STL-file from a MCT scan

[L.J.P.S]

STL-file from a MCT scan (part1)

hello to all,
This is not a topic of scanning with David, but for me it's quite interresting enough to show. Some weeks ago a friend asked me some help in visualisation.
He is verry occupied in determinating insects that are included in "ambre" (fossilised resin of the Pinus succinifera) and he sent me the STL-file made from
the MCT-scan of this insect. MCT-scan stands for micro computertomography scanning and this scan was done at the UV Gent.
Notify that the insect is just somme 5 mm long.
His main objective for this scanning was to make a count of the number of induvidual eye cells of the compound eye. I dont know why, but the visualisation of this scanning was not verry handy for making the counting and finaly my frind decided to order a 3d print (fused deposit in a kind of ABS) This model could not resolve the problem of counting, unless he damaged it . Then he ordered a black model. The black one gave also no solution and it was more fragile then the lager white model.
Infact the surface of this in stl transformed scan is realy bad, it is verry "voxelised" , I would say: composed out of small cubes and it results in a hooking kind
(velcro-kind surface) of sanding paper.
As I allready said: he told me that the visualisation of this scanning was not very handy (visualisation and rendering was made in VGL).
They say that the transformation of those MCT-scannings to a STL-file is very complex and expencive.
But vieuwing this STL, I was verry disappointed about that "layered" and "voxelised" result.
I used in the first place David-software to visualise and separate the elements of the insect body.
(David Fusion is very handy and quick for such a job)
I put the separated compound eye in Blender, made a little sfere (the single eye bal), duplicated and posed it as many times as I needed.
I controled the placements and then I opend the "out-liner' where you can see the number of duplications. (infact realy simple, no hard job)
So job done in less then 1,1/2h and my frind could continue his description of the Insect and complete his article.
(for those who are interrested in the counting: 122 omattidia (tubed eye cells) for the left compound eye and 119 for the right . The
insect belongs to the Strepsiptera: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strepsiptera)

[courtesy Hans Henderickx , macro photography Hans Henderickx]

Luc

[L.J.P.S]

STL-file from a MCT scan (part 2)

[VDX]

... impressive!

Viktor

[hal]

Really an intersting job.
Thanks for sharing

Mattia