Project Microsoft Kinect -> flow design

[felixwolbert]

Hello,

I want to start a project in which I can use Microsoft Kinect as a 3D scanner and use that 3D scan as import for Autodesk Flow Design. It's kind of similar to this project: 

http://labs.blogs.com/its_alive_in_the_lab/2013/06/design-night-peddle-away-with-project-falcon.html

I have the following questions:

1) How do I import the 3D scan into Flow Design (need to convert the point cloud from kinect into a mesh, but I don't know how)?

2) Is it possible make a 3D scan of a moving object and import that as some kind of movie (live footage would be even better) into Flow Design?

3) Is it possible to combine multiple kinect devices to make sure I have a complete 3D scan of the object?

Maybe there are better alternatives for my project, if so please suggest them to me!

Thanks in advance

Felix Wolbert

[hartogj · Accepted solution]

Nice project, we're glad to hear of the interest. I'll start off by saying I have no in depth knowledge of Kinect - only Flow Design. Here are some things to think about.

1) I don't have a Kinect myself, but it looks like there are several utilities out there that will help you create an STL. If you are stuck, let us know what file types you are working with. Ultimately an STL going into Flow Design would be ideal.

2) This isn't possible in the version out there now. It works with static geometry only.

3) If you want an alternative to using 1 Kinect, you might consider using another approach for collecting the data. Reality capture using photos (example service = 123DCatch) is another option that could work if you want to experiement with different approaches.

Jon