Prototypes for automatic RTI– (above) and Photogrammetry-capture (below).
Constructed and visualized in Blender.
SfM / RTI – combination tests
This test explores combination possibilities of Reflectance Transformation Imaging and Photogrammetry, using reliable low frequency depth with high absolute accuracy from the later, and high frequency surface normal data with high relative accuracy from the former.
For a detailed description of my approach and the results, click here.
RTI – selected examples from FGFP (web viewer)
For some selected examples of the FGFP figurines using the RTI Web Viewer, click here.
RTI – accuracy tests
To test the absolute accuracy of the RTI files under controlled conditions, I constructed a virtual environment in Blender, eliminating all possible external error sources.
To read more about my approach and the results, click here.
RTI – alternative visualization
Using the maximum lighting value for each pixel across all images in combination with the normal map visualization from CHI’s RTIViewer, a static composite image that incorporates both surface topography and color information can be produced using regular image manipulation software.
For a detailed description, further examples and comparisons click here.
i3mainz
Duration: Jan 2015 – Dec 2015
After my graduation, I gained employment at the Institute for Spatial Information Technology and Remote Sensing (University for Applied Sciences) in Mainz, Germany. Here, I assist different digital humanities projects and lead courses in applied Photogrammetry and RTI. Additionally, I undergo extensive IT training, gaining proficiency in coding and deepening my knowledge of geospatial information technologies and remote sensing applications in the humanities.
Gohar Tepe
The Gohar Tepe-Project has been initiated in 2003 by the Cultural Heritage Organisation of Mazandaran. In 2009, the project was reinstated as a colaborative endeavour with the University of Munich, Germany. The project has unearthed evidence for activity from the Chalcolithic up until the Iron Age periods, during wich the site has served different purposes. Gohar Tepe constitutes the largest archeological site in the Mazandaran Region of northern Iran.
As a participant of the 2012 Summer campaign, I was tasked with documentation of finds from the current and former excavations, using classical photography techniques and Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI).
Franco-German Figurines Project (FGFP)
Duration: ongoing
The Franco-German Figurines Project (FGFP) is financially supported by the Universities of Strasbourg (France) and Wuerzburg (Germany). Its goal is primarily the recording of the Iron Age female terracotta figurines found in Transjordan and the creation of a refined typology of these objects.
Between spring 2012 and summer 2014, the project team consisting of Regine Hunziker-Rodewald, Astrid Nunn and myself carried out five preparative and seven research stays in France, Germany, and Jordan, as well as in the United-States and Canada. The team exclusively works on material kept in museums, in storage facilities and in university collections. To date 423 female terracotta figurines, 96% of them fragments, have been registered.
Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) produces dense surface data of captured objects, by far surpassing traditional photography in the versatility of its output format.
In my function as the head of documentation, I have recorded 229 figurines from collections in the US, Canada and Jordan using the RTI highlight method. I was also given the opportunity to hold lectures on this subject in the US, France and Germany.
Check out the following pages for more information on RTI:
Selected examples from the FGFP
Accuracy analysis
Alternative visualistion approaches
Quality enhancement experiments
Automation concepts