CONSTRUCTION OF A DIGITAL (3D) MODEL OF THE RESTORED REPLICA OF THE VESSEL “ELENI P.” FOR THE DEMONSTRATIVE REPRESENTATION OF THE FINAL RESULT
For the construction of the digital 3D model of the vessel “ELENI P.”, mainly two software programs were used, i.e., AutoCAD and Blender.
AutoCAD is a commercial computer-aided design (CAD) software developed and marketed by Autodesk. AutoCAD is used for precise 2D and 3D design, drafting, and modeling with solids, surfaces, mesh objects, documentation features, and more. It includes functionalities for task automation and productivity enhancement, such as drawing comparison, counting, object manipulation, and table creation. The use of AutoCAD in the 3D design of the “ELENI P.” vessel is crucial. With the help of this tool, we can manipulate the 2D drawings that depict sections of the vessel and isolate various parts to transform them into their three-dimensional form.
The software used for the complete 3D visualization is Blender, which has been one of the most significant open-source software for over 20 years, offering capabilities for 3D graphics design, modeling, rigging, water simulations, animation, rendering, non-linear editing, and the creation of interactive 3D applications such as video games. In order to create the three-dimensional form of the objects of the “ELENI P.” vessel, we heavily rely on the 2D drawings available from the study conducted by Architect and Mechanical Engineer K.A. Damianidis during the period 1999-2000, as part of the project “RESTORATION OF THE VESSEL ELENI P.”
During the implementation of the project the following number of objects were digitized:
- 62 objects with the use of a 3D scanner
- 40 objects with the use of video and the appropriate software to deliver the corresponding 3D models
- 237 objects that were the basis for synthesizing the entire vessel; A subset of those objects was synthesised by other smaller 3D models