Spelunking Internet Style by John Carey (appears in the Dec. 2004 CR-ASPRS Newsletter)
Ever dream of going on vacation? Would you like to see, up close, the destination of your choice? Well, soon you will be able to virtually experience a southwest Missouri cave. Holly Neill, the Director of the James River Basin Partnership, approached me concerning making a visualization of a privately owned cave (Tumbling Creek Cave) near Protem, MO. Holly wanted to publish virtual reality movies of the cave on the internet to enable others to share in the experience. At the time, I only had basic knowledge of photography and the creation of Quick Time 360 degree movies which can be used for visualizations, beyond that I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I met with Monika Moskal to pick her brain for suggestions on how to approach this project. She had thoughts of using the results from this project for more advanced purposes than just internet viewing.
|
John setting up the equipment |
On November 1, 2004, Holly, Monika and myself met and determined that the immediate goal would be to develop a way to effectively capture the photos inside the cave and to then process movies from those photos. We discussed the possibility of capturing stereo pairs and digitizing the cave for use in a GIS. With these initial ideas in mind, we decided to begin this research escapade on November 13, 2004, however an event on November 12 truly motivated me into action. Matt Dunbar, from the University of Kansas, was kind enough to grace us at Missouri State University with a demonstration of KU’s GeoWall. After seeing the possibilities that the GeoWall viewing had to offer, we decided that we would definitely go ahead and take stereo photos to have for possible future testing on a GeoWall. We talked to Matt about different strategies for capturing stereo photos, what methods he had the most success with and I then incorporated those suggestions into my plan for the next days work in the cave.
My primary goal for this trip was to determine what procedure to use to successfully photograph a pitch black cave of varying size and surface. Secondly, I needed to determine the minimum equipment needed, whether or not it was available to me, or if improvising was needed. I had two plans initially for photographing the cave. First, use three large battery powered spotlights aimed 120° away from each other OR simply use an external flash mounted to the camera. After arriving at the cave, we did a walk-through to select appropriate sites for photographing. After the sites were selected, I set the equipment up and went to work. I did a test run with the spotlights and another with the flash mounted on the camera. I examined the resulting photos on the cameras LCD display and determined that the mounted flash provided better illumination. Now that my method had been determined, I continued to take photos capturing two panoramic locations along with several stereo pairs. The equipment I used consisted of a high quality digital camera, a tripod, and the camera mounted flash. I captured 20-25 photos in a 360° circle at each site in the cave. I was anxious to see the results. Upon returning home that evening, I downloaded the photos and was pleasantly surprised to find them to be of a much higher quality than I had anticipated. Using a software called Stitcher 2.0, I stitched the photos together and created the Quick Time Virtual movies with much success. I have plans to return to the cave to gather more photos to produce a more well-rounded virtual movie.
I believe many good things will evolve from this project through improved methods, upgraded equipment, and trial and error. I plan to take this project to the next level. It has endless opportunity that I find myself struggling to narrow down. I look forward to bringing the opportunity to explore Tumbling Creek Cave to the internet, allowing the public to enjoy it, while at the same time protecting the innate beauty and fragile ecosystem within the cave itself. |
