There’s lots more on this source material in our MOOC. Where possible, structures are made from archaeological evidence and on the basis of other sources like literary testimony, pictures on ancient coins, and a 3rd C AD marble map of the city that survives in fragments. and swapped those in and out as components. I made myself a little sample set of Roman textures, doors, windows, hedges, stairs, fountains, etc. Plugins automated or speeded up some tasks enormously, and made impossible operations possible: Chuck Vali’s Instant tools (especially Roof), Fredo’s Tools on Surface for insetting elements like roads into curving topographies, and more. Along the way I picked up various different workflows, depending on what type of building I was making and what sources of evidence I had. But the quickest answer to the ‘when is it set?’ question is the early 4 th century AD, a period when the greatest range of surviving structures all existed simultaneously).Īlmost all the architectural content in the model was made in SketchUp, which has been a really excellent tool for digital reconstruction. It’s taken around a decade to complete (though it will never really be finished), and shows the city as it appeared around AD 315 (well, sort of many of the structures in it appear simultaneously brand new, which opens up a whole other set of questions. I’ve presented on my Rome modelling project at past SketchUp Basecamps. I’d be delighted if SketchUp users wanted to give the course a look – it’s all free, and though there’s a nominal three hours of content per week there’s no set timetable or obligation to take the content in any particular order.
#Sketchup online course free#
I wanted to push this process of discovery and exploration as far as we could in the MOOC, so we also included 360 panorama photos shot in Rome and – in what I think is a first for a MOOC – 3D models of ancient buildings which learners can explore live in Kubity, a free desktop or app viewer that allows walkaround and tour modes, has a sun slider to adjust the lighting, and so on (like so many of the great tools and products I’ve encountered for 3D work, I first came across Kubity at a SketchUp Basecamp). In this course, I take learners through different themed tours of Rome’s architecture, illustrated by film footage we shot in Rome blended with digital model imagery.ģD reconstruction can really bring archaeological sites alive for people, especially those not used to black and white ground plans or interpreting ruins. I’m a Roman historian in Reading’s Department of Classics.
Putting the two together seemed like a good idea, so this week the University of Reading launched a new, free 5-week MOOC on ancient Romeusing my large digital SketchUp model of the city. Read on.ĭigital modelling in SketchUp is a great way for researchers and teachers to visualise historic environments, and transmit their ideas to peers, students, and public audiences.
Note: We’ve long been fans of Matthew Nicholls and his incredibly honed SketchUp chops that have been put to use modeling THE ENTIRE CITY OF ANCIENT ROME! Below, Matthew takes you through his modeling processes and talks about an exciting new MOOC he has created and that almost 10,000 people have signed up for so far.
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