The joys of 3D modelling

I have had quite a bit of spare time lately and have decided to try and use it in a productive way, so I started learning to model stuff in 3D. I'm using Google SketchUp because it's free and easily downloadable, and the basics are quick to master. There is also a wealth of SketchUp tutorials on the Internet, which makes more advanced techniques less of a nightmare to understand. It's still touch-and-go for me though, and it takes me a ridiculously long time to build anything, so I won't be modelling Hogwarts anytime soon.

In case anyone is wondering what this has to do with archaeology - and I'm sure that no-one is - 3D modelling can be very useful for tasks such as attempting restitutions of sites that have been largely destroyed. In other words, if:
- there is not much to take a photo of, but enough features to formulate hypotheses concerning the former shape and organisation of a building or a site, and
- you're useless at drawing,
then 3D's a good option to produce illustrations for books, videos, etc. Because without illustrations, it's all a bit boring.

Anyway, here's my first attempt at SketchUpping a site. It's purely a modelling exercise, and not in any way a scientific statement. I've copied existing restitutions the best I could, but I haven't studied the site extensively in order to provide an illustration that would reflect my own intellectual convictions. I don't know how accurate this is or what Shrine VI 10 looked like in any of its phases, and this was not the point of the exercise.  Dimensions are very approximate too, as they weren't relevant to the project. The decorative elements gave me an awful time, so I apologise in advance for how weird they look. Simple architectural features are a pleasure to model even for a noob, but anything else definitely isn't.  I've chosen a room from Çatalhüyük because it's a fantastic site (this 3D thing gave me an excuse to read about it again, bonus!), but most importantly it was just challenging enough for me. I would have loved to model Notre-Dame, but I'm not ready (or quite brave enough) for this. Making this simple picture almost drove me mad, but I still think 3D's a skill worth mastering, so I'll keep trying.

Here are the restitutions I've used: this room from the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara, and this drawing (attributed to James Mellaart on various websites, but whose complete source I haven't found yet). Once more, I should probably feel guilty about the lack of academic rigour in this post, but  I'm not, so ha! I won't do it again, though. Promise. Go check out the Çatalhüyük excavations website  if you need your daily dose of actual - and amazing - archaeology.