Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to the most commonly asked questions, if you cant find the answer here please feel free to contact us.
What does you your clean-up process involve
As standard we clean up all our scans before delivery, having worked with photogrammetry scans for the last 6 years we have a fairly robust method for removing noise and cleaning up troublesome areas such as under the arms and between the fingers. The results of our clean-up work is a fully re-meshed Ztool with 6 subdivision layers ranging from 20k polygons up to around 7 million polygons. As well as cleaning and detailing the mesh we also unwrap the UV’s correctly, we don't rely on automatically generated atlas maps. This allows for much higher fidelity texture maps without the artifacts associated with Atlas mapping. It is important to point our that the re-meshed scan does not use animation ready topology, but rather an automatically generated quadded mesh created by Zremesher
Do you provide re-topology
Yes we can re-topologise your models for you but we are a boutique scanning house with a small number of in-house staff so currently we are not best suited to large re-topology jobs we would rather focus our time and efforts on improving our scanning methods.
Are there any limitations
Yes there are some technical limitations in terms of what we can and cant scan. Photogrammetry works by finding reference points on the surface of the subject, these include things as small as skin pores and the weave on a t shirt or trousers, if the subject is wearing clothes with very little or no surface detail then they will not scan well. Examples of this would be silk, tight plastic or rubber jump suits, shiny reflective surfaces on shoes, boots of backpacks. There is also an issue with very dark or very light coloured clothing, it can prove difficult to expose for both the skin and a pure black or white shirt whilst still retaining enough detail on the surface for the scan to be a success, these are best substituted for light grey or dark gray.
Can you scan children
Yes we can but only with the correct licence from the local council and when accompanied by a parent or guardian.
How soon after the scan can we expect delivery
It depends on how many scan you require, generally it takes 1.5 working days to process clean and deliver a full body scan. A cleaned head scan can be delivered in about 1 working day and a RAW head scan can be delivered in about 0.5 working days.
Can we have just the photographs and process the scans ourselves
Yes you may do this on bulk orders over 10 body scans or 20 head scans please see the price guide for more information on the cost implications.
Can we have the RAW data without clean-up
Yes this isn't a problem and is quite often a good cost saving option when shooting a lot of FACS scans. You may have the RAW body scan data, however we really don't recommend this, we have access to the source files and AGI builds which means we can re bake clean unwrapped texture maps, RAW body scans would only contain messy Atlas UV’s which can contain artefacts that are very hard to get rid of. In our experience it costs out clients more in time and money to clean a body scan than it does for us to do it in house.
Can we have a discount if we don't want colour
Yes please contact us for more information and pricing
Do you provide mobile scanning services
Currently our rig weights in at about 2 tons so transporting it off site is a very expensive process, in some circumstances we can provide an off site head scanning only service, for this we would require a minimum of 10 scans and we charge a call out fee of £4000 + VAT
Can we shoot as many scans as we like on the day and select what we want later
Absolutely, this is generally the way we work. After the shoot we will provide you with a contact sheet from which you can make your selections, we only charge for the scans we process.
Do we own the right to the scans
Yes, once the scans are complete and delivered all rights and ownership of the scans belong to the client.
Do you provide casting services
Yes to an extent, we would closely with local modelling agencies as well as various online agencies and talent sites, if you are looking for someone very specific we can help for a small casting fee.
Do you only scan people
No, we have scanned everything from trainers to cars, there is nothing we can’t scan.
Where are you located
Our studio is located in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, approximately 2 hours on the train from London. our full address is Ten24 Lydgate House Lydgate Lane Sheffield S10 5FH