A method for registering an imaging detector to a surface projects and records a sequence having a first sparse pattern of lines followed by a second sparse pattern of lines. A first subset of positions receives lines from both first and second sparse patterns corresponding to a first label. A second subset of positions receives only lines from the first sparse pattern corresponding to a second label. A third subset of positions receives only lines from the second sparse pattern corresponding to a third label. The first, second, and third labels are decoded and each member element of the first, second, and third subsets of positions registered to the imaging detector according to the decoded labels. One or more dense patterns of lines positionally correlated with registered member elements of the decoded labels are projected and recorded. An image of the surface contour is formed according to the recorded pattern.