EM3D: Ethan Makes 3D Scanner 4+

Very impressive app that just works. Accurate enough for engineering.

I needed to mount a speaker to curved plastic box (a storage box on my atv). 3D printing a mount was the best solution. The curves on the box were complicated and would have been very difficult to measure and model. I tried using the lidar built into the iPhone 12, but quickly found the resolution was too low. I happened to come across this app and found the quality of the scan was very impressive. The app itself is very easy to use and reliable. I’m not sure if the scan scale is supposed to be accurate to real life, but I found that each of my scans measured accurately after measuring in CAD. I used the STL mesh output from the app to cut the solid mesh I created for the speaker mount. This created a mesh that would theoretically fit perfectly against the curved box. After printing I found that it fit perfectly with no adjustments needed! I’m sure I’ll use this in the future. It’s great for creating models for fun, but it looks like it’s also accurate enough for engineering purposes.

Best scanner for headshots

So far I have found this to be the best scanner for headshots. I am debating whether to put it to 4 star but since I haven’t used one that works better it’s 5 for now.

The star demerit would be due to the fact that after about 15-20 seconds the app seems to begin freezing up and stops scanning. This means headshots are great but I haven’t been able to get a full body scan yet. I get close but I have to move very fast and the results are blurry and usually duplicate body parts/facial structure when it scans them again. I don’t know if the app is running out of ram usage allocated or something like that. My phone definitely isn’t running out of storage space so that’s all I can think of. Hopefully this buffer can be increased for longer captures.

Developer Response ,

I'm glad that you're enjoying the app. Please come to the Facebook group and share your experience, so we can help you get the scan that you're trying to get.

Beyond impressed

Kudos to the developer! I am blown away with how far photogrammetry has come, and how effective this app is. I would have thought we were still years away from this level of detail. Any issues with the scan are quite easy to fix on my mesh modeling software.

My one suggestion would be a manual calibration for sizing that could be exported with the .stl as a .txt file for modeling work. I’m thinking at the beginning of the scan ask for a reference object like a ruler or a quarter, and then it would be easier to get 1:1 level detail when I scale the model later.