Crash course in 3D modelling

Okay now if you know anything at all about this 3D modelling programme please don’t read any further because my working knowledge is so limited.

BARC have a number of online catalogues that allow you to examine their collection.  The Digitised Diseases is a website that allows you to closely examine a bone, rotating it and zooming in.

Here is an example to make your eyes' water of a dislocated shoulder.

http://www.digitiseddiseases.org/mrn.php?mrn=R1003

Click on the ‘view model’ and after it has loaded on a new screen (which might take a little while if you have an old computer or slow broadband) you can clearly see that the ball has come out of its socket.  Ouch.  The website allows you to rotate around the subject as well as zoom in.

Now this has been done by a detailed scan of the object; its done with lasers marking every millimetre or so of the surface.  You have to sweep the object many times to cover all the surface.  This data is processed into a series of dots that software then links into a mesh model; think serious dot to dot in three dimensions.  The image at the beginning of this post is an example of the ‘dot view’ of a skull that I have been looking at.

Here is a detail of the left eye socket from closer and a slightly different angle.  The dots are being lit from front and above.  The dark dots are either in 'shade' or seen from behind.

To be honest this next bit  is where I cant quite get my head around the enormity of what the software is doing.  The software then lays a photo of the original surface over the model to make the model ‘realistic’.  You can then rotate and zoom in on it.  Here is the ‘mesh view’ of the same eye socket.

The arcs are the vertical and horizontal axis.  This image was saved with the background set on default. And this is a close up of that view so you can clearly see the triangles making up the mesh.

Now one of the aspects I am interested in developing work in response to is the data behind the rotating model; the dots and the mesh.  I don’t know what I’ll do with it if anything.  I just think it’s a lovely example of technology helping us see and understand things.