Great examples of 3D scanned sculptures

If you’ve explored Sketchfab a bit, then you know about “collections”, which allow you to add models (either by you or by somebody else) to a folder, of sorts - either for organizational purposes, for inspiration, or for any number of other reasons. The limitation of collections is that multiple users cannot contribute to any given collection. So here’s your chance! Since sculptures are ideal subjects for 3D digitization, let’s create a list of some of the best examples on Sketchfab. If you know of a top notch scanned sculpture, post it here!

I’ll start…

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Well. this is really personal opinion about “Best”.
For example this statue, for my opinion worst model:
Quad automatic retopology. No baked normals from high res mesh.
Even worse is only shadeless scans with deep shadows from museum lights made from blurred photos or scans made in 123D Catch.

It’s already been staff picked but I am a big fan of this scan by @rigsters - the subject is really dynamic and the cape came out very nicely:

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I’ll share two I’ve discovered recently:

and this one (not a statue, but the few remaining fragments of it…). Absolutely gorgeous.

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Hey @ssh4, I don’t think I’d call this: “worst model” at all… but hey, I respect your opinion.

Maybe is not the finest model I’ve ever made, but you have to consider that it was made less than two months along with the other 33 models in this collection: Carlos III y la difusión de la Antigüedad - A 3D model collection by Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (@rabasf) - Sketchfab and the other 37 in this one Carlo di Borbone e la difussione delle Antichità - A 3D model collection by Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (@MANN) - Sketchfab

I’d like to know what you think about the models in those sculpture collections.

Sometimes efficiency has to prevail over the highest quality. Time and quantity counts, don’t you think?

Also, thanks @abbyec for sharing my model as a great sculpture scan! :grin:

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Nestor, sorry. Sometime i can be rude.

In your scan i can see good light and camera/lens setup, and hands or pro.
Them stand behind from hundreds other scan made by hobbyists with lost heads or butts and dark deep shadows without any details.
I just don’t think this scans can be named best.

May be this is my opinion only, but i think 3Dscan this is not just texture reprojection to sphere or something that looks like original object shape. This kind of quality already can be made with just a simple smartphone and several smartphone apps.
For me 3Dscan is a way to examine original object in many different way, lighting conditions and probably most interesting part watch all this micro bumps or defects from ages, that only possible to see with side light or MatCap mode if mesh have good normal map (not just simulated from diffuse texture).

Thanks for your comments @ssh4

So, do you consider models like this to be better?

For my opinion this model much better. It have good details. Small details baked from high res scan as normals. It have materials that probably looks like real object. Not exactly, like real (Real will required CPL rig to scan all surface informations including specularity and reflection). So materials also looks good.

One problem I see on it - tons of non planar poligons. That no one know how realtime engine understand. Because every quad poly always divided to 3 points polygons it not possible predict how such non planar quad will be divided. And as result tangent normal map can create result that different from original normals in high resolution scan. But because this model not a low poly, this errors mostly not visible (polygons size mostly the same as normal map resolution plus sketchfab compression).

What I think. When we just scan for measurements all this “quality” must give good quality for measurements. But if this scans go to 3D graphic area, them must be better than average 3D artist can made by hands. How 3D scan can be better than work of 3D artist? Only this small details from original object that just not possible recreate for this 3D artist.
And my thoughts is about preservation of world hearitage objects. In ideal condition 3D scan must have all information about original object, shape, materials, etc.

But if this is just for average game on smartphone, 2D sprites is enough :wink: