3D scanners are precision devices that collect the geometrical data of an object, including but not limited to dimension, shape, texture, volume, and color. The data can then be used to build a digital three-dimensional model of the scanned object with great accuracy. There are two types of 3D scanners: contact and non-contact. The former utilizes some sort of robotic arms and probes attached to various fixed points on the object’s surface to map coordinates based on distance, whereas the non-contact equipment emits radiation (usually laser or light) to the object and generates geometrical map/data from what’s reflected by the surface. As far as architectural 3D scanning is concerned, the non-contact type is almost always the preferred option.
In the hands of professionals, advanced 3D scanning equipment can capture every fine detail in an architectural object. So long as the detail is observable from the surface – rather than being obscured by overlapping design elements – the equipment can generate enough data to create 3D CAD models. In the highest quality of 3D modeling work, the result might look as if the physical object was built based on the digital file instead of the other way around. And as you might expect, the whole process is not cheap.
Cad Crowd has helped various projects using advanced 3D scanning accomplish their goals by finding professionals and services to maximize their advantages. Here’s all we learned about the associated costs you need to know.
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Many (but not all) 3D scanning firms also offer 3D modeling services, while others only provide STL files; you should know that STL files are for 3D printing purposes, so it’s mostly good when the scanned object is relatively small. While some companies have done some experimental residential building construction projects using 3D printing techniques with varying success, it’s still at the moment a novelty idea at best. Creating 3D models from scanned objects is, on the other hand, a mainstream practice.
Depending on the project size, most 3D scanning and modeling services charge by the hour. In certain cases where the project requires lengthy on-site scanning, such as when the object/building to be scanned is pretty substantial in size, you might come across firms that charge by the day.
| Project Size | Pricing | Estimated cost | Note |
| Small to medium projects, where the scanning is done within one working day or less | Hourly rate | $100 – $500 | Mind you, that the cost is only for the scanning services. |
| Large projects, requiring multiple days of on-site scanning | Daily rate | $1,000 – $3,000 |
Assuming travel is necessary for on-site scanning, you will have to reimburse the associated cost, adding up to the total rate. The exact dollar value entirely depends on the geographic location of the object.
One of the biggest problems with hourly or daily rates is the difficulty of measuring the exact amount of time you need to finish a project. If the building is rather intricate or geographically challenging, you might as well go with per-project pricing. There’s no telling whether a project will be completed in 100 hours or a week, especially when accuracy is a top priority. The scanning alone might be done within just a few days, even for a skyscraper (with the right equipment, of course), but the modeling task and the time it takes to ensure accuracy can be much longer than expected, especially if the work involves multiple revisions. The average 3D scanning and 3D modeling costs, based on the complexity level, in the United States are as follows.
| Complexity | Scope of work | Estimated cost (USD) | |
| 3D scanning | 3D modeling | ||
| Small | At the higher end of the spectrum, you have projects that involve an entire residential complex, state-of-the-art facilities, stadiums, highway intersections, a campus with multiple buildings, an entire shopping mall, state hospitals, and so on. There’s no limit to what you can scan; the larger the object, the more expensive the cost. Not only are those objects notably enormous, but the level of detail required is monumental, to say the least. You can always choose to have an “acceptable-quality” 3D model to save cost. It might beat the purpose of having to scan the object in the first place, but this is not an uncommon practice. If you’re going all out with zero compromises on quality, however, expect to spend somewhere in the range of $40,000 for a detailed modeling. | $2,000 – $3,000 | $2,000 – $3,000 |
| Medium | Many scanning projects fall under this category. Buildings of a medium scanning complexity include playgrounds, a public swimming pool, a monument, a courtyard, etc. What you need to understand is that sometimes, the intricate details of any given object, regardless of size, can make it a “medium” complexity scanning project. For instance, the exterior of a car is pretty simple, but the engine is anything but. Although size does matter a lot in 3D scanning and modeling, you must also take intricacy into account. As the level of detail gets more demanding, the modeling cost increases accordingly. An inexperienced modeler can probably build a 3D model of a car if you give them enough time, but only an expert can produce a quality model of a complex engine. In another example, basic modeling of a roadside café is likely easier than creating a detailed model of a commercial-grade espresso machine, although the former is clearly larger. | $3,000 – $10,000 | $4,000 – $20,000 |
| High | At the higher end of the spectrum, you have projects that involve an entire residential complex, state-of-the-art facilities, stadiums, highway intersections, a campus with multiple buildings, an entire shopping mall, state hospitals, and so on. There’s no limit to what you can scan; the larger the object, the more expensive the cost. Not only are those objects notably enormous, the level of detail required is monumental, to say the least. You can always choose to have an “acceptable-quality” 3D model to save cost. It might beat the purpose of having to scan the object in the first place, but this is not an uncommon practice. If you’re going all out with zero compromises on quality, however, expect to spend somewhere in the range of $40,000 for a detailed modeling. | $10,000 + | $40,000 + |
Here’s one thing to remember: even if the firm gives you a detailed pricing list of scanning and modeling services (with examples and estimated timeline), chances are you have the freedom to ask for a custom quote, regardless of the project scale. With custom pricing, you can easily fine-tune the project requirements. To give you an idea of the typical competition time of a project, take a look at the following examples:
| Object/building | Completion time | Average cost (USD) | |
| 3D scanning | 3D modeling | ||
| Battery plant | 6 days | 200 hours | $38,000 |
| Geothermal power plant | 3 days | 100 hours | $19,000 |
| Hotel (exterior only) | 2 days | 40 hours | $5,000 |
| Storefront | 1 day | 20 hours | $1,500 |
The pricing and timeframe in the examples above are given under the assumption that the modeling requires high-quality details. Keep in mind that 3D modeling is not “photorealistic rendering” by any means.
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No matter how advanced a 3D scanner is, it cannot directly produce a solid 3D CAD model. The scanning process generates mesh data or point clouds, consisting of numerous triangles that define the shape. Apart from that, mesh data barely contains any information about the object. Assuming the end goal of the project is to learn how a structure or a building is constructed, point clouds are pretty much unusable, unless you convert them into a solid model format.
When the project involves a large object, the conversion process can be quite complicated. Once the data is captured via scanning, it must be cleaned to decontaminate raw data. A scanner doesn’t actually understand what it’s supposed to scan, so it will capture just about everything in its line of sight. The term “cleaning” refers to not only removing errant points, but also filling holes in the shape. Each point (a vertex of a triangle that functions like a building block of the shape) is transformed into a mesh, and then imported to CAD software. At this point, you still only have mesh data instead of a solid model. The good thing is that you can convert it into an STL format in case you want to 3D print the file.
If you’re scanning a relatively small object for 3D printing services purposes, the workflow basically ends here.
To generate a solid model, the mesh must be first cut using a polyline generation tool. It’s the most complex part of the process, simply because you have no software to do it automatically; there’s no tool that can create primitive-based solid directly from mesh data. Much of the cutting and converting is manual work.
For a simple model consisting of simple primitives, you might as well create a solid from scratch using the mesh only as a reference. If the model is complex with a lot of curves and other intricate geometries, you will need to create cross-section cuts (of the mesh) to build spline contours first. And throughout the process, you want everything to be mistake-free; otherwise, you’ll get an inaccurate result. In some cases, you might be able to reconstruct each mesh as a surface and then combine them all together, but this process is extremely hardware-demanding.
There are actually many tools to convert or reverse engineer a mesh to solid, such as Siemens’ Solid Edge and Autodesk Fusion 360, but the default functionality only caters to simple geometries. Most modelers will instead tackle the process manually by using the mesh merely as guidance to redraw the entire object.
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Just about every building today was constructed using modern methods, with the likes of 3D CAD software, BIM, and simulation software. But widespread adoption of computer-assisted design and construction in the architectural industry didn’t really happen until a few decades ago. In case you can’t remember, Autodesk released AutoCAD in 1982, and Dassault Systèmes came out with SolidWorks in 1995; the massively popular SketchUp is only 24 years old today. This means a lot of old buildings still have no proper digital archives. Well, they probably do, but mostly in the form of two-dimensional drawings scanned to PDF files.
3D scanning generates mesh data that can be converted into 3D models. As mentioned above, the mesh data needs to go through quite a lot of refinements to be usable, but at the end of the day, you get detailed 3D models that you can use for documentation, restoration, or archeological purposes. For architectural 3D scanning, the two most common techniques are:
Photogrammetry: scanning is done by taking pictures of an object or a building. The pictures are then stitched together to create a single three-dimensional image.
Light detection and ranging (Lidar): a type of remote-sensing technology that uses lasers to scan thousands of dots/points of a building every second. It creates a 3D map based on the time/distance covered by each ray of laser as it gets reflected from the surface back to the device.
As long as you use the right equipment, there’s no limit as to the size of the building you can scan. Some scanners are able to capture data from an area with a radius of more than 1000 ft in a single take. Height is also no problem, because you can mount the device to a drone.
If you’re an AEC professional, 3D scanning allows you to capture accurate data and generate detailed drawings of an existing project or building. And the resulting expert 3D models can help you minimize design conflicts, create documentations, expedite construction, manage the assets, and plan for modifications if necessary. In a little bit more detail, here are some of the most common applications for 3D scanning.
The raw capture of 3D scanning combined with the technical imagery of 3D modeling give you some of the powerful tools for various architectural purposes from quality control and design construction to heritage restoration and reverse engineering. 3D scanning and modeling services are not cheap, but Cad Crowd helps you make sure you get the most for your money by connecting you with the most talented and experienced professionals for the jobs.
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