{"id":3507,"date":"2021-09-29T12:31:01","date_gmt":"2021-09-29T12:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/?p=3507"},"modified":"2021-10-06T19:10:03","modified_gmt":"2021-10-06T19:10:03","slug":"fun-with-photodoc-collaborative-rti-edition-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/2021\/09\/fun-with-photodoc-collaborative-rti-edition-12","title":{"rendered":"Fun with PhotoDoc: Collaborative RTI (Edition 12)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the exciting things about the Preservation Lab is you never know what\u2019s going to come into the Lab next!  Sure, sometimes we know a little bit ahead of time about upcoming projects, but usually the special collections intake meetings are filled with “oohh\u2019s”, “aahh\u2019s” and sometimes “oh no\u2019s”.  But it\u2019s not very often that you get to work on a project, here in Cincinnati, while the objects themselves are across the Atlantic.  Combine that with RTI (Reflectance Transformation Imaging<\/a>), a variety of Vesalius related texts, and an opportunity to collaborate with other photographers, and you\u2019ve got a recipe for one exciting project!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently in the planning stages, the Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions will host a series of Cecil Striker<\/a> lectures and a physical exhibition that will celebrate the work of Andreas Vesalius. The series and exhibition is entitled The Illustrated Human: the Impact of Andreas Vesalius<\/a> and is sponsored by Stephen and Sandra Joffe.\u00a0 Vesalius was a renowned 16th<\/sup> century author and physician, whose iconic work on human anatomy, De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem<\/em>, is considered one of the most influential anatomy books ever written. Three rare first edition Vesalius volumes will be exhibited during this upcoming lecture series, gratuitously on loan from Stephen and Sandra Joffe. Dr. Joffe is a long-time UC supporter and an emeritus faculty member. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the upcoming exhibit, the Lab will be creating custom supports, as needed, to display the volumes, and providing imaging of various pages and illustrations for promotion.  I will also be doing any additional specialized imaging that might be helpful.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since we believe that some, if not all three bindings coming to Cincinnati, might be original to the volumes, and we immediately thought of RTI and wondered if it could provide new insights to researchers. After seeing the wonders of RTI, via RTI examples from the Lab, the owners of the Vesalius editions were interested in having RTI done on a selection of Vesalius items in their collection, including some that wouldn\u2019t be coming to the Lab.  The only hitch?  The volumes are at their home in Scotland.  The solution: hire a local photographer, Iain McLean<\/a>, to carry out the capture portion of the RTI in Scotland, and have the files shared with the Lab for processing and rendering.  Though Iain is an established commercial photographer with a digital imaging background, RTI was a new adventure for him, so I shared some resources with him, including CHI\u2019s Guide to Highlight Image Capture<\/a> and some notes and resources created by the Lab during our various capture sessions.  Iain and I then met via Zoom in mid- August to discuss the ins and outs of RTI highlight capture prior to his capture session on August 20th<\/sup>.  Iain also brought his colleague and fellow photographer, John Linton<\/a>, into the fold to assist him during the capture session, which I recommended highly because though it might be possible to do RTI solo, I can\u2019t imagine a capture session without my normal collaborator and the Lab’s Assistant Conservator, Catarina Figueirinhas.  The session would take double the time and I\u2019d make five times the mistakes without Cat! (Check out a time lapse video of Cat and I doing RTI in the Lab<\/a> on our YouTube channel).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Image
Iain and John during the capture session, featuring one of my favorite volumes that they captured that day. (This image was taken by Iain and kindly shared with me.) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After a successful test capture session, Iain and John were ready for the main capture session on August 20th<\/sup>.  They ended up capturing the front and back covers of seven volumes.  Once the massive capture session was completed, Iain shared the jpegs with me so that I could begin processing the images in RTI Builder<\/a> and then rendering the snapshots in RTI Viewer<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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