We’re sometimes asked about how to capture motion and record 4D videos using Artec scanners. This article describes the process in more detail.
Capturing motion
- Artec Studio has a dedicated mode called Fast capture that allows the scanner or sensor to capture “unaligned” 3D frames that contain the moving object.
- You can use one Artec scanner (or third-party 3D sensor) for motion capture, or combine several scanners/sensors in a bundle.
- To scan using one device, set “1” for Number of scanners to use in the Multi section. To record using multiple scanners, select the Use bundle option.
- You can set the duration (in seconds) of the scanning session in Multi before you start.
- Alternatively, just stop the process manually by pressing the appropriate button on the Artec scanner or the Stop button in Artec Studio.
- By default, every 3D frame recorded in Fast capture mode is polygonal; it contains texture information as well.
Playing a 4D video in Artec Studio
- Select your raw scan in the Workspace panel and hit Ctrl+P to play the sequence of 3D frames you recorded during this scan.
- Alternatively, you can double-click on the scan in the Workspace and click the Play button near the top of the window.
- Set the playback speed in File - Settings - UI - Playing; the default value is 15 FPS.
- Switch between Solid, Wireframe and Points to adjust the display mode:
Exporting a sequence of 3D frames
- Select your raw scan(s) in the Workspace and choose File - Export scans....
- Choose ply, stl, obj or wrl as the 3D-output extension and jpg, bmp or png as the texture-output extension.
- Artec Studio will save a sequence of 3D frames in a specified folder.
- Continue post-processing the data using a third-party software package of your choice.
Here is a video that should give you a rough idea of the workflow and how these 3D frames are used:
More or less the same principle with recording a sequence of 3D frames was used in this Linkin Park video (check starting from 01:12):
The setup with the Artec3D scanner is shown on the picture below:
Note: the capture devices in this video are Artec MHT scanners; they’re the precursor of Artec Eva.
We are here to help! If you have any questions or issues, please do not hesitate to contact our team by emailing support@artec-group.com or by clicking on "Ask Support" button on the upper part of the screen. We will always be happy to assist you and will get back to you as soon as we can.