Choosing the Right Material Scanner

The material scanners listed below are compared against the following points:

1. Whether they measure and calculate a BRDF fitting (meaning whether you need to manually edit or improve the digitized maps)
2. Sample size that can be scanned
3. Tiling and post processing toolset
4. Cost

Probably the first point needs some explanation. In regards to what is a "BRDF fitting" and why does it matter. There are multiple ways how you can approximate the reflection properties of a material. You can simply take a camera and take a few images with 4 images in various lighting conditions and use heuristics to generate maps. This process is quite quick (1-2 minutes) and requires a simple algorithm to generate the final result. BRDF fitting on the other hand takes ca. 10-18 hours to calculate on a single PC but as a result gives back the ultimate reflection properties. Scanners that don't provide BRDF fitting might be good for various design purposes where the exact look of the material/surface doesn't need to be reconstructed exactly as it is in real life, but are not meant for purposes where the exact look of the material has to be reconstructed without manual retouching.

Next to X-Rite the colormass scanner is the only other scanner on the market that does BRDF Fitting (meaning that the final maps don't require any manual improvement or fixing). Compared to X-Rite the advantages of the colormass scanner is to be able to scan multiple surfaces at once. You can place up to 64 samples on the table (even large samples - up to 1.5m x 1.5m) and scan them in parallel.

colormass offers a complete tiling toolset that you can use to tile your scanned materials. An additional advantage of colormass is that it also offers a complete ecosystem to use the surfaces that you scanned (configurator, rendering platform, data exporter etc.).

The device and scanner area can be customized to the space where it is built.

Vizoo is quite popular in the fashion design industry. Because precise reflection reproduction isn't its primary strength, this hardware is predominantly used for prototyping rather than generating final marketing imagery. Vizoo provides two versions of the hardware:

1. One that can scan ca. A4 28 x 20 cm (11 x 7.9 in) samples and
2. another that can scan ca. A2 sample sizes 55 x 37 cm (21.7 x 14.6 in).

The capture time for each hardware is ca. 1-3 minutes. Vizoo provides a toolset for tiling your scanned materials called the xTex software.

X-Rite specializes in color measurement and material digitization with a focus on precise color matching. X-Rite is quite popular in the automotive industry. It comes in a signle size and the dimensions of the hardware are 112 cm x 112 cm x 180 cm. Alongside the colormass system, the TAC7 is the only scanner capable of BRDF fitting, allowing it to capture highly accurate reflection details (meaning that you do not need to manually edit/improve the recorded maps).

The scanning area is ca. 13cm x 13cm. The capture time is ca. 15 to 60 min.

The Metis is different from the other scanners in a way that it also records photogrammetric data, to reconstruct geometry. But it is important to mention that Metis does not implement BRDF Fitting, meaning that the surfaces properties that it records are not the true reflection properties of the surfaces as it relies on heuristics.

Maximum scan area:

• DRS 2020 DCS Plus: 200 x 120 cm (device dimensions: 295 cm length, 243 cm width, 238 cm height)
• DRS 1500 DCS: 150 x 91 cm (device dimensions: 235 cm width, 185 cm depth, 222 cm height)
• SURF 3D: 49 x 32 cm (device dimensions: 100 cm length, 71 cm width, 208 cm height)
  

Nunox is a scanner that is very similar to Vizoo in terms of capabilites and specs. They provide 2 sizes:

1. NX Premium Scanner: can scan ca. 30 x 20 cm (12 x 8 in) samples and
2. NX Premium XL: can scan ca. 35 x 26 cm (14 x 10 in).

Because precise reflection reproduction isn't its primary strength, this hardware is predominantly used for prototyping rather than generating final marketing imagery.

HP Captis is a scanner made by the cooperation between Adobe and Captis. It comes in a single size and it is aimed for artists and designers for whom the precise reflection measurements are not a must. It comes in a signle size and the dimensions of the hardware are 89 cm x 87 cm x 70 cm and the maximum sample size it can scan is 30cm x 30cm.

Because precise reflection reproduction isn't its primary strength, this hardware is predominantly used for prototyping rather than generating final marketing imagery.