The following article is not sponsored, but rather a summary of my own experiences with the Cyberglobe It is therefore not a proper review, but rather my personal opinion.
to the conclusion
the Cyberglobe
Books2net has been a cornerstone of digitisation and a manufacturer of high-quality scanner hardware for decades. Together with Dr. Clauß Bild- und Datentechnik GmbH, the Cyberglobe was designed as an all-in-one solution for digital object capture.
The globe itself consists of a plastic hemisphere that serves as an image background and diffuser, a camera arm and an object carrier unit.
A digital camera is mounted on a slide on the camera arm, which moves downwards from top to bottom in several stages during recording. In addition, there are four permanently mounted LED light sources on the arm, which illuminate the object evenly and true to colour.
The object carrier unit in the centre of the globe rotates around its own axis and offers space for one or more objects on a transparent surface. This can bear loads of up to 25 kg and is relatively thin in order to minimise light refraction when shooting from below..
To minimise unwanted light reflections from the slide and the object being scanned, a surprisingly good circular polarising filter is used on the camera. The light sources themselves are not filtered, which means that cross-polarisation cannot occur. However, this would also be difficult to achieve, as the white background and the four fixed light sources would make this process very difficult.
A small control unit is located directly on the arm to set the number of shots, shooting positions and camera settings. The control unit has a programme memory to store effective shooting modes for other objects.
The Globe can store the images on the camera or transfer them directly to a workstation connected via USB for processing.
Although the device is not exactly a flyweight at 45 kg, it can be easily set up and made ready for use by two people in a few minutes. When laid flat, it fits into almost any mid-size car boot, making it highly mobile.
recording process
Scan management via software
Along with the hardware, a programm developed by books2net is also supplied to facilitate the scanning of collections. Using a simple interface, a list entry or, more precisely, a project can be created for each object, and the current status of processing can be quickly identified.
The folder structure for the base images, process data and finished model data is automatically created and managed, so that many objects can be captured over the course of a working day and the model calculations can then be carried out overnight.
To do this, the software uses Reality Capture to process the models automatically.
Scanner setup and image capture
The object to be scanned is placed on the object carrier and the focus and alignment of the polarising filter are adjusted on the camera. Then either a pre-set capture programme is selected or manual capture and camera positioning is set.
Depending on the size of the object, various scaling aids can be positioned on the object carrier.
During capture, the images are transferred directly to the books2net software and sorted into files.
Models
During the scanning session I was able to attend, we digitised a number of different objects, and the Books2net team kindly provided me with the raw images of the models for me to process myself.
Glazed ceramic house model
We selected the painted and glazed house model because it has strong radial symmetries, areas of varying gloss on the surface, and a hard-to-reach cavity on the underside.
A total of 224 images were captured and processed with Reality Capture.
Only JPEG images converted on the camera were used for this test run. The Cyberglobe carries a series of colour calibration cards. The raw images I processed here are uncalibrated, hence the slightly strange colour.
I would describe the resulting model itself as being of stable standard quality. Fine surface details are reproduced in the 3D model, and the texture is uniform and sharp across the entire model.
Only in the area of the door, where there are more complex undercuts, are some artefacts visible that would need to be cleaned up manually. The interior of the model could not be illuminated during the scan and was therefore not reconstructed by the algorithm, but closed with a flat plane. This could have been better captured on a manual rig by repositioning the object.
The recording time for the 224 images was 21 minutes. This is a relatively good time, considering that the images were taken from seven different camera heights. During this time, the machine ran completely automatically and did not require any further supervision. Whether these 21 minutes are sufficient to complete meaningful tasks remains to be seen.
Bast box with lid
336 images were captured for the bast box with lid. This took Cyberglobe 30 minutes. Both the box with the lid on and the box and lid separately were captured.
At the time of capture, the automatic RealityCapture script still had some problems combining all images into a single component. Despite the calibration points included, this is mainly due to the approximate radial symmetry of the object.
Errors like these occurred repeatedly during testing, but according to books2net, they have now been fixed.
However, the matte surface of the can was captured in detail and cleanly. Only the shadow under the lid is a little distracting and would not be captured in a manual setup.
Flint artefacts
We wanted to test the possibility of capturing several individual objects at the same time using a series of different flint artefacts. To do this, we placed four flint artefacts of different sizes together on the object carrier and started the capture process.
After 224 shots (20 minutes), the direct capture was complete and processing in the photogrammetry software began.
All four different objects were digitised cleanly at the same time. Of course, these four objects had to be isolated from each other in Reality Capture before texturing could be carried out. Without this isolation, all four objects would have shared one UV and one surface texture. This would have resulted in a significant loss of texture quality. This requires a little manual reworking, but it is quick and easy to do.
Conclusion
Cyberglobe is a convenient all-in-one solution that is easy to use, even for beginners.
The standard generated by the automatic software without manual intervention is of a medium to high level and impresses with its consistent capture speed. A set-up of two to four Cyberglobes would be ideal for capturing larger collections, as there is a waiting time during image capture, but it is not long enough to allow you to concentrate on other tasks.
The compact design allows for quick transport and use even in small spaces. A small trolley for moving the globe and its peripherals is still highly recommended.
For particularly complex objects, manual capture is still recommended, but this is also much more time-consuming.
Since all raw data (reality capture projects, individual images, etc.) is stored, recalculations can be performed at any time using your own parameters, or alternatively, splats of the models can be created.
The price of a Cyberglobe is, of course, higher than the typical student turntable, but the set-up is still in the affordable segment for 3D scanners.
Are you interested in 3D scans, prints, reconstructions, workshops or questions?