A few weeks ago we showed you Peter Olsen’s 3D tour of the Costa Concordia. It was a very impressive file, showing a 3D model of the ship as it progressed through its fateful voyage.
Peter has been hard at work since then, and we simply had to show you the file with his latest updates. He has rebuilt the ship model from scratch, added much more data to the timeline, built 3D lifeboats (which slowly descend into the water), and even a 3D helicopter to show how the rescue operation unfolded!
As you may recall from Peter’s work on Stone Mountain and the MLK Memorial, his attention to detail is incredibly high. If you’re curious where he got some of the data used in this animation, here is a list:
• The general conversation between ship and harbour master and times is from here.
• The specific conversation between the captain and coastguard is here. (his version is slightly abridged)
• Some of the timeline is from here.
•The AIS track data is from here.
• The list of dead and missing came from here, which is now a dead link, as well as here.
•The chaotic way the lifeboats departed is from here.
• The helicopter is an exact replica of the real one used in the rescue – call sign VF-57. It is an Agusta Bell ab412SP Air Ambulance, based on the Bell 412. It was manufactured under license by Agusta for the Italian Rescue Service. The photo at the end just before the list of names shows the actual helicopter hovering over the ship. The general line of Bell helicopters of the family, including the Agusta’s is here.
• The Bell 412, with size specifications, is here.
• The shape of the helicopter is here.
• The actual VF-57 helicopter is here.
• A video of an identical model (call sign VF-67) is here.
To see it for yourself, you can download the file from the 3D warehouse or watch the video below:
About Mickey Mellen
Mickey has been using Google Earth since it was released in 2005, and has created a variety of geo-related sites including Google Earth Hacks. He runs a web design firm in Marietta, GA, where he lives with his wife and two kids.
wow, that’s pretty impressive! so much content in a 2mb kmz.
When I view this post in Google Reader, I also get an advertisement for Princess Cruises. I think I’ll pass.
Awesome indeed–with the exception of his heavy-handed choice of music…
Loved the animation, but the music about killed me… lol. Anyway great work reconstructing the events, was *very* helpful and very cool.
Impressive (+ excellent links) … but turn off totally inappropriate sound before viewing, and manoeuvres depicted are a little too nifty for such a monster of a vessel.
How do a make an object that can be animated i Google Earth? Like a ship sailing from one location to another.
What the captain did to those poor people on that ship, is very wrong as he should have stayed on board while all the passages got off and he would have been the last one off. Why don’t they give the captain life in prison for what he did, I have no feelings for him, and who I feel sorry for are the passages on that stricken ship. This why I never travel on ships as they sink when the captain decides to leave the ship and not return this is not for me.