Direct Dimensions, Inc. provides laser scanning, reverse engineering, and digital modeling services, products, and training. We specialize in the application of laser scanners, digitizers, and portable CMMs, and the conversion of complex 3D data into industrial computer models.
Last month the American Alliance of Museums held their annual conference in Baltimore and a popular topic was how 3D scanning and printing could be utilized by museums and educational institutions.
The Baltimore Sun wrote a great article about all of our local innovators and the various uses of 3D technology.
The article mentioned our scanning of important Matisse sculptures for the Baltimore Museum of Art and Direct Dimensions' own Michael Raphael was interviewed regarding the rapidly maturing 3D printing industry.
If you'd like to know more about 3D scanning for museums, you should read these additional case studies:
Please Touch The Art! - 3D scanning and printing allows museum goers the rare experience of handling Renaissance sculptures.
Reconstructing Caligula - Modern 3D technology virtually restores an ancient roman sculpture.
Scanning the Matisses - 3D scanning is utilized by the BMA for sculpture conservation, research, and interactive exhibits.
At Direct Dimensions we continue to be deeply involved in our work for several major feature films.
We love working on VFX for motion pictures because our 17 plus years of experience in aerospace, automotive, and structural scanning, combined with our ShapeShot face and figure scanning, makes us uniquely suited to working on several aspects of VFX for a production. We are essentially a one-stop shop for 3D LiDAR, automotive, character, costume, set and prop scanning for films!
As much fun as we have working during production, it is always equally satisfying to see the finished product up on screen. Today one of our recent projects, Grown Ups 2, opens in theaters across the country.
We will definitely be at the movies tonight looking for our work on screen!
In our eighteen years in business we've had the opportunity to scan many important historical artifacts, places, memorials, and buildings that would be fitting to discuss on July 4th. Perhaps most appropriate to share on Independence Day is the R. Charlton Coffeehouse in Colonial Williamsburg, VA.
The Coffeehouse was of significant historical importance, both to the city of Williamsburg and to the Revolution itself. Coffee houses of that time were known
for more than their coffee, tea, and chocolate served to the colonials -
they were also an important gathering place for political conversation.
This activity made Charlton's coffee house one of Williamsburg's
political ‘hotspots’ of the time - and therefor a likely spot for discussion and planning of the coming revolution. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Francis Fauquier were often in
attendance. In particular, Charlton's Coffeehouse served as the site of Williamsburg's Stamp Act Rebellion which culminated in a standoff between an angry mob and a stamp agent on the coffeehouse's front porch.
DDI worked with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation to laser capture
what remains of the coffee house’s stone foundation. Of the original
structure, only part of the brick foundation and some wooden fragments
are still intact. We scanned the exposed foundation and the earthen
floor with our Surphaser HSX spherical scanner. This unique scanner
captures extremely accurate and high resolution data over a medium-range
(2-10 meters). The Surphaser is a non-contact laser scanner so none of
the delicate centuries-old foundation was harmed during the data
capture process.
The raw 3D ‘point cloud’ data gathered in Williamsburg was then
digitally modeled back at the Direct Dimensions facility in Baltimore,
Maryland. The final surface mesh model was used to analyze the
archaeological features found at the site. The data was used to
help plan the reconstruction of the Charlton coffee house, which was rebuilt and furnished in the style of an accurate 18th century
structure.
Next week DDI President Michael Raphael will be presenting at the Inside 3D Printing Conference and Expo in Chicago. You can hear Michael from 4:15-5:45 on July 10. Keep reading below for a preview of his presentation.
The XYZs of 3D Scanning: Making Reality Digital
Like 3D printing, the technology for 3D
scanning has evolved dramatically over the past 20 years. Today there
are dozens of different scanning technologies, scores of different
scanning systems, and hundreds of amazing scanning applications.
Scanning has become critical in the fields of aerospace, automotive,
architecture, and for many other industrial applications. As the digital
world continues to drive demand for 3D content, 3D scanning (also known
as ‘reality capture’) will play an increasingly important role in the
accurate documentation of historic artifacts and sites, monuments and
sculpture, and even forensic investigations. Using a series of
compelling case studies, this presentation will highlight the evolution,
current capabilities, and future possibilities for realizing the
potential of 3D scanning. Discussion will also include background and
observations on the business of 3D scanning and clues to leveraging the
explosion of 3D printing as well as other downstream design, analysis,
and visualization demands.
Recently our Preservation Specialist, Joe Nicoli, wrote a guest post for Baltimore Heritage about the work Direct Dimensions did on the "Two Sisters" historic wooden home in the Baltimore neighborhood of Fells Point. We're delighted to share that post here as well:
Over the winter, Bryan Blundell from Dell Corporation had approached
Direct Dimensions with a project to completely laser scan the Two
Sisters Houses in Fell’s Point. On a sunny afternoon in March, myself
and another technician with Direct Dimensions took our laser scanning
equipment down to Fell’s Point and in just 30 minutes created a
perfectly accurate 3D digital model of the exterior of the property.
The Two Sisters
The Two
Sisters are two of just a handful of remaining wooden houses in
Baltimore’s Fell’s Point. These buildings were donated to the
Preservation Society by the Dashiell-Marine family. The name, The Two
Sisters, recognizes the efforts of the Dashiell sisters, Mary and
Eleanor, to save these and other buildings in Fell’s Point. Since that
time, the Society has worked steadily to develop a plan for the saving
and utilization of these significant architectural examples of early
life in Fell’s Point.
3D scanning
is one of the many modern technologies that can be used to help reveal
some of the secrets and stories that are part of these amazing
structures. The scanning can provide a baseline documentation of
the building’s current state, allowing the planning team to design
necessary structural supports, and to also serve as a 3D, “as-built”
blue print for documenting current conditions and future preservation
efforts.
What is 3D scanning?
Laser scanning is the process of collecting millions of individual
measurements using laser light. Think of a range finder. A laser beam
leaves the scanner on a specific orientation and the time it takes to
reflect off a surface and return to the scanner establishes the
distance. This happens thousands of times per second. By moving the
equipment to various positions and perspectives, an entire site can be
“scanned” in 3D. Once the data is merged, the resulting “point cloud”
can be used to create traditional drawings, 3D models, and virtual
reconstructions & walkthroughs.
So far, Direct Dimensions has only scanned the exterior on Wolfe
Street, and will complete the project with funds provided to The
Preservation Society by an African American Heritage Preservation Program Grant
from the Maryland Historical Trust. This initial scan effort is also
valuable as an archived “3D snapshot”, a record of the state of the
structure in the spring of 2013.
April showers might bring May flowers, but they also usher in the start of conference and event season for the 3D scanning and printing communities. This year we are already off to a busy start at Direct Dimensions!
Last week we attended the annual SPAR conference in Colorado where Direct Dimensions' President Michael Raphael gave a presentation entitled Crossing Over: 3D Scanning Smaller Scenes and Objects. The Forest and the Trees. The discussion highlighted
the set of tools, methods, and applications designed for ‘close-range’
3D scanning and in particular their use as complimentary to the
long-range scanning tools. If you didn't get a chance to see it, check by here in the next few weeks. We regularly post conference presentations to our YouTube and SlideShare channels.
Michael Raphael shows off 3D hologram created with the help of our ShapeShot facial capture system
This busy week finds us at 3 events in the New York and DC areas.
Monday and Tuesday you can find us at the Inside 3D Printing Conference and Expo at the Javits Convention Center in New York City. Michael will be on a Lighting Talk Panel called Next Generation Market Makers at 4:45 on April 23.
Wednesday we'll be at the 3D/DC II event in Washington DC. This educational event allows you to experience the remarkable new 3D printing and scanning technologies in person.
To cap off a very busy two weeks, Mr. Raphael and our Preservation Specialist, Joseph Nicoli, will be be presenting a paper at the Association for Preservation Technology's annual symposium in DC (Friday April 26) on"3D Laser Scanning and Cultural Resource Management".
And those events were just for April! May contains the AAM Museum Show, June the Annual Rapid Show and 3D Imaging Conference and July has CMSC 2013. As usual we will be heavily involved with these events and we encourage you to attend them.
Feel like seeing yourself in 3D, dancing the night away and being charitable? Then we have good news for you: this evening you can have your ShapeShot taken at the Esophageal Cancer Action Network's Cancer Dancer Gala.
This annual event will feature dinner, dancing, a silent auction (in which you can bid on a ShapeShot sitting and ShapeShot product), and the chance to be immortalized in 3D! Gala attendees can have their ShapeShot taken and view their 3D selves by logging into our (private and password protected) 3D viewing gallery.
The ShapeShot system quickly captures your image in 3D - just like a snapshot.
Once logged into their individual accounts attendees can also visit our ShapeShot Marketplace where they can order various products personalized with their own faces. We've even created an ECAN specific product, partial proceeds of which will be donated to the Esophageal Cancer Action Network.
Your mug on a mug: the ShapeShot face mug is just one of the items that can be bid on or purchased in our ShapeShot Marketplace
This is a great event and we are very excited to be a part of it.
If you aren't attending the Cancer Dancer Gala but are interested in having your ShapeShot taken, please contact us, info@shapeshot.com
