A scanning apparatus and method for generating computer models of three-dimensional objects comprising means for scanning the object to capture data from a plurality of points on the surface of the object so that the scanning means may capture data from two or more points simultaneously, sensing the position of the scanning means, generating intermediate data structures from the data, combining intermediate data structures to provide the model; display, and manually operating the scanning apparatus. The signal generated is structured light in the form of a stripe or an area from illumination sources such as a laser diode or bulbs which enable data for the position and color of the surface to be determined. The object may be on a turntable and may be viewed in real time as rendered polygons on a monitor as the object is scanned.