Squeeeeeee! I’m gonna share how I shot it then because it might have worked after all.
You know those old cardboard 3D viewer glasses that they used to pass out at movie theaters before the advent of the $100 jobbies? I took one of those and held the blue cellophane side over the lens of the iPhone while I shot the picture. It knocked down the pure white and emphasized the shadows.
@dan Laser 3D scanners should be able to do it. While most scanner companies are focused on full 3D models, there’s no reason that a company couldnt use a laser measuring system to read accurate point data from just one plane of reference, then write software that translates that 3D point cloud into a depth map. Say if there was a company with a device that had a gantry inside, with a removable tool mounted to such gantry, onto which a laser measuring head could be attached and utilize the X-Y motion of the gantry to scan over a shallow object. Man, if only there were a company with a device like that…
it’s funny that you can actually pick up the direction the Iight is coming from overhead by the shadows that are cast in the model. Something to keep in mind, so thanks!
You mean a company that already had a depth-measuring system built in for focusing purposes? (Albeit that would probably be really slow for lots of points)
I received the colourant from Netherlands in today’s post, and have done a few test shots, and will post the latest.
The colourant is insanely strong - Quote 0.01% of the original solution is opaque at a depth of 4" unquote.
I put one drop into 50mls water and tried it out.
Much closer focus, but the image shows tiny bubbles clinging to the surface.
As it’s getting late, I’m posting this anyway, as I think I’m now getting close to a set up that will work.
To follow up on this thought, the best results would be obtained if the object had an internal light source and glowed, so the light only made one trip trough the water.
That’s obviously not practical for objects we want to scan, so here’s an alternative idea. Paint the object with fluorescent paint and illuminate it with UV light. Water is transparent to UVA light, and when the UV rays strike the painted object, they will cause an emission of visible light that will be dimmed by the dye in proportion to the depth of submersion as they travel to the camera. We need to make sure the dye isn’t fluorescent, though!
Nice detail! It’s fascinating to me that the eye has no trouble picking up some of those lighter lines as cut marks, but an algorithm would have a heck of a time.
I’m gonna share how I shot it then because it might have worked after all.
