3d scan of imperfect globe to a 2d Equirectangular Projection

[Vigilus]

if the 3d sphere looks good in Meshlab then it will look good in Blender
now the xyz rotation might be off but the is easy to fix


then exporting a equirectangular projection is also rather easy

so first when you view it in blender dose it look fine or all mixed up ?

if it looks fine then all you need to do is "bake" the texture to a second sphere that is UV mapped to a sphere and not UV islands

Thanks for your reply johnvanvliet,
To answer your question, the 3d view looks fine, all the UV mapping onto the sphere is spot on and I've done extensive painting using photoshop and 3d painting in blender.

I've done research into baking, yet the videos lack context and an overall process. Without context they don't mean anything practical, it's all academic. I'm hoping to find a lot more context of this process from you guys/gals. Any good baking videos that you link would be appreciated.

To answer your question, if it looks fine then all you need to do is "bake" the texture to a second sphere that is UV mapped to a sphere and not UV islands

Thanks, this is slightly more specific than the replies I've been getting on other websites. Can you go into detail about the process? Maybe a video link or a make a quick video of what you mean precisely?

@waldronate, I will, and I'm still looking into your solutions

Thank you!