An image is projected upon a surface of a three dimensional object (611), the image can include a pattern having plurality of individual shapes used to measure and map the surface. The image further comprises a feature containing an encoding information for identifying the plurality of shapes individually. The feature containing encoding information is oriented such that encoding information is retrieved along a line perpendicular to aplane formed by the projection axis and the point along the view axis (613). The use of the feature is used to perform multiframe independant scanning (612).
