Toucan 3D Scanner: Object to Printable STL

A complete workflow for capturing real-world objects with the 3DMakerPro Toucan 3D scanner and processing them into printable STL files.

Notes

This is a list of addendums and corrections to the tutorial that will be integrated into the document later.

1. This was written with a prior version of the Toucan device firmware and the JMStudio desktop software.
2. When scanning, you can oft avoid having to align if you pause, turn over the object, resume scanning, and then scan an area already scanned until the Toucan regains tracking.
3. The desktop app will automatically go to edit mode if no device is connected (it now presents one annoying dialog instead of 3). Also, the “not connected normally, click here to refresh” message annoyingly blinks every few seconds.
4. New version seems to produce a lot less noise in the pointcloud.

Goal

Original Anvil

→

Printed Anvil

Workflow Steps

1. Setting the Stage — prepare your scanning environment and object
2. Performing the Scan — scanner settings and scanning technique
3. Transferring Scans — export via USB or WiFi to your computer
4. JM Studio — clean up, align, and generate mesh
5. Post-Processing — final cleanup with MeshMixer

Related

• Notes & Gotchas — observations and things I’ve learned