Chartres 3D
I started this project in 2004 and I have been working sporadically on it while my life was going on: different jobs, countries, people... Now, it is 2023 and it is complete. I have created this site to share what I have made. I hope you like it.
I always liked architecture (although I am not an architect). I always had 3D structures in my head but it was only with the arrival of the computer assisted 3D modelling that I could make something "real"... or at least visible.
The purpose of this project is to create a 3D model of the interior of the Chartres cathedral. Chartres is a beautiful town near Paris which is famous for its cathedral. You can learn more about this amazing masterwork here.
Although the model is completed, you will notice certain errors on the pictures at the gallery (strange colors, elements not fitting perfectly, etc.). I am still working on it.
In the different sections of this site you will find the latest renderings that I have got and also some technical information about how I made this.
Enjoy,
The software
I started this project long time ago, so the software that I have used is not one of the most famous ones. I have used POV-Ray which I still like so much because with it you can create your models on a simple text file. It is not a fancy graphical user interface but the results are incredibily realistic. It is like programming the scene, which is what I like more.
The hardware
At the beginning, I used to render on the same computer that I was using to create the scenes. In 2004 it was a Dell laptop with a Pentium 4 and 1GB of RAM. In the last years I have been using an Alienware laptop with a quad-core i7 at 2.4GHz and 16GB of RAM.
Finally, I decided to buy my own server. I found a second hand server at eBay for 400 euros which contained a 2 x Xeon 2670 at 2.4GHz and 64GB of RAM. The Xeon 2670 is an 8-core / 16-threads processor, so the server is capable to run 32 separate threads. I access the server using SSH and FTP. The server is running Ubuntu Linux in text mode, no graphics, pure processing power!
Recently I have refurbished the server to make it less noisy and more beautiful by installing liquid cooling and changing the case and some other elements for something more fancy.
The model
The model of the cathedral is built stone by stone. That means that, for example, the bricks that are shown on a wall are not "drawn" on the wall but actually put one on top of the other. The same happens with the columns and other structures which are also made from specially shaped stones. With this, I tried to reproduce the actual process of building the entire cathedral.
As a consequence, the entire model is made of almost 188,000 separate pieces. Each one of these pieces has its own color and texture applied randomly inside certain limits to create a more realistic approach to the actual stones.
The stained glasses are made from pictures taken from the actual cathedral when they were available. When not, a default stained glass has been applied.
The source of light in the model is the actual sun. That means that everything is illuminated from the light that enters through the windows. That was a big challenge because that means that the effect of radiosity is essential to make the interior visible, more at small corners.
I also added an atmospheric effect to simulate an slightly dusty environment that allows sometimes to see the sun rays through the windows.
Stained glasses
The only component that is external to the model are the images of the stained glasses. I have taken the images from public sources and adapted them to the needs of the model.
Some of the images are quite good quality while others are not. There are also some images that I couldn't find with the needed quality. In this case, a dummy image is used.
The source and credits of the images can be found here.
The process
The process to create the pictures shown in the gallery consists on placing the camera at a random place inside the cathedral and providing to it a random rotation inside certan limits. The sun is also placed at a random elevation. Then the rendering starts. When it is finished, the image is created and the entire process starts again.
Depending on the complexity of the view, a single render may take few days to complete on my new server. On a normal computer, that can take even weeks.
I will continue adding new pictures as they are generated.
Source code
If you are a POV-RAY user or you simply are curious, maybe you are interested to see the source code of the model. It is available here.
I am happy to share the source code of my work. I don't intend to earn any money with it and I will be more than happy to know that it might be helpful to someone.
The code is not simple. It is quite highly structured and sometimes difficult to follow. I may provide some additional information about it upon request but I will not provide any support if it doesn't work for you. I simply don't have time for that.