I’d wanted to offer a more detailed walk-through of the cool material presented, but events have a way of moving faster than I do. I will be unable to do justice to any of the speakers, so I only offer a quick link list of topics and projects that I noted.

There are a load of archival and access systems, though to be honest I can’t offer an evaluative overview other than to say, they all seem focused on imagery and data, whereas 3D datasets seem to be somewhat novel as yet… so don’t expect any point-cloud visualization in your browser search just yet. There seemed to be an unanswered question that softly echoed “which is one ring to unite them all?” …

ala.org.au Atlas of Living Australia, a down under biodiversity pioneer
GBIF the global biodiversity information facility
BioCASE specimen collections solution
GeoCASE Geosciences Collection Access Service
GGBN Global Genome Biodiversity Network
DNA Bank Network
AntWeb what is it with myrmecologists? Might they take over the biosphere?
OCHRE cultural database
SESAM Senckenberg Collection management system
Europeana.eu/portal

(oh dear, can you tell I’m overwhelmed? And these are only from the morning sessions…)

Of course, standards was an ever-present issue, and Mark Sutton proposed an xml envelope for polygon datasets. As a digital artist, all I can say is… bring it on! Others noted that the polygons might be the wrong thing to archive and share, point clouds being more directly related to the digitalization, but less standardized and often larger.

Gregor Hagedorn gave a great overview of OpenAcess and Content, noting that ‘non-commericial’ clauses doesn’t really do what you might think it does, and might better be avoided for open research work.

Many detailed case studies and evaluations of processes and software followed, with demos of Amira and Simpleware for analytical usage of 3D / slice information, and Cumulus and easyDB for databank solutions.

hardware demos included Nextengine3D’s mech-arm laser scanner (the word “vwoosh” comes to mind) and white-light hand-held scanner. Marc Proesman showed off a Debevec-like mini-dome that really makes you want to run around and sample textures.

Also enjoyable was Heinrich’s defense of old-school manual tactile scanning… ie. use what you got, in ways that you need.

Further google searches: David3D, Autoscan, Meshlab, Movie15…

Ad hoc thoughts:
We artists need to be aware of the topics and the content of all this. First, there’s a vast wealth of reference material and expert data. Second, there’s a whole generation of scientist now producing their own incredibly juicy graphics, thank you very much and it oozes scientific process. Third, I see potential to ride these archiving systems to organize and distribute visualizations – perhaps while attributing influences such as consulting scientists or papers via hard-tagged metadata. Lots to learn, lots to digest.

Note: day 3 was probably the most intense of all, but I may not get around to it before geting packed off here. Feel free to comment with other references around the blogosphere.

The DigitalFossil2012 was, for me, a surprise in that a large proportion of the speakers attended the full 3 days of presentations by their colleagues. The whole event can easily be described as intimate. Everyone seemed actively interested in each other’s techniques and from the enthusiasm with which these specialists exchanged their ideas and experiences, I suspect there was an element of liberation in finding themselves in a high-caliber think-tank of colleagues exploring digital capture, analysis and archival / distribution methods. It was certainly infectious for me as an outsider, and I’m grateful that the talks were universally presented in very accessible terms – I (prosumer-type computer graphics animator) was able to follow along and even be immersed in the concepts being presented, despite them involving things like micrometer multi-phase synchrotron thingies and doodads. Indeed, a good amount of the talks were overviews of techniques, two or three of historical background. Here some personal highlights, with the attempt to link to further sites from the speakers (please let me know if there are better ones):

Carolin & Joachim T Haug

Tickling incredible detail out of spineless beasties using an array of high and low tech approaches, despite ridiculous scale & material issues. I noted autoflourescence, focal sharpness stacks, photography using cross-polarized multiple light sources (among others) as well as scanned, computed and hand-modeled meshes of very interesting invertebrates. The more I explore their work, the more I encounter familiar favorites. Illustrators / animators, note the recurring theme of brilliant scientists using digital toolsets to create stunning imagery. Gulp.

Peter Falkingham, Stuart Pond, Neffra Matthews & Brent Breithaupt

The individual talks about various (and partially conflicting) approaches to photogrammetry were great. Peter Falkingham, champion of sympethetic (red: author) garage tinkling approaches, demonstrated a Kinect scanner, alternative Asus Xtion & software such as VisualSFM. Stauaart Pond talked about collecting data in the field and the advances made in speedily checking and sharing data with colleagues (as measured in minutes). Brent Breithaupt analyzed results of photgrammetry with LIDAR scanning: one is as good as the other, with minor bias for things like hardedge detection. I particularly enjoyed Neffra Matthews historical overview, which opened my eyes a good deal – including the work of Berlin architect Albrecht Meydenbauer as author of the term and process of photogrammetry. Then the first applications to documentation of track sites and fossils. Fantastic!
It got better though – because all 4 contributed to a hands-on workshop in photogrammetry. Don’t be surprised if a lot of  Chirotherium tracks start popping up soon. It was great to witness such experienced and opinionated specialists accepting the potential validity of partially contradictory approaches. To sum it up: make sure you get overlap in crisp photos (66%), no matter whether you shot from the hip machine-gun style or in deliberate, planned passes. Get an overview photo so that the software can place details. Don’t move your scale bars from photo to photo. If shooting through glass, place the lense right on the glass. Peter had a great metaphor of mentally imagining the scene, but I’ve misplaced my note on it.

Matteo Belvedere

More of a personal note, as I’m a closet fan of all things Carboniferous. Photogrammetry. Cool stuff!

David Marty

Tragicomic in one sense, as the exploration of these massive track sets are being financed by the same Autobahn construction that shall consume them. Simultaneous rejoice at what’s being done with digital collection methods and dejection at the thought that the actual fossils are then destroyed.

Times up for today, the other talks were great too. I missed the later ones because of the workshop. Feel free to add notes or corrections in the notes. This is all kind of rushed…

Here the left-out Vivian and Peter ponder whether Heinrich has properly earned his ceremonial closing beer. Conclusion? He deserves kegs!

A fantastic 3-day event, with open debate about the goals and methods of digital toolsets – sometimes in contradiction to one another, always in a constructive spirit and sometimes mind-opening. More in the coming days…

Congratulations, guys!

The World of the Celts has just opened in Stuttgart. We’re proud to have been a part of this expansive project, creating two video visualizations of the Fürstensitze (Chieftain residences) Heuneburg and Ipf under the direction of Markus Steffen from the Landesamt für Denkmalpflege. We’ll be posting more about this soon, about the trials and tribulations of creating an expansive settlement covering over 2 square kilometers.

If you find yourself in the vicinity, this is definitely an exhibit worth visiting!

Richard Peters is the 2012 Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year for the category mammal. Congratulations for this stunning image! When I saw it, it immediately hit me not only as a fantastic image of a pouncing fox, but also as an illustration of what is NOT illustration. The framing is gorgeous. It shifts the focus from the subject of a Red Fox to themes like gravity, concentration and willpower. I can’t imagine an illustration that would ever be able to tackle something like this. Even if you were bold enough to frame a image like this, it would be suspected of being construed. Artificial. Photography is spontaneous and celebrates the happy accident to a degree that figurative illustration can not. Agree?

Color me fascinated by the new possibilities of crowd-funded projects like this. And very hopeful for Tyler Keillor‘s Dryptosaurus aquilunguis reconstruction. With 26 days to go, he’s got $2,874 of $6,000 already organized. It’s great to see how all the various digital advantages come into play here, with 3D printing making it possible to reward pitches of even $30 with a Herrerasaurus head bust. Very, very cool. Good luck Tyler!

https://vimeo.com/48379219
Monstro supports a good cause with good animation. Worth watching!

I’ve been dwelling in ancient celtic settlements – the Heuneburg and Ipf, creating 2films, loads of graphics and assets for future use. Above the Steintor from the Heuneburg. I’ll need some time to take care of things neglected, but shall return with some reports of the project once I’ve got clearance.