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Restrictions in the scan volume of typical 3D body scanners, such as the 3dMD Body Scanning System, have imposed severe limitations in their use for creation of 3D models for the purposes of human animation. For these purposes, the ideal pose is to have the human subject stand with the feet shoulder-width apart and arms held completely horizontal at the shoulders (known as a T-Pose). This pose, however, is difficult to capture, especially for taller individuals whose arms may not fit within the capture volume. As a result, scans are typically collected with arms down towards the body rather than parallel to the ground. With these scans, animators are forced to choose between creating a completely fictional human (e.g. an artist's rendition) or painstakingly modifying the scan to arrange the underlying 'bones' into the proper T-Pose. One type of 3D mesh file utilizes a process known as vertex mapped texturing, in which an RGB color value is assigned to each vertex in the mesh. Another method is known as texture mapping, in which a separate texture file is created that 'wraps around' a geometric mesh. This process usually leads to visually pleasing scans; however, some difficulties arise with these files. For instance, the texture mapping process makes it impossible to merge scan files together while retaining color/texture information. This paper explores a method of generating 3D mesh models in two major scan formats, through the use of merging multiple scans and a series of software operations to reduce the amount of time and effort required by animators/computer graphics professionals.

This report is published in the interest of scientific and technical information exchange, and its publication does not constitute the Government's approval or disapproval of its ideas or findings.