Abstract: The present invention is a holographic structured light generator (HSLG) for generating an array of an arbitrary number of laser beamlets from a single laser beam using a point laser light source and a hologram. In a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, a hologram having an image of four point sources in a common plane is fabricated using four point sources as the object beam, and a reference beam. A reconstruction beam, aligned identically with respect to the hologram as was the reference beam during fabrication of the hologram, is then directed at the hologram, generating the array of laser beamlets from the four point sources in the hologram. In a primary application of the HSLG, it is used to map the surface of an object in three dimensions. The HSLG is used with video cameras, computer image processing equipment and an optical spatial light modulator to yield 3-D data for use with CAD systems.