SIGGRAPH 99 26th International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques COURSE NOTES 8 CASE STUDY: Scanning Michelangelo's Florentine Pieta` Sunday, August 9, 1999 Two Hour Tutorial ORGANIZER Holly Rushmeier IBM TJ Watson Research Center LECTURERS Fausto Bernardini Joshua Mittleman Holly Rushmeier IBM TJ Watson Research Center 1-1 ABSTRACT We describe a recent project to create a 3D digital model of Michelangelo's Florentine Pieta`. The emphasis is on the practical issues such as equipment selection and modi®cation, the planning of data acquisition, dealing with the constraints of the museum environment, overcoming problems encountered with "real" rather than idealized data, and presenting the model in a form that is suitable for the art historian who is the end user. Art historian Jack Wasserman, working with IBM, initiated a project to create a digital model of Michelangelo's Florentine Pieta` to assist in a scholarly study. In the course of the project, we encountered many practical problems related to the size and topology of the work, and with completing the project within constraints of time, budget and the access allowed by the museum. While we have and will continue to publish papers on the individual new methods we have developed in the in course of solving various problems, a typical technical paper or presentation does not allow for the discussion of many important practical issues. We expect this course to be of interest to practitioners interested in acquiring digital models for computer graphics applications, end users who are interested in understanding what quality can be expected from acquired models, and researchers interested in ®nding research opportunities in the "gaps" in current acquisition methods. 1-2 ABOUTTHESPEAKERS Fausto Bernardini 30SawMillRiverRoad Hawthorne,NY10532 914/784-7475(voice) 914/784-7667(fax) [email protected] FaustoBernardiniisaresearchstaffmemberattheIBMT.J.WatsonResearchCenter.He receivedaLaureadegreeinElectricalEngineeringfromtheUniversityªLaSapienzaºof Romein1990,andaPh.D.inComputerSciencefromPurdueUniversityin1996.Hehas writtennumerouspapersonthereconstructionofshapefrom3Dscans,aswellasother topicsincomputergraphicsandgeometry. Joshua Mittleman 30SawMillRiverRoad Hawthorne,NY10532 914/784-7671(voice) 914/784-7667(fax) [email protected] JoshuaMittlemanisaseniorprogrammerattheIBMT.J.WatsonResearchCenter.He receivedaB.A.(1983)inChemistryfromCornellUniversityandanM.A.(1996)inCom- puterSciencefromRutgersUniversity.Since1990hehasbeenworkingonalgorithmsfor interactiveviewingofverycomplexgeometricmodels. Holly Rushmeier 30SawMillRiverRoad Hawthorne,NY10532 914/784-7252(voice) 914/784-7667(fax) [email protected] HollyRushmeierisaresearchstaffmemberattheIBMTJWatsonResearchCenter.She receivedtheBS(1977),MS(1986)andPhD(1988)degreesinMechanicalEngineeringfrom CornellUniversity.SincereceivingthePhD,shehasheldpositionsatGeorgiaTech,and attheNationalInstituteofStandardsandTechnology.In1990,shewasselectedasa 1-3 National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator. In 1996, she served as the Papers chair for the ACM SIGGRAPH conference and in 1998 the Papers co-chair for the IEEE Visualization conference. She is currently Editor-in-Chief of ACM Transactions in Graphics. She has published numerous papers in the areas of data visualization, computer graphics image synthesis and thermal sciences. In the area of global illumination she has worked on the problems of comparing real and synthetic images, imaging participating media, and combining ray tracing and radiosity methods. Most recently she has worked on accurate tone reproduction for high dynamic range images, and systems for acquiring physical data for realistic rendering. 1-4 SYLLABUS Project De®nition and Requirements Holly Rushmeier - notes section 2 Project Planning and Hardware Selection Fausto Bernardini - notes section 3 Working on Site Holly Rushmeier - notes section 4 Software Development for Model Construction Holly Rushmeier and Fausto Bernardini - notes section 5 Presenting the Model to the User Joshua Mittleman ± notes section 6 1-5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Section 1 ± Introduction Presentation Slides Section 2 ± Project De®nition Section 3 ± Project Planning and Hardware Selection Section 4 ± Working on Site Section 5 ± Software Development for Model Construction Section 6 ± Presenting the Model to the User Additional Materials Section 7 ± The Ball Pivoting Algorithm for Surface Reconstruction Section 8 ± Computing Consistent Normals and Colors from Photometric Data Section 9 ± Annotated Bibliography 1-6 The Florentine Pieta` is the second of Michelangelo's Pieta`s, the first being the famous work on view in the Vatican. Pieta` is a general term referring to Mary grieving over Christ's body. The scene shown in this work is actually the deposition of Christ's body into the tomb. The central figure is Christ, the other figures are believed to be Mary Magdalene on the left, Mary the mother of Jesus on the right, and in the back is Nicodemus. CASE STUDY: Scanning Michelangelo's Florentine Pieta` Project definition and requirements This work is being studied by art historian Jack Wasserman. There are a number of unique features of the work and its history that lead him to believe that a digital three dimensional model would be useful. In particular, the statue as it can be seen today has been repaired. Michelangelo himself broke off several pieces. While he was still alive, he gave permission for the work to be repaired and sold. Why Michelangelo broke the statue is still an open question. Being able to view the work Created by Michelangelo late with pieces removed may provide insight into the in his life ~ 1550 artist's motivation. Michelangelo broke off pieces of the statue, repaired by Calcagni ~ 1555-56 Placed outside, in a basement 1562-1721 Placed in the Duomo 1721-1980 Currently in the Museum of the Duomo, Florence, Italy 2-1 The digital model is just one part of a comprehensive study being conducted by Dr. Wasserman. He is synthesizing information from many historical documents and scientific studies. Just seeing the cracks on the outside of the work can't tell us what was broken, but high power X-rays can reveal where metal pins were inserted. Just seeing the statue with pieces removed doesn't provide the naive A Comprehensive Study viewer with insight about Michelangelo's motivation. By Art Historian Jack It is an aid to an historian who also knows the rest of Wasserman: Michelangelo's work, the environment X-rays he worked in and the contemporary records of events. View Under Ultraviolet Historical Record Religious Significance Digital Model There are many possible motivations for acquiring a 3-D model -- making reproductions, distributing for educational purposes, documenting for conservation efforts. Different applications have different requirements. Making small scale reproductions would have relatively low demands on the resolution required. Documentation for conservation efforts would require detailed measurement of material properties -- perhaps with imaging outside the visible range. From a technical perspective: Our particular goal was to provide tools to the art historian Challenging project to answer questions about form and technique. Opportunities for developing new algorithms But what is our final goal? 2-2 The digital model can give the average person many views of the statue that wouldn't be available to the everyday visitor at the museum. However, a professional art historian has significantly greater access to the physical work. It is particularly challenging to see if we can provide him with views he has never seen before Challenge: Can an expert, with free access to the actual work, learn anything from a digital model? We can't guarantee that the model will provide dramatic new insights. All we can do is provide tools to the art historian. Our project is successful if he finds these tools useful. Tools we can offer: Controlled views Impossible views Precise measurements Other environments Partial geometry On demand details 2-3 With the digital model the art historian can examine the varying appearance of the work along precisely defined, and repeatable, paths. This may provide insight into how the artist expected the work to be viewed, e.g. at what height was it to be displayed? Controlled views (from cat scan of scale model) There are views that are impossible, because you would have to dangle from the ceiling of the museum, or would need to be inside the statue. Obviously, the statue was not designed to be viewed from impossible points of view. It may provide insight though into how the artist thought about the work as it progressed. Impossible views impossible in museum impossible (from cat view point scan scale (from July model) scan) 2-4 Controlled + Impossible Views Distances are distorted by perspective position in a photograph. It is impossible to permanently mark points on the statue from which measurements are taken. The digital model can be marked and precisely measured. The art historian can make verifiable statements about the proportions of the figures, showing exactly how he measured the width of the head, or the length of the forearm. Precise measurements from February, geometry only scan 2-5 The statue has not always been in the museum, and was not intended for any of the locations where it actually has been displayed. Using the digital model we can place the statue in other environments, and view it under various types of lighting. Other environments