Documenting "Scan Settings"
We are frequently asked about the documentation for the "Scan Settings" menu. With options like "Phase Filter", "Normal Estimation" and "Outlier Removal", it sounds like these are just the thing for advanced users to tweak their scans to perfection - if only they could find the documentation.
Happily, that is not the case! Almost all of these settings are present to allow people working in computer vision to experiment, including our R&D team. We don't document them because the background knowledge required to understand them is beyond the scope of simple documentation.
That said, there are two settings, Cache and Turntable, that are super useful for every user!
CACHE
This is just a single check box, but it can make a massive improvement to your scanning experience. When the software returns to the Scans screen there is a pause while all the scans in the project download from the hardware. If there are only a few scans then it's quick, but if there are many scans there is a noticible wait.
When you enable Cache Scan Data, all the scans in the project are maintained in the browser's memory when the project is first opened. Caching eliminates the repeated scan downloads, making for a more pleasant experience when working with large projects.
TURNTABLE
Point Clipping Radius in TURNTABLE uses a slider to narrow or widen the radius from the center of the turntable in which an object can be captured. The default is 150 millimeters, which means that any 3D points scanned further than 150 mm from the centre of the turntable will be automatically discarded. And, of course, 3D points inside that radius will not be discarded.
Think of it like an invisible cylinder surrounding the turntable - anything inside the cylinder is scanned, anything outside is discarded. Widen "Point Clipping Radius" to make the cylinder larger to allow objects that hang off the sides to be fully captured. The maximum radius is 500 mm.
Don't forget to check the "Use" checkbox at the top, otherwise these settings are ignored during scanning.
But I Really Want to Try These! - Resetting Defaults
We get it though, you really want to try the other scan settings, they sound interesting, and what if they make the difference you're hoping for and they're really cool and you want to try them dammit. OK! We got you. Go ahead and change them all around to see what happens with your scans. If you see improvements, great! If not, at the right-hand side of each setting is a reset button. This does exactly what it sounds like, which is of course resetting the value back to factory default.
Another way to ensure you've reset all the settings is to go into the Menu and choose "Reset Settings". You'll get the modal below. Click "Clear Settings" and everything will be back to factory default. Be careful about "Factory Reset" - IT WILL DELETE ALL YOUR PROJECTS, as you can see it says. "Clear Settings" will just reset the user settings and leave your projects in place.
If you're curious about the many different scan settings you can play with them and see how they affect your results. The reset button and "Clear Settings" options ensure that if things go wrong you can always reset your THREE back to perfect working order.
Software Updates
When we release updates to the THREE software, sometimes the settings in Scan Settings get reset back to factory default. In those cases you will need to check Turntable and Cache after an update to ensure they're still set the way you like.
Happy scanning!