An Application of Reverse Engineering to the Digitization of Cultural Heritage Building

With the advances in computer technology, digital technology begins to change traditional patterns and methods in cultural heritage preservation. Photographic measurement technology, the application of virtual reality, digital imaging, 3D modeling, and Internet distribution platform, are all stored on the concept of the past into the new. Convenience benefits brought by technology can break through many of the traditional lack of preservation and will improve the quality of preservation significantly. In cultural heritage preservation, the process of digitizing historic buildings is a key technology that needs further improvement. This study adopted reverse engineering to explore digitalizing constructions and employed a fast and precise 3-D laser scanner to retrieve point cloud data and then export the data into Rapid- FORM XOR2, an application used in reverse engineering, to process point cloud data and construct 3-D models. These results were then converted into 3ds Max (the general platform in Computer Graphics) for fine texture and more applications.