Can this be done???

I am a lure maker and will soon be making fishing lures from 3D scans...

I am at the very early stages of figuring out how I want to go forward. The question I have is this... If I scan a real fish, can a modeler go in and alter that scan file to enhance the fish's scale detail (sort of pull the scales up off the fish more)?

I would also need the entire fish to be perfectly symmetrical on both sides with certain parts being thicker than what the original scan file was (the fins).

This sounds like an easy process to someone who knows modeling well, I just want to hear it from someone here.

And what would something like this cost me if I had a freelancer do it do you suppose?

That's a good idea!

I was just out fishing earlier today and was busy thinking of new fishing related inventions.

Yes, that can be done very easily. However, it depends on how well the 3D scan is made. If the scan is crappy, then the artist would need to do a lot of work to make it look good and in that case it would be difficult. On the other hand, if the scan was premium quality then the work wouldn't be too difficult. What I would do is convert the bit map to a gray scale hight map using various Photoshop filters and then use that to make the relief you're wanting.

You probably wouldn't need an actual 3D scan though. Reason being, fish have such simple bodies. So, you could probably get away with simply doing an ordinary 2D scan on a flat bed scanner and then applying the image to a 3D model based on the dimensions of the image. Although, an actual 3D scan would be a good selling point.

You could most likely get the work done for something like $100 per model.

Speaking of fishing, I have to tell my all time best fishing story! No one believes this, but it actually happened...

I was at Lake of The Woods California fishing from shore at my camp site and it was very near sundown and hadn't gotten a bite in hours. Then to my right I heard a loud splash like someone jumped into the lake. I looked and about 50 yards from my position was a patch of white water and splashing around. Then, the white water calmed down after 15 seconds or so and then I saw a head pop up. AN OSPREY HEAD! He or she had ahold of a huge fish and was being towed around and being pulled under a few times and then more white water and more splashing and then nothing for at least 10 seconds and then here came its head popping up again. But, this time the osprey had killed the fish because it was no longer fighting. The next amazing thing was it used it's wings like oars and rowed over to the shore and then with one set of talons firmly grasping the fish it proceeded to inch its way up a large log that extend into the water. The fish was huge! At least an eight pound German Brown! And so it fed on it for a minute or two and then with a great leap it took to the air with it and flew around the shore of the lake until...

This is the part nobody believes!

Until it landed on a branch of the tree beside me. EXACTLY above me about 30 feet up! So, I look straight up and the branch was wide enough that I couldn't see much of the osprey but I could see the tail and head of the fish and drops of water were falling on my face. And then the most magical thing ever happened, the osprey looked over the side of the branch straight down at me for a few seconds almost as if it wanted to be sure I saw its huge fish it had caught! And then, I heard the powerful whoosh whoosh whoosh as it took to the air again with the fish and disappeared over the horizon.

Let me know how your project is coming and I'll help you get it to a finished product.

Great fish story!! I do a lot of business out in California and hear how people are always concerned about Osprey coming down and taking their big floating lures haha!

As far as the 3D/2D scan... My greatest concern is scale detail and fish body symmetry. And if a 2D scan can do that, especially if it's cheaper, I'm all for it! What type of scan data is needed for modeling? Does that matter?

Attached are some sample STL scans the company made with what was one of their very best scanners (apparently, one of the best out there). I'm not sure if this is considered a good scan or not... But, the starting specimen used for this next project will be much better detailed than the one used for that sample scan.

Yeah that's a good scan, but it's just the start of a scan. They're using a software package called Geomagic and it is the very top of the line software for that application so it'll be possible for them to make a really great scan.

To make a 3D model from 2D images taken with a flatbed 2D scanner (or even images from a camera would work) all one needs to know is one real life dimension of the fish, the length of the fish for example and then four good high resolution images are needed comprised from the top, bottom and two sides. Then using digital sculpting software the images are used to make a 3D model and then the same images are used to place the actual images onto the model via a process called UV mapping. This takes quite a bit of artistic talent because the images need to be blended together imperceptibly, which is not easy. This is basically what a 3D scanner does, but it uses hundreds of images and millions of measurements and does the whole process automatically within the software.

Another way of doing it with images is with Autodesk's 123D Catch. If I were doing it this way I'd setup a stage so that I could accurately move the camera around a the object at a number of predefined angles. Actually I'd make a turntable that was made to turn via a stepper motor, but that wouldn't be necessary. From there I'd remove all of the fins except for the dorsal and tail fins from the sample and take around 50 to 150 images. I'd then run those through 123D Catch to get the main body. Then I'd simply take images of the removed fins and make models of those and then attach them to the body. I've never tried 123D Catch, but I've seen lots of users post their results and some users are able to get pretty good results.

Were you planning on 3D printing these in full color and coating them in some kind of epoxy clear coat or something like that?

Most fishing lures are designed to appeal to fisherman more than the fish! A fish might appreciate the fine detail and decorative nature of a lure if it's moving slowly but in general it's more about color, reflections, and movements. I've fished in places where hungry perch bite on bare hooks and hungry bass strike the moment a lure touches the water, although such fishing days are rare. You might get some more sales by using 3D printing buzzwords but when it comes down to it you'd have to somehow justify the higher costs relative to the risks of losing lures while fishing.

I think the people who are more serious about selling lures and making money are using 3D printing to make molds and then casting lures with epoxies or rubber compounds to keep costs manageable. That also lets you alter lure densities better so they float or run deeper. If you're going to try and make lures using directly printed objects you're probably going to get stuck selling lures that are at a large disadvantage in terms of pricing relative to standard store bought lures, probably by a factor of 2 to 10 depending on the lure, materials, decorating, and how efficient your files are assembled and where you have them printed.

An exception might be for ultra fancy lures intended for collectors as opposed to actual fishing uses. 3D printing should be able to produce fine detail fish bodies and in combination with good painting techniques would look great and could demand higher prices. A related business is for fish decoys used to attract real fish or collectors. Fish decoys are close to real sized fish so the costs would be higher but they are less likely to be lost if you use them while fishing.

Thanks for all the feedback guys! This is a great forum.

To you both.... Below are some of my current lures and more about what I am wanting to do.






I do similar work to what taxidermists do, and I charge premium prices. These aren't for everyone haha. What I plan to do is get a perfect scan of a fish, enhance the scales and make fish perfectly straight and symmetrical. From that full fish, I would then have the modeler go in and cut the fins off, cut out the joints, cut each section of the lure in half, hollow out portions of the segments and add cut outs for the hardware. This is the detailed work that I would have to work hand in hand with the modeler on.

Once each segment is how I want, I would then 3d print a 2-part mold of each segment. I would use these molds to pour my resin into.

I'm basically just looking for the individual willing to do this work for me. Obviously, I would pay.

Here is another project I am wanting done down the road too, done similarly...

That is nice work, definitely top shelf. Your lures are closer to the size of real fish I would catch using my 3D printed lures! (The smallest I've caught was a very hungry rock bass only about 3 inches long...)

Looks like a job for a sculpting program like Meshmixer or Sculptris if you want to DIY and keep things cheap with free software. I'm just starting to play with Meshmixer to get more organic shapes in my designs which I've limited to metal spoon types up to this point. You wouldn't even need to model the entire fish since you are going for symmetry. Just model half with all the fine detail and then mirror the result. You might also be able to 3D print the molds. Within the last year or two someone posted how they developed molds for their line of rubber fishing worms here in the forum.

Since we are sharing brave fisherman stories my biggest catch so far was a 35.5" 13.5 lb Northern Pike in a Wisconsin lake that people thought had no northerns in it. Caught it after a long morning of catching nothing in a teeny boat near shore and while dorking around on the bottom with a beetle spinner, no metal leader, and 10 lb test line. It wasn't a hard strike and my first thought was that I snagged a branch. But then the line started to slowly move off vertical and it became a long slow process, including a short prayer, to get that thing into a catch net. Surprisingly it was calm until we hauled it into the boat after which it had to be covered with rain jackets and life vests to convince it to settle down.

^ Nice story, I'd be afraid that sucker would take my hand off! HAHA!

Very nice work! So I take it you're not interested in color information in a 3D scan or a 3D model since it looks to me like you airbrushed and drybrushed those. Did you purchase the eyes or do you make those as well?

Without having to worry about color information on a 3D model everything you're talking about is very easy to do. You'd definitely want to find a Zbrush artist like myself. I could do everything you're thinking of, but I have to do lists that, to me, at times appear to be endless that are concerning my own endeavors that I work on non stop nearly every day. You can find Zbrush artists, at Pixologic's Zbrush Central Community Forum here. Just make an account and post a thread in that specific forum; that's the forum area where these kinds of requests are typically posted. Another place is Upwork. And one other place I know of is here in Shapeways' 3D Modeler Needed forum found here. Look for artists who know how to use regular CAD software too like SolidWorks so they can make your joints perfectly. In those groups you'll find a few Mudbox as well as Zbrush artists. As long as they are proficient with the software it doesn't matter too much which digital sculpting software they're using.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate all the help. This is exactly what I was hoping to find out here. I can get the scans, but then, needed to find the person for the post scan work. I will look into those other forums after some time passes and I learn more about when I can finance the project. Again, thanks a ton!

I purchased the eyes separately. Them and the hardware are the only parts of the lure that I didn't create (excluding what Mother Nature did of course).

Very reassuring that you say this process will be easy for someone to do. I appreciate the help!

You could also cast real fish into molds directly and create some reference masters for eventually creating the final lure molds. Not as gee-whiz as saying you use 3D modeling but there's nothing wrong with using more traditional methods. Maybe you've been doing something like this already. I'm reminded of this How It's Made segment, complete with fake eyes!

https://youtu.be/Ol-osfPG9Xk

Ryan these are really cool.

I have seen this shop? https://www.shapeways.com/shops/brianchan

I think you may like it.

^ Oh yeah I forgot about that guy! He does great work.

The link is clickable when the secure is removed from the Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, Like this. https://www.shapeways.com/shops/brianchan

Something about being logged in adds that secure designator onto our Shapeways store URLs and then they don't work right when logged out. Being an employee must cause this to happen for every store you are viewing I would assume.

Thanks for catching that!