The Bloody Bay Wall Mural Project

Our system of demarcation included placing a series of noninvasive markers along the bottom edge of the area of interest at evenly spaced intervals. These markers were placed and removed as needed to avoid leaving anything on the wall. As each series of vertical columns was photographed, a marker line was strung vertically as a reference.

In all, we made 23 dives over 10 days at the Great Wall site and spent more than 12 hours underwater photographing the mural frames. The mural is comprised of a total of 22 vertical columns. Each column is made up of 10-15 images, depending on the size and distribution of the marine life photographed. In addition to the frames that were shot of the wall itself, some marine life was shot out of sequence as separate frames.

On-site "digital lab" included a high end Macintosh computer system with 1GB of RAM capable of processing very high resolution images and a high quality 35mm film scanner. Each image was processed to check image quality, then assembled at medium resolution to ensure full coverage of the mosaic. The "proof" image, completed on-site, was over 300MB in file size.

In the post processing phase back in San Diego, each frame was digitized at 4000dpi to a file size of approximately 65MB on a Howtek drum scanner. Assembly of the mural image was performed using two Macintosh G4 computer workstations, each with a gigabyte of RAM and over 70GB of workspace. In total, more than 280 frames were combined in the mural image and more than 18 gigabytes of raw data was composited to form the 5.4 gigabyte final image. Individual frames were archived on 28 CD ROM disks. The completed mural image was stored on two 5.3GB DVD RAM disks.

The high resolution image web server used to display the mural image and others on this site was provided by Racal-Pelagos Inc., an oceanographic survey company in San Diego. Thanks to Ed Saade, Bill Gilmour and Roland Poechert for their assistance and for making it possible for us to use this technology.

© 2000 Jim Hellemn, all rights reserved. Written permission required to use any content of this page.




		Our system of demarcation included placing a series of noninvasive markers along the bottom edge of the area of interest at evenly spaced intervals. These markers were placed and removed as needed to avoid leaving anything on the wall. As each series of vertical columns was photographed, a marker line was strung vertically as a reference.
		In all, we made 23 dives over 10 days at the Great Wall site and spent more than 12 hours underwater photographing the mural frames. The mural is comprised of a total of 22 vertical columns. Each column is made up of 10-15 images, depending on the size and distribution of the marine life photographed. In addition to the frames that were shot of the wall itself, some marine life was shot out of sequence as separate frames.

		On-site "digital lab" included a high end Macintosh computer system with 1GB of RAM capable of processing very high resolution images and a high quality 35mm film scanner. Each image was processed to check image quality, then assembled at medium resolution to ensure full coverage of the mosaic. The "proof" image, completed on-site, was over 300MB in file size.
		In the post processing phase back in San Diego, each frame was digitized at 4000dpi to a file size of approximately 65MB on a Howtek drum scanner. Assembly of the mural image was performed using two Macintosh G4 computer workstations, each with a gigabyte of RAM and over 70GB of workspace. In total, more than 280 frames were combined in the mural image and more than 18 gigabytes of raw data was composited to form the 5.4 gigabyte final image. Individual frames were archived on 28 CD ROM disks. The completed mural image was stored on two 5.3GB DVD RAM disks.
		The high resolution image web server used to display the mural image and others on this site was provided by Racal-Pelagos Inc., an oceanographic survey company in San Diego. Thanks to Ed Saade, Bill Gilmour and Roland Poechert for their assistance and for making it possible for us to use this technology.

		© 2000 Jim Hellemn, all rights reserved. Written permission required to use any content of this page.