Dear DAVID Friends,

Lots of news today!

• DAVID 3.7: 64-bit, Simplified Calibration, and more
• Exhibitions in Germany: DAVID at Laser (Munich) and Fabcon 3.D (Erfurt)
• Exclusive Reseller in France: Multistation
• Showcase and Scanning Contest

DAVID 3.7: 64-bit, Simplified Calibration, and more

A few weeks ago we have released DAVID 3.7 with several improvements:

• 64-bit: Now DAVID includes two executables, 32 and 64 bit. In 64-bit operating systems (Windows 7 or 8) DAVID can use much more memory, so you can work with more scans at the same time. Also the general performance (3D view, alignment, ...) is much faster.


• Simplified SL Calibration: In DAVID 3.7 you can calibrate your whole scanner (camera and projector) with one click. This makes the setup procedure faster and easier.
  
  
• New Quality Filter: DAVID has a new intelligent "Quality Check" against erroneous scan data. Depending on the object shape and texture, optical effects can make some 3D points imprecise. DAVID can detect where this probably happens, and remove the imprecise points. This makes cleaning and alignment easier and better.


• New Alignment Option:"Contact Pair Selection" allows you to specify overlapping surface regions with two simple mouse clicks. In this way you can easily align scans being too regular or symmetric for automatic alignment.
  The size of your defined contact region depends on how much you zoom, see details on this page of our updated user manual. It's really easy!
  


• and more... see changelog.

Exhibitions in Germany: DAVID at Laser (Munich) and Fabcon 3.D (Erfurt)

Next month there are two opportunities to see DAVID live in action! We will present our scanners at the "Laser World of Photonics" fair in Munich, Germany (May 13-16). If everything works as expected, we will also show a prototype of a new product that makes scanning easier and faster...
We are looking forward to meeting you in Hall C1, Booth 140/1.

In the same week, our partner EKONS will present their products and services around construction, automation, CAD/CAE/CAM, training... including our SLS-1 scanner. You can meet them at the "Fabcon 3.D" fair in Erfurt, Germany, Hall 2, Booth 2-120 (May 14-15).

Exclusive Reseller in France: Multistation

Today we would like to introduce our new reseller MULTISTATION in France. Multistation is a pioneer of rapid prototyping and has been proposing complete RP solutions since the early 90's. Multistation has three domains in this RP division:

• 3D printers and 3D scanners, with the distribution of Bits from Bytes and other 3D printers, David 3D scanner, a complete range of silicone vacuum casting machines and 3 to 5 axis milling machines, thermoforming machines, and software like: Materialise, Netfabb, 3S, 3D DOCTOR, ZBRUSH, Rhino...


• Additive manufacturing equipment: Multistation is VAR SolidScape, agent of ARCAM and SLM Solutions, agent of metal casting machines PROFICAST...


• Second hand rapid prototyping machines.

The PROTOSHOP is the new concept store launched by Multistation in downtown Paris. The purpose of this store is to show the public the best digital manufacturing solutions.
Multistation brings the right solution to wide range of customers: Rapid prototyping, inspection, education, aerospace, medical, jewelry, ... – and DAVID 3D scanners are the perfect addition!
Please find more information on their web-site www.multistation.com.

Showcase and Scanning Contest

These scans show what DAVID can do, even with a webcam: Our forum member JRdezigns has made a great series of scans of action figures.

He used a Logitech Pro9000 webcam and a projector similar to our Acer K11+.
Great work, James! :-)

You can find more scans of various objects in our regularly updated User Gallery.

However, scanning living human bodies is not so easy. An SL scan only takes a few seconds, so the problem of movements can be avoided if the person relaxes and has a head rest to lean on. Single scans can be obtained in good quality, showing even fine surface details like wrinkles. But scanning 360° is harder: The human body has joints and it's difficult to keep exactly the same pose between scans. E.g. when turning around to scan the back, you will probably turn or tilt your head - then the single scans won't fit together in the regions around your neck.
We have already seen some great scans of humans in our forum, but we want more!

(Laser Scans by WalterMo, 2008)

Our long-term forum member, supporter and good friend Mattia Mercante has started a contest for scanning female portraits. The challenge is to scan females 360° from head to shoulders or chest as precisely as possible. The winners (first and second place) can win a 3D print of their scan.

(SL Scans by MagWeb, 2011)

Note: This contest is NOT about scanning the most beautiful naked woman. In the forum there have been some misunderstandings and disputes, mainly because of the ambiguous meanings of the English word "bust" (here: sculpture, not woman's breast). A detailed 360° scan showing an interesting facial expression of an old wrinkled lady will get more points than a smooth scan of a beauty queen's face. This is about arts – vulgar contents will not be accepted. In Mattia's words, "no one will judge the women's beauty, but ONLY the scan result quality according to the difficulty level and complexity (hair, clothes, poses, open eyes, ...)".

We are looking forward to some great artistic contributions. The deadline has been extended to June 8. Please join in and show what you can! :-)

... And if you're not sure about your scan hardware, visit our online shop. We recommend our SLS-1 scanner package, containing our favorite camera, a special projector and everything else, fitting together perfectly for easy setup and best scan quality – with a great price-performance ratio.

With kind regards

Your DAVID Team
www.david-laserscanner.com

Dear DAVID Friends,
 

We have some interesting news and offers:

• New Camera: Free Worldwide Shipping
• Improved Coating Spray
• Showcase: Dinosaur

New Camera: Free Worldwide Shipping

As presented earlier, our SLS-1 scanner now includes the new DAVID-CAM-3-M.
It has a higher resolution and gives more detailed scans, with a resolution of 0.1% of the object size (down to 40 micron).

We can now offer the new camera separately. It should be your first choice if you want to build your own 3D scanner! It comes with a 12mm HD lens from computar, which gives the camera the same aperture angle and focus range as the Acer K11+ projector, so they are ideal partners for a Structured Light scanner.

In the next weeks we offer Free Shipping: Order the new camera now - no shipping costs (worldwide)!

This offer ends on March 31.

Improved Coating Spray

Our new 3D Coating Spray is ideal for scanning dark or glossy objects, e.g. shiny metal or black plastic. It will create a very thin white layer which preserves even fine surface details and makes scanning easy.

Showcase: Dinosaur

Take a look at this: Our forum member Christian_Mendez has made a great scan of a toy Allosaurus model! He has used a self-made scanner setup similar to our SLS-1.

This object is not easy to scan because it has many undercuts, especially some areas between the arms and legs are difficult to obtain. Also with his tail the dinosaur is quite long, so in order to get fine surface details it was necessary to scan smaller patches and combine them in the DAVID software. It takes some time to get such a great result, but we are always working on improvements in our software to make the process easier and faster...

In the end, Christian has used Blender to create realistic renderings. Kudos! :-)

You can find more scans of various objects, by Christian and others, in our regularly updated User Gallery.

With kind regards

Your DAVID Team
www.david-laserscanner.com

Dear DAVID Friends,
 

We have several great news to share with you!

• Xmas Prices: 10% Discount
• Improved SLS-1: Double Resolution
• Impressions from the Euromold Fair
• Simplified and Immediate Payment
• Showcase

Xmas Prices: 10% Discount

As a small Christmas present, we have reduced all prices in our online shop by 10%. Take the opportunity and save some money for Christmas presents!
For example, our SLS-1 is now at 1507.50 (1793.93 incl. VAT) - order now and save 200 EUR!
This offer is valid until January 6.

Please note that due to inventory and holidays, the last packages will leave our house on December 20. We will start again fresh in January, but please understand that there may be some delays due to strong demand.

Improved SLS-1: Double Resolution

Starting now, we are shipping the SLS-1 with a new camera, DAVID-CAM-3-M. Its resolution (1280x960) is two times better, it has a really crisp image and allows scan resolutions of 0.1% of the object size (down to 40 µm)! Also we include a new megapixel camera lens from Computar - better image quality and easier to handle.

Unfortunately this means we had to increase the price. But this improvement is definitely worth it - the SLS-1 still has a great value for money! And with the Christmas discount, you nearly get the old price...

This new camera will be available separately very soon. It is our definite recommendation for a Structured Light scanning!

Impressions from the Euromold Fair

We have just returned from the Euromold fair last week. It was great to meet so many old and new DAVID users!

Our booth was focused on the SLS-1. Many visitors knew our laser scanners and were impressed by our Structured Light scanner and its improvements in comfort, flexibility and scan quality.
Also, many new applications and challenges for DAVID have been discussed. We have met many people who were astonished that the SLS-1 can obtain such a good quality at such a low price!

Some brought test objects like dentures, jewelry, artwork, which we have scanned right there. Of course we know our limits: Some glossy objects had to be sprayed, and resolutions below 40 µm cannot be achieved with our hardware. Well, not yet...

Also we had prepared a setup for face scanning (stool and headrest) so people could relax and hold perfectly still for the scanning time (around 5 seconds). Even though the environment light conditions in the exhibition hall were far from ideal, we have made some very good face scans!

We have also shown a preview of the DAVID SDK (Software Development Kit). It will allow you to use all functions of DAVID in your own software, e.g. for automated scanners - and more, like variance comparison, measurements of lengths and volumes... More info, features, prices: Coming soon!

You can find more photos and info on our Facebook page:
facebook.com/davidlaserscanner - Please visit and give us a LIKE!

Simplified and Immediate Payment

Our online shop now supports Sofort Banking / Sofortüberweisung. ('sofort' is German for immediately/instantly). This means you can get your order shipped even faster, and it's easier to use than usual bank transfer. Give it a try!

Showcase

This time we would like to show a dental scan, made by forum user "ddstech":

We wish all of you a happy Christmas time, peace, and lots of presents! ;-)

Your DAVID Team
www.david-laserscanner.com