Prize-Winning Animation Lets You Fly Through 17th Century London

[dipsydoodle]

Six students from De Montfort University have created a stellar 3D representation of 17th century London, as it existed before The Great Fire of 1666. The three-minute video provides a realistic animation of Tudor London, and particularly a section called Pudding Lane where the fire started. As Londonist notes, “Although most of the buildings are conjectural, the students used a realistic street pattern [taken from historical maps] and even included the hanging signs of genuine inns and businesses” mentioned in diaries from the period. For their efforts, the De Montfort team was awarded first prize in the Off the Map contest, a competition run by The British Library and video game developers GameCity and Crytek. You can find more information about how the animation came together over at the animators’ blog, plus at The British Library’s Digital Scholarship blog.

http://www.openculture.com/2013/11/fly-through-17th-century-london.html

[mia]

1. Enjoyed that!

Thank you.

[charlyvi]

2. Wonderful.

Thanks.....put it in my bookmarks.

[gopiscrap]

3. that's pretty cool

[xchrom]

4. du rec.

[secondvariety]

5. Great!

It never ceases to amaze how ancient England is. Anyone have a book suggestion on the history of England?

[malthaussen]

7. What sort of history do you want?

Social? Political? Popular? Leftist? Rightist? You might try Simon Schama's three-volume history, he is readable. Or go with the 15-volume Oxford. Or check out the Cambridge histories, which are organized thematically rather than chronologically. If you want "historical" history books, both David Hume and T. B. Macauley wrote multi-volume works, Hume in the 18th and Macauley in the 19th century. As they are politically opposed to one another, they can be fun to juxtapose; OTOH if the prose style is not your cup of tea, stick with the moderns. You could also check out Churchill, his prose is magisterial.

British history being a very complex and ancient subject, you will find few single-volume general histories of any worth. Most books concentrate on specific aspects or specific themes. This is, of course, true of history in general. A one-volume "history of the world" would not be of much utility, though such have been written; the same applies to histories of Britain.

-- Mal

[secondvariety]

10. Thanks for the info.

The foundation of Britain, from the Roman invasion through the Norman conquest has always interested me. I'll check out some of the authors you recommended.

[malthaussen]

15. You're veering into archaeology then...

... but here's a link to start: http://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/V400-12

You may not want to spring for 220 quid to take the course, but you can always look through their recommended reading.

And here is a link to the Oxford Bibliographies for Pre-Conquest England: http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195396584/obo-9780195396584-0011.xml

Enough material there to keep you going for awhile.

-- Mal

[Curmudgeoness]

11. This is not really a history book suggestion,

but I found it fascinating in giving a glimpse of what life was like in the Fourteenth Century. This book will give you a better picture of what the other authors are talking about when they go into the history.

"The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England" by Ian Mortimer

http://www.amazon.com/Time-Travelers-Guide-Medieval-England/dp/1439112908

[Surya Gayatri]

13. You might enjoy this marvelous BBC series, "A History of Britain"...

Here are the first three hour-long installments from the series (the other 12 links are in the YouTube playlist).

&list=PL_m8cLnjjV5xUCb5JRsOwcQgCVUZ1os-4

&list=PL_m8cLnjjV5xUCb5JRsOwcQgCVUZ1os-4

&list=PL_m8cLnjjV5xUCb5JRsOwcQgCVUZ1os-4

[Posteritatis]

16. I liked Hollister's "The Making of England to 1399" when I had to read it for a course awhile back..

Quite readable and pretty entertaining at points. You'd probably have to find it in a library instead of a bookstore though, since it's all infected with "academic book that costs an arm and both legs" syndrome.

[secondvariety]

17. You're right.

Amazon wants 96 bucks.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions!

[Posteritatis]

18. They wanted a couple hundred awhile back. I don't pretend to comprehend.

One of his other books is priced around $1300 there right now. Academic presses don't operate on the same planet we do.

I'd happily drop, say, $50 on a copy myself, but that's mainly because I'm the type of person who'd be willing to drop $50 on a textbook for casual reading. Or, y'know, $0 on a library copy.

[malthaussen]

6. Not bad, but I could have done without the camera rolls.

I think a steady street-level view would have been a more effective presentation.

Now, all they need are people and sounds.

-- Mal

[CFLDem]

9. I too would like to see them being the city to life.

Just seeing people doing mundane tasks would take the simulation to the next level.

[dangin]

8. Mines better

http://vimeo.com/m/15513144

[Momgonepostal]

12. That was super cool!

And it deserves it's own thread.

I think my family doctor went to school there. I should send him the link!

[dangin]

22. Thanks

Please share with your doc.

[66 dmhlt]

14. Most enjoyable, indeed

[toby jo]

19. Keep expecting Tiny Tim to pop out somewhere. Incredible.

[dipsydoodle]

20. Were it not for the fact

he wasn't born until about 200 years later.

[FlaGranny]

21. I was looking for

Harry Potter myself.