Photoneo 3D Meshing

Photoneo 3D Meshing is a software solution for fast and precise 3D model creation from multiple 3D scans or from a continuous stream of 3D data captured by Photoneo 3D sensors. Photoneo positions it for advanced 3D data acquisition across robotic guidance, quality inspection, and reverse engineering. It is supplied as two separate libraries, each with its own graphical interface.

Photoneo's own framing of the product is direct: no CAD, no problem. Create a 3D model of any object with professional industrial 3D vision, then transform it into a workable CAD model for your projects.

Does Bin Picking Studio 1.12 replace this? No. Bin Picking Studio 1.12 added in-app 3D model creation from a scan, and Photoneo describes it as ideal for structured or semi-structured applications where the object is consistently viewed from the same angle the model was created from. For fully random object orientations, Photoneo states they still recommend creating the 3D model using Photoneo 3D Meshing software. Randomly oriented parts in a bin are the case 3D Meshing remains built for.

Two Libraries: Which One You Need

The two libraries are not tiers of the same tool. They take different input, support different sensors, and align data by different methods. Choose by how the scan will be captured.

Photoneo publishes separate user manuals for each library at photoneo.com/kb/p3dm and photoneo.com/kb/p3dim.

What Each Library Does

3D Meshing, Standard library

Photoneo describes the Standard library as an application for automatic mesh creation from scans acquired by Photoneo 3D sensors from multiple distinct perspectives. It provides both a graphical user interface and an API environment, and performs scan acquisition, point cloud alignment, filtering, and surface reconstruction as a one-click solution.

Because the pipeline is sequential with full control of individual steps, this is the library for work where model quality is the priority and the part can be brought to the sensor: reverse engineering a component with no available file, building an inspection reference, or generating a localization model for a picking cell.

3D Instant Meshing, Instant library

Photoneo describes the Instant library as a UI and C++ library for real-time tracking and integration of 3D scans into triangular meshes, intended to be built into your own application. It creates models on the fly by combining meshing algorithms with the MotionCam-3D data stream, either by manually moving the sensor or by using multiple statically mounted cameras around a moving object.

Because alignment is automatic and no global coordinate system is required, this is the library for scanning objects too large or too awkward to fixture: vehicles, shipping containers, structures, and anything digitized by walking a sensor around it or carrying it on a robot arm.

Applications Photoneo Names

• Robotic guidance. Generating the object model that CAD-based localization needs when no CAD file is available.
• Quality inspection. Building a reference model, and using real-time data flow for conformity checking and damage control.
• Reverse engineering. Producing geometry from a physical sample that can be transformed into a workable CAD model.
• Large object scanning. Combining robotic arms with Photoneo sensors and 3D Meshing to digitize large and complex objects on the fly.
• Digital twin creation. Combining point cloud data with color and texture to produce a complete digital version of a real object.

Recommended PC Specifications

Photoneo publishes two recommended configurations. This is host PC software, so the machine matters.

Photoneo labels both blocks identically on its product page, so the mapping of configuration to library is not stated. Configuration 2 carries the higher GPU requirement and the Linux option. Contact Automation Distribution and we will confirm the correct target for your intended library before you spec a machine.

Licensing and Installation

• Protection method. Photoneo uses Sentinel licensing, which installs automatically alongside 3D Meshing when the Install Sentinel option is selected during setup.
• Hardware key. Running the software requires a USB Sentinel dongle connected to the machine at all times, or a valid trial license.
• Trial licenses. Photoneo offers a free trial. The software must be installed first, because the Sentinel component generates the c2v fingerprint file the license request depends on.
• Software prerequisite. PhoXi Control 1.10 or newer.
• Multiple versions. More than one version can be installed on the same computer by choosing different installation directories.
• Marker patterns. Available inside PhoXi Control under Menu, Tools, Marker Pattern. Photoneo specifies they must be printed without any scaling.

What You Need Alongside It

3D Meshing processes scan data. It does not capture it. A working setup needs a sensor, and depending on the library, a calibration target.

• For the Standard library: a PhoXi 3D Scanner Gen3, a previous-generation PhoXi 3D Scanner, or a MotionCam-3D. Plus a 300 x 300 mm marker board, unless you are using a rotary table with an encoder. Calibration is required for every scan in the marker pattern workflow, so treat the board as part of the base configuration rather than an optional extra.
• For the Instant library: a MotionCam-3D or MotionCam-3D Color. A PhoXi 3D Scanner will not work with this library. Photoneo notes that pairing Instant Meshing with MotionCam-3D Color delivers color-textured composite point clouds or meshed models within minutes.
• Downstream: if the model is destined for a picking cell, it feeds Bin Picking Studio or Locator Studio as the localization model.

Specifying 3D Meshing: Automation Distribution Application Notes

The information above is drawn from Photoneo's published documentation. This section is Automation Distribution's guidance, based on that documentation and our experience specifying these systems. It is not manufacturer specification.

• Let the part decide the library, not the price. If the object can be placed in front of a fixed sensor, the Standard library will give you a better model, because you control every step of the pipeline. If the object cannot be moved or fixtured, the Instant library is the only one that applies. This is a physical constraint, not a preference.
• Budget the marker board with the software. Teams routinely order the software and the sensor, then discover at commissioning that the Standard workflow calibrates on every scan. It is a small line item that holds up a whole deployment.
• Scan resolution sets your model's floor. Features finer than your sensor's point spacing will not appear in the mesh. On the PhoXi 3D Scanner Gen3, point-to-point distance at the sweet spot runs from 0.16 mm on the S to 0.83 mm on the XL. Pick the sensor for the smallest feature that has to survive into the model, not for the size of the part.
• Material matters more than most people expect. A scan with dropouts becomes a mesh with holes. On reflective metal, black plastic, dark carbon fiber, glossy paint, rubber, or translucent parts, the blue laser variant is what Photoneo points to, rating it at up to 2.5 times better data completeness on complex materials.
• Plan for the dongle. The USB key has to stay connected while the software runs. That is fine on an engineering workstation and it is a real consideration on a locked-down or headless production machine. Raise it early with whoever controls that hardware.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Photoneo 3D Meshing?

Photoneo 3D Meshing is software for creating 3D models from scans captured by Photoneo 3D sensors. Photoneo describes it as a solution for fast and precise 3D model creation from multiple 3D scans or from a continuous stream of 3D data, aimed at robotic guidance, quality inspection, and reverse engineering. It ships as two libraries, Standard and Instant, each with its own graphical interface.

Can I create a CAD model without a CAD file?

That is the product's stated purpose. Photoneo positions 3D Meshing with the line "No CAD? No Problem," and states you can create a 3D model of any object and afterward transform it into a workable CAD model ready for your projects. The input is a scan of a physical sample.

What is the difference between the Standard and Instant libraries?

Standard builds high-quality models from a set of scans taken from multiple perspectives, works with the PhoXi 3D Scanner or MotionCam-3D, and runs a sequential pipeline where you control each step. It requires all scans to share one global coordinate system, calibrated either per scan with a marker pattern or once at initialization when using a rotary table with an encoder. Instant builds models on the fly from a MotionCam-3D point cloud stream, tracks camera movement automatically from 3D features, needs no global coordinate system, and is supplied as a UI plus C++ library for integration into your own application.

Which sensor do I need?

The Standard library supports the PhoXi 3D Scanner and MotionCam-3D or MotionCam-3D Color. The Instant library supports MotionCam-3D and MotionCam-3D Color only, because it works from a continuous point cloud stream that a static scanner does not produce.

Do I need to put markers or targets on the object I am scanning?

No. Photoneo notes that its sensors do not require sticking targets over scanned objects. In the Standard workflow, calibration uses a separate marker pattern placed in the scene rather than adhesive targets on the part itself.

Does it output a point cloud or a mesh?

Both. Photoneo notes the practical difference: a point cloud is millions of high-density points and cannot be imported directly into CAD and 3D programs, while a mesh describes the object as polygons and is the format 3D modeling software accepts.

How is the software licensed?

Photoneo uses Sentinel licensing, installed automatically with the software. Running it requires a USB Sentinel dongle connected to the machine at all times, or a valid trial license. Because the Sentinel component generates the fingerprint file a license request needs, the software has to be installed before a license can be requested.

Can it be used with a rotary table?

Yes. In the Standard workflow, using a rotary table with an encoder for positioning means calibration is required only once at initialization rather than for every scan, which removes the per-scan marker pattern step.