Post by davidpenrod on Sept 16, 2011 10:42:58 GMT -5
I have found two “new” sets of digital renderings of the Alamo. I say “new” because I have not seen these images discussed or described on this or any other Alamo forum. They are several years old.
The first is a series of high-definition digital laser scans of the exterior walls of the Alamo Church, Courtyard wall and extreme southern end of the Long Barracks. You can the images at:
www.smartmm.com/portal/DRT/index.html.
There are 9 images total on this site, two of which are digital videos. The rest are digital renderings in JPG format of the laser scans. Two of these images, identified as Site Maps, contain active content. I have attached 2 of the images in the next post for discussion.
The second set of images are in a report in PDF format from the Center for Cultural Sustainability at the University of Texas, San Antonio. This report contains a series of digital infra-red photographs of the interior walls of the Church. You can find the report at:
utsa.edu/ccs/pdf/AlamoInfraredReport.pdf.
I want to start out by discussing two of the images on the DRT Portal of Smart MultiMedia website. While all 9 images on this site are fascinating (and fun), two of them are more interesting than the others, from the point of view of Alamo enthusiasts. These two files are “Site Rendering 1” and “Site Map of Panoramic Photography Locations”.
The “Site Map” is a three dimensional color-coded key for understanding “Site Rendering 1”. The site map uses variations in color to designate wall elevation. The highest elevations are green, which are basically the parapets of the Church. As the elevation decreases green changes to yellow. Mid-level elevation is pure yellow. The lowest level, which is ground level, is pure orange. Those stretches of any wall that are below the default “ground level” are color coded brown.
The Site Map contains active content but you must go to the webpage above and have Apple’s QuickTime movie player to utilize it. There are 7 scan locations identified on the Site Map. Go to the webpage, click on the Site Map and open it. You’ll see the 7 scan locations. Click on one. A new tab in your browser will open. It appears to be a photograph. It’s not. It’s actually a 360 degree panoramic view of the Alamo grounds from the scan site. Just place your curser on the image, click once and move your curser – left, right, up or down.
Site Rendering 1 appears to be an overhead view of the Church, Courtyard Wall and the extreme southern end of the Long Barracks. It’s not. It’s a visual depiction of all the digital data from the 7 laser scans. What you are looking at is a stack of horizontal, color-coded bands created by the scanning process. Each band is very narrow, approximately 6 cm, and is a single circuit of all the wall surfaces found at the same elevation. By stacking the bands one upon the other, Smart MultiMedia was able to produce a “3-dimensional” view of the vertical surfaces of the exterior walls.
The first thing you’ll notice is the variation in colors along each wall, from green to yellow to orange and in some cases to brown. These colors represent the elevations found in the Site Map key. Anything green is the highest elevation of that stretch of wall. Yellow is mid-level and orange is ground level.
The next thing you’ll notice is that the walls seem to vary in “thickness” and that a range of different hues exist within that “thickness.” What you are looking at is a wall that is not vertical but is instead inclined – tilting outward from the foundation.
The most eye-catching of these wall defects and warps is the north wall of the Sacristy and MBR as well as the only remaining upper-level portion of the connecting wall, which is attached to the NW corner of the MBR. The parapet of this stretch of wall leans over the foundation about 1 foot!
Site Rendering 1 gives us an exact representation of the Alamo’s exterior walls and their relative position and angle to each other. You’ll notice right away that no two walls are actually parallel and that no corner is a true right angle, including those of the church.
But the most interesting aspect of the Alamo in this depiction is the Courtyard wall connecting the Church with the Long Barracks. That wall varies in thickness from east to west and is almost serpentine.
I will discuss this feature below with adaptions of the laser scan images.
Here is the Site Map:
The first is a series of high-definition digital laser scans of the exterior walls of the Alamo Church, Courtyard wall and extreme southern end of the Long Barracks. You can the images at:
www.smartmm.com/portal/DRT/index.html.
There are 9 images total on this site, two of which are digital videos. The rest are digital renderings in JPG format of the laser scans. Two of these images, identified as Site Maps, contain active content. I have attached 2 of the images in the next post for discussion.
The second set of images are in a report in PDF format from the Center for Cultural Sustainability at the University of Texas, San Antonio. This report contains a series of digital infra-red photographs of the interior walls of the Church. You can find the report at:
utsa.edu/ccs/pdf/AlamoInfraredReport.pdf.
I want to start out by discussing two of the images on the DRT Portal of Smart MultiMedia website. While all 9 images on this site are fascinating (and fun), two of them are more interesting than the others, from the point of view of Alamo enthusiasts. These two files are “Site Rendering 1” and “Site Map of Panoramic Photography Locations”.
The “Site Map” is a three dimensional color-coded key for understanding “Site Rendering 1”. The site map uses variations in color to designate wall elevation. The highest elevations are green, which are basically the parapets of the Church. As the elevation decreases green changes to yellow. Mid-level elevation is pure yellow. The lowest level, which is ground level, is pure orange. Those stretches of any wall that are below the default “ground level” are color coded brown.
The Site Map contains active content but you must go to the webpage above and have Apple’s QuickTime movie player to utilize it. There are 7 scan locations identified on the Site Map. Go to the webpage, click on the Site Map and open it. You’ll see the 7 scan locations. Click on one. A new tab in your browser will open. It appears to be a photograph. It’s not. It’s actually a 360 degree panoramic view of the Alamo grounds from the scan site. Just place your curser on the image, click once and move your curser – left, right, up or down.
Site Rendering 1 appears to be an overhead view of the Church, Courtyard Wall and the extreme southern end of the Long Barracks. It’s not. It’s a visual depiction of all the digital data from the 7 laser scans. What you are looking at is a stack of horizontal, color-coded bands created by the scanning process. Each band is very narrow, approximately 6 cm, and is a single circuit of all the wall surfaces found at the same elevation. By stacking the bands one upon the other, Smart MultiMedia was able to produce a “3-dimensional” view of the vertical surfaces of the exterior walls.
The first thing you’ll notice is the variation in colors along each wall, from green to yellow to orange and in some cases to brown. These colors represent the elevations found in the Site Map key. Anything green is the highest elevation of that stretch of wall. Yellow is mid-level and orange is ground level.
The next thing you’ll notice is that the walls seem to vary in “thickness” and that a range of different hues exist within that “thickness.” What you are looking at is a wall that is not vertical but is instead inclined – tilting outward from the foundation.
The most eye-catching of these wall defects and warps is the north wall of the Sacristy and MBR as well as the only remaining upper-level portion of the connecting wall, which is attached to the NW corner of the MBR. The parapet of this stretch of wall leans over the foundation about 1 foot!
Site Rendering 1 gives us an exact representation of the Alamo’s exterior walls and their relative position and angle to each other. You’ll notice right away that no two walls are actually parallel and that no corner is a true right angle, including those of the church.
But the most interesting aspect of the Alamo in this depiction is the Courtyard wall connecting the Church with the Long Barracks. That wall varies in thickness from east to west and is almost serpentine.
I will discuss this feature below with adaptions of the laser scan images.
Here is the Site Map:
Attachments:
