Third Draft of the Computer Animation of Maenofferen Slate Mine

The third draft of the computer animation of Maenofferen slate mine (NPRN: 400427 LINK) has been delivered to the Royal Commission as part of the Atlanterra Project.
All the components parts of the animation have been completed, and work will now concentrate on editing the animation into the finished product which the public will see in summer 2012.

Still from the third draft of the animation of Maenofferen Slate Mine showing a modern dumper truck used for the untopping process carried out as part of the current twenty first century mining operations, and the timber launder on stilts which brought water to power the slate mill  at the turn of the twentieth century. (Crown Copyright).

This image gives some idea of how the Royal Commission as the client and See 3DLtd as the animators work together in order to create the most accurate animation possible. In reality, what is pictured above is impossible, and everything you can see did not exist on site at Maenofferen Slate Mine at the same time.

Each of the different elements which make up the finished product, such as the twenty first century dumper truck and the early twentieth century timber launder carrying water to the Dressing Mill have been built by the animators according to information provided by the Atlanterra Project and can be turned on and off individually as the animation is being assembled.

Working this way enables the animators to overlay buildings or structures of different periods and assists in the writing of the Coflein entries for the mine. An overall interpretation history of the site will be on placed on Coflein as a separate downloadable .pdf file.

Acknowledgement: thanks are due to See 3D.

• Second Draft of the Computer Animation of Maenofferen Slate Mine ...
  01 Mar 2012
  Still from the second draft of the animation of Maenofferen Slate Mine showing the waterwheel which powered the mill. Note that the water flow has still to be added to the leat bringing water to the wheel and that the stack yard ... 

• First Draft of the Computer Animation of Maenofferen Slate Mine ...23 Feb 2012
  Three slate extraction sites are being recreated through computer animation as part of the 'Atlanterra' project. The surveys of Maenofferen, Blaenau Ffestiniog, which is an example of an underground slate quarry, (NPRN: ...

• Survey at the Maenofferen Slate Quarry | Heritage of Wales News
  05 Oct 2010
  As part of both the Commission's new Slate Quarries project and the Atlanterra project, RCAHMW Investigators have just completed their first week of survey at Maenofferen, part of the extensive quarrying complex at Blaenau ...

• A Fine Week At The Maenofferen Slate Quarry | Heritage of Wales ...
  11 Oct 2010
  Survey at Maenofferen is nearly completed with an overall site plan encompassing the whole quarry complex including the original workers housing, the inclines for carrying away the processed slate and the tramways for ...

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