Experimenting with 123D Catch

Today we started learning how to use 123D Catch! It is a program used to create a 3D models out of photos taken with any camera.

This is a first draft of our initial attempt at a 3D model. To view the model, click on the 3D option on the bottom left. Be aware the it will show the image upside down. Click and drag the image to look at all angles of the goat skull (and Dr. Eiselt's lab). If you're still having trouble seeing the model, you can try switching browsers.

We started using a goat's skull, who will from now on be known as Rachel's Pet (Rachel loves goats).

Then we each took 30-40 pictures to capture every angle of Rachel's Pet. 

    

We used sticky notes to mark a consistent distance from the table.

Then, using the 123D Catch app on our phones, which uses photogrammetry

to stitch together the photos, we processed the images and created our own 3D model.

Creating the model was surprisingly easy, although it took a while to process all the images on the app. To learn more about the app and how to do this yourself, visit the 123D Website.

We wanted to experience a simplified process of creating a 3D model to prepare ourselves for the more complicated process we will learn in February using laser scanners instead of photogrammertry.

To learn more about photogrammetry, check out this great article on Robert Z. Selden's blog crhr:archaeology.

Stay tuned for an edited version of this model of Rachel's Pet!

Welcome to 3D Archaeology @ SMU!

We are Christine Nestleroth, Sam Schwartz, and Lauren King, Undergraduate Research Assistants in the Material Sciences Lab of the Anthropology Department at Southern Methodist University, working under Ph.D. Candidate Rachel Burger and Dr. Sunday Eiselt. This semester we will undertake a digital heritage preservation project, utilizing prehistoric vessels from Texas as part of a larger digital heritage preservation initiative. Funding is graciously provided by the Marr Undergraduate Research Scholarship through the Institute for the Study of Earth and Man.

The purpose of this project is to preserve vessels in the SMU collections as 3D representations that can be employed in a variety of analyses subsequent to repatriation, make data publicly available for the benefit of the community and use in future research, and to explore the capacity of 3D scanning to inform upon a quantitative analysis of variation in ceramic shape and form.