I've just seen the Baltersan Castle reconstruction (I won't share it on here, go check it on Faecebook) that's clearly been made with gen AI. Bartizan is entirely out of proportion to its true dimensions on the present ruin, central chimney width wrong, roof tiles wrong, crowsteps wrong. It hurts! 🤦

HELP US PRINT: ‘Rhynie, A Powerful Place of Pictland’ This nationally important monograph by Professor Gordon Noble FSAScot will only be printed if we hit our crowdfunding target by 6 December. Please support the campaign by registering your interest: www.kickstarter.com/projects/soc...

I am unable to comprehend numbers and dates unless I can visualise them as patterns, shapes, or points in a sequence. This condition is called Spatial-Sequence Synesthesia or SSS. It affects my mental arithmetic. I'm interested to hear from others who have it. synesthesia-test.com/spatial-sequ...

My reconstruction of Allen Smelt Mill (2017) is a good contender for being among my most challenging visualisation projects. It required months of effort, research, and problem-solving with the aid of 3D models. I wrote an article about the experience.... bob-marshall.blogspot.com/2018/01/reco...

Yes! 👇

¡Últimas plazas! El próximo lunes 3 de noviembre comenzamos un nuevo curso online y práctico que os permitirá aprender a recrear en 3D ciudades históricas con Blender. ¿Te lo vas a perder?

Castle Gloom, a.k.a. Castle Campbell, Clackmannanshire. 🏰 📷 My own. Happy All Hallows' Eve, folks.

Post a perfect album from 1989. A perfect music year.

Good morning. Caught an early ferry from Inverclyde over to Dunoon for a few castle visits today. ☀️🏰

Couldn't resist sharing this because CBP don't have a Bluesky account yet. Isn't this just completely AWESOME?!!! I feel obliged to point out that authentic Iron Age Brochs didn't have car parking, however. 🤣 #Brochs

Some great news coming out of Caithness!

#HillfortsWednesday #DogsAtHillforts My much-adored, and greatly missed Jack Russell terrier inspects Traprain Law Hillfort in #EastLothian back in 2008. Remote sensing data, imported into Blender 3D, shows the hillfort's topography and quarried-out northeast slopes. #RemoteSensingData #Digital3D

Needed some good news today. Absolutely elated.

Join the official Blender Survey 2025! Let's get a picture of the community and help shape the future of Blender together. 🧡 www.blender.org/news/blender... #b3d #DevFund

At a time when we are all being told to use less power and reduce our carbon footprint, the race to incorporate AI into every part of our digital lives seems so grossly absurd.

Two years ago, I embarked on an ambitious 3D reconstruction model of Dover Castle, recreating how it might have looked at the time of the Great Siege in 1216. Working with a team of architectural and military historians, the digital model and 3D renders took over five months to develop. #Blender3D

It's sometimes easy to forget to add ALT text to Bluesky posts. To remind you each time, head to Settings, Accessibility, and enable the feature 'Require alt text before posting'. ;)

Hi #PortfolioDay! I'm an Architectural Illustrator from Edinburgh. I visually reconstruct heritage buildings and monuments in #Blender3D guided by archaeology, measured survey data, and by working in collaboration with historians and archaeologists. Website: bobmarshall.co.uk

Hawthorn shrapnel from autumn hedgerow flailing wreaking havoc on my tyres today 🚴‍♂️. About as bad as riding over carpet tacks. If anyone out there can develop better guards to prevent the debris from flail mowers scattering across the road, you'll be my new bestest friend.

We are #hiring! #TeamCFA has a busy autumn ahead, with excavations scheduled across the UK. From prehistoric settlements to a medieval city centre, we have a wide variety of sites which would interest any archaeologist! To find out more, visit our website: https://www.cfa-archaeology.co.uk/careers

Shell House / Shell Grotto doorway (c1782) in the grounds of Newhailes House, Musselburgh. (National Trust for Scotland). 📷 Bob Marshall Oct 2025. #AdoorableThursday

At Stirling's Engine Shed today hearing from different stakeholders on the issues, challenges, and successes of restoring and conserving Scotland's Castles. Very pleased to hear the resounding success of at least one conservation project I had a lot of personal involvement in. #ScottishCastles

It's my 20th anniversary of using #Blender3D. 🎂 I can't recall what version I started with, but it was probably 2.40. I was a Maya user before discovering Blender. There were very few tutorials around back then. Help came from a small and quite geeky online community. Perseverance paid off.

This thought-provoking question has me contemplating what route creative software will take in the next decade. I can't imagine doing delicate 3D modelling on a tablet. Perhaps 3D will be done via immersive VR headsets and gesture technology. 🤔

Yet another Jury citation landed through my letterbox. Third year running. The High Court again. Each time I get summoned, I wait around for days, then get dismissed. I know it's my civic duty and all that, but it's such a pain with a small business and tight deadlines to meet. Argh! 😣

#VirtualArchaeology #AugmentedReality job opportunity in South Uist 👇

Spotted in York. My old Jack Russell terrier loved a good pub. I'm trying to get my Dachsie interested, but he's a bit grumpy. #dogsinpubs

Does anyone who kens their Christian symbolism know if a cross with its arms tilted slightly upwards has a specific significance? Context is this is in a burial ground for Franciscan nuns of the Poor Clares order.

Loved seeing the brand new Station Hall exhibition at the National Railway Museum today, which opened to visitors this weekend. The interior lighting could be a little better to help you see inside one or two of the historic carriage interiors, but that's my only minor complaint.

What better way to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the modern railway than a visit the National Railway Museum in York.

Pre-breakfast power walk around York City Walls. It's becoming something of a ritual whenever I visit.

#AdoorableThursday West door, Dunblane Cathedral.

You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Castles. #kitchens #castles #Doune

Stretch target of £25K reached and surpassed. Well done, everyone! 👏

Revisited Old Slains today, the castle that inspired me growing up in a nearby village. It's the remains of Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll's castle, which was blown up with gunpowder by King James VI's army in 1594 for the Earl's persistent support of Catholicism. They did eventually make peace!

Visited twelve different castles - each with uniquely interesting histories - this weekend with members of the Scottish Castles Association, on our 2-day autumn tour of Aberdeenshire. Hugely enjoyable, although I'm completely shattered. Will need a few days to process everything I have just seen.

There are four days left to help buy the land for the Big Broch! The money raised will demonstrate the level of public support for the project and encourage larger funding bodies to finance the rest of the site purchase. Can you help them reach their stretch target of £25K?

Really looking forward to seeing this. HILLFORT UNDER ATTACK: THE BURNSWARK VR EXPERIENCE www.trimontium.co.uk/events/hillf...

Calling all Project Officers! Our members Scottish Historic Buildings Trust have two exciting new opportunities to join their team working on their Bernat Klein Studio and Leith Custom House projects. More details can be found on our website: heritagetrustnetwork.org.uk/jobs/

Culsh Earth House, or souterrain near Tarland, Aberdeenshire, and one of my cutaway reconstruction drawings showing a souterrain in context with a typical Iron Age hut or roundhouse above it (late first-century AD/Pictish period). Spot the Roman amphorae. Were they stolen, abandoned, or traded?

Stone circle-bothering in rural Aberdeenshire again. I must revisit this place in the winter when the light is more dramatic. Tomnaverie recumbent stone circle near Tarland. Aberdeenshire HER - NJ40SE0001 online.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/smrpub/maste... Trove: www.trove.scot/place/17006

As both a cyclist and advocate for better public transport networks, I am really torn over whether I should support the proposed Edinburgh tram extension, when it potentially means losing an important greenspace, wildlife corridor, and essential route for walkers and wheelers. No easy answers.

Scotland’s Castles: Use Them or Lose Them - Conference 9 Oct. The Scottish Castles Association Conference in Stirling explores planning, restoration, climate challenges and community benefits, with experts from HES, NTS, Landmark Trust, King’s Foundation & more. scotlandscastles.org/event/sca-co...

Old Crathie Church, Aberdeenshire. The 15th-century church, dedicated to St Manir (Monire), survived the Reformation but was eventually replaced in 1805. Its churchyard is the resting place of John Brown (d.1883), personal attendant and friend of Queen Victoria. More details in ALT text. 📷 My own.

Yes! The Marvellous Mechanical Mouse Organ returns! I hope the revival of this much-loved show from my childhood stays true to traditional animation techniques, though. I'm saying that as a digital guy.

Booked. Looks fun! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/carved-in-...

Not far off £20K raised now! 👏 The money that we can collectively raise to demonstrate the level of local (and wider) support this project has will encourage larger funding bodies to make up the rest of the site purchase. Every £ helps ;) www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/buy-the-br...

Funny that this should pop up in my timeline. It's exactly a year to the day since I visited Muness Castle on Unst, Shetland, along with the replica Viking longhouse and longship, the Skíðblaðnir, near Haroldswick. We got as far north as SaxaVord where they are building a new spaceport!

Can any of you fine folks suggest or recommend a quiet pub or restaurant serving good food in the York, Micklegate area? No Wetherspoons, or the usual high street franchises, please.

Returning to freelance work this week after a much-needed summer sabbatical. It's been nice to switch off a little, although I've been busy meeting a lot of folk and preparing the way for forthcoming projects. Unable to say much about those for NDA reasons, but looking forward to being busy again.