3D Model of the Giant Pampathere (Armadillo)
The Giant Pampathere is one of the life-sized late Pleistocene bronzes that are exhibited at the Lubbock Lake Landmark’s interpretive center. These Pleisocene bronzes bring to life some of the megafauna that used to roam the Southern High Plains of west Texas. The armadillo bronze is one of four bronzes at Lubbock Lake. The armadillo is the smallest. The purpose of the exhibit of the bronzes is to provide a chance for visitors to interact with the museum’s collections. Visitors are able to learn from the armadillo with fun and enjoyment. I attempted to 3D model the Giant Pampathere bronze.
Preparation and Method
Well-planned preparation is necessary before visiting the site for taking photos of the subject of interest which especially is an outdoor object. The preparation is not only about equipment, but also the understanding of the site and nearby environment.
The first is to clearly identify the location of the site and the object of interest. The time of travel needs to be kept which determine if the researcher could catch up the best sunlight of the day for their photos. Identifying the location of the object of interest on site helps to save time for the reason as above. Second, weather determines the quality of the photos. Sunny day with adequate but moderate sunlight conduces good photos of the subjects with higher quality. Time of the day also affects the quality of the photos. Generally, morning sunlight is more preferred than sunlight in the afternoon.
In addition, the researchers need to know the physical size of the subject of interest. It is because the size of the subject of interest decides how much time and resource are needed. The number of photos influences the quality of the outcome of the 3D model. Researchers will need more time and resource to work with a larger object than a small object.
Required information to build up a 3D model is simply digital photos from different angles of the subject of interest. A DSLR with a fix lens is a good choice to collect information in the field. Auto mode is not recommended. Researchers are encouraged to adjust aperture, shutter speed and ISO manually as needed in particular situations. Smartphones are handy options that most people carry today.
The armadillo is the subject of interest in this practice. Thirty photos from different angles were taken with an iPhone 6.
Sunlight was a challenge in the process of information gathering. The sunlight was not even in the afternoon. There was a shadow on the left side of the armadillo. Those factors affect the outcome of the production in photoscanning.
There were two major problems with capturing images for the 3D model. First, the armadillo was too close to the ground. It is unavoidable to capture the grasses and rocks on the ground which turned out to be the part of the 3D model and are hard to be modified or deleted. Second, the shadow of the armadillo became the brightest part of the 3D model, which was due to the function of auto brightness on iPhone 6 responding to the shadow of the armadillo.
Process
To start, photos of the armadillo were imported into the Agisoft Photoscan software.
After importing images, four steps are required to render a 3D model. They are Align Photos, Build Dense Cloud, Build Mesh and Build Texture under Workflow Menu.
Here are the setting of each workflow for this project:
Images of each view:
Conclusion
In conclusion, this practice is a good experience to understand the technique of photoscanning and 3D modeling. The well-planned preparation is required. Smartphones or other semi-professional cameras may not be the best choice in information gathering. The uneven light source of the images is a main problem. Also, the bottom of the armadillo cannot be clearly rendered because the images do not well cover the bottom part of the bronze.
To improve the 3D model, the images should be taken in the morning for better, evener light source. Also, DSLR camera is able to provide images with better quality. More photos of the armadillo can be taken, including the bottom of the bronze, for more data to render a better 3D model. It would also be a considerable way removing the long grasses beside the bronze for clear images of the armadillo.
