About me
I am Hambardzum Vardanyan, an animation templates editor at Renderforest.com, where we’re focused on creating professional animation templates that can be edited and rendered right in the browser. Using the same program every day to create, edit, or adapt animations, I have found that some programs are very limited. And if you want to create more complicated stuff, sometimes you can’t get the results using the tools that the programs offer. So I wondered if maybe I could use some code or algorithm to create some tools, and maybe those tools could help me get the results I wanted. So after years of learning, I made my first 3D visualization. That was my first step into the 3D world.
About Armenia
I am from Armenia. A small country in the middle of Europe and Asia. I think my country isn’t well known in the world. But I want to tell you that Armenia was the first country that accepted Christianity. And as the first Christian country, we had thousands of churches. The oldest church, Etchmiadzin Cathedral, was built in the early fourth century between 301 and 303. Some churches have thousands of years of history.
In 1912-1913 the Armenian Patriarchy of Istanbul presented an account of the churches and monasteries in Western Armenia (Eastern Anatolia) and the Ottoman Empire. More than 2300 churches were accounted for, including the early unique Christian monuments of the IV-V centuries. But most of them now don’t exist.
So I thought maybe we could create a 3D scan of the churches to digitally archive them and keep them safe.
I started deep learning the whole process because I was very curious about how I could get very accurate results. As you know, the light is always different, and environmental colors also affect texture colors. I aimed to capture the data as it is. So that’s why the learning process takes a long time. After learning the whole pipeline and doing some tests, in August 2020, I wanted to start the scanning process. But unfortunately, the next month, the war came. And after all the war disasters, on October 8, we saw how two 300mm missiles hit an Armenian Apostolic cathedral, Ghazanchetsots, in Shushi city.
Heritage and archaeological sites are under renewed threat as fighting resumes between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. @armenia @AzerbaijanMFA @simonforco @UNESCO @unescowhc https://t.co/GGtjhNECMI
— The Art Newspaper (@TheArtNewspaper) October 26, 2020
Both strikes hit the southern part of the church roof with great accuracy. We all felt physical pain: but on those days, we dealt with emotional pain, which is even worse compared to the physical. So after 44 days of the war, for the second time, I understood the priority of scanning the churches. And the day after the ceasefire, I asked my coworkers to help me scan the Dadivank monastery built between the 9th and 13th centuries. My coworker and best friend Rudolf and I arrived at Dadivank at 5 am.
After a few hours, we took over 4000 photos from the ground and a drone for the scan.
After a few months, I had scanned 16 cultural heritage sites in different regions of Armenia. You can see all the models here.
I am using high-resolution cameras from the ground and drones to take photos. Now I am planning to get a laser scanner to get even more accurate results.
In addition to the scanned churches residing in the archive, the churches can also be viewed in 3D programs and even in a browser. I have found that Sketchfab is a very good innovation that offers the opportunity to see 3D models in a browser with great quality. Mainly, I like the idea that you can upload some stories about a heritage site and the viewer can learn a lot about it. Also, I really like that I can upload normal and ambient occlusion maps and get real-time PBR rendering.
Support us
We created a website where people can learn more about the project. Also, we have printed 3D models as souvenirs. And for those who want to support the project, they can support me on my Patreon page and get a little gift from Armenia.
I want to say thank you to my dearest patrons. With their support, I can continue to scan cultural heritage sites every month. Special thank yous to Hovig Moushian, Narine Sarvazyan, Karen Jehanian, Noune Sarvazyan, Armen Sarvazyan, Narek Safaryan, and Mariam Ghazaryan.
Conclusion
I think that if we want to keep our cultural heritage safe, we need to do it with international efforts. A 1700-year-old Armenian church is not only very valuable for Armenians, but it is also valuable for the world. It keeps our past, our culture, our traditions, and it keeps the history of humankind. My dream is to scan 100 of the most important Armenian heritage sites. Meanwhile, I want to share my knowledge and scanning experience with others because I think we could do better things with united efforts.
About the author
Hambardzum Vardanyan
Photogrammetry Artist
