Lévis, Quebec - Creaform, a Lévis-based company specializing in 3D technology, has executed the digital scanning of Bonhomme Carnaval, star of the Quebec City Winter Carnival, within the scope of its annual 3D scanning contest.
The company challenged its employees to complete an original 3D digitalization project on the theme “The 4 elements” using a REVscan laser scanner and standard postprocessing software. The results of their work would then be introduced at a special event, and the winners would receive coveted prizes.
Inspired by the fact that water is the material snow is made of, the winning team came up with the idea of digitalizing Bonhomme Carnaval, the official spokesmascot of the Quebec City Winter Carnival, whose 54th edition is now in full swing through February 17. Displaying his legendary good humor, Bonhomme agreed to take part. The team of three Creaform employees set to work digitalizing Bonhomme using advanced 3D laser scanners developed by the Lévis company. Of course, such an ambitious project was not without its challenges.
“First of all, the texture of Bonhomme’s arrow sash and stocking cap were particularly difficult to reproduce, since they are tremendously complex,” explains David Gagné, mechanical engineer and team member.
Despite minor technical difficulties, the process was completed in five hours using two REVscan laser scanners. After taking away second prize in the contest, the digital files created were handed over to the Quebec City Winter Carnival. There they should prove extremely useful, making it possible to create spinoff products such as miniatures and effigies that match Bonhomme’s actual proportions, as well as possible 3D ads and 3D animations.