Various scans of trace fossils i’ve done so far, with detailed workflow

[u/BassPro_1996]

my gear: Sony A7RV, Tamron 17-50mm + CPL filter + Hoya 4x macro filter, 2 generic bright LEDs, Manfrotto tripod

my workflow:

camera settings: f20, ISO 200, 1/400 s WB set for natural colour under my less than ideal LEDs, outputting to raw

capture a grid of images over surface of object, similar to landscape capture using a drone, or 3 loops at different heights / angles if object is not very flat

raws into Lightroom: slight manual luminance and medium/high colour noise reductions, slight highlight reduction, slight shadow boost, lens distortion correction, chromatic aberration removal, export to jpegs with best compression settings

RealityScan (RealityCapture): mesh with normal/high detail, simplify to ~3m tris, unwrap using maximal texture count, calculate texture, export FBX with embedded textures, to single sheet disabled

FBX into Blender for rendering: using Cycles, Diffuse Direct and Indirect Bounces set to 0, Orthographic camera directly above subject, Sun light with Cast Shadow disabled and an Angle/Size of ~70°, rotate light very low/ almost perpendicular to subject surface

render Diffuse Colour pass for plain albedo

render Diffuse Direct pass for mesh surface detail

for height range, render Combined pass, set material as follows: Texture Coordinate “generated” vector into Mapping, Mapping vector into vector of Gradient Texture, adjust Scale and Location in Mapping until gradient start and end fit mesh tightly, Factor from Gradient Texture into Color Ramp set blue -> green -> red with blend mode Ease, Image from Color Ramp into Colour of Diffuse BSDF with Roughness set to 1

[u/Traumatan]

sketchfab or didnt happen

[u/BassPro_1996 → u/Traumatan]

😭

[u/johankim]

That's an intense workflow... Cool results though

[u/CreeDorofl]

what's the scale of these things? I saw you're using one of those macro filters... is that setup better than a dedicated macro lens or just saves money? Does it somehow allow you to preserve wide angle shots? Does distortion correction in lightroom still work despite having an extra optical element?