Jay Leno likes 3D printing too! He uses the same Dimension printers that we do, and it is great that he is so enthusiastic about the technology. My only gripe: they make scanning and using the resulting file look a bit too easy. I’d love for it to be so simple but generally once a part has been scanned it still requires quite some work by an experienced modeller to make the mesh manifold so that it actually can be printed.
Via Toolmonger.
Do you have any experience with the NextEngine scanner they are using? As I understand it, typically it is sold with powerfull mesh-conditioning software that will give a manifold watertight mesh.
Several community members bought one and were experimenting with it. Their conclusions: The product is affordable but requires a lot of tweaking while scanning as well as manual modeling to repair the mesh so that you can print it out.
I’d love to have a 3D scanner myself but based on their advice I’ll wait a bit.