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SP_106189681-Visitor
1-Visitor
September 7, 2023
Solved

Unable to model onto a 3D scan

  • September 7, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 3943 views

ver.: Creo Parametric Student Edition 9.0.0.0

I am trying to model ears for my helmet to use for cosplay and have a (partial - just the top) 3D scan of my helmet so I could model it perfectly to the shape. 

When I try to import the helmet it opens an is just "blue" and there is no surface I can clisk on or plane I could add to then model the ears onto. I've tried looking on Youtube, Reddit and on here if there are any solutions. I've also tried to import it as a .3mf, .stl, .obj and .asc but all gave the same result. I don't think anything is wrong with my helmet file since it opens normally in 3D Viewer, Ultimaker Cura, Prusa slicer and Meshmixer. I assume I'm doing something wrong in Creo since I'm fairly new to it 

 

 

Best answer by KenFarley

Sounds like you might want to limit the portion of the helmet that you want to work with in Creo.

Hopefully you have some sort of software that will let you load in and manipulate the scanned data. If so, you might want to think of some of these ideas to cut down on the size:

(1) Is the helmet symmetric from left to right? If so, and if the items you want to add on are going to be symmetric, you could split the scan in half and only deal with one or the other side. You could mirror the geometry you create in Creo to get the other side, once you're happy with things.

(2) Do you know what specific region you want to attach to? If so, maybe do some further editing to limit the scope of the reference data to only the areas that will be needed. This can cut down on a huge amount of data.

(3) If you can generate such data, maybe look into creating parallel section curves. You could use the points from such curves to build splines, then build surfaces in Creo. I've done this kind of thing for junky surfaces that overlap or have weird discontinuities. It works really well as long as you're not looking for super-accurate geometry. It's not like you're making a prosthetic leg or something...

 

Dealing with 3D scanned data like this is something a lot of different scientific disciplines are doing these days. If you're at a university, maybe someone could help you in archeology, biology, or any other department whose research involves looking at the structure of things. If they're scanning bones or artifacts and comparing them they must be able to manipulate the data somehow.

2 replies

M
MartinHanak24-Ruby III
24-Ruby III
September 7, 2023

Hi,

https://community.ptc.com/t5/3D-Part-Assembly-Design/how-to-convert-stl-file-to-solid-geometry-in-creo/td-p/539625

https://community.ptc.com/t5/3D-Part-Assembly-Design/Importing-stl-files-into-Creo-Parametric-3-0-and-then-converting/td-p/289180 ... FreeCAD conversion to STEP

    S
    SP_106189681-VisitorAuthor
    1-Visitor
    September 7, 2023

    I first tried inside of Creo with Restyle but when clicking the option the menu didn't even change or give any new options.

    I downloaded FreeCad and did as the step told Create shape from mesh > Export as STEP and when I try to open in in Creo now it just keeps on loading for ~5min before giving "program not responding" (it gave me a 1,15 GB STEP file, I don't know if that's normal)

    M
    MartinHanak24-Ruby III
    24-Ruby III
    September 7, 2023
    @SP_10618968 wrote:

    I first tried inside of Creo with Restyle but when clicking the option the menu didn't even change or give any new options.

    I downloaded FreeCad and did as the step told Create shape from mesh > Export as STEP and when I try to open in in Creo now it just keeps on loading for ~5min before giving "program not responding" (it gave me a 1,15 GB STEP file, I don't know if that's normal)

    Hi,

     

    1.] I guess that Student Edition does not contain Reverse Engineering license and therefore Restyle command does not work.

     

    2.] The fact that STEP is 1.15 GB in size probably means that the source file contains a huge amount of points and triangles, The scanning process was extremely accurate. Importing into Creo will therefore take a very long time (if it succeeds at all).

    If possible, perform a less accurate scan.

    tbraxton
    tbraxton22-Sapphire II
    22-Sapphire II
    September 7, 2023

    Two options come to mind with your scan data. STL files are not useful in Creo as a parent to native features other than with the freeform modeling tools.

     

    1) Use an application such as Geomagic Wrap to convert the scan data to a surface model and then import that into Creo.

    2) Use trace sketch functionality to import a plan and elevation view (photo) of your helmet to develop reference curves and create the surface model in Creo. You should be able to get it close enough using this approach.

     

    Some of the scanners come with SW that can create surfaces from the scan data. have you asked the source you borrowed the scanner from if they have SW to do this?

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