Students learn 3D Photogrammetry with DTH Manager Matt Davies; including how to use DSLR cameras in a studio environment. This includes setting up lighting, light tents and turntables. They then take multiple overlapping photographs of the object which are uploaded to specialist software. They learn a complex workflow to produce detailed 3D models for use in teaching, research and marketing.
Students also get to work in the School's Archaeology labs where they are taught how to use state of the art 3D laser scanners by Classics and Archaeology lab technician Dr Susanna Sherwin.
Students work on a number of 3D projects in the DTH, read more about each below
A long running project has been in partnership with the 海角黑料 Museum to '3D' capture some of their artefacts including ancient urns, jars, face pots, and decorated reliefs. The students are taught how to correctly handle the artefacts by museum staff during a visit. They also learn the importance of good metadata - the information about the objects, equipment and software. You can see the students's work to date by visiting the on our sketchfab page.
Visoning a Creative and Cultural County
The DTH has also been an active participant in the Visoning a Creative and Cultural County (VCCC) initiative which is jointly led by the Faculty of Arts' Daniel Mutibwa and Leicestershire County Council.
As part of the placement, students produced 3D models in the DTH and Archaeology labs for the award winning 'Villiers Revealed' project, and the '3D Printing Museum Handling Objects Placement (3DPP)'. You can read more about both projects, including pihotographs, blogs by staff and students and even visit the objects in a virtual museum on the dedicated webpage.
UoN Archaeology osteological reference collection
Over the course of Spring term 2026, students have produced 3D captures of the Classics and Archaeology department's Osteological reference collection.
The collection includes human skeletal remains dating from the Roman to Medieval period and is used to teach students skeletal anatomy and key methods for human remains analysis. The mandibles and maxillae are particularly useful for teaching age estimation methods using dental wear analysis, but also contain evidence of pathological changes such as caries (tooth rot), periodontal disease (infections to the bone), and calculus (hardened plaque). They also show the difference between teeth lost before death vs after burial, an important distinction for archaeologists to spot.
Such was the expertise of students working on this project, that they worked largely unsupervised. You will find the models, along with the names of the students that worked on them in the * section of the DTH Sketchfab page.
*Warning; this collection contains images of human remains.
All models are for educational use only and must not be used for profit.