Reconstructing Caligula Presentation

In our holiday newsletter we talked about the amazing reconstructing Caligula sculpture project in which Direct Dimensions scanned and 3D modeled an ancient Roman sculpture to help an international team of experts digitally reconstruct it. It was one of the most popular stories we've ever published!

For those interested in finding out more about this incredible 3D restoration project you can now you can see a powerpoint presentation of the entire process!

3D Digital Restoration of Caligula, by Direct Dimensions

View more presentations from Direct Dimensions, Inc.

Holiday Newsletter

Direct Dimensions' end of the year gift to you is a newsletter full of fascinating stories (and one recommendation for a newsletter you should be reading).

Reconstructing Caligula: DDI's expert modelers helped a team of international experts collaborate on the reconstruction of an important Roman sculpture by creating an exact digital recreation.

9/11 Memorial of Maryland: We scanned and modeled steel beam artifacts from the WTC North Tower to aid in the design of the recently unveiled 9/11 Memorial of Maryland

Documenting Two Historical Naval Vessels: We demonstrated the power of the Surphaser HSX and FARO Photon 3D laser scanners at the famous USS Constellation and USS Torsk.

Have you subscribed to LiDAR News yet? Direct Dimensions CEO Michael Raphael and many other industry experts provide regular articles to this newsletter and blog. We recommend checking out this excellent 3D industry resource.

New Men in Black 3 Trailer

The results of our 3D scanning are all over the new MiB3 trailer: actors, costumes, props, vehicles, sets, and locations!

CMSC 2012 - Call for Papers

Coordinate Metrology Systems Conference: The World's Premier Event for 3D Metrology Technology Professionals



CMSC is holding its 28th annual technical conference and exhibition in New Orleans in July 2012. This technical conference focusing on portable 3D coordinate measurement metrology, provides a professional venue where ideas, concepts and theory flow freely among participants from around the world. Unlike a typical trade show, the focus at CMSC is on education through various technical presentations and workshops. The educational atmosphere encourages attendees to network and learn about the latest innovations in the field of portable 3D industrial measurement technologies and is a great opportunity to share your expertise with your colleagues.

Having attended and participated in CMSC for many years, Michael Raphael, our president, is serving as the coordinator of the CMSC Technical Presentations and Workshops.

You can find the complete details of the call for papers on the CMSC website. In the meantime, if you have any questions, or potential topics for presentations, feel free to contact Michael Raphael at presentations@cmsc.org and see www.cmsc.org for much more.

Project Snapshot: Scanning Giant Teeth

3D scanning is becoming increasingly popular in the field of dentistry - but this is certainly taking it to a new extreme! Direct Dimensions Modeler Jon Wood scans a giant set of teeth for the University of Maryland Dental school using a Faro Arm with Laser.

Angel Perfume Bottle

If you watch TV, you've probably seen the new Victoria's Secret commercial for their Angel perfume.

Direct Dimensions had a part to play in bringing the new Angel bottles to your local store shelves. When the manufacturer needed a precise digital model of the wings for the new bottles, they came to us for scanning and modeling.


Scanning a wing with a Faro Laser Scanner and Arm




Polygonal model of wing




New Victoria's Secret Angel bottle with perfect wings!

Project Snapshot: Lyric Opera House of Baltimore

When renovations began on the Lyric Opera Opera House of Baltimore, Direct Dimensions had the chance to go inside and scan the theater space. We used both a Faro Photon and a to capture the data. This image of the raw scan data is one of our favorites!

Direct Dimensions is on IMDb

You may have seen our post the other day about scanning the Lincoln Memorial and how that digital model was used in the Night at the Museum sequel but did you know that we have since worked on several films?

Make sure to take a look at our IMDb page to see the other major films that we've been working on at Direct Dimensions!

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!