The SETI and YABBA scanner

These scanning system were the first developments made by Factum arte in the world of 3D scanners under the demand of scanning in high resolution and for the first time in history the surface of the tomb of SETI the first, the most beautiful decorated tomb in the valley of the kings and also in worse condition.

That was around year 2000 and our concept of high resolution (link to an explanation about high resolution) took us to design a new system that could achieve our goals. By that time the industry of laser scanners was completely separated from the world of art or conservation so we reinvent a scanner used to scan coins.

Factum Arte´s Seti scanner, built in collaboration with 3D Scanners UK used a class 3 A red light laser similar to that used in bar-code readers. The laser emitted no ultra-violet light nor did it generate any discernable heat. During scanning the laser was in contact with any point on the object for only a fraction of a second. Due to the sensitivity towards the use of new technology in heritage, Factum Arte produced an in-house conservation report on the risks of Laser Scanning and carried out tests that demonstrate the laser used is incapable of producing visible change to the surface that is recorded.

The most important aspect of both these scanning systems was that the points in a 3D space were placed onto a regular grid. Each point on the grid was 100 microns apart while the variation in the Z axis no more than 5 microns. The system was developed specifically to record polychromed high relief carving in the Valley of the Kings but it has subsequently been used on many projects from recording the surface of a C10th vellum manuscript in th Biblioteca Nacional to detailed scans contemporary artist as Marc Quinn.

The linear guide system was built by Rapier Engineering in the UK and was used successfully during the six-week trial season in the tomb of Seti I. Following this period of work, further modifications were made, including the development of new software for processing the RIS data and export high resolution rendering from 3D data.

This software is one of the most useful and clever tools designed by Factum Arte. Its main feature is that it can treat cloud points generated with our scanners as tonal range images, retouch them and generate High res renderings. Ideal for conservation purposes. Go to Digital restoration page.

These systems have worked wonderfully for many years. Some of them are now effectively obsolete. But for many years they´ve provided the best data we could achieve and in many ways they are still unsurpassed. Now with the development of the Lucifer scanner they have become a very important part of Factum Arte's learning curve and have a special place.

The Kreon Zephyr 50 and Model Maker Scanners

Factum Arte uses different systems and approaches to meet different requirements. While the Seti Laser Scanner has been designed for the accurate recording of high relief surfaces that need accurate surface detail it is not suited for the recording of large scale freestanding sculptures or relief surfaces with deep undercuts.

The Kreon scanner is a french company with wide experience in the design and fabrication of 3D scanners. We used their Zaphyr 50 model mounted onto a 7 axis SimCore arm for several projects in which this technology was adecuate. Intheory the resolution of this scanner is as high as our other models but because it is attached to an hand held system as the cimcore arm ,in practice, the resolution is significantly lower than that achieved with the the other scanners (in practice we can achieve a resolution of between 300 and 400 microns working with this system) but it has a practical use as part of a scanning protocol.