The HP Sprout Pro has huge potential with 3D, offering the ability to capture objects in all three dimensions. The top camera works with a special rotating plinth placed on the mat, which is attached to the main unit via USB. After calibration, which consists of rotating the plinth and projecting flashing black and white lines upon it, a 3D object can be placed onto the plinth. The scanning process then begins, rotating the object around six segments of the circle. Each segment is scanned with three different cameras – the Intel RealSense 3D camera, an infrared camera, and the 14-megapixel webcam. These three images are then stitched together to form the final OBJ file.
Scanning an object takes about six minutes, during which the plinth will tilt for the object to be placed at a different angle, so each surface is scanned until every nook and cranny is captured. Key reference points on the object are used by the software to orientate the scanning for each position, so the scans can be stitched together in a similar way to a panoramic photo made up of multiple individual images. The resulting 3D OBJ file can then be imported into any compatible software, including MeshMixer, Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk Maya, or Blender. The scanned objects can even be output on a 3D printer, or combined together into hybrid printed objects.
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