3D artist looking for advice on a 3D Handheld/Portable Scanner

Hi there!

I’m a 3D artist/animator currently studying 3D animation and working part time in product advertising. With my work, I do a lot of 3D animation renders of existing products where I usually model from scratch. However I’m starting to get projects that use a lot of heavy machinery as I create animations in the oil/gas industry.

I’m mainly looking for a 3D Scanner that can get the base shape of the machinery to a good enough level where I can see most of the existing detail. I work with both small and large machinery/products and wanted to try save some time for me and the client and thought a 3D scanner might help out.

I want to retopologise/remodel on top of the scanned assets and enhance the meshes with my modeling skills to make it usable for animation and to clean it up.

I’m unsure if I need to spend heaps of money for the sort of stuff I do, as I mainly just want to get the base shape and details, and then work on them more myself with my current skill set.

If anyone has any recommendations of a good scanner for what I need, I’d greatly appreciate it! I’m happy to spend between £400-£1200. I can also use my laptop if handheld isn’t an option for my budget.

Thank you so much for reading, i greatly appreciate it :).