Victorian Quarry Crane 3D Model

Project Description

In summer 2016, I contributed towards an exhibition being held in October and November by the Corsham Institute. The theme of the exhibition was the history of Bath Stone in the Corsham region, combined with a digital multimedia perspective. With my father's knowledge of Box's Clift quarry and the cranes that still lie there, I was able to create a 3D model and animation using my skills in Blender.

Since the Victorian times, cranes were used in Bath Stone quarries to lift stones blocks (weighing many tonnes) onto the carts to be pulled outside by horse or train. These cranes would be operated by hand using the gear system and would be erected and dismantled to and from the locations they were needed.

The model required a significant amount of work to complete, and used photographs and measurements to create realistic details and accurate proportions. A small environment was also modelled which was loosely based on an area you might find in the mine.

The below animation was produced and then shown at the exhibition, showing how the crane would operate in the quarry.

A WebGL export of the model was also created using Blend4Web which provides interactive view of the model within the browser (it can take a few minutes to load).

Project Aims

• Model the components from photographs and measurements with realistic material textures of old wood and rusting metal components.
• Assemble components into crane with connected, interacting objects.
• Produce an animation of lifting mechanisms.
• Design the backdrop environment for the crane (ceiling, walls, floor, connecting passages) with lighting.
• Storyboard of the movie animation.
• Render all the individual frames of the movie and compile them all into the final movie, selecting and then fine-tuning an appropriate method from the large array of options and formats available.
• Produce a web-based (OpenGL) 3D model of the crane that users (exhibition visitors) can interact with using a standard web browser and mouse controls to zoom, rotate, pan, and shift their viewpoint.