Is the MetroY Ultra good enought for scanning model horses? The ATOS Q 12MP is, but it cost $50K. What about the MetroY Ultra? I'm thinking of getting one to see if it can match the ATOS Q. For 1:8 scale model horse sculptures, the MetroY Ultra (which just made its debut at TCT Asia in March 2026) is a surgical tool compared to the "sledgehammer" approach of general-purpose scanners.
At 1:8 scale, a horse is roughly 25–30 cm long. At this size, a 0.005mm difference in accuracy (the jump from the Pro’s 0.02mm to the Ultra’s 0.015mm) isn't just a number—it’s the difference between seeing a vein on the horse's barrel or having it smoothed over as "noise."
The "Anatomy & Undercut" Checklist
When testing the MetroY Ultra (or Pro) for your sculptures, these are the specific areas where the scanner's Single Line Mode and high-density laser lines will be pushed to the limit:
| Anatomy Area | Scanning Challenge | What to Look For in the Mesh |
| The Frog (Hoof) | Deep, narrow V-shape under the hoof. | Check if the Single Line Mode can reach the apex of the frog without "shadowing" (holes in the data). |
| Girth & Inner Leg | Severe undercuts where the leg meets the body. | Look for "noise spikes." High-quality scanners like the Ultra should produce a clean wall here, not a jagged mess. |
| Ears & Nostrils | Thin edges and deep cavities. | Verify that the ears don't look "melted." The 0.03mm point distance of the Ultra is vital for keeping ear-tips sharp. |
| Mane/Tail Texture | Highly repetitive, fine parallel lines. | See if the Parallel Laser Mode tracks the strands or if it "blurs" them into a single mass. |
| Muscular Definition | Subtle transitions (e.g., the flank or stifle). | In Blender, apply a MatCap shader. If you see "stepping" or facets, the scanner’s resolution is too low. The Ultra should be butter-smooth. |
MetroY Ultra: Recommended Workstation Specs
| Component | Recommended Specification (Professional) |
| Operating System | Windows 11 (64-bit) (Optimized for Thread Director) |
| Processor (CPU) | Intel Core i9-14900K or AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (Min. 8 Cores / 16 Threads; Base clock $\geq 3.0 \text{ GHz}$) |
| Graphics (GPU) | NVIDIA RTX 4070 / 4080 (12GB+ VRAM) (Note: RTX "Gaming" drivers are preferred over Quadro for this software) |
| Memory (RAM) | 64 GB to 128 GB DDR5 (Crucial for fusing large, high-resolution point clouds) |
| Storage (Primary) | 2 TB NVMe PCIe Gen 4 or Gen 5 SSD (High-speed cache is vital for real-time data streaming) |
| Interface | USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gbps) or Wi-Fi 6E |
Pro-Tip for your Blender Workflow
- Don't over-smooth: Scanners often produce a "fuzzy" surface at the micron level. Use Blender's Sculpt Mode with a Smooth Brush (low strength) only on the large muscle masses, but keep the raw scan data for the face and hooves.
- The "Ultra" advantage: Because the Ultra captures more "true" points, you can use a higher Voxel Remesh resolution in Blender without creating artifacts, ensuring the 3D print looks like a hand-carved original rather than a digital copy.
Can you think of any other tests to try?