Using the viewer

To move the light position in the interactive RTI, make sure the lightbulb icon in the bottom right corner is highlighted rather than dark then click and drag across the viewer.

To pan around the image, turn the lightbulb icon off, and click and drag across the viewer.

Use the layers icon to enable enhanced views of the RTI, including diffuse and specular (mathematical enhancements that remove colour and increase contrast), and normals (a false-coloured static view of the surface profile).

Ceramic bowl

As well as flat objects, RTI can also be used on more three-dimensional objects, like this bowl. Capturing deep or tall objects with RTI can be a challenge: in this case the shadows cast by the sides of the bowl obscure some areas when the light is positioned from particular angles. However, it is quite effective at giving a general impression of the depth and shape of the bowl, which is often difficult with standard 2D photography. The RTI also highlights small texture details on the inside of the bowl and the stamped text in the centre.

About the object

  • Department of Archaeology and History
  • Roman
  • 2021
  • Ollie Anthony and Daniel Brock
  • University of Exeter
  • All rights reserved in the metadata and all media by the owner unless otherwise indicated.