Recreating 1906 Market Street in Blender

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TLDR
Alex Albert shares a Claude Tag prompt rebuilding 1906 pre-earthquake Market Street in Blender from Sanborn maps and period film, generating every asset in Python.

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Alex Albert@alexalbert__

Prompt in Claude Tag

"Recreate Market Street, San Francisco as it stood on April 17, 1906, the afternoon before the earthquake, in Blender.

Scope: the Ferry Building up Market to Fifth Street, including the Palace Hotel, the Call Building, the Chronicle Building, Lotta's Fountain and the Emporium.

Before modeling anything, build a source file from: the 1899-1905 Sanborn fire insurance maps (footprints, heights, materials, occupants), the Miles Brothers film "A Trip Down Market Street" (April 1906), period photographs from OpenSFHistory, the Library of Congress and the David Rumsey collection, and USGS topography. Record every building with footprint, height, facade material, occupant, and the source for each fact with a confidence level.

Build everything in Blender Python. No downloaded meshes, textures or HDRIs. Write reusable generators (Victorian commercial facade, mansard roof, bay windows, awnings, painted signage, gas and electric street lamps, cable car, horse-drawn wagon, early automobile) and assemble the street from the source file, so every building traces back to data.

Provide a 10 second video up the street."

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Highlights
  • Record every building with footprint, height, facade material, occupant, and the source for each fact with a confidence level.

    Sourcing before modeling

  • No downloaded meshes, textures or HDRIs.