Memorial Day: Tomb of the Unknowns

This morning, in commemoration of Memorial Day, President Obama laid a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknowns, a monument to American soldiers who have died in the service of their country without their remains being identified.

The ceremonial wreath is laid every Memorial Day and the Tomb attracts over four million visitors a year. Visitors to the monument will notice large cracks running horizontally through the tomb. First noticed in the 60's, the cracks sparked a still ongoing conversation about how to repair a national monument.

Direct Dimensions was asked to laser scan the Tomb of the Unknowns to document the existing damage to the monument.

The data can be used for documentation, preservation or even replication of the monument. Because of our 3D scanning, a digital record now exists of the Tomb of the Unknowns.

In addition to a digital record, the data can also be used to "repair" the cracks in a 3D model and then be used to create a perfect replication of the Tomb should that ever be necessary.

3D Scanning and Imaging Helps Create Special Effects in Men in Black III

It's been a busy cinematic month at Direct Dimensions!

We've been out on location 3D scanning and modeling actors and props for some upcoming films, last week The Dictator (which we scanned and modeled some props for) opened, and this weekend Men in Black III opens.

We had a great time working on this movie and one of the main reasons why was that we were able to utilize the amazing skill sets of our digital modeling team. We scanned and imaged actors, costumes, props and major set pieces as well. It was a challenging and rewarding project and we can't wait to see the final results when the film opens tomorrow.

While we can't go into too much detail, we can say that many of our efforts can be seen in the below trailer:

Rapid 2012

This week we're at Rapid 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia and we're participating in several aspects of the conference.

You can visit us at Booth 312 where we are demonstrating the handheld F5 scanner and the ShapeShot 3D Face Scanning system.

Our president, Michael Raphael, gave a talk on the state of the 3D Imaging industry in which he discussed trends, demand factors and growth. Michael also serves as the chairperson for SME's 3D Imaging Tech Group.

If you weren't able to attend Rapid this year, you can follow us on Twitter, @dirdim, to catch updates and images from the conference.

Case Study: Bus 19 Memorial Scan

Laser Scanning and Digital Modeling Deliver Detailed 3D Models for Visualizations and More

On January 29th 2004, 11 people lost their lives and 50 were wounded in a suicide bombing on Egged Bus 19 in Jerusalem, Israel. Since that tragic incident, the remains of Bus 19 have travelled around the world as a reminder of the horrors of terrorism. First stopping at The Hague for the International Court of Justice hearing regarding the Israeli West Bank barrier, the wreckage was then brought to the United States where it toured among various cities, college campuses, synagogues and churches.

The wreckage ended its journey at Camp Shoresh in Adamstown, Maryland under the care of Adam Edelman and The Bus 19 Project. The Bus 19 Project is a group dedicated to preserving the bus remnants as a peace memorial. Mr. Edelman has been fundraising and raising awareness for his project whose stated mission is to design and build a memorial garden and education pavilion to remember the 11 individuals who lost their lives and to educate the public on the terrible effects of global terrorism. The planned education center will be open to students, EMTs, government agencies and other scheduled tour groups.

As part of the memorial project, Edelman came to Direct Dimensions in early 2010 to speak with Direct Dimensions’ president Michael Raphael about how 3D laser scanning and 3D imaging might be used as part of Bus 19’s educational mission. Of course, Michael and Direct Dimensions were excited to tackle such a unique 3D scan while also helping a worthy cause. Scanning the complicated remains of the bus, with its twisted metal and exposed wiring, proved a somber but exciting challenge.

More after the jump. .

Product Spotlight - F5 Handheld Scanner

The incredible new F5 Handheld scanner offers high-resolution, accurate 3D modeling of complete scenes in minutes and is capable of modeling scenes while in motion. All acquired data is accurate in space so there no need for a scale reference object.

The imager is light and small enough to be carried and operated even in remote, hard to access, and cluttered environments. Though small, it is ruggedized for use under demanding environmental conditions and excels at capturing completely dark scenes without emitting visible light or sound.

It is a fast 3D acquisition system that allows capturing and processing car-sized scenes in a few minutes, thereby, minimizing the time spent at the scene, with enough time left for the operator to verify the quality and completeness of the 3D models.

The F5 3D scanner does not require scene preparations of any kind (e.g. markers) and requires minimal user supervision during the creation of the 3D models, making it exceptionally easy to use.

Direct Dimensions Engineer Dominic Albanese quickly scans a large submarine propeller with the F5

Screen capture of 3D scan data taken during the propeller scan

Visit our website to learn more about the Mantis Vision F5 3D Scanner or contact Direct Dimensions if you any questions, 410-998-0880.

NEXTgen-M Speaker Line Up

If you are interested in rapid technologies and smart manufacturing then this is the event for you.



The first event of its kind in Baltimore, NEXTgen-M will bring together a diverse group to discuss the place of Rapid Technologies in the city's future. If you are a techie, educator, manufacturer, artist or anyone with an interest in 3D imaging, modeling or printing NEXTgen-M is the place to be April 27.

Still need more inducement to register? Check out this list of phenomenal speakers who are contributing their expertise to the event.

• Dave Burns | President and COO of Ex One; nationally recognized additive manufacturing expert.
• Aris Melissaratos | The Johns Hopkins University
• Michael Weinberg | Public Knowledge
• Jason Berns | Under Armour
• Bryan Sivak | Chief Innovation Officer of the State of Maryland
• Mark Schlein | P.E. Chief, US Army, Aberdeen Proving Ground Edgewood CBRNE Product Development Facility
• Gino Gemignani | Whiting-Turner
• Susan Ganz | Lion Brothers
• Vincent Rossi & Adam Metallo | The Smithsonian Institution
• John Danko | Danko Arlington
• Jenny Regan | Key Tech
• Dr. Stephen Rouse | Director, 3D Medical Applications Department at Walter Reed Army Medical Center
• Drew Greenblatt | Marlin Steel
• Jan Baum | Towson University
• Michael Raphael | Direct Dimensions
• Doug Kendzierski | Community College of Baltimore County

Register Now for NEXTgen-M!

SPAR 2012

Will you be at SPAR next week? We will!

Stop by the CMSC booth and say hello to Mike and Mike (Raphael and Agronin).

We're excited to get out there and see the great presentations (like this one from our friends at the Smithsonian) and demos and are looking forward to meeting with the usual suspects as well making new friends in the world of 3D.

If you can't get there then you can follow our conference updates on twitter, @dirdim.

Congrats to Sculptor Zachary Oxman

Our customer, Zachary Oxman, won a national commission to create a sculpture of Duke Ellington for the city of Washington, DC. After a 5 year process the sculpture was installed yesterday.


Mr. Oxman is known for his bronze art work as well as monumentally-sized stainless steel outdoor sculpture installations. His work can be found in many important collections, including the Permanent Collection of the Clinton Presidential Center.

Mr. Oxman, an artist who often leverages new cutting edge technologies, had previously worked with Direct Dimensions on a project which included maquette scanning for a monumental sized sculpture. In the case of the Duke Ellington sculpture, we worked with him on some structural dimensional design challenges that ultimately helped him finalize his sculpture for production.

Congrats on a beautiful piece!

Virtual Restoration of Ancient Sculpture in LiDAR News

Direct Dimensions President Michael Raphael has been a long-time, regular contributor to LiDAR News.

His most recent contribution details an amazing project we worked on where our team helped reconstruct a rare ancient sculpture of the Roman Emperor Caligula. From LiDAR News:

This article explains how we used “other” 3D equipment from one of the more common OEMs in the general laser scanning business - FARO Technologies, to capture the intricate geometry of an ancient Roman marble sculpture. Sure, you’ve read about us and others 3D scanning art and sculpture - modern and historic. But not many 3D projects involve teams of international experts to collaboratively create, review, and ‘virtually repair’ ancient art with this level of technical and academic precision.


Is your interest piqued? You can read the rest of the article on the LiDAR News site. You can also read more about the project on Direct Dimensions' website: Reconstructing Caligula.

Scanning Actors for The Hunger Games

One of the most anticipated films of the year opens this Friday and Direct Dimensions had a part in bringing a crucial scene to the big screen.



Last year we had the chance to 3D scan and model an actor playing one of the tributes using our one-of-a-kind ShapeShot 3D facial capture system.

The 3D model we created was used to create special effects for a very important scene between Katniss Everdeen (the main character) and another tribute.

Check out our IMDB page to see other films that have used our 3D scanning to create special effects.

Happy Hunger Games!