Beetle

So realistic is this 3D model of a small beetle, it looks as if it was taken right out of the entomologist’s lab. Every shade of color, from turquoise to indigo to black, and every aspect of the insect’s intricate geometry, are captured with the highest precision. The scans were done with Artec Micro in just 15 minutes. Famous for a point accuracy of up to 10 microns, this desktop scanner is ideal for capturing miniature objects: you can see the tiniest features of the beetle’s anatomy, including its legs, antennae, and mandibles.

Micro is ready to start scanning in seconds, so all our scanning specialist needed to do was to place the beetle on a sheet of paper (covered in black letters for an additional texture pattern) and use some Blu Tack to secure the beetle on the turntable. Several minutes of scanning in the first position and HD mode to render the texture at its fullest, and the beetle (all set up for scanning as it was) was moved to a softbox for photographing. This process was repeated for the second position, right after which it was scanned for the third time with some self-evaporating spray applied for refining geometry reconstruction.

The photographs were registered to the corresponding scans with texture frames right in Artec Studio, while the third scan was used to create the mesh, onto which we projected photo texture, leaving the rest for the texturing algorithm. You can see the result for yourself: the vibrant, detail-rich 3D model with high-quality texture after a mere half an hour of processing. Zoom in to explore the beetle’s wings, thorax, and abdomen: their every surface, line and spot are within your reach.