The creation process of a digital 3d model from Barbie was quite difficult. There was quite a bit of learning involved in this process. The process started with us choosing and getting assigned to Barbie. This Barbie is derived from Barbie, the 2023 film. As this particular Barbie is seen as collectible and quite expensive, we had to consider our possibilities even before starting the digitization process. This Barbie was untouched and still in it’s original box. We had to debate on whether we were going to take the images of Barbie in the box, or not. After contemplating our options we decided to take Barbie outside of the box. The reason for this being that the box had a plastic cover, which we believe would not have been captured correctly in the software that we used to create the 3d model.
The program we used to create the 3d model is called Agisoft. While digitizing Barbie we encountered several difficulties. The first models had loads of black from the background. This came because of the images that were taken had a black background. These images were taken of all Barbie’s sides and was used to create the 3d model out of. We fixed the issue of having the background show up in our 3d model, by deleting points which were black, as well by using masks. The masks were picking up a lot of background, and were sometimes not accurate at all. See figure 2. It took us a long time to create the masks, and ultimately the models were still not good. In hindsight, perhaps we should have tested prior to finishing all masks if there was an improvement or not. In the end we decided against using masks and instead used depth maps. The reason being that the masks still produced holes and wasn’t smooth.
Black background
Masks
Upon further reflection, I believe Barbie’s skin was too smooth, making the program not register where the arm is properly. The hat was also too white/bright and the software could not register the dips in the form correctly. The hair was brushed out before taking the pictures, which now looking back I would have suggested not to do, as the frizziness made it hard to digitize as well. The black background also made it difficult with the frizz, however I do not think a white background would have been better, as the white stand and the white hat would have not been seen.
If I had to redo this project, I would probably choose a toy that is made from a fabric material, as in this model we had the least issues with the clothing part. Additionally, having to digitize a Barbie that is a collectible is a difficult task, as we could not put powder on Barbie’s face and arms. This would have improved the texture of barbies exposed skin.