alt Hacker NewsThe Met releases high-def 3D scans of 140 famous art objects
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Here's a little script to download all the publicly available scans (135) as GLBs and stick the metadata in a JSON. The scans are all CC0 (public domain)
The MET also released a great article on their scanning process to preserve color accuracy https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/color-photography-sta...
Highly recommend reading it as a companion to these 3D scenes.
The original article is https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2026/03/metropolitan-museum-o... Not sure why that is not linked, instead we have an AI generated SEO spam page.
It's kind of annoying that the 3D viewer on their website keep you a respectful distance away from the object like you might try to touch it if you got too close.
Glad this was one of the objects captured, it's absolutely stunning to see in person: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/24671
I wish they had captured one of their Faberge eggs; those are almost more impressive.
So cool!
It recently dawned on me how we have a staggering amount of art available in these archives (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/, https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en, the Met, etc). It's truly staggering. Can't wait to use these images for my side project[0].
Scott Geffert did a talk about The Met scanning process on Weds at the OpenUSD working group meeting. Here's the link he shared which explains more (along with a bit of history) https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/color-photography-sta...
Is anyone from the Computer History Museum listening? If they could do that, as well as scans with “exploded” parts it’d be a boon for both students and enthusiasts, who’d be able to 3D print replacements for many parts.
> high-def 3D scans
maybe 15, 20 years ago. I especially found the glossy shader goofy. No authentic replication, more 2000s gaming vibes. they should use gaussian splatting instead
Anyone know how the material roughness/metallic is captured? For instance here https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/253348. I've only seen basic albedo for 3D scans before. Maybe it's just hand-authored.
Compare to: https://cosmowenman.substack.com/p/secret-3d-scans-in-the-fr...
I wish more museums would share their scans.
Very cool! Checking out the Van Gogh painting in the viewer I can just barely see the depth of the brush strokes. Shame you can't look 90 degrees off axis to see the protrusion effect with the bulky outer frame in the way.
> Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
>
> To request images under copyright and other restrictions, …
If these are available as public domain with unrestricted use without fee, what is the use case for requesting a version under copyright with restrictions?
I did initially doubt the usefulness of viewing the paintings and embroidery in 3D, but then I spun this around and the back of the board is interesting as well.
How easy is it to 3D print them?
I see the “spinning” view in browser, but I don’t see an option to download the STLs.
Edit: It appears the usdz AR file can be converted to obj/stl files.
I wanted to try printing one but so far all of them seem like they’d be kind of disturbing to display in my house.
Any recommendations for art objects worth 3D printing at home? Bonus points if it would appeal to a grade schooler.
This data needs to be reprocessed to make 3D gaussian splats instead.
Absolutely beautiful scans. Thanks Met. Wonderful art that brightened my day.
Can't wait to see how this plays with Vision Pro
Does anyone know where the STL/OBJ files for the 3d models are at?
Great use of WebXR.
Works well both on the Vision Pro (USDz format) and Meta Quest (glTF binary format).
That being said without the right mediation, without some context... unless you already are an expert in the domain what's the point?
This is a fantastic resource, not only for present generations, but also especially for future generations if any of these objects were to be damaged or destroyed.
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Trivial to see the raw GLB files in a Viewer that gives you a bit more control.
https://github.khronos.org/glTF-Sample-Viewer-Release/?model...