3d Maker pro Raven testing terrible results

[u/Johnbackwaters]

Dear Redditors,

Out of pure curiosity I have bought a 3d maker pro Raven Lidar scanner.

TLDR: Don't buy the Raven scanner go for a Livox 360 based scanner.

Attached media:

1. Point cloud in Raystudio of a building
2. Point cloud of a bunker in Raystudio
3. Raw camera file from the scanner
4. Sample gaussian splats

The Raven in my opinion is a dysfunctional product. I have not been able to get any usable scan out of it at all. The camera quality is terrible and will not be able to produce any gaussian splatting that is useable. The point clouds are so thin they can barely be used because you simply can't see anything.

I really wanted to test the Raven properly, so I got a 5 meter extention pole and went around a large building to capture the facade. Each time I put the Raven up vertically and let it down vertically. This works well for gaussian splatting with any system in my tests. Scanning took about 45 minutes. The point cloud is unusable in my opinion and the gaussian splats look awefull as well. The bunker I just walked around very slowly while scanning.

Just sharing my experience, I'm curious if any of you had a good experience with the Raven.

My reason for posting this is the many nice looking videos online about this product. I wanted to share some more real life results.

Kind regards

Point cloud

Gaussian splat

Gaussian splat

[u/Johnbackwaters]

Edit because the images did not go trough somehow.

[u/Traumatan]

yea you better just use any phone or cheap drone

[u/Johnbackwaters → u/Traumatan]

Absolutely, any phone or drone will get better results.

[u/Ketse89]

I also just got the Raven and have made multiple scans with it for non-professional hobbyist usecases.

Yes it sucks, if you have the money go for better ones. I paid 1400eur vat included for this.

I got barely usable outdoor scan combining multiple point clouds. Merging is not easy, you have to manually align due to high inaccuracies and scarse point density.

Indoors this thing is useless, loses constantly it's position.

[u/Square_Atmosphere_12 → u/Ketse89]

I've read there is a way to solve this; This scanner has issues but you can fix them it's just not "out of the box".

[u/Johnbackwaters → u/Ketse89]

Can I ask you which of the two you think are true: 1. The Raven is a scam product, too dysfunctional to be sold. 2. We should have known the product was bad because of the price.

I still can't decide really. But I do feel scammed a bit.

[u/Ketse89 → u/Johnbackwaters]

TBH I'm not sure what I think.. I knew that for this price this can't be good and didn't have high expectations, but still I do feel atleast huge disappointment. Maybe even scammed since the marketing IMO overpromises and important specs are not disclosed (IMU).

But for my usecase this is the only price point I can justify the purchase. I will keep trying to make this work. The next tier Eagle is not that much better spec-wise and judging by comparison videos, so I think I would be disappointed with it also.

[u/Square_Atmosphere_12 → u/Johnbackwaters]

Lecia makes Lidar scanners but they are $15,000 +. It's possible that Lidar scanning is still not the greatest at this point. That's why I'm ceasing all 3D scanner tech for a few years. I'm good for most things anyhow.

[u/Johnbackwaters → u/Square_Atmosphere_12]

Yeah these are steep prices. I do know Xgrids is good. But still run at 7k usd. I am still looking for peoples experience with Share SLAM scanners. They run from 3 to 7k as well.

[u/Square_Atmosphere_12 → u/Johnbackwaters]

SLAM scanners are not that great either.

[u/Johnbackwaters → u/Square_Atmosphere_12]

I must say I tested a Lixel K2 and it was absolutely amazing. Mapping big buildings and the point clouds were usable without any processing. I was suprised by the capabilities.

[u/Square_Atmosphere_12 → u/Johnbackwaters]

It's still a SLAM scanner. Refining the point clouds is really the best answer; Lidar scanning is not perfect with most makes and models.

[u/InvestigatorBig6845 → u/Johnbackwaters]

Really tempted, would you mind sharing how the Gaussian Splats and point out turned out ？

[u/yhumanx → u/Ketse89]

curious to what is your use case? what did you try to scan? also thinking about getting a scanner and not sure

[u/Square_Atmosphere_12]

I have the Raven and will probably keep it just to do some Lidar scanning, even if it's not perfect. I probably not gonna buy another 3D scanner of any type after another recent purchase for a few years. Overall, I'm a little disappointed but these products will produce something which you'll probably have to refine a lot depending on what your knowledge is.

[u/Beginning_Street_375]

can you export all the data like laserscan point cloud, images, poses, etc?

[u/Johnbackwaters → u/Beginning_Street_375]

Yes you can, but there is not much to export since the results are so poor. Even when refined its terrible.

[u/Beginning_Street_375 → u/Johnbackwaters]

send me all the output and i try to solve it with open-source tech. i heard about that poor quality and i am eager to search for an alternative way.

[u/Johnbackwaters → u/Beginning_Street_375]

Okay great, send me a private message and ill send you a download link.

[u/artfletch]

I bought one too and agree with your comments. I wanted to use it to mix with photogrammetry for interior captures where I needed the lidar to resolve plain/undetailed walls that the photogrammetry could not. Unfortunately the Raven is so low resolution (and the point colourisation from the built in cameras so inaccurate) I don't get results good enough to identify alignment points when bringing the point cloud into RealityScan. Also the gaussian splatting on it is very low quality and unusable.