Please please please keep us posted on that Joshua. I would love to do that myself but I just can't find the time. We really need to develop 3d models of some of the major artifacts, the most doable of which appear to be the Epicurus bust and the leaping pig statue, because we have decent copies floating around which we can photograph from all angles.
The ones I did years ago are hopelessly primitive, and it would be a real service to the cause if we could make good new "meshes" freely available.
Regarding the piglet, I took photos of three sides of it at the Getty Herculaneum exhibit last year if they're of use. Not the greatest photos, but I shot the front and both sides. Forgot the rear end for some reason.
Cassius I have an archive of some 3d printed material. I'll post the links here since the attachment option has such a small cap.
https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/epic…e24091256d3af57 (Neck and head of Epicurus - best model by far)
https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-epicurus-25611 (Bust of Metrodorus despite title saying its Epicurus)
https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-prin…-epicurus-34291 (Head of Epicurus - with busted nose)
https://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/free…d-model/1006704 (Double Herm of Epicurus & Metrodorus)
https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-prin…-london-uk-6093 (Another head of Epicurus)
https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/ar…re-paris-france (Bust of Metrodorus)
http://www.digitalsculpture.org/archive/epicur…reconstructions (A blog detailing the process of reconstructing statues of Epicurus digitally)
https://www.shapeways.com/product/R2YGLS…dant-1-5-inches (I can't find the model but this is worth mention, a pendant with the "stocky" but recognizable head of Epicurus with the quote on the opposite side: "Sic fac omnia tamquam spectet Epicurus", or 'Do all things as if Epicurus were watching!')
Thanks Godfrey and Charles! Godfrey I think in order to create a new mesh we'll probably need lots of photos from all angles, but I did not know that there was a reproduction at the Getty so that is valuable info.
And Charles wow I had not seen all those links!
It looks like this one might be the best: https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-prin…-london-uk-6093
But this one SHOULD have been the best given the starting point: https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-epicurus-25611
It looks like we have more work to do to get a recommended mesh,
The piglet at the Getty was part of an exhibition which has closed and isn't there any more. I believe it was lent from the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.
Here's a link to the exhibit: http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/villa_papiri/index.html
They also had a little head of Epicurus, from the same museum in Naples. There's a great photo of it in the middle of this page (2D of course...): http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/villa_papiri/inner.html
The best bet might be if someone can get to the Naples museum with a handheld scanner. They might not allow that in the best of times, let alone in our current pestilent state 
Godfrey some years ago I remember seeing a 3d version of the leaping pig online, from which this photo was made, but I can no longer find it online anywhere.
I know that there are replicas out there, some better than others, which ought to be doable. I remember seeing one once on ebay but i missed getting it.
I have one myself, but unfortunately it does not include the correct base. However if push came to shove it is pretty good of the pig, so I have one myelf that would make a start.
Ah I see the getty photos now.
This is one of my FAVORITE views of Epicurus, good intense look in eye but still a friendly look i think; it has a nice base, name inscription - the full 9 yards! I think it is the one that the line drawing that I frequently use in graphics is based on. THIS is the one I would love to see 3d duplicated as much as any of them:
Here is my post about my efforts seven long years ago! The results were not very good but seemed better than nothing at the time - the technology is far advanced since then!
I see that I still have a copy of the 20MB mesh file if anyone would like it - just email me and I will post it to a new link for download, but I don't recommend it -- we need a new one with new technology
https://newepicurean.com/three-dimensio…-now-available/
Cassius your efforts look quite good, a bit more detail would finish it off nicely. It seems like a pass or two in Z-brush or Blender is all it would take. Unfortunately I'm a NURBS guy; I'm pretty helpless when it comes to meshes.
Depending on the size and the material used, the result from the mesh I produced back then was decently acceptable. But the technology of the camera resolution I used, and the free adobe (I think) software to render the mesh, I am sure is vastly better now. I think I know at least one person who produced another mesh so I will see what I can find, but the best thing to do would be to start comparing notes on the current best way to do this.
I have a friend who produced this version a few years ago. I need to ask him if he used his own mesh or the one I did
Also of course there is the image i feature on the home page. This one is either not my mesh, or was modified to remove the base:
Here is a link where the mesh I produced can be downloaded. Caveat is that I have not looked at this in six or seven years so I am no longer sure it is usable - if any tries to open it and gets any benefit out of it please post your results so that I will know whether to remove the link or leave it up.
Hmmm -- the file in the first link is to an .obj file. I no longer recall what the file extensions mean.
I know next to nothing about 3D printing but am definitely curious. We have several printers in our library's Maker Space. I know what I'll be experimenting with now after we're back in-person. Thanks everyone for all this info and these files!
My only offer a the link to the Wikipedia article on STL file format (with See Also links to the other 3d formats)
Back in 2013 or so this is the website I used: https://web.archive.org/web/2012100104…3dapp.com/Catch
It's Autodesk (not Adobe as I said earlier) and you took a series of pictures from all angles, uploaded them, and it automatically generated the mesh.
The website is no longer there (at least in the old form) and I am not sure what technology has replaced it. I have access to a decent 6 inch bust of Epicurus that I could re-photograph if needed, but that may not be the best way.
As far as I am concerned most ideal would be to find a way to get scans of this one because as I understand it that is just the way it came out of the ground in Herculaneum, so there's no possibility that we are working with the interpretations of a modern reproduction (and that's what I think that mine is - a modern reproduction.
I feel sure that Elli and some of our other friends in Greece, including maybe @Michele in Italy, probably have access to better originals from which we could work.
Updated software info here:
https://www.autodesk.com/solutions/123d-apps
https://3dscanexpert.com/123d-catch-alt…droid-workflow/
Wow look at the prices: https://www.autodesk.com/products/recap/overview
I am sure there must be free alternatives.
do you know anything about access to 3d sources for busts of the founders and/or the leaping pig, or the Boscoreale cup?
This article just showed up in my feed; it's an example of creating a 3D model from photos:
https://unframed.lacma.org/2020/04/02/anc…hree-dimensions
The software mentioned is:
https://www.agisoft.com/downloads/installer/
The demo is free. The pro version is $3,499, however there's a standard version for $179.
I assume that the model can only be as good as the photos, so there's that....
Here are more examples, some with more complex shapes:
I see they have my mesh here: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/epic…ab1586e10521e36
and here: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/epic…c0469e112a8071b
https://www.myminifactory.com/scantheworld/
I just came across this site for various 3D models. There are a few of Epicurus, of varying quality. There may be others of interest on the site as well. I noticed that there are other "myminifactory" links above but I don't know if they're part of this site or not.... At any rate, here's yet another link!
That site looks like a great find - thank you:
1 - I wish there were a Herculaneum leaping pig there, but I can't find anything.
2 - That Epicurus bust looks like it SHOULD be useful, but it looks like the "original" from which it was scanned doesn't really look like Epicurus.
