PROCESS OF CREATING AND COMPARING 4D MODELS OF RHENISH CASTLES IN DIFFERENT MODELING ENVIRONMENTS

Abstract

Alsace is renowned for its rich castle heritage. With more than 500 listed castles, it is one of Europe's most densely fortified areas (Châteaux forts Alsace, 2013). Some of them date back to the 11th century, and most of them are in ruins. It was against this backdrop that these studies were carried out as part of the Châteaux Rhénans - Burgen am Oberrhein project, funded by the European Interreg VI programme. More specifically, within the animation and promotion strands carried out by INSA Strasbourg and Tourismus Südliche Weinstraße. These actions focus on the digitisation and digital promotion of the Rhine castral heritage. Two projects are described and compared in this paper. The Oedenbourg castle is a little-known site. Tucked away behind its famous neighbour (Haut-Koenigsbourg castle, Orschwiller, Alsace, France), this ruined remains from the 15th century houses a Gothic dwelling dating from the 13th century. The Oedenbourg, with its architectural elements from different historical periods, was now the subject of new excavations to shed light on its history. The ruins of Wasenbourg castle, which dominates the commune of Niederbronn-les-Bains in Alsace (France), are the second site to be studied. Historians agree that it was built in the 13th century, but the precise date is around 1272–1275. In 1592, the castle is mentioned as being in ruins. This paper presents the different processes undertaken for the digitisation, 3D modelling and 4D restitution of the two sites, using two different modellers, namely Autodesk Maya for the Oedenbourg and Blender for the Wasenbourg.