Abstract:

Objective 3-D virtual restoration technology has become an important method in the research of digital conservation and restoration of common hard cultural relics such as terracotta warriors and horses, Buddha sculptures and bronzes, but it is less applied in textile and clothing soft cultural relics. In order to better realize the non-contact restoration of mutilated ancient costume artifacts and provide detailed costume engineering data reference for their virtual restoration, this paper proposes a method for digital virtual restoration of ancient costumes based on 3-D costume modeling technology.
Method Taking "Yellow ground silk robe with clamp resist dyeing technology" (Warehouse in the South 139-1) of Tang Dynasty in Shosoin Museum of Japan as the research object, the stained pattern of the robe were extracted and repaired by using Canny graphic detection algorithm in MatLab, before restoring the style and structure of the defective part of the robe by using the garment CAD software ET System. 3-D modeling technology based on CLO3D platform was adopted to make a digital 3-D virtual restoration of the robe, and the restoration scheme were tested through the performed pressure simulation and dynamic simulation.
Results This digital virtual restoration method of textile soft cultural relics based on 3-D garment modeling technology was formulated by combining computer graphics detection technology and 3-D visualization technology, enabling successfully the high-precision 3-D virtual restoration of ancient costumes. The damaged decorative pattern (Fig. 3) of "Yellow ground silk robe with clamp resist dyeing" (Warehouse in the South 139-1) in the collection of Shosoin Museum in Japan was restored using Canny graphic edge detection algorithm (Fig. 2), based on which the pattern was proved to be a popular early Tang Dynasty Buddhist, revealing that the pattern is "Complex open space type baoxiang flower", the composition is "Diagonal eight-petal flower" (Fig. 4) with the center of the flower in "Persimmon pattern" and the inner and outer petals in "Double leaf pattern" and "Cloud Curved petal pattern" (Fig. 6), and the artifact can be further clarified as "Yellow ground baoxiang flower silk robe with clamp resist dyeing". On the basis of the pattern recovery, using CorelDraw, ET System and other software on the "Yellow ground silk robe with clamp resist dyeing" style and structure of the recovery, the production of the style recovery and structure recovery diagram (such as Fig. 7-8) was facilitated. Combined with the detailed size data of the robe, 3-D modeling technology based on COL3D platform was used on top of the pattern, size, style and structure restoration, and systematic 3-D virtual digital restoration of the robe was carried out in steps of modeling, plate making (Fig. 9), virtual sewing and fitting (Fig. 10-11), fabric pattern simulation (Fig. 12), which provided detailed information for further heritage conservation and the work of physical restoration provided a detailed data reference.
Conclusion The results show that the method is able to facilitate the high-precision 3-D virtual restoration of ancient costume cultural relics, effectively restore the 3-D dynamic shape of ancient costumes, and provide reliable technical support for the digital conservation and restoration of textile and costume soft cultural relics. With the continuous progress of the 3-D modeling technology of clothing, the method can be widely used in the field of digital conservation and restoration of textile and clothing soft cultural relics, providing clothing engineering data reference for its restoration work, and at the same time bringing help to the promotion and display of textile non-heritage and the construction of digital museums.

Key words: 3-D modeling of clothing, 3-D virtual restoration, digital conservation of cultural relics, yellow ground silk robe with clamp resist dyeing, CLO3D platform, baoxiang flower pattern