Scanning a material involves photographing the material from different angles using a Bandicoot chart and a handheld camera with a flash.
Download the 2-page scanning guide to print and have handy while you scan:
Guide - How to Shimmer Scan
You can make your own Bandicoot chart in a few minutes.
Start by downloading a Bandicoot chart:
Download A4 Bandicoot Chart here
(more chart sizes are in the FAQ)
Then:
Your new Bandicoot chart is now ready to use.
Tips for printing
The only photo equipment you need to scan a material is a camera with a flash.
Here’s how to set your camera up for taking a Bandicoot scan.
Camera and flash settings:
Exposure - Manual (M)
Aperture (Av) - f/16
Shutter speed (Tv) - 1/200 s
ISO - 100
Photo format - RAW
White balance - Flash
Image stabilisation (lens and camera) - Off
Flash power - Manual (M) 1/16 (adjust for best exposure, see below)
Keep the same camera, zoom and flash settings for all of the photos in a scan.
Take photos of your material
With chart in hand and camera set up, you’re ready to scan your material.
Start by placing your material to be scanned on the floor or a low surface like a stool. Place the chart on top of the material. The part of the material visible inside the chart will appear in your Shimmer View. You’ll want a metre or two of clear space around the chart on all sides so that you can move around and take photos.
Check your camera settings by taking a test flash photo with the camera over the top of the chart. Review the photo and histogram on the back of the camera:
Now scan your material by taking 25 flash photos of the material and chart from a range of different angles:
Overhead - 1 photo from directly above
Ring 1 - 8 photos in a small inner circle about 8° from vertical
Ring 2 - 8 photos in a medium circle about 16° from vertical
Ring 3 - 8 photos in a large outer circle about 24° from vertical
The vertical angles only need to be approximate. Bandicoot will automatically detect the precise angle for each photo when we process the scan.
Keep the chart as big as possible in every frame, but without cutting off any of the chart. You can rotate the camera freely to match the chart shape.
Shimmer views work on a wide range of materials. Have a look through our
gallery for inspiration. But there are some limitations:
The most important steps for taking a great scan are:
Now that you’ve finished your scan, it’s time to upload it for processing and editing. See the Process section of our guide for details.
Take a handful of photos of the material from a series of different angles, using a camera with a flash.
After uploading your photos, we process them and show you the resulting ShimmerView.
Publish the Shimmer View and embed it in your retail site, or download the texture files for 3D workflows.
Frequently asked questions. Someone else might have had the same questions as you have.