3D Scans

In 1860, French Artist François Willème (Painter, Photographer and Sculptor) invented a process to create what is called a photo-sculpture; according to Wikipedia:

"It's the reproduction of persons, animals, and things, in 3-dimensions by taking a series of photos in the round and using them as synchronized photo projections to create a sculpture."

However in the 1960's, the first actual 3D Scanning technology was created by using lights, cameras, projectors and scanners. Today, technology has made this as easy as having an adequate computer to compute the image data that you collect. I'll explain more about the process below.

Exploring The Power of 3D Scans

While it may appear that this is simply a photo that was taken—At least, that's what I was told (and thank you for the compliment)—This image is actually a 3D Scanned asset.

To accomplish this, there are a few essential items that one will need;

1. A Computer that can run 3D Capture Software;

2. 3D Capture Software (we used Adobe Substance Sampler)

3. A professional Digital Camera or high-quality smart-phone (Samsung Galaxy Z-Fold 4 in this case)

4. A little patience

5. A 3D Painting program (we used Adobe Substance Painter)

It's Not Just A Rock.

It's A 3D Model

Render of our 3D Scanned Rock (with some post-processing)

The first thing that I did was pick a day where the clouds were out—Overcast probably works best. Your ideal scenario for taking these photos is in an environment with diffused lighting. You do not want hard shadows when you're taking photos. The images you take should be clear and focused on the subject. When taking photos of my subject (the rock), I started a couple feet back and began to *encircle my subject. I took a photo every side-step I took, starting from the bottom of my subject until I fully made it around. I continued by taking higher photos, including the mid-range and top of the rock and continued my side-stepping and photo-taking. If I recall correctly, I ended up with at least 37 photos.

*Note: You may also use a turntable of some type, however I've not tested one as of yet.

After photography, load up your 3D Capture Software and import the images you took. I'm more familiar with Adobe Substance Sampler, so I'll discuss that. In ABS, it was simple to import the images, a simple select, click, drag and drop. Then it was just a few clicks to define the quality of the 3D model that would be generated from your images.

There's a bit more complexity to this art after Sampler compiles the model, but you're able to test multiple versions and view them to find what best suits your needs. When you choose your finalized version, next you get to generate your textures which come from your images. Just a few clicks again, you're able to export your mesh (model) and textures; in a variety of ways for easy transferring to the next stage;

I brought the assets into Adobe's 3D Substance Painter to clean-up the 3D Scan's seams that seamed (ha) to hard-bleed through the texturing—Much too visibly! SP's cloning tool made for the perfect tool to do exactly that.

And that's pretty much it. Export it, modify it as you need to suit your needs.

If you weren't aware, Evigilo Entertainment is working on our first game. The last month has been extremely busy as we've started the official development of our game. Please know that Donations are more than welcome and needed, so if you want to support us and/or simply enjoyed reading about the process above and other content, please consider supporting our projects as we will not be generating any income for a long time.

The Process

Ephesians 5:11

Thanks for reading,

—Justin

Justin is the owner and current independent developer at Evigilo Entertainment. His thoughts and opinions are a direct reflection of Evigilo Entertainment's values, morals and ethics.

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