DIY DH: Professional Results on a Budget

In January, we selected team member Patricia Taylor to take over digitization of the artifact collection. Since then, she has tagged and numbered the entire collection, started work on the database, set up proper storage of the artifacts, had the entire collection professionally photographed, and has even found time to test out some 3D modelling software. Here are a few highlights of her work, and details on how she’s managed to do so much on an extremely tight budget.

Trish made a lightbox using a tutorial we found online using a cardboard box, some white tissue paper and a sheet of white poster paper. The cost for this was only a few dollars, and provided us with a simple solution to our photography needs.

Simple DIY lightbox and natural light.

We have to thank our photographer Jessica Matteazzi who is currently studying Digital Graphic Design at Vancouver Community College. She photographed the entire collection with Trish in a single five hour session, and we are extremely pleased with the results of her work. We have a relatively small but diverse collection, as you can see from the photos below:

Medieval glazed pottery

Egyptian amulets and beads

Ceramic lamps from the ancient Near East

We are hoping to get the searchable database up and running early this summer and getting high-quality photographs of the collection was the first step to realizing that goal.

We are also looking at having virtual 3D models of the artifacts; this will enable a more comprehensive look at the artifacts for anyone who wishes to study the collection in more detail than photographs provide. Trish has done some test models of a souvenir lamp (not one from our collection) with 123D Catch, which is a free application that is user-friendly and easy to learn.

While we would love to purchase 3D modeling software in the future, 123D Catch is a great interim program that yields very good results and has given us a basic understanding of how to go about creating virtual 3D models.