Dendrophyllia sp.
Dendrophyllia sp.
Dendrophyllia is a genus of stony cup coral in the Dendrophylliidae family. Members of this genus have been discovered at depths of up to 900 meters. They are azooxanthellate corals, which means they lack the symbiotic photosynthetic dinoflagellates found in many coral species.
This specimen was about 15cm long from the base to the top.
Method
Photo capture using a manual crafted rotating table and a camera fixed to a still tripod. The movement was obtained by rotating the table (and the object on it) and changing the angle of the camera when the turn was complete. A blue background was held behind the object to contrast with the colour of the specimen and facilitate computer processing.
The photos (250) were uploaded in Metashpe by Agisoft where frames were automatically extracted before being processed and modelled.
Comments:
The photo capture with a change of camera angles enables the capture of small details of the organism that wouldn't be spotted with a completely still camera. The amount of pictures imported into the software defines the amount of precision for the texture, resulting in an extremely sharp model.