Easily Clean Your 3D Scans (blender)
Entertainment
Introduction
3D scans can be breathtaking, but they often come with a significant amount of unnecessary data and poor geometry straight from the scanning software. This results in models with an excessive number of polygons, which can slow down programs like Blender. While a common solution is to apply a decimate modifier, this doesn't address the underlying geometry issues. In this article, we'll cover a method for creating low-poly, clean versions of your 3D scans, complete with textures.
Preparing Your Model
Once you have your model loaded in Blender, you should export it as an OBJ file. If you have multiple objects in your scene, ensure you select the "Selection Only" option during export.
Using Instant Meshes
Next, download and open Instant Meshes, a free software that helps in the remeshing process. After you've installed it, import your exported model.
Instant Meshes is a powerful tool that analyzes your model and uses a series of processes to generate a cleaner, lower-polygon version. On the left panel, you can specify the number of vertices you want for your final model. A target of around 1,500 vertices is generally a good starting point.
Setting Orientation and Position
In the software's orientation and position fields, lines will appear over your mesh. These lines indicate where Instant Meshes will cut the model to create a more refined version. If you notice that the lines don’t properly follow your object’s shape, you can adjust them using the comb tool in the orientation field. After making the adjustments, resolve the position field, and export your newly created mesh by selecting “Extract Mesh.” Save it as a separate OBJ file.
Importing Back to Blender
After exporting from Instant Meshes, return to Blender and import the new OBJ file. It's worth noting that Instant Meshes does not calculate UVs or textures, necessitating a manual unwrapping of your object in Blender.
Unwrapping Your Model
Open the UV Editor and create a new texture for your model, ensuring you save it in an accessible location. Enter edit mode for your model and press U to unwrap the object. Select "Smart Project" to automatically assign UV coordinates, determining how your texture will appear on the model.
Baking Textures
To bake the textures onto your new low-poly model, go to the render tab in Blender and scroll down to the baking settings. We'll use the “Selected to Active” option to bake the textures from the high-poly model to the low-poly model. Set the bake type to “Color” as we only need the diffuse texture and ensure the ray distance is set to approximately 0.2 to prevent any holes.
Select your high-poly model first in the viewport, and ensure the relevant texture is active in the shader editor. Then, for the low-poly model, add a new image texture node and load your previously saved couch image. Make sure that this image is selected before initiating the bake process.
Once everything is set, select the high poly model followed by the low poly model, and hit bake. Wait for Blender to finish the baking process, and if successful, you'll see a new texture applied to your low-poly model. Remember to save your baked texture, as this won’t happen automatically.
Conclusion
You now have a clean, low-poly 3D scan with image textures. If you have any other tutorial requests, please leave a comment with your suggestions. Happy modeling!
Keywords
- 3D scans
- Cleaning
- Blender
- Instant Meshes
- Low-poly
- Texture baking
- UV mapping
FAQ
Q: What is Instant Meshes?
A: Instant Meshes is a free software used to remesh and create cleaner, low-polygon versions of 3D models.
Q: Why is it necessary to clean 3D scans?
A: Cleaning 3D scans reduces polygon count and improves geometry, which enhances performance in 3D software like Blender.
Q: How do I bake textures in Blender?
A: You can bake textures by using the "Selected to Active" feature in the render tab and selecting appropriate settings for your models.
Q: Does Instant Meshes create UV maps?
A: No, Instant Meshes does not create UV maps or textures, so you need to manually unwrap your model in Blender.
Q: Can I use a decimate modifier instead of cleaning the geometry?
A: While a decimate modifier can reduce polygon count, it doesn't fix underlying geometry issues, which could lead to problems later in the modeling process.
