“Recapturing the Lost Colors of BASARA (abbreviated version)” by CROW VISION
Conference:
- SIGGRAPH 2005 More animation videos from SIGGRAPH 2005:
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SIGGRAPH Video Review:
Track:
- 11
Title:
- Recapturing the Lost Colors of BASARA (abbreviated version)
Length:
- 3:02
Director(s):
Company / Institution / Agency:
- CROW VISION
Description:
Experts in archaeology, conservation, pigmentation, laser scanning, and computer graphics collaborated to restore the true colors of the 12 Divine Generals at Shin-Yakushi-ji Temple, Nara, Japan.
After painstaking research, a Nara Period (710-784 AD) statue of the warload Basara Taisho, a Japanese national treasure made of clay and presently colorless, was restored to its original 8th-century colors (red, blue, and gold). After measuring the outline of the statue through laser scanning, a method commonly used in archaeological research, the collaborators entered the details into computer graph-ics images. Then they analyzed pigment left on the statue’s face and body.
Professionals from many fields collaborated on this project, including Ichiro Nagasawa, former professor of the Faculty of Conservation at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and Akihiko Oyama, associate professor of the School of Fine Arts Education at Nara University of Education.
“Object becomes history when it’s gone.” says the chief priest of Shin-Yakushiji temple. “It will never be, now.” – The Asahi Shimbun, 17 February 2004
Hardware:
Dell PCs running Windows 2000
Software:
PolyWorks 7.0, Maya 6.0, Cinema 4D 8.0, Photoshop 7.0, After Effects 5.5
Additional Contributors:
Director: Kazuo Takahashi
Executive Producer: Masayuki Waku
Producer: Yutaka Kusajima
Associate Producer: Naomi Matsuzawa
CONTRIBUTORS
Shin-Yakushiji Temple General Supervisor: Ichiro Nagasawa
Color Resotration Supervisor: Akihiko Oyama
DP: Kinichi Hoshino
Lighting Director: Kazumasa Kawamura
Video Engineer: Nobuyuki Takaya (CROW VISION)
Digital Archive Supervisor: Yutaka Takase
3D Visualization: Osamu Yamada
CG Director: Tadashi Nakamura
CG Designers: Koichi Kasai, Kimito Otani
PA: Satoru Hirano, Kouki Shimiya, Tomoko Nagai
Post production: CROW VISION