Put Letchworth on the 3D Map!

If you missed out on this Competition, or if you took part but want more, please share suggestions. Here’s a reminder of some practical applications: Your World in 3D

• Create a 3D model of a notable building in your neighbourhood, or of your dwelling.
• Imagine a new competition project that will accept all entries uploaded to the 3D Warehouse after this one’s competition closed on 31 October 2012. Better still, make that happen, perhaps by holding its prize-giving in the Letchworth Festival, 7-13 June 2013 website (to follow…) – Facebook – Twitter.
• When new developments take place that change the appearance of any part of Letchworth, add a 3D model of the result, with “Newly constructed” in the Titler or Description. Notes: Don’t use Google Earth to anticipate new developments, though you can do so in the 3D Warehouse. You can invite the developer’s architects to lend or convert their 3D models but they may not let you use them, even with full acknowledgement. Usually the plans submitted to a local authority only contain 2D views, whilst the architects keep custody of their 3D models.
• Find 3D digital modelling competitions elsewhere in which to hone your skills, perhaps for future use in 3D Letchworth. search
• Post handy tips and notices e.g. from the forum “3D Modeling for Google Earth & Maps” here
• Encourage people elsewhere to take part in “crowd sourcing” of our stock of 3D models, using the photographs in StreetView and the sets in our page on Learning … here.
• Invite the civic societies and other community groups in Garden City* settlements around the world to illustrate their inspiring principles. list *whether called that or not, since the term “Garden City” has been widely misapplied or the founding principles lost through redevelopment. In some respects even the early examples fell short of their original aims!

Such initiatives provide a strand of activity for a network of creative, critical modellers communicating via the 3D Warehouse and Google Earth, toward a virtual “International Garden Cities Institute”.

This post is to gather ideas that any of us might wish to take further.

Note to existing modellers: Please continue to add 3D models of your choice.

• The Letchworth Garden City story, by adding the fourth dimension of Time: adding historical models of Letchworth as it was in the 20th Century, or even before this area was chosen for a Garden City settlement. If historically accurate, such modelling can be accepted for the timeline of Google Earth.
• Developmental models, to illustrate the appearance of major proposals. Usually, planning applications are only accompanied by plans, views and visualisations that serve the interests of the developers. 3D models would arguably serve the wider public.
• Themed sets of models, such as a selection of the Exhibition Cottages of 1905/1907, the neighbourhood community centres and halls, the public houses, the “public houses” featured in the making of The World’s End (see previous blog post) and so forth. green spaces provide another theme for modelling, since the the public parks and other recreational areas are well documented.

3D digital modelling is an enabling technology for many ends, rather an end in itself. Now that the project is over, we – everyone who has been involved – can carry on modelling in 3D and enabling others to do so for their own purposes: for work or recreation, out of curiosity or for a practical result.

It’s important to finish a project so as to make room for anything new that comes along. No project means no project team, no progress meetings, no timescale and no objective. However we can replace those with elements of the project’s legacy:

• This web site and the Facebook page.
• The 3D models for Letchworth in the 3D Warehouse and in public Google Earth.
• The informal network of modellers that can see and comment on each others’ work in progress online.
• Guidance via YouTube videos to using the free tools of Trimble SketchUp and Google Earth.
• Requests, needs and ideas that may arise in this community and from father afield.

Watch this blog for practical suggestions, requests and perhaps new departures.

We held our Evaluation on Friday 30 November in the Community Hub. We represented the range of interests: sponsors, entrants and project team. As an invited facilitator, Michael Underwood kindly ran the meeting, took notes and wrote it up afterwards. Report to follow shortly.

We addressed these questions:

1. What went well?
2. What could have been better – and how?
3. What is the legacy of this project?

Afterwards we had lunch in the Three Magnets pub to celebrate the successful the end of the project. What next? Watch this blog…

The movie “The World’s End” is being filmed in various places including Letchworth Garden City, for release in August/October 2013. IMDB – Wikipedia (with a list of pubs/locations)

Terminology: “movie” = “cinema film”, but from now on does one use the word “film” for “video” or “digitally recording”? Cinema buffs please advise; is this thriller being shot on 35mm?

Do you happen to know the locations? Which of them are not yet modelled in 3D? Who would like to make a tour of the complete series of shooting scenes? You could make a 2D version in Google StreetView first, then maybe other modellers will complete the 3D buildings and scenes to the high standard of the existing models.

Ideas, information and models/tours/3D visualisations are welcome. Please respect the location owners’ & cinematographers’ interests and storyline surprises for cinema-goers.

This is to recommend the local suppliers from whom we received superb service, sometimes at short notice, either without charge or at special community rates.

North Hertfordshire College

• Copy Shop – reprographics
• Goldsmith Centre for Business – training
• Invite creative Events Management – a learning Company for managing events

Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation

• The Community Hub – venue
• Local and Tourist Information Centre – advice & publicity

A local newspaper

• The Comet, Archant group – for advertising & editorial

Local venues

• David’s Book & Music Shops – publicity and cafe
• Letchworth Arts Centre – publicity and cafe

Designers

• Siegeworks – graphic design and guidance
• Mike Tanti Design – SketchUp training

Library

• Public Library, Hertfordshire County Council – advertising displays

The Town Centre Partnership

• Loveletchworth.com

This is an outline of what took place at the Awards Finale in the Letchworth Arts Centre on Sunday 25 November 2012. The focus was on the awards to our five winners: David Booth, James Cooper, Jenny Heaton, Matthew Heaton and Selina Yip.

You are welcome to add comments. John Webb, Organiser of the 3D_lgc Competition to “Put Letchworth on the 3D Map”.

Frankie Oliver of Invite Creative Events Management ran the event efficiently and without fuss. Invite Creative is a Learning Company of the North Hertfordshire College, so this was an opportunity for a student crew to increase their experience in an actual event.

Before starting at 2:30, we saw a rolling show of the 3D entries in the setting of Google Earth for Letchworth. That had the effect of swooping onto each building in turn, rotating around it, before moving on to the next 3D model.

Our compere was Lee Boswell, our Town Centre Manager from the Letchworth Town Centre Partnership / LoveLetchworth.com. Lee guided us through the celebration with good humour and a keen interest in everyone’s contributions and in the potentials of 3D modelling. He opened by thanking everyone who contributed to this project’s success; the sponsors, competitors, project team and supporters.

Matthew Heaton, one of the entrants, showed us how to use Trimble SketchUp, a free 3D digital modelling tool, to create 3D models in the context of Google Earth. Then each competitor talked us through their set of models in turn. What came over was how much each had learned in order to produce 3D models that the judges said were not easy to distinguish from professional work. Rather than start with simple structures, the competitors tackled some of the most complex structures to be found in this town, and their technical skill was recognised on this occasion.

In a short break, we gathered the results of a Quiz to identify 10 of the modelled building “from the ground up”, using an outline view from below. Many quiz sheets were correct, so we awarded the token prize by picking one at random.

It was now time for our prize-giving. Frankie Oliver presented James Cooper with the Project Team’s award for a Young Learner for his 3D models of the iconic Broadway Fountains and the UK’s First Roundabout. Peter Willcox of the Transition Town Letchworth group presented a cash prize of £25 to David Booth for his model of Mrs Howard Hall, for its handling of the building’s complexity and reminding us of its ecological qualities. The Letchworth Garden City Society’s prize of £50 was presented by Allan Lupton to Matthew Heaton for his model of another complex, iconic building: The Settlement. A building that was rated the most complex of all was recognised next for graphical skill: David Booth’s model of The Cloisters. The prize was the DrawPlus X5 graphics software from Serif (Europe) Ltd. Councillor David Levett of North Hertfordshire District Council presented the prize on the sponsoring company’s behalf. David’s Book and Music Shops awarded a voucher for £30 to Selina Yip for her 3D model of the Broadway Walk block of shops and flats. David Walker of the Letchworth Arts Centre presented this prize on behalf of the sponsor. Chris Jackson, proprietor of Siegeworks was also unavailable so Alastair Stewart of the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation presented the prize for graphical skills of a custom printed T-shirt to Matthew Heaton for his model of St George’s Church. Brian Norman of Earthworks/The Technology Studio and Kate Davies of Harmony Internet co-funded the principal prize of a Google Nexus 7 tablet PC by Asus, with 32MB memory. They presented it jointly for visual impact to Jenny Heaton for her exquisite 3D model of Letchworth Garden City’s Railway Station.

Lee and the whole gathering congratulated all our prizewinners and other modellers for “Putting Letchworth on the 3D Map” with some 26 models – increasing soon to 36 or so – from just two 3D models at the start of this project.

After the awards, some supporters stepped up to address us on their topics: Brian Norman to congratulate the organiser, Paul Zukowskyj of the University of Hertforsdshire on mobile 3D apps and Helen Hofton of the Pirton Knitters with Pirton Local History Group. She showed us a selection of the amazing knitted 3D models of notable buildings in the vilage.

At the end of the formal session, we had refreshments kindly provided by the Cafe service of the Letchworth Arts Centre while we mingled and visited the various Sponsors’ & supporters exhibits: Onvert for Augmented Reality, demonstrated by Kate Davies of Harmony Internet; 3D for Archiectural Bids by Raj Lall of Visualisingh; Use of 3D Digital Modelling for garden design & sculpture by Mike Tanti Design and Vision for a Low Carbon Letchworth by Peter Willcox of Transition Town Letchworth.

Meanwhile the keen youngsters taking part exercised the Flight Simulator feature of Google Earth by piloting over and amongst all of our 3D models while screening the sometimes startling view from the light aircraft’s cockpit!

A thoroughly good time was had by all.

—

What about this project’s legacy? That will be considered in our Sponsors’ Evaluation* session on Friday 30 November, which will close the project. We hope is that in response to our publicity and results, the “crowd sourcing” will be continued by members of the public and businesses using the free SketchUp software to “Put (more of) Letchworth on the 3D Map”!

*Sponsors’ Evaluation: the end-of-project review and look ahead for our sponsors, project team and advisers. From 11:00 to 12:00 or so in The Community Hub, 43 Station Road, Letchworth SG6 3WA, followed by a project-end lunch in JD Wetherspoon’s / The Three Magnets in Leys Avenue. The seating will be limited, so please let us know if you wish to take part.

This project ends on 30 November 2012, then we will leave the contents of this web site available for information. The site may also serve as a guide to setting up a crowd-sourced Competition project elsewhere. While clearing down the site in the later stages of the project, we archived the contents that we removed: here

PLEASE ASK US THEN for any resources (contacts, guidance, links etc.) that you would find useful in the legacy version of this web site.

From 1 December 2012 onwards, the 3D Warehouse contents for Letchworth and environs will be the primary forum (so to speak) for sharing 3D models in this geographical area: here (minus the models by Norbert Chromek of Letchworth State Park, New York, USA!)

Here is an open letter from our project organiser, John Webb, to each of the Winners of our Competition to “Put Letchworth on the 3D Map”:

Dear David, James, Jenny, Matt and Selina,

Congratulations on the high standard of your winning entries to the Competition! You saw how impressed everyone was at the Awards Finale and the keen interest in how you did the digital modelling with SketchUp and Google Earth. The fact that you were each learning to use these tools at the time makes the quality of the results all the more remarkable.
Now what? Please act as ambassadors for taking up a technical challenge and for 3D digital modelling in particular. I hope that many members of the public will see our 3D models as they appear in Google Earth. Indeed I know that is already happening in Letchworth and elsewhere, so I thank you each for the example you have set.
Please send me or Frankie Oliver, our Event Manager, any feedback about the Competition, the Awards Finale or ideas for the future. We will add your comments to a project-end review (our Sponsors’ Evaluation session) this Friday. If you wish to explain what took place and/or demonstrate the results in any setting, let us know this week so that we can freely provide whatever you may need to do so.

With best wishes,
John Webb

Our Awards Finale event was a resounding success, thanks to all who took part in the 3D_lgc project: the entrants who all produced outstanding 3D models while learning the method, our sponsors, volunteers and supporters, the Letchworth Arts Centre that hosted the event, Lee Boswell our excellent compere, Frankie Oliver and her crew from Invite Creative Event Management who made sure it all ran smoothly!

We had a ‘full house’ yet this was very much a community celebration among parties of families and friends, packed with interest and surprises. For example the Pirton Knitters presented the stunning 3D knitted models of notable buildings in their village and outlined their plans for historical modelling. The contributions were too many to do justice to here, but we recognised everyone’s efforts to achieve the project’s outcomes.

Thank you one and all! Prizelist