Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 9 - Rebirth

After surveying, digging and historical research and virtual reconstruction, here is the final result:

Watch in the last chapter of Arc-Team's "Torre dei Sicconi" series our idea of how the castle looked like in the Middel Ages.

Enjoy!

Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 9 - Rebirth

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Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 8 - Reconstruction

After surveying, digging and historical research, we have started to think about, how the castle was looking like in the Middle Ages. 
Photos from the beginning of the 20. century, archaeological finds, 3D models, the comparison with similar, preserved castles: This are the bases for the virtual reconstruction made by Cicero Moraes.
Watch in the next chapter of Arc-Team's "Torre dei Sicconi" series the single steps of 3D reconstruction with Blender

Enjoy!

Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 8 - Virtual Reconstruction

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Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 7 - Historical Research

Historical Research is one of the most important steps during a research project like "Torre dei Sicconi". 
If we want to understand and interpret what we are finding during excavation and survey, we need to compare our site with other contemporary sites nearby. 
Watch in the next chapter of our "Torre dei Sicconi" series Arc-Team researching between the walls of the medieval castle ruin.

Enjoy!

Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 7 - Historical Reseach

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Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 6 - Excavation

The archaeological excavation is still one of the most important steps during a research project like "Torre dei Sicconi". 
The main goal was to understand the construction phases, to get information about the composition and ornamentation of the interiors and the every day live of the inhabitants of the castle.  
Watch in the next chapter of our "Torre dei Sicconi" series Arc-Team excavating between the walls of the medieval castle ruin.

Enjoy!

Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 6 - Excavation

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Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 5 - Drone

If we need a detailed view form above or a high resolution DTM/DSM it's time for our drone.
Watch in the next chapter of our "Torre dei Sicconi" series the UAV flying and working over the walls of the medieval castle ruin.

Enjoy!

Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 4 - Drone

 

 

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Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 4 - Documentation

Working on archaeological documentation requires different types of equipment a techniques. Watch in this video some of them in action, while we are continuing to work on the picturesquely situated site of Torre dei Sicconi.

Enjoy!

Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 4 - Documentation

Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 3 - GPS

The third chapter of our video, talking about historical and archaeological research and virtual reconstruction of a medieval calstle.

This time we are surveying the castle hill by our DGPS system.

Enjoy!

Torre dei Sicconi - Caldonazzo - Monte Rive: Chapter 3 -GPS

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Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 2 - On the way to new discoveries

The second chapter of our video, talking about historical and archaeological research and virtual reconstruction of a medieval calstle.

This time we are locating the site and finally going to work.

Enjoy!

Torre dei Sicconi - Caldonazzo - Monte Rive: Chapter 2 - On the way to new discoveries

Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 1 - A long time ago...

The Castle of Torre dei Sicconi (Tower of the Sicconi clan) was destroyed by troops from Verona and Vicenza in 1385.

For that reason we don't know how the building looked like in the Middle Ages.

One way to learn more about the original shape of the complex is reading historical sources which are speaking about the Torre dei Sicconi castle and it's single parts.

Some of them we would like to present in the first chapter of our film:

A long time ago...

Watch also the trailer of 

The rebirth of a lost castle

Torre dei Sicconi - The Trailer

The Castle of Torre dei Sicconi (Tower of the Sicconi clan) is situated on the foothills south of the village of Caldonazzo. It was founded in 1201. 

The castle was destroyed by troops from Verona and Vicenza in 1385. 
The Cultural Heritage Department of Trento (office of archaeological heritage) has conducted excavations and restoration works between 2006 and 2008. 

That data was used for a virtual reconstruction of how the castle may have looked like 600 years ago.

During the next weeks we will publish nine chapters of a movie we've made, explaining the long way from archaeological excavation to virtual reconstruction:

Torre dei Sicconi - Caldonazzo - Monte Rive - 

The rebirth of a lost castle.

We start today with an appetizer: The 90 seconds long trailer of the project.

Caldonazzo castle - from ruins to archaeological 3D reconstruction

In 2009 I met a technology called SfM, or Structure-from-Motion, where with a series of photographs and a kind of reverse engineering using the camera data, we could reconstruct the objects photographed in a cloud of points in three dimensions. After many studies realized, I saw it was not a trivial task to get good results, but I did not give up until I found a very interesting material in the ATOR's blog.

I already knew the impressive 123D Catch, but the goals with this technology were two. 1) Scanning objects in 3D using only free software and 2) The scan would need to have an accuracy of millimeters.

In ATOR's site I accessed excellent materials that enabled me to learn how the PPT-GUI work and achieve amazing results for me, at least at that time. Not so long ago, it was in May 2012.

As usual, I sent an email of thanks to the staff of ATOR and I took the opportunity to congratulate them for the excellent service presented in the posts. I told him that I was interested by their awesome field of archeology and was available if they needed anything related to 3D.


The answer came quickly and was very positive. The staff of Arc-Team research group and archaeological work, maintainers blog ACTOR, congratulated me for the work I developed with free software and invited me to write on the site, which I readily accepted. Moreover, they asked me if I was interested in participating in a project developed by them doing the reconstruction of a castle called Caldonazzo, where they work in their ruins. Second proposal also readily accepts. In that moment was born a partnership that lasts a year and a half and has yielded good fruits.

Caldonazzo

Caldonazzo is a tourist village located in Trentino, northern Italy. Famous for its lakes and mountains, houses a set of ruins of what has been a great castle, built between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

Since 2006 these ruins are the object of study under the responsibility of the Archaeological Superintendence of Trento, represented by Dr. Nicoletta Pisu.
The Arc-Team, a group to which I was built, aims to make the archaeological survey, organization of historical documents and was also tasked to scan the space in three dimensions, as well as rebuild it digitally. It is precisely this last part that comes into my work.

The Reconstruction

Despite my knowledge in architectural modeling, I had never worked with archaeological buildings. The challenge was to get something from nothing. Above we have the floorplan humanized and created from the 3D, but at the beginning of the modeling we did not we had a lot of information and the research for some features of the work would be changing as new references were found.

From Italy the staff of Arc-Team sent me via Dropbox all the data that were collected. Scans made ​​from photographs, notes on the works, the basic floor plans, facades, etc.

For facilitating the work I chose to use Inkscape to align elements scanned with plants and lay the ground for architectural modeling.

With the floorplan and placement of elements, sufficed to raise them in 3D.

I got the curves of the terrain and I converted into a mesh, that receive little by little the castle, so go already adapting all the terrain.

Not leaving some to follow the basic data of floor plans and cuts that I received from Italy.

Texturing was already set, together with the vegetation. When we work with architectural modeling, people expect the fastest possible visual results. Thus, the coloring and mapping of the scene, offer a preview of how it looks, keeping everyone motivated.

Once data arrived and internet modeling progressed, the part of the palace and also courtyard greenery received a modest humanization.

Details such as the configuration of the stairs was widely discussed, so that they represent a strategic tool of defense. In the case of the castle Caldonazzo, according to surveys, they relied on a retractable staircase for access to the tower. Thus, if the castle was invaded, the occupants would have to defend themselves shutting them in the tower. When storing the ladder, they hindered the access of the attackers inside the tower.

During the modeling of the castle courtyard area, was also worked to position the camera to show all the more didactic and elegant way possible.

After a few months of working, the outside of the palace was modeled completely, leaving only a few details to be completed. The main cameras were already positioned and humanization was complete.

The structure was ready, waiting for the footage taken by drones (look at the post about the filming that is very interesting!), to insert the castle virtually, through a technique called camera tracking, where the program captures the displacement of the real camera and transports it to the 3D scene. Thus, over a composite image can be fused real footage + 3D scene.

Some tests crossing photo + 3D scene had already been made​​, as the picture shown above, aiming to work the "color palette" of the real environment.

During the modeling of the outside of the castle, the data were collected and made ​​the refinements of the internal divisions of the building. With a floor plan ready, little by little were being composed indoor environments, both in the setting of furniture when lighting.

Above we have the dining room of the castle. Interestingly, the floor in question is not only of wood. Was placed mortar on the floor, much like the floors we have today, but matte. The wall, in contrast, has coated veneers.

Unlike a modern architectural modeling for internal purposes, such work is done with reference of documentary evidence. The artist does not do what he wants, or even what is more pleasing to the eye. He follows comments from archaeologists, who in their turn were guided by documents, pictures and the excavation of the site.

The kitchen had fairly simple accessories in relation to what we have today.

During the excavations, the staff of Arc-Team found some parts of the plaster wall belonging to the rooftop, where would the dorm. Using a graphic revolution, I created a graphic pattern to adorn the wall of 3D modeling.

The room was then modeled, always according to the observations of archaeologists.

To make viewing a most didactic work, was composed a cut lightweight prospect, covering the largest number of  environments. So we can have a good idea of ​​the building structure, scales and the like.

We also developed a blueprint to serve as the basis of presentation of the site and reconstruction. Always using Inkscape.

Once the footage was taken by drone, the time to cross the actual filmed scene with the scene vitual raised by scanning photogrammetry was reached.

The work is still in its start phase. Because it is a natural hill with irregularity it was a challenge to match the real scene with virtual scene.

Fortunately the process was facilitated by the robustness of tracking and compositing tools natively present in Blender. Above is an image with the scene in 3D view at left and rendered at right.

Now we have two different renderings representing boards. Note that the 3D scene fits the scene in the background, that it is the video.

At the beginning of the post was shown the results of previous studies of tracking. There is still much work ahead, but slowly we can get a good idea of how it was the palace Caldonazzo in its heyday and all done with free and open software.

I hope you enjoyed.

I leave here my thanks to Arc-Team for the opportunity to work with them in this fantastic project. I hope its the first of many. Grazie tante amici!

Bibliography:

Torre dei Sicconi: progetto di ricostruzione e valorizzazione di un antico sito castellare trentino (here in ResearchGate; here in Academia)

From drone-aerial pictures to DEM and ORTHOPHOTO: the case of Caldonazzo's castle

Hi all,
I would like to present the results we obtain in the Caldonazzo's castle project. Caldonazzo is a touristic village in Trentino (North Italy), famous for its lake and its mountains. Few people know about the medieval castle (XII-XIII century) whose tower is actually the arms of the town. Since 2006, the ruins are subject to a valorization project by the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Trento (dott.ssa Nicoletta Pisu). As Arc-Team we participated in the project with archaeological field work, historical study, digital documentation (SFM/IBM) and 3D modeling.
In this first post i will speak about the 3D documentation, the aerial photography campaign and the data elaboration.

1) The 3D documentation 

One of the final aims of the project will be the virtual reconstruction of the castle. To achieve that goal we need (as starting point) an accurate 3D model of the ruins and a DEM of the hill. The first model was realized in just two days of field-work and four days of computer-work (most of the time without a direct contribution of the human operator). The castle's walls were documented using Computer Vision (Structure from Motion and Image-Based Modeling); we use Pyhon Photogrammetry Toolbox to elaborate 350 pictures (Nikon D5000) divided in 12 groups (external walls, tower-inside, tower-outside, palace walls, fireplace, ...).

The different point clouds were rectified thanks to some ground control point. Using a Trimble 5700 GPS the GCPs were connected to the Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system. The rectification process was lead by GRASS GIS using the Ply Importer Add-on.

To avoid some problems encountered using universal coordinate system in mesh editing software, we preferred, in this first step, to work just with only three numbers before the dot.

2) The aerial photography campaign 

After walls documentation we started a new campaign to acquire the data needed for modeling the surface of the hill (DEM) where the ruins lie. The best solution to take zenithal pictures was to pilot an electric drone equipped whit a video platform. Thank to Walter Gilli, an expert pilot and builder of aerial vehicles, we had the possibility to use two DIY drones (an hexacopter and a xcopter) mounting Naza DJI technology (Naza-M V2 control platform).

Both the drones had a video platform. The hexacopter mount a Sony Nex-7; the xcopter a GoPro HD Hero3. The table below shows the differences between the two cameras.

As you can see the Sony Nex-7 was the best choice: it has a big sensor size, an high image resolution and a perfect focal lenght (16mm digital = 24 mm compare to a 35mm film). The unique disadvantage is the greater weight and dimension than the GoPro, that's why we mounted the Sony on an hexacopter (more propellers = more lifting capability). The main problem of the GoPro is the ultra-wide-angle of the lens that distorts the reality in the border of the pictures.
The flight plan (image below) allowed to take zenithal pictures of the entire surface of the hill (one day of field-work).

The best 48 images were processed by Python Photogrammetry Toolbox (one day of computer-work). The image below shows the camera position in the upper part, the point cloud, the mesh and the texture in the lower part.

At first the point cloud of the hill was rectified to the same local coordinate system of the walls' point cloud. The gaps of the zenithal view were filled by the point clouds realized on the ground (image below).

After the data acquisition and data elaboration phases, we sent the final 3D model to Cicero Moraes to start the virtual reconstruction phase.


3) The Orthophoto

The orthophoto was realized using the texture of the SFM's 3D model. We exported out from MeshLab an high quality orthogonal image of the top view which we just rectified using the Georeferencer plugin of QuantumGIS.
As experiment we tried also to rectified an original picture using the same method and the same GCPs. The image below shows the difference between the two images. As you can see the orthophoto matches very well with the data of the GPS (red lines and red crosses), while the original picture has some discrepancies in the left part (the area most far away from the drone position, which was zenithal on the tower's ruin).

4) The DEM

The DEM was realized importing (and rectifying) the point cloud of the hill inside GRASS 7.0svn using the Ply Importer Add-on. The text file containing the transformation's info was built using the relatives coordinates extracted from Cloud Compare (Point list picking tool) and the UTM coordinates of the GPS' GCPs.

After data importing, we use the v.surf.rst command (Regularized spline tension) to transform the point cloud into a surface (DEM). The images below show the final result in 2D and 3D visualization.

Finally we imported the orthophoto into GRASS.

That's all.