Ceres - First draft

thingiverse

As NASA's Dawn spacecraft enters orbit around Ceres, I'm eager to translate the returned images into a 3D model. Unfortunately, the poles lack sufficient detail due to Dawns' orbital path combined with the suns illumination and limitations in photogrammetry software, such as Agisoft Photoscan. This means I've only been able to map areas not excessively shaded by these factors. Further refinement is possible when NASA releases more images. You can find the source of these NASA images at dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images. To improve my model, I broke down the GIF animation into individual frames and used a black mask with a tolerance setting of 150 in Photoscan to remove overly shaded areas. A lower tolerance resulted in distorted models. Once masked, I added a sphere to the model within Blender to complete the poles. Next, I returned it to Photoscan for texture generation, followed by texturing paint application via Blender on those areas. For those interested in seeing my more advanced designs or connecting with me, you can visit: anthromod.com - Website, @anthromod - Twitter https://twitter.com/anthromod, Facebook page at facebook.com/pages/Anthromod/237963689641884, or access my products on Shapeways shop shapeways.com/shops/anthromod. LinkedIn users may connect with me at uk.linkedin.com/in/ChrisChappell85, while Google+ members can find me at plus.google.com/+ChrisChappell85 and professionals interested in collaborating should look for me on Elance at elance.com/s/chris_chappell/.