software used for terrain modelling,
photogrammetry, texture mapping and so on.
However the available Intergraph animation
and visualisation software is not sufficiently
versatile to enable this project to reach its
maximum potential, especially when it comes to
the application of surface attributes and the
animation of individual elements. Instead the
three dimensional models have been exported
into the Wavefront Advanced Visualiser suite of
programs (Wavefront technologies 1995). The
Wavefront software suite is a commercial
animation package used to produce sequences
that are currently so popular on television and
in the cinema.
These operate on a Silicon Graphics Crimson
workstation with a ‘reality engine’, enabling
fast rendering times of complicated models. The
computer is interfaced to a Sony Laser Disk
Recording unit, configured so that individual
frames of animation can be written to the laser
disk under the control of the computer.
Animation sequences are scripted using the
software, and the rendering instigated as a batch
process on the computer. The rendered images
are stored on the hard disk of the SGI, and later
moved to the laser disk. The final video
compilation is performed in a video edit suite,
where the laser disk unit becomes just another
video source.
In order for the images to be photo-realistic, the
surfaces in the CAD models are given attributes
such as texture, roughness, reflectivity and so
on. In this project much of this operation is
intuitive, there are very few cultural monuments
at Ayutthaya that exhibit surface properties in
the present that are in common with the period
under study. There are similar monuments
elsewhere supposedly built in the Ayutthaya
style, and there are the artistic traditions passed
down from the period. Where possible real
textures are used, where this cannot be done then
textures from a material library are applied
instead.
9. FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
At the moment the project has just begun, with
one period of photogrammetric recording
undertaken. As a result of a deadline imposed
after the commencement of the project, the
initial phase will be limited to the main palace
region including the well known Wat Phra Si
Sampet. The later phases of the project will
endeavour to recreate the entire Historic City
precinct.
The visualisations and animations possible for
the project are not limited by human
imagination, just be the available expertise and
funding.
10. CONCLUSIONS
This project is one small part of the continuing
work that has been occurring at Ayutthaya over
the last 40 years or so, and now has become part
of the larger UNESCO supported Historic City
Project Master Plan. This plan intends to open
up new vistas of the monuments, to replant
native species, to reconstruct some of the canals
and to remove some of the modern intrusions
that detract from the ‘Ayutthaya experience‘.
The project is a joint project between Thailand
and Australia that not only uses appropriate
digital technology to solve a problem but also
ensures the transfer of this technology to where
it may be most usefully applied. This project is
not a continuation of cultural imperialism.
The International Committee on Monuments
and Sites (ICOMOS) has published guidelines for
the conservation, preservation and restoration
of cultural monuments (the Vienna Charter)
This document states that restoration and
reconstruction work should be undertaken only
according to very strict guidelines. There is
always the dilemma that by recreating the
monument as it was in the past destroys the very
antiquity that gives the monument value. As
this project hopes to show, the appropriate use of
computer visualisation technology a monument
can be reconstructed to its former glory so that
an experience can be gained of past greatness, but
not at the expense of the antiquity of the
remains. In order to achieve this the technique
of photogrammetry offers a rapid method of
recording the current state of the monuments so
as to provide a starting point for the computer's
journey backwards.
References:
Anderson, John. 1889. English Intercourse
With Siam in the 17th Century. Facsimile
published by Chalermnit Bookshop, Bangkok,
1981.
Bishop. ID. 1994. Environmental Visual
isations in the Urban Context: Technology into
Darkness. Proceedings of Resource Technology
‘94: New Opportunities - Best Practice. The
University of Melbourne.
De La Loubere, Simon. 1712, Description du
Royaume de Siam. MDCCXII. Gerard Onder De
Linden, Amsterdam.
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