Heges 3D Scanner

I’m kind of blown away at how well this scanner works. It’s not perfect however compared to what’s been available this is incredible. The biggest issue is not the 3D scanning, its the “WiFi file sharing” feature. While I suppose this could be useful I really don’t understand why the developer doesn’t let you just share using the expected avenues such as email, iMessage, save to phone or air drop. I don’t even know what it means to wifi share a file is to be honest... I’m still not sure how to access the scanned data. I’m guessing file size concerns have something to do with the choice to WiFi share/export your 3D scans, maybe the app isn’t very strong with managing the captured scan data? I think it would be nice to at least have other export options. At very least make it more clear on how you send/receive captured files over WiFi. Also, adding .fbx and .obj as file format options would be fantastic. Right now the .stl files are strictly catering to 3D printing apps. .obj and .fbx would be easier to share with industry standard 3D modeling applications, like C4D, Zbrush, Unity. Still giving it 4 solid stars (assuming I figure out how to accept a shared WiFi file). The quality is really impressive and again, compared to what’s available, this is amazing. Please polish and continue working out the bugs, this is a really promising app. Finally getting some use out if this iPhone X depth sensor!

I don’t generally review things, but I literally tried and bought every scan app on the App Store, and this one is by far the best. The biggest complaint I had about the other apps is that you had to go super slow and be extra steady when scanning or you would instantly lose tracking. This apps tracking is good enough that you can move at a pretty brisk pace (within reason for 3D scanning of course) and it doesn’t skip a beat. Also most other apps lose tracking if you have your phone stationary and are moving the object in place, such as on a turn table. Never had an issue with that using Hedges. And for the small one time fee, it makes it even better since not only does it scan faster and more accurate, you don’t have to pay a subscription to save your scans, like most other apps. Definitely worth the small fee in my opinion.

I really didn't expect much, but the quality of the scans is actually quite impressive. I've done scanning using both Kinect 1 & 2, and while they can do larger areas, they were not meant for close up details. This app allows much better fine detail. First scan of course was my face. And I was blown away that it didn't make my nose look all deformed like the Kinects'. It does lose tracking if you try going around and object, so I'll be stitching separate scans together in other software. Wishlist: 1. When exported to PLY, it would be nice to be able to turn off the color to inspect the geometry, instead of also exporting STL to do the inspection. 2. When viewing in non AR, I'd like a way to update where the viewer pivots from. Say if I want to inspect and rotate around an area, right now the pivot point is fixed somewhere else and the object goes out of view. Add a pivot mode so we can tap on part of the model and it will pivot around that. 3. With the AR mode, it sometimes loses track and the model moves out of sight, sometimes even behind me. I'd like an option to redraw the object where I'm currently pointing. 4. Would like option in AR mode to rotate the scan. 5. Photo capture in AR mode. I'm using screen capture now, but would be nice to hit a take photo button of the scan in the photo. Can't wait to try 3D printing something captured.

App scans better when I also slowly move the phone in a ~4” circle perpendicular to the object being scanned. I expect the IR pattern is inconsistent and this manner cleans up the scan. The sensor also seems to have a regular error pattern, which indicates that an initial calibration against a flat surface could be added to the app (apple should do that as part of manufacturing and lock the calibration matrix into each phone). Many times the app will mess up if you get too close. Likely better registration using the color camera and the phone gyros could prevent that error. When using mirror option, the text also reverses. Please keep the text “normal”. The academic papers on RGB-D scanning for deformable objects have some great new algorithms to register in post processing. This app would be amazing if it could perform those algorithms, or send the data stream to the cloud for post processing. Ideally I’d like to be able to walk around my house, moving closer to some objects and further away from less interesting areas, and have the entire house rendered. It would be even cooler if I could do the scanning over multiple sessions and they would all be merged together. Does the output to STL maintain accurate measurements? Is 1mm in a scan going to be reflected as 1mm in the STL?

ask user to change the rating

For almost $10, I’m disappointed with the quality of scans taken through this app. I didn’t expect the same quality of scans that are achieved by $500+ pieces of dedicated hardware but I did expect, at the very least, to scan multiple sides of an object without the scan automatically quitting. Although moving the device slower and modifying the scan settings, per the recommendations listed in the FAQ, does help slightly, the scans continue to fail regardless of how careful I am. The only way to scan all sides of an object, in the current state of this app, would be to take individual scans of each face and then stitch them together on a third party application. I understand the limitations that the developer faces and I am aware of the amount of work that has gone into this app but I cannot recommend it for it’s current price. I do not intend on seeking a refund for this purchase but I kindly request that the developer consider returning the application to its original price, until the 3D scanning functionality is improved.