Devices and methods are described that provide for scanning surfaces and generating 3-dimensional point clouds that describe the depth of the measured surface at each point. In general, the devices and methods utilize scanning mirror(s) that reflect a laser beam into a pattern of scan lines. When the raster pattern of scan lines is directed at a surface, reflections of the laser beam from the surface are received and used to the generate 3-dimensional point clouds that describe the measured surface depth at each point. The motion of the scanning mirror(s) can be dynamically adjusted to modify the characteristics of the resulting 3-dimensional point cloud of the surface. For example, the adjustment of the scanning mirror motion can modify the resolution or data density of the resulting 3-dimensional point cloud that describes the measured depths of the surface.