The 3D Digitisation of the Honours of Scotland
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 09/03/2024

David Vacas Madrid, Sophia Mirashrafi, Adam Frost, Al Rawlinson, Reed Hudson, Lyn Wilson 

The Honours of Scotland - the oldest Crown jewels in Britain and among the oldest in Europe – were required to be removed from their exhibition space in early 2023 to undergo a programme of conservation works and be part of King Charles III's Coronation events. 3D digitisation of these objects was an essential and important element of the conservation process, management of the collections, the movement of the objects and their presentation. Working with colleagues in Collections, the Digital Documentation and Digital Innovation Team at Historic Environment Scotland (HES) were responsible for digitising these items. 3D data capture of complex objects is known to confound optical 3D scanning systems and introduce inaccuracies. The items presented multiple challenges to their documentation: highly reflective surface finishes and refractive materials, movable parts, and their delicate condition, requiring completely non-contact techniques. We used cross-polarised photogrammetry and structured-light scanning, as well as pre- and post-processing techniques, to ensure that we produced digital datasets that closely reflect the object geometry and albedo. In addition to high-resolution data for documentation and reference, multiple other outputs were produced from this 3D model. These were used for different purposes by different colleagues within the organization: to support conservation works, interpretation, public engagement and outreach. Project outputs included orthographic images, reprojected complex geometry, still rendered images, animations and web visualisation versions of the 3D models. In this presentation, we will talk about how we captured and processed these objects and the multidisciplinary uses of the results produced.