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Photogrammetry, 3D scanning and 3D printing realistic fossils (also painting)
mamlambo posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
For the last year I have been playing around with a variety of methods to create 3D models of my fossil collection. The end goal being to have my fossils available to other collectors all over the world to print their own on a 3D printer as I don't sell or send fossils out of New Zealand. My models can be downloaded for free: https://sketchfab.com/mamlambofossils If you want to print them and sell them, go for it! Just email me about it first so I know about it. My 3D printer is a Creality Ender 3 V2 Neo ($300 USD, $570 NZD) which is quite an entry level printer but I am getting great results. Photogrammetry I've tried out a number of free and paid for apps and found Reality Capture (https://www.capturingreality.com/) to give the best results. The payment model is that you pay per model you export. So you can generate as many as you want to, but to export it and share, you have to pay. I found it worked out to about $2 - $4 per model. Between 3D scanners and photogrammetry, photogrammetry gives you the best texture (not important for printing), but is WAY slower than a 3D scanner. 3D Scanning The RevoPoint Mini (https://www.revopoint3d.com/ - $960 USD) was a 3D scanner I backed on Kickstarter and I use this for scanning smaller objects as it has a very high resolution of 0.02mm. It's got a big brother, the POP 2 which I have as well, which is for larger objects. The software isn't as good as that of the MagicSwift and it can lose tracking easier if the fossil isn't on a turntable. The Revopoint scanners give a good texture and I used them to scan these models: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/plesiosaur-vertebra-from-new-zealand-b7ea650cc2f34177af9cce5ad9a442b5 (plesiosaur vert) https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/unknown-species-of-fossil-shell-from-new-zealand-512ac1cb27724fcab2350259e65bf195 (shell which photogrammetry couldn't handle because of the hollow section and broken bit) I got a MagicSwift Plus 3D scanner sent to me to and I found this to be the fastest option for scanning a fossil, I could get an object scanned and uploaded to Sketchfab.com within 20 mins, much faster than photogrammetry which can take an entire afternoon. It offers two options for the texture, a greyscale (fastest) or using a smartphone to capture photos and then lay it over the model. This usually gave good results but I also had some issues on one model where I had to redo it. It's about $1000 USD. https://store.3dmakerpro.com/products/magicswift-plus-3d-scanner If I was visiting a museum and wanted to make as many 3D models as I could in a short time, this would be my choice. Especially if the models were for printing where color and texture don't matter. Models I scanned with the MagicSwift: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/plesiosaurus-bone-cluster-new-zealand-611c6146581043cf8b5b4920f731d21a (plesiosaur vert cluster) https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/late-miocene-fossil-penguin-in-concretion-57ccc2aff7d44a3091d80370e6eada4c (penguin) Below is a video of me unboxing the MagicSwift and scanning a crab: My latest project is to print a life size Little Bush Moa from 3D models created by Daniel Thomas (Auckland Museum, Massey University). It's the smallest of the moa so I thought it would be quite a cool project to get into. Here are some of the leg bones I have printed so far. Here is a time-lapse of me printing one of the femurs. It took 20 hours: Drybrushing Anyone that has painted miniatures will be familiar with the drybrushing technique. I paint the model in black acrylic and then use drybrushing (removing most of the paint from the brush) to add highlights. Using this technique you can get really realistic results. The layers visible in this model was because I printed the crab horizontally instead of vertically - oops! I've since learnt not to do that!- 27 replies
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