3D scanning does not have to require expensive equipment and software. Using photogrammetry techniques you can do quite a bit of scanning for free with just a camera and some free, and (partly) open-source software. For lighting, a cloudy day is good or for small objects fluorescent lighting also casts very little shadow. You can also try doing it inside a shadow.

--Note: No need to install Visual SFM or CMVS, just extract Visual SFM, then extract CMVS into the same folder.
--The download link for CMVS is on this page, lower right called "Download Zip". https://github.com/pmoulon/CMVS-PMVS In the zip file open "BinariesWIn-Linux / Win64-VS2010" Then copy all the files in there and paste them in the same folder as Visual SFM Of course if you're using WIn32 you'll do that one instead.
--If you press tab and nothing happens all I can say is make sure CMVS is installed as described and check the log window for errors. I don't know any more than that.
--Many people are confused about where all the files go. They really all just get dumped into the same folder. Here's what mine looks like:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/y3bmjrpbjom...

--This info is in an annotation in the video but you may not see it on mobile devices: "Surface Reconstruction Poisson" has been moved in newer versions. Look for "Screened Poisson Surface Reconstruction" under Filters, then Remeshing, Simplification and Reconstruction.

--Many people are asking if it could done with video and the frames saved out to make the photos. It probably could but I don't think the quality would be as good because photos are higher resolution and also taking stills forces you to pay attention to the framing, lighting, focus, etc. to get the best quality images possible.

---------I've put a lot of work into this tutorial as well as the comments and description text. If you like it please consider becoming a patron. Donations help me make more and better videos!
  / philnolan3dj  



Software you'll need:
Visual SFM (CUDA version if you use nVidia)
http://ccwu.me/vsfm/

CMVS For Windows
http://www.di.ens.fr/cmvs/

Meshlab
http://meshlab.sourceforge.net/

Here is the rock in full 3D after cleanup and retopo.
https://skfb.ly/Cxxp

If you'd like to join Sketchfab and display your own models please use my link.
https://skfb.ly/BVJN

If you'd like to use my photos you can get them here (259MB)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/g9rxzs59lt5...

This is the original tutorial I followed which has a ton of information, but I wanted my videos to get right to the point.
http://wedidstuff.heavyimage.com/inde...

Shot with my Galaxy Note 3, edited in HitFilm and Photoshop

See my 3D work at http://philnolan3d.com