Data from: Back to life: Techniques for developing high-quality 3D reconstructions of plants and animals from digitized specimens

This is the supplementary material for Back to life: Techniques for developing high-quality 3D reconstructions of plants and animals from digitized specimens

This folder includes:

Beginner tutorial: Fossil plant cupule (Petriellaea triangulata [Shi et al. 2021])

o Included files: Cupule Tutorial (.docx), 3D object files (Cupule before.stl, Cupule before.obj)

o Necessary software: Meshlab

o Skills developed: Shrinkwrapping, simplification 

Intermediate tutorial: Reptile (Sphenodon punctatus [downloaded from Morphosource.org])

o Included files: Sphenodon Tutorial (.docx), 3D object files (Sphenodon with holes.stl, Sphenodon with holes.obj)

o Necessary software: Meshlab, Autodesk Maya, Autodesk Fusion 360

o Skills developed: Rearticulation, repair of broken fossils, basic sculpting, shrinkwrapping.

Advanced tutorial: Fossil crab (Cretapsara athanata [Luque et al. 2021)]

o Included files: Tutorial (.docx), 3D object files (Crab before.stl, Crab before.obj)

o Necessary software: Meshlab, Autodesk Maya

o Skills developed: Debris removal, structural repair, shrinkwrapping, rearticulation, smoothing and simplification

Meshlab is an opensource software available at https://www.meshlab.net/

Autodesk Maya and Fusion 360 are available with a student and educators license at https://www.autodesk.com/education/edu-software/overview