Scan to editable, parametric CAD
Parts measured against CAD or drawing
Art, heritage, film, products and games
Capture and processing, two days or three
Inspection, reporting and repeatable routines
Point cloud to polygon to surface
Jobs we have scanned, for named customers
Launches, partners and what we have learned
Objects, vehicles and sculpture we have scanned
3D scanning services · UK
Twenty-five years of scanning parts, plant and places for UK engineers, surveyors, museums or studios. Send the part to Whitchurch or we bring the kit to you. You get back the data the job needs: editable CAD, an inspection report, a point cloud or a finished 3D model.
Pick the one that sounds like your problem. Each has its own team, its own kit and its own page for every job under it.
A part with no drawing, a worn tool, an obsolete spare. We scan it, work out what it was meant to be and rebuild it as parametric CAD you can edit, machine from or send for manufacture, as if it had been designed from scratch.
Reverse engineering →
Measure a part after manufacture and prove it matches the drawing or the CAD model. We probe with Kreon portable CMM arms and scan with metrology-grade 3D scanners, at Whitchurch or on your shop floor. We report it in Geomagic Control X, PolyWorks or Kreon Zenith.
Inspection & metrology →
Buildings, plant, infrastructure, land and mines, captured as a registered point cloud your team can trust. Terrestrial LiDAR from a tripod with the Artec Ray II, mobile SLAM on foot, vehicle or drone with the Artec Jet and handheld detail with the Artec Leo where it matters.
Artworks, heritage objects, products, props and people, captured in full colour as 3D models. For archives, film and TV, games, web shops plus AR, or to print a replica in the same building.
3D digital assets →What matters is what happens to the data afterwards. That depends on what you are trying to do. Rebuilding a part with no drawing is a CAD job. Proving a part matches its drawing is a metrology job. Recording a building or a quarry is a survey job. Putting an object on a web page or into a game is an asset job.
Each needs different kit, different software and a different person at the keyboard. We run all four in the same building, on the same scanners we sell, so the job goes to whoever does that kind of work every day.
Post it, courier it or drop it off at Whitchurch. We scan it in the studio where the lighting and the fixturing are already right, then send the data back and the part with it.
For anything bolted down, too big to move or still in production. We work around your shift, bring our own kit and leave with the data. Site inductions and RAMS are no problem.
Four levels, cheapest first. We will tell you which one the job needs before you commit.
Level 01
The raw measured points, aligned and cleaned. Nothing interpreted, nothing smoothed away.
Level 02
A watertight triangle model, holes filled and noise removed. What you need to print it or show it.
Level 03
Auto-surfaced NURBS that follows the scan closely. Opens in CAD; the shape is inherited, not designed.
Level 04
Proper CAD with sketches, features and a history tree, so you can edit it, machine it or make tooling.
A photo with a sentence is usually enough: what it is, roughly how big and what you need to do with the data.
Scanning, engineering time and the deliverable, itemised. Usually back the same working day.
Small parts come to Whitchurch. Anything bolted down, too big to move or still in production, we bring the kit to.
Files in the format you asked for, then a walk-through of what we found with the engineer who did the work.
The same scanners, arms and software we sell, train on and support. Like what you see? You can buy or hire it too.
Kreon Onyx armPortable CMM, 0.023 mm best E UniFind out more →
Artec Point IIMetrology laser scanner, 0.02 mmFind out more →
Artec LeoWireless handheld, full colourFind out more →
Artec Spider IIFine detail on small parts, 0.05 mmFind out more →
Artec Ray IITripod LiDAR, 130 m rangeFind out more →
Artec JetSLAM LiDAR on foot, vehicle or droneFind out more →If yours is not here, ring 0330 229 0175 and ask for the scanning team.
Not answered here?
Ask the engineers who run the machines. We answer the same working day.
Most of our scanners are proficient at scanning dark, shiny surfaces. On the odd occasion we can’t, we use the Attblime dulling spray, which sublimes off within hours and leaves no residue.
If you are printing a copy, a mesh is enough and costs far less. If somebody needs to change the design, machine from it or make tooling, you want a parametric solid model. We will tell you which before you commit.
Every job is quoted, because the price depends on what you need back rather than on the size of the part. Send a photo and a sentence. The quote usually comes back the same working day, itemised.
Yes. We will sign your NDA or ours before you send anything. We never publish a job or use it as a sample without written permission.
If you will scan more than a few times a year, perhaps. For a one-off, or where the processing is the hard part, having us do it is usually quicker and cheaper. Ask and we will say honestly which side of that line you are on.
A photo, a rough size and what you need out of it. We will come back with a fixed price and a date, and if scanning is not the right answer, we will say so.
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