Ancient Rome Recreated in 3D

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Rome 1Rome Reborn started ten years ago at UCLA and and now at the University of Virginia is the virtual reality city of Rome. It’s basically a snapshot in time, 320 A.D. created by a team of Architects, Archaeologists and Artists working from historic maps and scans of Roman structures still in existence.

Eventually you will be able to enter and explore this old world via the internet perhaps through Second Life. In the meantime you can check out the Virginia University’s web site for screen shots and video tours in the Gallery section.

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    • http://odfoi.deviantart.com TK-421

      cool.
      (Hiyah!!! First comment!!)

    • http://applegrew.blogspot.com/ AppleGrew

      Cool, but why Second Life. :-( It should be more accessible, I believe there are more people outside the Second Life.

    • http://odfoi.deviantart.com TK-421

      yeah, plus second life is only 21+ or something, and there are plenty of people (like me) who would want to check it out but couldn’t cuz they’re too young, so it would be against the law.

    • Jan Rosencratz

      Pretty sweet – love the videos [minus soundtrack]

      what the hell is Second Life though?

    • http://www.ericsbinaryworld.com ERM

      I reread it a couple of times, but I’m a little out of it. Does it say it was made with blender? Or is just of general interest because it’s 3D?

    • Tim

      ERM
      General Interest in 3D

    • http://www.paraisoenterprises.com ByronK

      Since it was started 10 years ago, I doubt that it was done in Blender. Besides, if they got a group of Blenderheads together I don’t think it would have taken 10 years to get this far. It is quite detailed. I wonder what the workflow was. I am working on a small Pioneer Village and it is taking me a long time. I have the advantage of Photo UV texturing, and obviously they don’t.

    • Alden

      If 3d scans are in use, there will be a huge polygon count, which an engine like second like won’t be able to handle, though it’s a nice thought.

    • http://yorik.orgfree.com Yorik

      It looks like all patiently handmodelled, some are textured with something that looks quite accurate (not generic)… I guess they must take a lot of time to study, search, document and recreate the correct textures. Probably, if each important building also has his own specific texturing, I think this will quite heavy for realtime, no?

    • Apollos

      TK-421, why aren’t you at your post?

    • Saulius M.

      I think this post is here because the project is made using 3D software, but it doesn’t say which one. By the way the creens of ancient Rome looks realy good.

    • http://lug.nnov.ru gumanoed

      I think i saw the BBC channel program about this project. But really don’t understand how this related with blendernation :))

    • Markus

      Second Life is dumb: just think this way – how would the world look if there had been only one web hosting company with one large web server and every web site would have bin only a directory. This one web hoster also would charge an arm and a leg for slow and unreliable web hosting. This web hoster had been only compatible with 10% of the html protocol.
      Government’s like Second Life because it is easy to monitor and large cooperations like it because it is easy for them to control it.

      The Blender game engine could be the out for second life, if the developers could integrate the Blender game engine into apache web server you had a standalone 3d web server. Now you add Blender game engine to Firefox and you have a 3d web browser. Google creates a 3d web search engine and that’s it.

      Markus

    • Heri

      Markus, now just how exactly would a 3D web browser or search engine benefit anyone? Have you ever tried those 3D desktops where you can move your icons and notes around in a 3D environment, complete with physics? Absolutely useless and counter productive. As far as Rome Reborn goes, that is one massive project to undertake. I like the idea of putting it into an interactive game engine, but I don’t think Second Life would be the way to go about it.

    • Markus

      Heri, I don’t see a lot of benefits if everything is 3D my self. But if 3D then open and decentralized and not like Second Life. VR Rome is very good project, other cities and other times should be modeled too.
      Markus

    • http://home.deds.nl/~mp/ ysvry

      right markus, I remember that in when the web was getting popular compuserve tried to centralize 2d web hosting and luckily failed. The ideer of an intergrated 3d webbrowser is great not to replace the 2d but along side. Great for artist creating theire own worlds online. I also think second live sucks, dint the hype already died around it? I for about 12 years ago tried getting people intrested in a virtual 3d mideaval Amsterdam after a map of Cornelis Antoniszfrom , Had my amiga render a week for a small fly over demo, tried to get the historical museum of amsterdam intrested but to no avail.
      here is a link to pics that could be used as reverance.
      http://beeldbank.amsterdam.nl/component/option,com_result/Itemid,9/qasked,1/qtype,nieuw/ve,1291716/view,1/

      back to the 3d browser just make it possible to add hyperlinks to 3d meshes and blender itself could be the browser , 4 mb isnt a big download in these broadband days.

    • http://home.deds.nl/~mp/ ysvry
    • Amir Taaki

      Blender game engine does have a browser plugin if I remember. Otherwise Crystal Space also has one to play celstart games in firefox.

      Maybe they’ll also release the 3D source, and then we can do whatever.

    • http://dollsreborn.net/ Reborns

      Nice stuff thanx :)

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