Crime Scene 3D Scanning
The scene is released once. Everything not recorded before that moment is reconstructed from photographs and memory — or not at all.
3D scanning records the whole scene as measurable geometry: every surface, every distance, every sightline, captured contactlessly in the time it used to take to lay out the tape.
No sensitive case details required.
How is a crime scene scanned in 3D?
A tripod scanner captures the room from a few positions in minutes; a handheld scanner then records the detail that matters at close range. The two register into one measurable model.
Nothing is touchedNo markers, targets or spray. The scene is recorded exactly as found.
Whole scene, one datasetRoom, doorways, furniture and evidence in a single coordinate system.
Minutes, not hoursA full dome scan in about 1.7 minutes; a body in 2–3.
Measure after releaseAny point, distance, area or angle, once the scene is gone.
Why the order of work decides what survives
The first minutes at a scene are spent deciding what to record and in what sequence, because every step — placing a marker, lifting an item, walking a path — changes what the next photograph shows. Traditional documentation is a set of compromises made under time pressure, and the reconstruction is later built on exactly those compromises.
Scanning changes the sequence rather than adding to it. The wide capture goes first, before anything is moved, and takes minutes: Artec Ray II covers an entire room in a dome scan of about 1.7 minutes, indoors or out, day or night. Close-range capture follows for the detail that matters — a body, a weapon, a stain — and registers into the room scan. The result is one dataset in which nothing has to be re-derived.
The University of Toronto study that compared 3D scanning against photography completed full documentation in 26 minutes against 54, and produced submillimetre-accurate colour documentation that photographs cannot replicate. The team leaves the scene with the record complete, not with a backlog.
The workflow, end to end
Wide first, then detail. Nothing is moved until the room is recorded.
- 1. Capture the roomTripod scan from two or three positions. Every surface and item placed in one coordinate system, in a few minutes.
2. Capture the detailHandheld, close range, over the body, the weapon, the marks. The on-device screen confirms coverage before you move.
3. Register and fuseArtec Studio aligns the close-range captures into the room scan and fuses them into one model.
4. Measure and annotateDistances, angles, areas and cross-sections taken from the model, with the measurement traceable to the file.
5. Archive and shareStandard formats out; the model kept as the permanent record and shared with whoever needs it.
Which scanner for this work
Two devices, two scales. The room needs range and a full spherical field; the detail needs a handheld you can bring to it.
Artec Ray II
- Best for
- The whole scene — room, building, street
- Accuracy
- 1.9 mm at 10 m
- Range
- 0.5–130 m
- Scan time
- About 1.7 minutes for a full dome
- Portability
- Wireless, tripod-mounted
Ray II is what records the scene before anything moves. A full dome in about 1.7 minutes, from a tripod, indoors or outdoors, day or night, out to 130 metres. It captures up to two million points a second, so the geometry is dense enough to measure from, and it needs no targets placed in the scene.
Artec Leo
- Best for
- The detail within reach — bodies, weapons, marks
- 3D point accuracy
- Up to 0.1 mm
- 3D resolution
- Up to 0.2 mm
- Capture
- Wireless, screen and processing onboard
- Capture speed
- 35 million points per second
- Typical time
- A body in 2–3 minutes, a bullet hole in 1–3
Leo captures a human body in 2–3 minutes and a bullet hole in 1–3. No laptop, no cables, so the operator moves freely around the scene, and the built-in screen shows coverage as it builds — there are no gaps discovered later. Used by police forces and crime scene units in more than 60 countries.
“Our experience with the Artec scanners has been excellent. The ability to capture an entire scene in 3D, with accurate measurements, casts and transformed data we can document and present in evidence.”
See how a scene unit captures a whole room in minutes and measures it for years — book a demo built around your casework.
Book a demoQuestions practitioners ask
How long does scanning add to processing a scene?
It replaces time rather than adding to it. A full room dome takes about 1.7 minutes; a body 2–3. Teams report scene time dropping from hours to minutes, and they leave with the documentation complete.
Does the scene need to be lit?
No. The scanners project their own structured or laser light. Ray II captures large indoor and outdoor scenes day or night; the handheld units work in low light.
What if we miss something?
The handheld shows coverage on its own screen in real time, so gaps are visible while you are still at the scene. And the wide scan captures everything in the room, including what nobody had thought to measure.
Which is captured first, the room or the detail?
The room, always — before anything is moved. Close-range detail then registers into that room scan, so every item is placed in the same coordinate system.
Tell us about the work you do
A forensic application specialist will come back with the device that fits it, the accuracy to expect at that scale, and how the data reaches your existing workflow.