January 30th, 2023. Written by Art Pekun.

This article will assist you in selecting the optimal hardware for your 3D scanning and post-processing needs. A list of general hardware and software requirements can be found at this link:

General Hardware Specifications Recommended by Artec

For more specific hardware requirements that outline the impact of different Artec Studio processes and algorithms on specific PC components (CPU, GPU, RAM…), continue reading here.

Specific Hardware Requirements Explained:

Scanning

The hardware requirements during the scanning process mostly depend on whether the Real-time fusion (RTF) algorithm is being used or not:

Case 1: Scanning without real-time fusion:

  • RAM: used to store the scanned data.
  • GPU: used to display the data on the screen and render the scanned data in the 3D View window.
  • CPU: the cores are used for reconstruction and tracking (i.e. calculations and aligning the newly captured frames to previously captured ones). This process is performed in real-time at 16 FPS for Artec Eva and 8 FPS for Artec [Space] Spider.

Case 2: Scanning in real-time fusion mode:

  • RAM: used to store the scanned data.
  • GPU: used to generate a 3D meshed model in real-time (as well as to display the data on the screen and render the scanned data in the 3D View window).
    Note: in Artec Studio 11 and newer, the only limit is the GPU memory of your card. This means that technically, there are no limitations in terms of object size (in comparison to older versions of Artec Studio).
  • CPU: the cores are used for reconstruction and tracking (i.e. calculations and aligning the newly captured frames to previously captured ones). This process is performed in real-time at 16 FPS for Artec Eva and 8 FPS for Artec [Space] Spider, but may perform slower if the GPU cannot keep up with building the Real-time fused 3D meshed model.

Post-scanning (only valid if the HD scanning mode was used)

  • The GPU or CPU can be used to perform HD reconstruction calculations.
    If a compatible GPU is detected, it will be used for HD reconstruction.
    Otherwise, the CPU will be used. Resorting to the CPU will result in a very time-consuming calculation and may take multiple hours, depending on the number of frames to process.
  • The RAM is used to store the data during and after HD reconstruction.

Post-processing

  • The calculations of most Artec Studio algorithms are distributed between the CPU cores.
    A larger number of cores as well as higher per-core performance will both result in faster post-processing (keep this in mind if you are aiming to post-process large objects). For more details on CPU core usage, refer to the table further below.
  • RAM is used to store the data and any intermediate calculation results. If the amount of available RAM is insufficient, Artec Studio will move some of the calculations to the swap file (page file) on your hard drive. This will noticeably slow down the calculations.
  • The GPU is used for texture mapping and for rendering the scans and/or fusions in the 3D View window. Available texture atlas sizes (512 x 512, 1024 x 1024, 2048 x 2048, 4096 x 4096, etc) are displayed in the “Texture” section. The key factor defining available sizes is the amount of video memory (VRAM) on the GPU. Resolutions of 8192 x 8192 and higher will therefore only be available on higher-end GPUs.

CPU core utilization

AlgorithmN of cores utilized by the algorithm
Fine registrationAll processor cores
Global registrationAll processor cores
Outlier removalAll processor cores
Fast fusionAll processor cores
Smooth fusionOne processor core
Sharp fusionAll processor cores
Mesh simplificationOne processor core