The process of creating water surfaces in clear acrylic.

Step 1: Deploy Drone to Location and Collect Images

Deploy a drone running ArduPilot software to a fixed location to hover 30 meters above the water. Orient the attached camera to point downward and capture still images of the water’s surface. For the series the drone was deployed to the same location on different days and in different weather conditions.

Step 2: Convert Images to Bump Map

Using crazybump convert the still image of the water surface into displacement height map.

Step 3: Import Height Map Into Blender

Using this process, import the displacement height map into Blender and follow the steps to convert into a three-dimensional STL file.

Step 4: CNC Toolpath

Create CNC toolpath from the STL file using ARTCAM.

Step 5: CNC Machining

The 3D models are CNC carved into a series of clear acrylic cylinders.

Step 6: Finished

This process captured the dynamic movements of the waves and ripples from a specific time and location and suspended the ever-changing water patterns into a static transparent form. More information can be found at www.dwbowen.com