Watch President Obama Sit for a 3D-Portrait

The White House offered a behind-the-scenes peek Tuesday at the making of a presidential portrait—in three dimensions.

The video on the White House YouTube channel, entitled “The President, in 3D,” shows Barack Obama smiling wide, surrounded by a scaffolding of 50 custom-built LED lights and a team of digital imaging specialists from the Smithsonian Institution. One-second of flashes later, and they have captured what is expected to be “the highest resolution digital model of a head of state.”

The Smithsonian unveiled the freakishly lifelike bust on Tuesday.