@elysium said:
I'm sure you already know this Marco, but have you seen the pictures for the colosseum exhibition on Nero?
It includes the recent findings in the Palatine. What do you think?
I saw that photo this morning and I thought the same as Elysium 
@pixero said:
Great info. But they didnt really show any import. Just a clip between SU and Cryengine. Hopefully it will be smooth workflow.
In the video appears the text "Sketchup Model Import". Anyway, in the worst scenario, there are external tools to export easily to Crysis 1 (Cryengine 2), so I think there won't be any problem.
@gaieus said:
Extremely exciting. I (am going to) have a project that is not commercial at all but what I would lie to try all sorts of 3D out. Maybe I will even be eligible a day for some sort of game like that.
If you work for an university or a school, you can use Cryengine 3 now 
Edit: It's an offtopic, but I copied my avatar from yours some years ago... now it's evident 
I have been trying to insert the video, but I can't manage with the Flash tag.
The video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7ME7rkAkQ
And the exact time when sketchup importer appears:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7ME7rkAkQ&feature=player_detailpage#t=182s
Cryengine 3 is going to have a FREE EDITION for non-commercial projects this summer. I believe that the terms will be similar to Unreal Engine, if you earn money, you will have to pay something.
At this moment you can test an evaluation copy here, or get a free one if you are an educator.
As I am not a company, nor an University, I will have to wait until the free edition is released 
For example, you can see a model of Cluny abbey in Cryengine here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhZG7SjX1Lg
Of course, all is rendered in real time, it's a game engine
Moderator, feel free to edit the videos to insert them in this message. My IQ doesn't allow me to deal with the flash tag
hepf, thanks a lot for the photos, I always enjoy them . And believe me, due to my work I know basalt very well...
I studied photos from Orange, Basora, Sabratha... for me the most intriguing part is how the wall was covered (paints, marble...?), I havent't found too much information on the net.
Respect Cartagena, I have news.
The bad one (it depends of your point of view) is that I have too much work, so I can't work on it now.
The good one... this book:
I want to buy it, it has reconstructions of a lot of roman theatres, including the new hypothesis for Cartagena...
It's a big image, click on it:
http://i53.tinypic.com/oqzva9.jpg
Yes. Three floors, and fits perfectly with the fragments found.
So I am going to have a nice summer
hepf, I don't want to interfere your work, the following image is 100% yours. I was enjoying this web (in spanish) http://trazosybosquejos.blogspot.com/ and suddenly the idea come to my mind.
I have used one of your photos, and I have applied the software FotoSKetcher to it:
I hope you like the result. The render shows that the model is unfinished and schematic, but this way it looks like a hand made drawing and I believe that the result is better.
@numbthumb said:
Very nice, pichuneke!
Just out of curiosity - are those Julius´ ionic columns?
Yes, those are. I had to look for that on the net, I didn't remember where I got them. Julius, if you read me, don't worry, I am not going to earn money with them. If one day I earn something, I'll use my own components.
michaliszissiou, I see you are from Greece. I have started a portfolio, the only thing I have there at this moment will interest you, I think
http://pichuneke3d.blogspot.com/2011/01/templo-griego-de-artemis-agrotera.html
Another of my WIP. It was placed in Athens, very similar to Athenea Nike. Turks destroyed it, of course... 
(The ionic columns are not mine, but I am modifying them as I need).
@michaliszissiou said:
Move it to blender? All this?
The SU pro 6 / obj is the best choice. I'm also checking the SU8 latest update / collada. In blender 2.49b / collada 1.4 importer. Obj method is better.Even I check 'selected only' output all these methods insisting to export the whole scene. ??? Better avoid it here. lol Haven't checked if splitting to layers is working on exporter.
You can try to export the column+capital object only. In blender optimize it, do UVs and texture, then import it to SU as 3ds. (bl 2.49b). You'll be surprised how easily SU can handle this then. (if you don't know the tricks on 3ds files, pm to me)
I haven't used Blender except for export/importing and decimate (simplify) the model, and a few things more. I have been able to do that with ruby plugins, obj format, as you have said. I use sketchup free, not pro, because for me this is a hobby, I don't earn money with it.
To be honest I was thinking in optimize the capitals with Blender, but I don't know how to texture it.
Anyway I can't work on it now... Fortunatelly I am one of the few spaniards with a job, and at this moment I don't have enough free time
@michaliszissiou said:
lol, I wont. I just used one of these capitals once (3dwh), an adaptation to a low poly mesh (used zbrush for this). I lost some details of course but I think that your Kerky problems are related with this. I really understand your needs to model as precise and detailed as possible. This is why you're doing this after all.
Great posts, always a joy to look at them.
In the future I could replace the capitals with a free and optimized one.
To be honest, my "road map" (5 years? ), is to texture the walls of the frons scenae (they had marble and so on), the orchestra, the velum... after that, I would move to Blender. I have to do that one day, as my model now is very complex, and Blender can manage big files and allows working with textures better. The last thing, would be roman sculptures.
@michaliszissiou said:
Excellent modeling, I love roman architecture.
How many poly does the corinthian capital count?
The corinthian capital was the first complex thing I made with sketchup... so it's plenty of mistakes
And it's not optimized at all. A complete capital has 15729 faces 
(Please, don't call me "bad modeller")
Thanks for your comments, Elysium.
I know the problem with textures, most of them are provisional. The textures I worked on are the stone blocks (sand-yellow-, and limestone-grey-). Based on original matherials found on the theatre, or near it.
About the stage, I know. I considered initially a false pavement of wood over the stone in the places you say (Valva Hospitalia and Valva Regia). This theatre will be a work in progress for the rest of my life
With this update, what I wanted to do is to work in one of the most unknown parts of the roman theatre, the roof over the frons scenae (in spanish: "tornavoz", I don't know the english name). I wanted to make a feasible one, not the wrong reconstructions from XIX century we usually see in some illustrations, with an oversized roof with wooden coffers.
Anyway there is still a lot of work to do, I hope I can finish it one year...
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=8057&p=302754#p302754
I've updated the roof of the frons scenae in my model. If the international team of archeologists can give me their opinión I'll be pleased.
Sorry for this "spam".
I don't know what's happening, when I try to export to Kerkythea, the generated model doesn't load in Kerkythea. So no renders, sorry. Just a capture from sketchup.
I upload it to show you the new roof of the frons scenae, with a more pausible model. Smaller and more realistic, painted and lighter coffers and so on...
I expect your critics, please.
Some interesting links. It's a magazine, the Virtual Archaeology Review. Most of the texts are in spanish (sorry Gaieus), but some of them are in english (and italian, too).
http://www.arqueologiavirtual.com/varrevistasing.php
About the Roman Forum:
Lo mismo os digo.
¡Feliz 2012! Porque con la crisis, el 2011 hay que darlo por perdido 
I have enjoyed a lot the video, hepf. I understand a bit of what the woman says.
At this moment is just an hypothesis, but I link you a new (in spanish) about a possible roman building used now as a church that reminds me your basilica.
Google translation to english:
Perhaps is just a coincidence, and it's just a recent building. I'll try to bring you future news about this.
I hope you can find something interesting here:
And a present for you from that thread (I am subscribed)
http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/7829/granada.jpg
Edit: Go here and search "partal", in the box at the top. You'll see a lot of old photos with a nasty watermark on it
For example:
http://www.alhambra-patronato.es/ria/bitstream/handle/10514/9617/F-13057.jpg
http://www.alhambra-patronato.es/ria/bitstream/handle/10514/9616/F-13056.jpg
@roger said:
Pichuenke, I feel very uncomfortable correcting someone who is Spanish and lives in Spain and has a degree in architecture (?) but the watercolor I uploaded shows a palace whose grandeur had been defaced by time and public disinterest. The original elegant columns had been simply bricked up to turn an elegant and princely building into a homeless shelter. The columns, as they stand today, are more or less correct. I did have XIX century drawings which are very close to today's reconstruction but just differed in some minor detail but both show monolithic stone columns, but just with minor differences in stylistic detail. Also, not all of the columns are identical, but I decided to forego that in the interest of keeping a lower polygon count.
I have been arguing with my wife about moving to Spain. I am for it. She is against. But we have agreed to visit Cordoba on our next trip.
I knew I had read it somewhere, I have found another reference to the wrong restoration here (Torre de las Damas, also known as El Partal):
http://books.google.es/books?id=z6a4q6rdaA0C&lpg=PA5&pg=PA273#v=onepage&q&f=false
The sentence says in english: "A wrong restauration made in 1965, has replaced those original pillars by the actual columns". I don't want to say that I am right and you are wrong. But I know that there is "something" about those columns.
Another monument of Spain with an excesive reconstruction, with some mistakes, is the roman theatre of Merida, but few people know that. Not good for tourism
Regarding Spain, I live "inside the forest" and my point of view may differ from yours, as you live outside the forest and you can see some things I am not able I believe that the coast may be a good place to live in your retirement, if you have money. But at this moment there is not work, and I am very lucky. I am engineer, not architect. If you want to know more about me, send me a private message.