Turn a 3D scan into editable clay

Level

Intermediate

Time

30 min

Version

Shapeaway 4.0

You need

A scan (OBJ, PLY or glTF)

You’ll make

A clean, watertight, editable version of a scanned object

Files

A scan as OBJ (with its MTL and texture) or glTF/GLB, from a phone scanning app or photogrammetry

1. File › Import (Ctrl I) and choose the scan.
2. Choose New sculpt, real size, and check the units and up axis match the app that made the scan.
3. Pick a detail level. Fine is a good start for an object you can hold.
4. Under Clean up, keep Drop loose bits on and turn on Fit detail to the scan.
5. Import. When it’s done, read the report: holes closed, loose bits dropped, anything too thin.
6. If it’s tilted, look at it from its front and choose Objects › Align to view.
7. Sculpt to fix what the scan got wrong: rebuild blurred edges with Trim and Crease, smooth noisy patches, fill where a hole was closed flat.
8. Repaint any patches where the texture was missing or wrong.

Note

Need to change the big shape? Back to clay first, edit, then Add detail again. The scan’s finest surface lives on the detail mesh.

Next: A dragon head with scales.