Missing areas in a 3D scan can result from shiny or reflective surfaces or just areas that the scanner can’t get a line of sight to. A good example would be on this jet ski, the underside of the lip of the ski. In this article, we are going to look at the options in Artec Studio to resolve this problem.

Artec Studio has some great hole-filling tools that will use simple algorithms to do as tight of a fit as it can. There are going to be some other areas where that’s not quite what you need and need to take it a step further. Take, for example, the area highlighted in the image below, where I’ve got missing data between the main body and the handlebars. Closing those holes results in a floating handlebar that is completely detached from the rest of the body.

Instead, I am going to use the bridges function in Artec Studio, which is found inside the hole-filling tool. This will allow me to add a few partial pieces of geometry that will connect the two distinct bodies. Now, when I close the hole, it creates material that connects the handlebar so that it is part of the main body.This can be used to get a watertight version of the mesh file so I can 3D print or use for other purposes. Another reason I might use bridges is when I can’t capture all the way through a hole in a part. Normal hole filling would cap off both openings separately, which makes it look like somebody jammed bubble gum inside the hole. This is not ideal. So, I’m going to add some bridges to the model before closing off the now smaller holes.