Luxembourg-based 3D scanning company Artec 3D has announced the latest update to Artec Studio, its 3D scanning software. The new Artec Studio 16 promises significant performance improvements and new features for inspection and reverse engineering. Additionally, Artec Studio 16 debuts the new Artec Cloud, an online platform that will allow users to process 3D scans in their browser and collaborate with other users.

Performance Improvements in Artec Studio 16

I got hands-on with the previous version of Artec 3D’s scanning software, Artec Studio 15, when I reviewed the Artec Leo handheld 3D scanner earlier this year. I enjoyed the experience overall, but I noted several minor complaints I had about Artec Studio:

·        I lost work more than once when the program froze.

·        Loading and processing data could take quite a lot of time.

·        My everyday laptop could not run the software adequately.

In Artec Studio 16, no doubt in an attempt to placate yours truly, Artec 3D has addressed all of these problems. The latest update now includes an auto-save feature to prevent lost work, obviating the dire warning I passed on to readers of the Leo review to save their projects often.

Artec Studio 16 also loads projects 10x faster than the previous version, with the average project loading time given as 10 seconds, according to Artec 3D. Additionally, users will no longer need to wait for 3D scans to fully load before they can begin working with the data. Projects scanned in Artec’s HD Mode, a high-res neural network assisted scan, can now be reconstructed almost twice as fast as before. HD projects will also be 20 percent smaller in file size, and can be stored on an SD card in the Leo scanner (previously, only non-HD projects could make use of the Leo’s SD card slot).

Finally, the hardware requirements of Artec Studio 15 were demanding. Users required at least 32GB of memory alongside a dedicated graphics card—and a good one, at that. My 16GB, Quadro T2000 equipped ThinkPad P1 Gen 2 wasn’t up to snuff, and I had to find a temporary replacement to run the software. There is now a new option: the Artec Cloud.

The Artec Cloud

While local compute requirements of Artec Studio 16 presumably remain high, users now have an alternative in the form of the new Artec Cloud. Integrated into Artec Studio 16, Artec Cloud is a tiered service that will allow users to process their 3D scan data online, view and share their data, comment and attach files, and export scans and models. There are three tiers:

·        Viewer (free): Offers viewing, commenting, and exporting.

·        Collaboration ($800/year): Adds the ability to create new projects, organize them in folders, import projects from Artec Studio and directly from the Artec Leo scanner, duplicate projects, and share data.

·        Processing ($1600/year for up to 20 projects/month): Adds scan processing capability and the ability to edit scans and models online.

New Features and Tools in Artec Studio 16

According to Artec 3D, scan-to-CAD alignment in Artec Studio 16 is now 8x faster than before, and distance mapping measurement calculations are generated 70 percent faster on complex CAD models. The software integrates with Geomagic Control X metrology software, allowing users to run inspections in Control X from Artec Studio, including batch inspections.

For reverse engineering, Artec Studio 16 offers a new torus primitive and tailored freeform primitives for curvilinear surfaces. Models can be exported directly to SOLIDWORKS without a plug-in.

Artec Studio 16 also allows users to combine their scan data with photos to build and map photorealistic texture. Users can align the scale of the scanned model to the photogrammetry model by aligning three points of each—similar to the procedure for aligning separate scans together.