A technology cocktail for a 3D photo-realistic model of a i century Roman fountain: range scanning, RTI and physically based rendering

Abstract

Archaeology is a science that uses multiple disciplines to ensure the validity of archaeological data and to accurately support theoretical foundations. Archaeology uses computer graphics to create credible virtual representations of archaeological sites and artifacts, which are used for interpretation, research purposes and archiving. Accurate virtual representations of an archaeological site rely on a balanced mixture of techniques, and some are discussed in this communication aplied to a I century roman fountain. Different imaging techniques were integrated - point cloud from a total station, 3D mid-range laser scanning and reflectance transformation imaging (RTI) - where their best features are extracted and combined to get the most accurate data in different scales. A point cloud enables a fair representation of the entire site (macro-scale), including the surrounding environment features. A 3D mid-range scanning captures the surface detail (medium-scale), but it may not be reliable to capture microstructure elements. An RTI technique (such as polynomial texture mapping, PTM) may overcome this limitation, since it can capture the microstructure elements through the surface reflectance properties. A physically based rendering technique (such as the one used by PBRT) can contribute to produce an improved view of an archaeological site, from a virtual 3D model. A collection of open-source software tools is under development to efficiently merge these techniques. This integrated set aims to provide a smooth integration of data gathered on the field, while adequately documenting all processing steps for archival purposes. Obtained results so far are promising and suggest some paths for improvements.