Photogrammetry vs Scanning

I spoke to Jonathan Mercado an alumni of the Drexel DIGM Masters program and he had also asked the question, laser scanners or photogrammetry?

Benefits of  photogrammetry:

• much cheaper than 3D scanning hardware
• much faster prep time
• non destructive
• produces a crisper albedo

The benefit of 3D scanning is that you can see the model in realtime, whereas in photogrammetry you have to wait for the reconstruction process.

He sent me some of his documentation as well.


So that settles it! This is not to say scanning is completely obsolete-- I do think there are specific use cases where scanners are more applicable. But I have also confirmed my suspicions that photogrammetry is the way to go, particularly for the creative fields.