3D scan at home: Use Xbox Kinect as a 3D scanner - how it works

In this tutorial, we show you step by step how to use an Xbox Kinect as a 3D scanner at home.

Use Xbox Kinect as a 3D scanner: The required hardware

Of course you need an Xbox Kinect to scan.

You need the first version of the Kinect for this. The newer version of the Kinect scanner is currently not yet supported. To save money, you can buy the Kinect sensor used. This is usually more worthwhile than a new one.
You also need an Xbox Kinect adapter cable that you can use to connect it to your PC.
It is also very practical if you have a graphics card that supports Nvidia CUDA. But the scan works even without such a graphics card.

Before you connect the Kinect to your PC, you must first install all important drivers and SDKs.

Download the Kinect Runtime v1.8, the Kinect Runtime v2.0, the Kinect SDK 1.8 and the Kinect SDK 2.0.
After downloading all the EXE files, right click on a file and open the properties . Then click on the Compatibility tab. Check the Run program in compatibility mode for: and select Windows 8 from the drop-down menu. Finally, click Apply and then OK . Repeat this step for all EXE files.
If you have Windows 7 or Windows 8, you do not have to change the compatibility settings.
Then run one EXE file at a time and install the software. Start with the runtimes.
Finally, you can install the actual 3D scan software. To do this, download and install the free version of the Skanect software. If you have a 64-bit CPU, be sure to also install the 64-bit version.

Now you can start scanning a person or an object.

To do this, connect the Kinect with the adapter to your PC and start the Skanect software.
Skanect is relatively simple and guides you step by step through the scan. To scan yourself, sit on a swivel chair in front of the scanner. Start the scan and slowly turn yourself.
Finally, export the model as a PLY or STL file. You can edit this further with other 3D programs, such as mesh mixers.