Hand in by: 16-5
Hours: 10
In this assignment you will model a building from the past using either Sketchup or Minecraft. You could create something based on the past you pitched in assigment 1, for example. This building does not have to be monumental in nature, as long as it is important
Sketchup
If you go the Sketchup route you have to hand in, via Brightspace in a zip file (named “[Your Last Name] Assignment 4”), the following:
- A report (more info below)
- At least 4 .png images showcasing your building/object from various angles.
- At least 4 images of the actual building/object you modeled from (if possible) the same angles as above.
- The .stl file of your model.
Want to challenge yourself (or already know how to use it)?: you can also try doing this assignment in Blender, a very powerful, Open Source 3D modelling toolset.
Minecraft
If you go the Minecraft route you have to hand in, via Brightspace in a zip file (named “[Your Last Name] Assignment 4”), the following:
- A report (more info below)
- At least 4 .png images showcasing your build from various angles
- At least 4 images of the actual building/object you modeled from (if possible) the same angles as above.
- The exported Wavefront Object of your build (NB there should be five files: a .obj, a .mtl file, a RGB.png file, a RGBA.png file, and an Alpha.png file). You can export this from your Minecraft world using the Mineways software.
Report
Your report should contain the following:
- The name of the building and, if a building, a link to its location on Google Maps.
- A short (200 words max) discussion of the building: what is it and what is its cultural context.
- A short (300 words max) description of your workflow, focusing in particular on what design decisions you had to make in reconstructing this building. Is it a completely accurate reconstruction, why (not)?
- For what people/communities/organizations is this building/object is of (some) importance, who is a so-called ‘stakeholder’ in this heritage you modelled? Identify at least 1 and provide a 1-2 sentence description about the way this heritage is important to that stakeholder.
- Write max 300 words on what (you think) these stakeholders would think about your reconstruction (of course, you can also ask them directly). Take into account the format (e.g. Minecraft is a very playful way of accessing the past: what would they think about that?). Try to go beyond “they will think it looks neat” , but use this to reflect on the role of digital reconstructions in providing access to the past (something that can be desired by some but undesirable for others) and the larger politics of the (digital) past.
- Provide a project timetable
Some Advice
Sketchup free is already pretty flexible, but if you want to get more out of the program you can upgrade to Sketchup Pro via a trial. In addition, you can get a 1-year license to Sketchup Pro via Surfspot.
Unless you are using Sketchup Pro, try not to pick a model that has many circular elements in it as working with circles as a primitive can be a pain to get right without advanced tools.
Keep. It. Small. Don’t try to model, for example, the Vatican. If you do really want to model something big you will have to make a low detail version of it or focus on one small part of it.
You don’t want to have to deal with cutting away mountains in Minecraft. If you play in Minecraft, you can either play in Flat World mode or you could recreate the landscape using Worldpainter.
Printing the Past!
We will select a couple of the models made for this assignment to be 3D printed using the Digital Lab’s Ultimaker 3.