INTRODUCTION
We are 3Dshaker, a team of individuals creating projects in Blender and providing assets for Blender users on Blender Market.
This is our latest project, created in collaboration with an archaeologist, the local village, and the visualization studio ZORE. We used our nature models called Blender Trees 1.0 as well as some purchased and photoscanned assets.
PROCESS
(Hi)Story before renders
A small village in the heart of Europe is planning to construct an Archaeopark dedicated to the Roman period. This park will serve as a presentation and educational area, featuring evocative reconstructions of structures from the Roman-Germanic settlement. The Archaeopark will be open to the public and visitors, functioning as an open-air museum with seasonal activities (e.g., creating ceramics, preparing authentic period dishes, and more).
Currently, Archaeopark is under construction, and the village authorities have approached us with the idea of visualizing the future appearance of the site.
An interesting aspect of this collaboration was our meeting with archaeologists, during which they presented their findings, shared the story of uncovering the site, and provided numerous fascinating historical facts and hypotheses about the locality.
These visualizations are based on archaeological research conducted and created by the archaeologist team. The buildings marked with numbers will be reconstructed on the opposite bank of the river, not on the actual discovery site.
Starting the project with a village model
Before starting the project, we created renders of a fictional village to showcase our ability to create historical settings. In these village renders, we incorporated animals and various assets we sourced online that align with the era they aim to recreate in Archaeopark.
The first village took us about a week to create, and we made sure that it was worth including in our portfolio. We used a lot of photo-scanned items to achieve realism.
We wanted to bring life into renders by using animals like bees, chickens and sheep. Renders were created using Blender and Octane.
We also created a virtual tour for this non existing village to better show what visitors can expect from us.
Creating the settlement
After they selected us, we constructed the actual structures and generated the final renders. For the review process, we excluded animals from the renders.
We worked again with photoscanned assets. The important part of our work was texturing, with the main focus on roof tiles, wood and plaster.
Mill Reconstruction
As they want to attract visitors, they are planning to reconstruct a nearby mill with many activities, demonstrations, and performances depicting life back then.
We also assisted with the visualization of this part of the Archaeopark project.
In front of the Mill, there is a garden that had to include trees and plants according to the landscaping plan. We used our Blender Trees 1.0
For a long time, we experimented with the right light setup for the scene. Proper lighting is crucial, so we opted for the early morning sun to cast long shadows, making the objects stand out and achieving a pleasant 'feel'.
RENDER - Life in the Roman-German Settlement
The final render of Archeoskanzen is now hanging on the site fence. Passers-by can now see how the area should look in the near future. This was rendered in 300% of HD quality to ensure it looks good when printed.
And we created some close ups just for us :)
As a token of appreciation for reading, we offer a discount coupon for all our products on BlenderMarket. You can get 25% off using the code: behindhistory25. Thank you!
About the Artist
We are 3Dshaker - team of people creating projects in Blender and providing assets for Blender users on Blender Market.
