“Recapturing the Lost Colors of BASARA (abbreviated version)” by CROW VISION

  • ©Kazuo Takahashi

Conference:


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

Animation / Video Overview:


Type: