pitched on Kickstarter featured a less portable, but sturdier design:
The original design pitched on Kickstarter featured a sturdier correspond the scanner.
Calibration has to be performed every time the scanner or the turntable is moved
I personally like the original blueprint better, considering information technology ensures the angle and distance between the turntable and the scanner. If something moves even slightly, the result is visible in the scan result. Below is a screenshot from the software where the geometry captured from different angles isn't correctly aligned due to a pocket-size move of the scanner without re-calibration:
Scanning without Color
After seeing the screenshot above you're probably curious most the scans made with the Einscan-S when I made sure I didn't mess up the calibration. Almost there, because starting a scan takes only a few clicks. First you take to select the brightness of your object. This choice interactively changes the exposure of the camera feed, so I but went with the setting that made Yoda expect natural gray instead of over or nether exposed.
Side Notation: The User Interface of the software is functional, but certainly not the prettiest I've seen in the final twenty years.
The second and concluding setting is the level of detail. Scanning in high detail takes a little bit longer to scan and process, just the differences are not pregnant for an object this size (Free scanning something bigger might require a lower setting). Since the software has a feature to decimate the level of item after scanning I went for the highest setting.
After hitting the Scan push, the scanner volition start to project all kinds of blithe patterns onto the object. If you're new to 3D Scanning and curious to how "Structured Light Scanning" works, you can check this Wikipedia page. Considering the projector uses regular lite (instead of infrared, similar the Sturcture Sensor I reviewed earlier) yous tin can encounter what's happening with the naked eye. Below is a video of the scanning of two of the total of viii angles—in real time:
As you lot tin see this all goes pretty fast. The total scanning time in high detail fashion without color is just 3 minutes. Afterward this, the "point cloud" recorded by the scanner is automatically candy into a 3D polygonal mesh. On my 2.6 Ghz Quad-Cadre i7 processor this took about 10 minutes for Yoda (which is a 3D Print of this model made for my ZYYX 3D Printer Review), which is very reasonable for the fact that it has nine million polygons.
Later on processing, you tin can either safe the raw point cloud every bit ASCII data or the 3D mesh as .STL—the standard format for virtually 3D printing slicing software—or .OBJ, which I adopt. The output file is 360 MB, then I decimated it to ~1.8 1000000 polygons so it fits inside the 200 MB limit of my Sketchfab Pro account and is a bit faster to load. Keep in mind that it's still 140 MB before you load the model below if your reading this with your mobile data connection.
I really like the corporeality of detail in the scan and the 8 angles are fused perfectly. Maybe I'll 3D Print information technology again to compare it to the original!
Yoda is the ideal 3D scanning field of study: he's organic, opaque, matte and evenly colored. The next subject is the other finish. If you lot follow me on Instagram you would have seen this scan in progress of a vintage Polaroid camera. A difficult field of study because it has both very light and very nighttime parts. And the lesser part is very glossy blackness. Every bit expected it didn't turn into a slap-up scan.
As you tin can see in the screenshot higher up, only the light front part of the camera was captured. While scanning, the preview showed some stray geometry of the back but they were automatically removed during the meshing process. This procedure besides automatically makes the model watertight, which is swell for some models, only not for others. If you take a close look at the Yoda model, y'all can encounter a few spots in his ears where hole accept been filled, which isn't very noticeable.
It'south important to know that information technology'southward not possible to to conciliate the hole-filling procedure. I would have preferred to take it off and fill the holes manually, or not at all, in most cases.
Next upwards I tried to scan one of my girl'due south sneakers. At first I saw a large pigsty in the scan. Turned out that a virus protection warning popped up over the structured lite pattern (come across below). This is a result of the projector just being a 2nd screen in Windows. I also had an occasion where the mouse cursor had moved to the second screen.
Although I selected the preset for subjects that take both bright and nighttime parts, the scanner failed to recognize the blackness stripes on the sneaker at first. Besides, the software tried to fill up all holes during the meshing process and this time effectually it was horrible:
Pro Tip
While it's not possible to disable hole-filling, yous tin can work around this problem by exporting the raw point cloud in ASCII format and convert it into a 3D mesh using the open up source software MeshLab.
I had to switch off all lights in my studio and close all window shutters to create enough dissimilarity in the projection so the cameras can recognize them. I was basically working in complete darkness. I don't know the verbal specs of the projector and cameras, but a brighter projector and/or more light sensitive cameras would brand information technology easier to scan dark objects in normal office environments.
I noticed that the default angle of the scanner wasn't sufficient to run into inside the shoe. I solved this by putting the stand on a stack of books, simply it would have been better to have a adjustable stand. I would advice anyone to go the bundle with the tripod, also for turntable-based scanning. And y'all have the added flexibility of Gratuitous Scanning object up to 70 x seventy x 70 cm.
As I said I'm not going in to this in this review because I don't have the tripod, only the Free Scanning ways the software volition pause after each scan so can turn the object manually by aligning projected crosshair and comparison it to an earlier capture. You tin can watch a video from the manufacturer about the process here. It'southward important that this manner is tripod-based, not handheld.
Naturally, I had to calibrate the scanner once again later on adjusting the bending.
What I too discovered is that the initial placement of the object matters a lot. In the failed case to a higher place I placed the sneaker with its forepart directly towards the camera. Since the scanner just scans from 8 angles, it didn't have enough information nigh the laces. So in all other tests I did, I put he object nether a slight angle from the photographic camera. This worked a lot better and after my third try I got a great scan from the sneaker. Again I have decimated the model from seven.2 to ane.viii million polygons for preview purposes:
While the browse above is practiced in terms of geometric detail information technology really shows the limitations of fixed-angle 3D scanning. I was able to become a bit more item of the inside of the sneaker with the stack of books, merely placing information technology any higher would result in losing details on the bottom. Also, while the specs say you can scan objects up to 20 x 20 ten xx cm on the turntable, the pinnacle is a real problem.
Update about the Continue Scanning characteristic
A reader commented on this mail in my special Review Request thread on 3D Hubs' Talk forum noting that it's possible to reposition a model afterwards the first automatic scan and press the "continue" push button instead of the "complete" button. This initiates a new cycle and the software matches the two (or more) scans based on similarities in the geometry. I was unaware of the feature at the time of writing this review, just this mode I could have scanned the within of the sneaker and the sole by putting it on it'south side. Or scan larger objects.
Read more most scanning oversized objects with the "Go along Scanning" feature in this Shining 3D web log mail.
The last monochrome browse I did was this toy from my daughter (her room is a perfect source for objects nether 20 ten 20 10 20 cm):
Below is the result without the horse (more about that later) scanned on the highest quality setting. I didn't decimate this ane, because it was just under 200 Mb, then it'south a direct upload of the .OBJ file to Sketchfab:
I noticed that the scan surfaces aren't very smooth while the plastic of this is. This is probably because of the scientific discipline behind scanning with low-cal, but information technology would have been great if the software offered some kind of smoothing option (instead of hole filling). While the scanner captured most of the toy, it completely discarded the semi-transparent button on the front end.
If you do want to capture sleeky or very dark objects, you can try to make the subject matte with some kind of washable spray paint or hair spray. I personally don't like this considering it'southward messy. It's the same kind of messiness that I didn't like about treating 3D Printer build plates for better adhesion. I don't see myself spray painting my vintage camera drove, let alone apply this treatment to museum artifacts. This, of course, is my personal opinion and capturing dark, definition-less or shiny objects is difficult or incommunicable with near any technology, including photogrammetry.
Now we get to the role about the equus caballus…
Scanning in Color
And so if you but want to capture geometry of pocket-size objects often, the Einscan-S can offer good results under the right circumstances for a reasonable price (keep in heed that $1199 is not very expensive for a 3D scanner with electric turntable). But if you've read my Review of the 3D Systems Cubify Sense scanner, you know that I really want to be able to scan in color.
The concept of scanning simply geometry might have worked when filament-based 3D printing was all the fizz. But technology is moving fast and 3D is condign popular online with services similar Sketchfab. And with Augmented and Virtual Reality engineering science becoming accessible for the masses, colorless 3D is literally similar watching black and white TV. In other words: information technology's about impossible to sell a 3D scanner without color capturing.
The original release of the Einscan-South didn't offer color scanning, but Shining 3D added this feature post-release via a software update. If you're tech savvy, you might take been noticing that I wrote that the scanner hardware contains two monochrome (as in black-and-white) cameras. So how can it suddenly capture colour with a software update? The solution is pretty clever in my opinion: the RGB projector beams a sequence of completely red, light-green and blueish screens onto the object and the software opposite-engineers the color data from the monochrome captures.
Color scanning only works when selecting the Low Detail geometry mode. Afterwards selecting this, you lot will be asked if you want to capture color or not. If y'all practice, you lot get the possibility to calibrate the white balance. This is done past projecting the RGB sequence onto a canvass of paper every bit you can meet above. After that, the scanning procedure is exactly the same as monochrome scanning, except that the projector will exercise the RGB sequence at each of the 8 capturing angles. This only takes a minute longer in total.
The actual maximum automatic scanning height is closer to 15 cm than the advertised 20 cm
While scanning the toy figure on her cute equus caballus I watched the preview (kickoff image below) and did observe that the summit of the head and the dorsum of the horse where missing due to the angle of the scanner. Merely I was really surprised when the software solved this problem by completely removing the figure altogether in the meshing procedure (2d image below). Perhaps information technology's because the software has build-in protection for scanning VTech toys…
While the scanner was perfectly able to capture the 8 cm tall doll separately, it couldn't do so when information technology's was mounted on the equus caballus. The combination is only fifteen cm tall, and so I would say the actual maximum automatic scanning height is closer to fifteen cm than the advertised 20 cm.
You might have already noticed that the colors in the preview aren't very proficient but below is the bodily result later on exporting to .OBJ with .JPG texture map and uploading it to Sketchfab (the software does have a directly "Share" characteristic by the mode, but it can only share to Shining 3D's 3DKer platform).
Colour-wise it's kind of a mess.
As y'all tin can run into the final color isn't whatsoever better than the preview. On peak of that one side of the horse has blue areas. This is something I noticed on allother color scans too. Below is another scan of a wooden juice pack from my daughters kitchen with the same blue error on one side:
That this color capturing method isn't perfect becomes clear when you lot wait at the dark and light green parts of the juice pack browse and compare them with the bodily object—they got reversed in the process.
Since the scanner is Windows-simply I scanned an apple to keep my mind at ease. To ensure y'all we eat fresh apples at the role, here'south a photo followed by the 3D scan:
It must be said that geometry-wise the apple tree scan turned out fine (set up the Rendering in the Sketchfab embed above to "MatCap" to meet this). Particularly when you consider that this is kind of uniform object with no real definition in geometry in texture or geometry is difficult to capture for most handheld 3D scanners (without markers) or through photogrammetry.
Color-wise it'south kind of a mess. The top of the apple is unlit past the projector so it looks rotten. I tried to conquer that with a softbox light, just then that had a negative effect on the geometry capture. You tin can also come across the hotspot from the projector at each of the 8 angles. The hot spots in the texture could be fixed in Photoshop, but removing the blue dissonance will be hard for some objects.
This is the texture map of the apple browse above. Information technology's resized to fit this post but the original is a footling less than 1K—zero to write dwelling house about.
For my final examination scan I chose a more than complex object. In this case I was lucky that the otherwise blackness and glossy multimeter was very dusty:
Over again the geometry is okay. The color data is kind of usable, but somehow the white text around the dial disappeared well-nigh completely.
Verdict
Every bit with every technology, pros and cons depend on your purpose. Turntable-based 3D scanners are a logical choice for people that desire to brand 3D scans of small objects frequently.The many cables don't brand for easy portability or plug-and-play, merely the footprint is minor enough to proceed information technology in a dedicated place, always set for utilise. For precision optical engineering science like this, I imagine this would exist a sturdy tabular array or desk with a dedicated desktop PC. This scenario would be ideal for the Einscan-South, although I would certainly attach the base of operations of the scanner to something heavier to prevent information technology from accidentally moving.
Hardware and software installation requires above-average knowledge of configuring displays in Windows. Shining 3D should be more clear about the fact that the HDMI-to-VGA adapter needs to be actively powered and supply the required USB cable. Including a smoother, thinner VGA cablevision cable could too solve some stability bug that upshot in the demand to calibrate often. Fortunately, calibration is an easy and relatively quick procedure.
Color capturing is literally an reconsideration
Scanning with visible structured light has the reward of getting high resolution models from a relatively elementary projector and camera setup. The downside is that information technology works best in a dark environment, peculiarly when scanning dark objects. And because the projector is set-up every bit a second display it can brandish unwanted popular-ups when Windows feels like it. If you're a creative professional like me, a Mac version of the software would be nice, but it does piece of work perfectly on a Macbook Pro through Boot Camp.
The included software is stable, even when meshes across 10 million polygons. Notwithstanding, it will benefit from some user interface and user experience updates. Since the automated hole-filling feature doesn't e'er produce the right issue, it would exist great if it could be te turned off. It would also be nice if the organization could be set to scan more than than 8 angles for complex objects. With iii minutes per scan, the system is fast plenty to make scanning 16 angles worth the extra particular.
Color capturing is literally an afterthought (a clever solution, though) and if it's important for your purpose this scanner is not for y'all. Since color capture is only possible in low particular mode, information technology kind of contradicts the USP of the loftier resolution.
For $1199< the Shining 3D Einscan-Southward 3D scanner is a unique and competitive proposition. For geometry-only scanning of small objects it does indeed offer fast, high-cease accuracy for a low-end price. On top of that, the Gratis Scanning mode enables the occasional scanning of larger object from a tripod with manual rotation.
I call up the existing product could be improved by supplying a lighter, more flexible VGA cable and a micro-USB cable to ability the HDMI adapter. Only the biggest improvement could be done on the software side, by adding a settings bill of fare with options to have some control the meshing process.
For $1199 the Shining 3D Einscan-S 3D scanner is a unique and competitive proposition
All things combined, I would personally pay more for a version that has a amend color capture, less cables and a more plug-and-play workflow. On newspaper it seems the new Einscan-Pro is designed to be exactly that while also calculation the freedom of handheld scanning. It's true that thePro is four.5 times more expensive than the S, but it's still a lot more than affordable than other handheld 3D scanners like the Artec EVA, the Creaform Go!Scan and the Thor 3D.
I'm hoping to find out if the Pro is worth the actress $4000+ soon. I've reviewed the Einscan-Pro, then now I know! Curioius how information technology compares to the Einscan-S?
Read my Einscan-Pro Review
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Update June 21: Fabricated the part almost the maximum scanning tiptop more clear.
Update June 27: Added a department with info most the Continue Scanning feature I missed during review
Update September 21: Added links to my Einscan-Pro review and a link to to the Go along Scanning section
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Source: https://3dscanexpert.com/shining3d-einscan-s-3d-scanner-review/
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