Sculptors are turning to the technological advantages of 3D scanning and printing to assist with the artistic process. Useful throughout the life cycle of a creative project, from capturing the form and detail of work, to scaling models as well as digital archiving on completion; 3D modelling can become one of an artists most useful tools.

Recently British Sculptor Antony Dufort recruited the scanning team at EuroPac3D to assist him in the design process for one of his incumbent works. His vision for the commission involved numerous clay sculptures that would need to be scaled in order to work together as one piece. EuroPac3d scanned each individual piece using a portable handheld 3D scanner. The raw data point cloud was registered and then converted into a triangulated polygonal mesh.

The individual meshes were then scaled and visualised digitally next to each other in order to check proportions for the final artwork. At this final stage the triangulated 3D models could be 3D printed for Dufort to reference, before committing to producing the  final piece.

For this project Europac3D utilised the innovative Artec Leo 3D scanner. This wireless, handheld device is the first 3D scanner to offer onboard automatic processing, making 3D scanning as easy as taking a video. As an object is being scanned the user is able to see the 3D visualisation being built in real time on the device’s touch panel screen, ensuring that all areas have been captured and allowing any detail that has been missed to be digitally filled.