Case Study: Bringing Lincoln to Life

Bringing Lincoln to Life in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

The hit family film Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian has been described as ingenious for bringing to life many famous art and sculpture pieces and animating ‘monumental’ figures in our nation’s capital.

At Direct Dimensions, we had a small part to play in supplying pieces of data and graphics necessary to bring the Lincoln Memorial to life.



In one of the movie’s most inventive scenes, the statue of Abe Lincoln seated within the Lincoln Memorial stands up and walks out of the Memorial and onto the National Mall. After being contacted by Rhythm and Hues Studios, our team re-purposed 3D scans of the Lincoln Memorial already stored in our files to provide this essential digital information to the Oscar Award-winning visual effects studio in the form of a CAD (Computer-Aided Design) model.



Rhythm and Hues Studios then enhanced the digital information with animation for the Abe that is seen and voiced by Hank Azaria within the film.


Direct Dimensions originally scanned the Lincoln Memorial at the request of the U. S. Government in 2001 – just after September 11th – to understand how significant cultural monuments could be reproduced, if necessary. Since then we have captured many other National Monuments including the Liberty Bell and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier but the Lincoln Memorial is the first that ended up in a movie.

SIGGRAPH 2011

Last month Direct Dimensions participated in The Studio at SIGGRAPH 2011. President Michael Raphael was a panelist for a round table discussion entitled: Scan, Model, Print.



The above image was compiled from The Studio where in one area participants were scanned and modeled by Direct Dimensions and then could print themselves with some help from the folks at MakerBot.

We look forward to next year!

Direct Dimensions Contributes to 9/11 Memorial of Maryland

The 68 Marylanders who lost their lives on 9/11 will be honored today when the 9/11 Memorial of Maryland is unveiled in the Baltimore Inner Harbor. The Memorial, designed by Ziger/Snead, incorporates three steel beams from the World Trade Center, three limestone blocks from the west wall of the Pentagon and three black granite pieces representing the Flight 93 site in Shanksville, PA.

The 9/11 Memorial of Maryland is unique among other state memorials in its design; rather than incorporating the artifacts into a new structure or piece of art the designers felt that leaving the beams in their original state offered a powerful and reverent memorial of the event.

One of the first steps in creating the design was documenting the existing condition of the beams. Due to the extensive damage it would be nearly impossible to document them using traditional methods. It was also important that whatever process was used to record the measurements not come into contact with these historically important pieces.



These two factors lead the team at Ziger/Snead to Direct Dimensions to learn about how cutting edge 3D laser scanning and 3D imaging could be used to capture the beams for the purposes of planning and design. Of course, Direct Dimensions' President Michael Raphael and the DDI team of engineers were excited to tackle such a unique 3D scan while also helping a worthy cause.

The Direct Dimensions team ultimately utilized two different scanners to capture the massive and complex steel beams. The Surphaser HSX Spherical Laser scanner and the new handheld Mantis Vision F5 scanner were used to digitally capture the complex artifacts in just a few hours. Both of these scanners were able to capture the exact measurements of the beams without ever touching them.



The data acquired from the scan, in the form of large point clouds, was digitally modeled and delivered to the designers. According to Ziger/Snead the 3D model can be used in a variety of ways including using it for 3D printing a scale model of the beams, using the 3D models for placement on the project site and construction questions, and using it for the design of structural supports and fasteners.



The monument will be officially unveiled today in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

You can visit the 9/11 Memorial of Maryland project page to learn more about the creation of the memorial.

Case Study: Parametric Snowmobile Engine

Reverse Engineering an engine to help University of Maryland Terps Racing beat the competition

Every year a select group of students in the Mechanical Engineering program in the A. James Clark School of Engineering at University of Maryland in College Park, MD compete in the Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) competition. The FSAE competition requires the team of students to design, build, and race their own open cockpit race car.



The University of Maryland team, called Terps Racing, consistently finishes in the top 10 against 80 to 120 other school programs annually. Aiming for a 1st place finish in the upcoming races, the team is experimenting with a new engine design.

The small autocross cars, usually weighing between 300 and 500 pounds, typically run on modified motorcycle engines. But Terps Racing is experimenting with using a snowmobile engine for the upcoming 2011 races.

During the design phase for a new gearbox for this style engine, the students realized they needed a 3D CAD model of their snowmobile engine so that they could accurately design within the tight tolerances necessary to the mounting points.

Terps Racing approached Direct Dimensions for help with creating a dimensionally accurate 3D model of the engine to aid in their design and we were happy to help!

Here is a review of the major steps in this process:

Step 1) Using a combination of FARO's portable CMM arm and laser scanner, Direct Dimensions' engineer Michael Lent digitized the important geometric interface features on the engine. He then captured the complex casting shape with an attached laser line probe. The FARO system was a great fit for this project because it provides both a contact probe for high accuracy geometric features and a non-contact laser scanner for the complex contoured surfaces.



Step 2) By utilizing a variety of software, including PolyWorks, Geomagic, Rapidform and SolidWorks, the Direct Dimensions engineers quickly merged and modeled the 3D digitized data with the laser scanned 'point clouds' into a hybrid of a parametric solid-based feature model with the watertight complex NURBS surfaces. This file is readily usable within CAD software, such as SolidWorks for the re-design effort.



Step 3) This final hybrid model, which offered both the exact representation of the mounting interfaces as well as the accurate contoured cast surfaces was used by Terps Racing to design their 2011 car.

Get a ShapeShot at SIGGRAPH 2011!

This year at SIGGRAPH the photo booth goes 3D!

Direct Dimensions Inc. will demonstrate the latest version of ShapeShot at SIGGRAPH 2011 in Vancouver. ShapeShot creates a 3D snapshot of your face. Users can share their face with friends via the online ShapeShot Gallery.



Along with the launch of new ShapeShot hardware, we've added an online store to the ShapeShot web site. Users in the ShapeShot gallery can purchase products including jewelry, a bust, and even an Easter Island head customized with their face. Users can access the store through their secure account at www.shapeshot.com.

If you are going to SIGGRAPH, make sure to stop by The Studio to see ShapeShot in action.

Free Sample Data!

Every now and then we like to provide sample models for our customers and friends to play around with. This sample data is from the Surphaser Laser Scanner: No other 3D scanner produces such high quality dense data so quickly! Download sample data sets – the quality speaks for itself.

A Plethora of Patriotic Projects

Happy 4th of July!

At Direct Dimensions we've been lucky to have the opportunity to scan many important historical sites, monuments and artifacts in conjunction with the National Park Service and others.

Below is just a sampling of some of our more incredible projects:



The Liberty Bell / The Normandy Liberty Bell - DDI has had the privilege to laser scan Philadelphia's Liberty Bell on numerous occasions. The data we acquired during these scans has been used in several projects, including exact and modified replicas. In 2004, we were commissioned to help create a replica bell without the iconic crack to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the August 6th, 1944 D-Day invasion of Normandy Beach by Allied forces. Following a ceremony in Normandy, where the ringing of the Liberty Bell was heard for the first time in years, the completed bell was returned to the U.S. and now rests in Philadelphia.







The Lincoln Memorial – Two months after 9/11, Direct Dimensions laser scanned portions of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC for historical documentation of the ornate design. We were able to capture the marble sculpture of Abraham Lincoln himself, as well as the columns and engravings surrounding him. The scans were aligned together to produce an integrated digital model of the monument that can be used to exactly reproduce the original model.






The Maryland Statehouse – The Maryland Statehouse, built during the Revolutionary War and still in use today, was the site of George Washington's resignation as the Commander of the Continental Army. When the Statehouse underwent major renovations a few years ago, Direct Dimensions was called in to document the original brick of the Old Senate Chamber, where Washington once stood. The scans were aligned together to produce an integrated digital model of the room that can be used to exactly reproduce the original structure.



3D Animated Political Cartoons – Over the years at Direct Dimensions we have had a lot of fun working with renowned political cartoonist - Kal. We scanned his exaggerated clay sculptures, including George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to help him create interactive 3D animated political cartoons.




The Marine Corps War Memorial – The Marine Corps War Memorial, also known as the Iwo Jima Memorial, is located outside the gates of the Arlington National Cemetery. We were asked to 3D laser scan and image this iconic memorial. The final digital model resulting from the scan data can be used to recreate the memorial or even to create smaller replications of this famous image.



Haven't had enough of our patriotic projects? You can read about more below:

Lincoln Life Mask featured project
Walking in Washington's Footsteps Featured Project
Crazy Memorial Featured Project
Tomb of the Unknown Solider Featured Project

Direct Dimensions Invited to Participate in the Studio at SIGGRAPH 2011

This year Direct Dimensions is excited to be heavily involved in SIGGRAPH 2011 in Vancouver (August 7-11). We have been invited to participate in the "The Studio", a special, hands on area within SIGGRAPH where 3D industry experts and conference attendees use the latest technologies to create new works, experiment, and collaborate.

Direct Dimensions' President Michael Raphael will also be taking part in a round table entitled: Scan – Model – Print: A Roundtable Chat.

Learn more about the Studio here.

3D Scanning Newsletter - June

In this month's newsletter we officially introduced the amazing Mantis Vision F5 Scanner.

You can read about how the F5 can be used for facility scanning, see a video of the F5 quickly scanning an accident scene, or download a product brochure.


If you haven't signed up for our newsletter yet, you can do so here.

Direct Dimensions Employee Dan Haga Publishes Photography Book

At Direct Dimensions our employees are multi-talented! Modeler Dan Haga recently published a photography book featuring historic industrial facilities (which he is also an expert at digitally modeling).



Entitled Urban Atrophy, this collection of amazing photographs "...will take you to another world, a surreal dream where all the people just disappeared and left everything behind," says Dan. Urban Atrophy is available now on Amazon.com!