Star Wars prop for a friend

[JDaVinci]

My super sci fi buddy wanted to be frozen in carbonite. - Han Solo style.
So last Saturday we (3D) scanned him and cut out a small model. For a quick project, it turned out pretty well.

[ssflyer]

I love it! What a great idea!

[gene]

you must have an awsome scanner . Can you tell us more? Thank you

[twelchPTM]

i am jealous, experiencing one of those moments when i want to know why i haven't thought of this yet. BTW you could set up a booth at a sci-fi con and really clean up. in the seconds it has taken me to read and reply to this post can think of at least a dozen friends who would trade me there left thumb for one of these...

[JDaVinci]

thanks for the comments! The scanner I use is an iteration of the David Laser-Scanner. It has been countless hours of trial and error, and I'm still not where I want to be with it. And it's turned into a more expensive venture than I anticipated.

Autodesk 123D gives the ability to create 3D models using only a digital camera, which is really great. You won't be doing any fine object scanning and you won't wind up with a very detailed model, but it's pretty good for many projects.

I'm still experimenting with other options, such as using a Kinect, which is extremely low resolution, but might be suitable for many projects and is much more cost effective way of getting into scanning larger objects (it won't do small objects at all.)
I could talk about this for hours, but I'm no pro, so that's the whole of the information I can give on it. There is a lot of data out there on how to build your own scanner, but many people make it look easier than it actually is. My scanner build quickly escalated into a pricy project that still doesn't produce as high of quality as is needed in some instances. And it has taken me 3 years of fiddling with it to get it to where it is. < That is not an exaggeration. Many a late night spend with me and the scanner, trying to get a decent scan.
-JD