“3D printing” is a confusing term for the increasingly popular technique of using inkjet-like devices to create solid objects from a variety of materials by laying down a thin later at a time until the full form emerges.

But before you could “print” something solid, you needed a 3D model for the device to work from — a computer file showing the underlying geometry and, in some cases, the surface texture. [See here.] Now 3D printer pioneer MakerBot is expanding from the output side to also address the input part of the equation with a prototype of its Digitizer Desktop 3D Scanner.

Using lasers and cameras, “the MakerBot Digitizer is an innovative new way to take a physical object, scan it, and create a digital file,” the company says, letting anyone “without any design, CAD software, or 3D modeling experience at all” make a 3D model — “and then print the item again and again on a MakerBot Replicator.”

3D scanners aren’t new, of course — but they have been pricey industrial devices. While pricing wasn’t announced, MakerBot says its hardware will be aimed at consumers.

“The Digitizer is a great tool for archiving, prototyping, replicating, and digitizing prototypes, models, parts, artifacts, artwork, sculptures, clay figures, jewelry, etc.” MakerBot says. “If something gets broken, you can print it again.”

Brooklyn-based MakerBot announced its first 3D printer four years ago.

Like a lot of other imaging hobbyists, I’ve enjoyed playing around with 3D models of objects, settings, and even figures — but making a scene by hand is skilled, time-consuming task.

No longer.

The Lynx A is a simple-to-use device that yields usable 3D models that work in most modeling, rendering, and animation applications. “ Instead of outputting 2D images, it produces 3D models of whatever you point it at,” says Lynx Laboratories. “It’s the world’s first point-and-shoot 3D camera.”

The basic idea is not new — for example, we’ve covered a free app from Autodesk that will make a model when you just move your iPad around a small object — but the implementation here is. The handheld camera, akin to a tablet PC, can be swept across a room… and then it generates 3D geometry, colors, and textures for everything it takes a picture of. It can also capture motion, generating wide-ranging movements that can be mapped onto animated figures.

The tablet measures 11.5x8x1 inches, and weighs six pounds. It has its own Intel Core i5 2.6GHz processor, 500GB drive, and a 14-inch LCD. It has a VGA-res imager and a 3D sensor for capturing depth information.

Austin, Texas-based Lynx is raising funding — on Kickstarter of course — by asking for $1,800 as an advanced payment for the basic model. That might seem like a lot, but it’s a fraction of the cost of most professional products on the market yielding similar results. “If you cobbled together all the hardware and software you would need to accomplish these tasks, you’d end up dishing out a couple hundred grand,” the company says. “That’s not accessible at all. The Lynx device sells for about the same price as a full-framed DSLR, making it a serious value for small outfits and innovators trying to break into these technologies.”

It’s also faster, they add: “Capturing models takes minutes, while today’s methods take hours or even days.”

More information, and a cool video, is here.