Monday, November 9, 2009

Twenty Years Ago Today



Our German friend Lorenz Eisermann shares his personal experiences with, and a 3D animation of, the famous landmark of oppression known as the Berlin Wall which fell twenty years ago today. I visited the site myself in 1994-- five years after the demolition-- and no trace remained that I could see. Watch the video to understand what it was like. Lorenz writes,


"Reading your blog is both entertaining and informative. I like your personal approach to stories around SketchUp and geo-modeling. Again, I got something you may find worth reporting about.

"Today it’s been 20 years that the Berlin wall was brought down by East Germans who were fed up with the oppression and lack of development in their country. I used to live close to the wall for many years, at its western side. As a matter of fact, one wall of the building I lived in for the last six years of the Berlin Wall’s existence was the border line.  Of course, I was out on the streets cheering with thousands of fellow Berliners that night the wall came down. Two days later my daughter was born and we had to call the ambulance in order to reach the nearby hospital because there was no way to get through the cheering crowds in a private car.

"Since the wall got demolished and removed almost entirely in subsequent years it is hard today for both young Berliners (like my kids) and visitors to imagine what it looked and felt like.  So here is 10 minutes of the most thrilling, hyper-realistic 3D animation I ever saw. Having lived there I can assure you that everything looked and felt 100% the way it is pictured in this digital recreation:

“Walled In!” – Germany’s inner border

They also have an informative “Making of” here:

Making of “Walled in!”

Enjoy!"

Thank you, Lorenz!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Limburg Monastery Interactive History Model


SketchUp Islander Aerilius has created a unique "interactive history" model of the Limburg Monastery. The above illustration is a reconstruction. Below is an illustration of the ruins of the same structure, located on Google Earth today.

The tour and multi-layered model created by Aerilius is one of th best (both beautiful and most interesting... and functional) I have ever seen on Google Earth. It runs smoothly and includes attractive history "pop up bubbles" describing the building as it existed in stages over its 700 year history. If you like buildings and history, check it out.

Models like this could be used for a potential "3D historic buildings layer" on Google Earth which I mentioned in this post. 


To download and see these models in 3D just click on the images. Happy weekend, Everybody!

Monday, November 2, 2009

Banking In Style




Beautiful new model from Chris Dorreman of Antwerp. I included it in these 3D model collections: 1870s, My Favorite Models