ABSTRACT
Digital three-dimensional (3D) modeling is being increasingly used to reproduce works of art. Although the technology has been viable since the late 1980s, it is only now widely accessible. Despite its recent availability, its conceptual roots can be found as early as the 1850s, when stereoscopes were employed to create an illusion of three-dimensional space. Experimentation continued until, in the late 1800s, something more akin to the generated 3D print was created by Francois Willeme and Willy Selke. This involved cutting out images of sculpture from large numbers of photographs to construct 3D surrogates. At basic level, a 3D model is constructed from photographs of an object taken from many angles. These are then uploaded onto software which generates a photogrammetric model. Exactly how this is achieved varies from object to object. With good quality base photographs, the model will appear very true to life. However, reproducing reflective surfaces through 3D modeling poses a technical challenge which is hard to overcome.
