Fix a 3D scan

Holes or missing areas

First check the physical object: is this an intended opening, an area the scanner never saw or a gap created during processing? View the raw points around the boundary before filling it.

1. For an area that was never captured, try a new viewing angle and inspect whether the missing face is actually visible to the scanner. Use the surface guide if the gap follows a dark, shiny or clear patch.
2. For an accidental opening in a decorative or printable surface, fill a copy locally and inspect the shape from both sides. Keep intended holes and thin walls open as designed.
3. For a mounting face, bearing seat or other functional area, get the missing measurement or capture before approving the repaired shape.

EXStar Hub's mesh-editing guide ↗ describes automatic filling by hole perimeter and manual boundary selection. The Revo Scan 5 manual ↗ offers plane or curved fills. Those tools create a surface across the gap; review that added shape before using it.

Check the result: the intended opening is still open, the added patch has the right profile and a known dimension near the repair still agrees. Compare the downloadable cleanup examples.

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Double surfaces or a stepped seam

Hide individual captures in turn. If each looks coherent on its own but the combined result has two edges, return to alignment before smoothing the mesh.

Choose overlapping views with recognizable geometry or the markers required by your capture mode. Check the same features on both sides of the join, then inspect a distant area as well. A join that looks good in one close-up can still diverge elsewhere.

In EXStar Hub's project-alignment instructions ↗, manual feature alignment uses at least three common points that are not in a straight line. Its automatic feature method has limits on repetitive shapes. Follow the requirements of your own scanner and software version.

Check the result: one continuous surface across the overlap, no second edge at the seam and a consistent fit away from the points used for alignment. If the raw capture itself contains a jump, repeat that section with a stable object and tracking setup.

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Rough surfaces or melted detail

Compare the raw points, the first mesh and the processed copy. This shows which stage introduced the change.

• If the roughness is already in the points, check capture distance, tracking and surface preparation using the mode's instructions. Change one condition and repeat a small area.
• If the points contain the feature but the final mesh loses it, return to the earlier stage and reduce smoothing or simplification.
• If a small floating piece might be part of the object, inspect it before removing disconnected components.

The Revo Scan 5 editing manual ↗ separates point-cloud processing from mesh smoothing and simplification. Keep those stages separate while comparing copies.

Check the result: the smallest useful groove, edge or hole survives the export. See how point spacing relates to feature size.

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Wrong size after import

Measure a known span in the exported mesh and again in the destination program. Record the units selected at import before rescaling anything.

Autodesk's Insert Mesh instructions ↗ let you choose the unit represented by one file coordinate. Use that setting to import the original again, then check the known span. Changing the document's display units alone does not establish which physical size the file represents.

For example, a span of 25 file units represents 25 mm when imported as millimeters, or 635 mm when imported as inches. That arithmetic can explain a uniform factor. If different areas disagree by different amounts, investigate the capture or alignment rather than applying one guessed scale factor.

Check the result: at least two known spans, including one away from the first reference, have the intended scale. Try the existing scale-error file exercise.

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A slicer shows holes or missing layers

Inspect the slice preview around the affected height. Look for open boundaries, intersecting shells, reversed faces or a wall that is too thin for the chosen print settings.

Repair a copy and slice it again. Check the layers through the repair and every intended cavity. A filled opening can make a printable mesh while changing the part you wanted to reproduce.

Prusa's model-repair guidance ↗ explains that automatic repair has limits. Use the commands available in your installed slicer, and inspect the resulting geometry and layers rather than relying only on a repair-success message.

Check the result: the required walls and openings appear in the preview, the scale is correct and no added patch blocks a functional feature. Practice the mesh checks with the supplied files.

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The mesh opens, but you cannot edit the part

Choose what you need to do next. For reference geometry, a mesh may be enough. To change a hole or wall as a solid, follow a reconstruction workflow. To rebuild the part from named dimensions, request a native parametric model with the agreed features.

Use the scan-to-CAD guide to choose that route and check the actual edit in your CAD application.

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