A major cultural and research institution, home to one of the largest and most visited collections in the world, runs an in-house digitization program tasked with capturing its holdings in 3D. When the program needed to turn a laser-scanned patent model of an early electric motor into a fully colorized, research-grade 3D asset, on a fixed deadline, it brought in V! Studios for post-processing work few contractors can do well.

What we did

The institution supplied a geometric model built from laser scan data, along with a full set of 360-degree photography of the object shot on a Canon 5D Mark III. Using photogrammetry software, we solved the camera positions from that imagery and projected true color onto the model’s surface, mapped to a clean UV layout rather than baked into individual vertices. The distinction matters: vertex color breaks down under magnification or re-topology, while UV-mapped color holds up under both.

The result

A high-resolution, fully colorized polygon model, delivered on deadline and ready for research, education, or public display. It’s one piece of a broader engagement supporting the institution’s digitization program across laser scanning, structured light and photogrammetry capture, CT processing, and rendering: the full pipeline from raw scan to finished 3D asset.

Why It Matters

Objects like this one exist in a single, fragile form. A model like this gives it a second life: preserved at high fidelity, and open to students, researchers, and the public long after the original is too delicate to handle. We’re honored to do work that helps protect history and bring it to the world.

If an object can be scanned, we can bring it back in full color and full detail.