iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Hehe, spotted my sewn suzanne in a Bcon talk ;)

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

Taken somewhere in the 1940's. It's really a different world. Mexico City is hidden in the haze.

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

Another phenomenal panorama by Ola Apenes from the archive of the Etnografiska museet. This time from the Cerro de la Estrella, in much higher quality. It shows a network of canals, chinampas, and various towns.

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

The image quality leaves something to be desired, but I think it's magnificent. It shows Santa María Aztahuacán, Santa Cruz Meyehualco and Santa Marta Acatitla

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

In ~1940, Ola Apenes took two photos from the Xaltepec volcano in the Valley of Mexico. It shows a sweeping image of the drying Texcoco Lake, and three towns (former altepemeh) at the foot of the Sierra de Santa Catarina. All this is now Iztapalapa, Mexico City.

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

The Dutch NatGeo came out too! It has the Mohenjo Daro article in it, kinda cool to read it in my own language. A bit more bts here: www.thomaskole.nl/md_natgeo.html #b3d #blender #archaeology #nationalgeographic

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

It's out! Download my Cobweb generation and simulation experiment from Gitlab. It should be easy to integrate: it's just a Geometry Nodes setup. Have some fun with it, and let me know if you run into anything. gitlab.com/thomaskole/g... #b3d #blender3d #geometrynodes

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

For human illustrations I turned to my friend and illustrator Pedro Rafael Mena. With his background in archaeology he was the one to do it, and he added a lot of life to these scenes. www.artstation.com/rafael-mena

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

All reconstructions were done in Blender, in close collaboration with National Geographic staff. A list of credits can be found on the webpage above. Here's a view of different passes:

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Experimenting with some Polyhaven assets. I think these cobwebs are almost done :) #b3d #geometrynodes

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Okay, time for integration. 1) Make initial lines 2) Simulate spiders (and bake) 3) Simulate physics It's all coming together :) #b3d #geometrynodes #simulationnodes #blender

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

I wasn’t doing my velocity calculations right, turns out we can have a little more fun still: #b3d #geometrynodes #simulationnodes #blender

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Trying verlet integration / spring constraint in geometry nodes. By scaling the target edge distance, I can introduce a sort of tension.

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

I need some initial lines. This will do… Spawning random points on the mesh, casting to random directions. The longest distance counts right now.

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Interested in the method of creating cobwebs in Toy Story 4: research.pixar.com/docs/2019.Si... Trying to replicate this in Geometry Nodes. It’s deceptively simple. Geometry Nodes are not very suitable for sequential logic, things that are not parallel so to speak.

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

Cute :) It reminds me of le Moulin du Bonheur, Porquerolles There's many images of the sailing on this one online

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

This is how the pieces come together.

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

I was just working on some recursive stuff, your post tricked me into making a quick and dirty prototype.

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

This is how the scene builds up. It's a short and sweet experience, you land and then get to unpack and drive the rover. Driving was unhinged, as there was no input, the rover would steer where you were looking.

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

Funny enough I did not actually have a smartphone then, so I was constantly bothering others whenever I wanted to try a new version. It felt a bit like "drawcall-golf", as VR on phones then was super taxing. Like, this is the terrain. I think it turned out decent looking, especially in VR.

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

Heh, about 10 years ago, I developed a little VR application for google cardboard, titled "Apollo 15 moon landing VR". It was kind of a hit in that niche, as there wasn't much available. I did it while in school, I thought VR was super interesting!

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

Sometimes I forget that VR exists natively in Blender. #b3d #tenochtitlan #retratodetenochtitlan

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

First Person Tenochtitlan Sometimes I forget that Walk/Fly navigation exists in Blender. Obviously the scene is not meant to be seen like this, but, why not? #b3d #tenochtitlan #retratodetenochtitlan

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

The Blender file of the 3D viewer of Tenochtitlan is released. You can download it from the main website. It's like a digital twin, made for tinkering. It has a lighting and material setup to get you started. It renders in both Cycles and EEVEE retratodetenochtitlan.mx #b3d #tenochtitlan #threejs

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

Capturing a 3D Scene in Blender, step-by-step, for the Portrait of Tenochtitlan 3D viewer. The presentation is up on youtube! #tenochtitlan #threejs

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

CDMX & Tenochtitlan: ¡Explora ambas ciudades! El visualizador 3D interactivo está en línea ahora mismo --- CDMX & Tenochtitlan: Explore both cities! The interactive 3D viewer is online right now #tenochtitlan #b3d #threejs #cdmx

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

I had a great time releasing this at the Centro de Cultura Digital in Mexico City yesterday. Thank you all that could attend!

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

What a gorgeous and clear day today in Mexico City, this view makes me so happy.

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

One more week! Wed. 22nd of October, 18:00, @CCDmx! I'll be launching my 3D interactive viewer of #Tenochtitlan. See you there :) - ¡Una semana más! Miércoles 22 de octubre, 18 h, Centro de Cultura Digital CDMX. Lanzaré mi visor interactivo 3D de Tenochtitlán. ¡Nos vemos ahí! :)

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Launch: 22nd of October, 18:00, at the Centro de Cultura Digital, CDMX. Don't forget to sign up at the eventbrite on the poster! --- Lanzamiento: 22 de octubre, 18 h, en el Centro de Cultura Digital. Entrada libre. ¡No olvides registrarte en el eventbrite que aparece en el flyer! #tenochtitlan #b3d

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 05/10/2025

This has been in the making for a while, and it's coming soon: An interactive 3D viewer for my virtual reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, right in your browser. More details to follow. Stay tuned! #tenochtitlan #blender #threejs

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

I'm working on something, and it's almost done. More soon :) #tenochtitlan #webgl #blender #b3d

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

I will never not enjoy the wildly inaccurate battery level estimations of my laptop

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Wait till you hear about _harden normal_

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

Classic heightmap painting (in Gimp), displacing, wrapping.

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

By offsetting the rough wood normal map per carve layer, a lot of depth is added.

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

Mexico City is currently blessed with beautiful snow capped Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. Snow occurred in Tenochtitlan, and there's even a record of a proper blizzard. #cdmx #nieve #tenochtitlan

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

Of course I had to go see it. Very cool that a movie made with @blender3d.bsky.social, is playing in my local theater. Congrats Flow people!

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

Two masks: large-scale curvature and small-scale edges. Both populated via Geometry Nodes. And wireframe.

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

basecolor and... whatever this is (dirt from accumulation and deposition, it's applied subtly)

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

White / Black. Notice the chipped normals near the edges (might require some zooming)

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

Mostly procedural weathering in Blender / Cycles. Dirt accumulates in corners, edges of stucco are chipped. Rain leaves streaks across the vertical surfaces, and puddles in the floor. Everything is driven via Geometry Nodes #b3d #blender #aztec

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 15/12/2024

That big plotter has always been a bit wobbly as the arm is just quite big, but still the precision is quite nice Plus you can use weird pens to give you effects you just don't get from a printer, or special paper.

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Thomas Kole @thomaskole.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

The paper is sourced from the "Schoolmeester", and old paper mill in Westzaan (north of Amsterdam). It's drawn with this big plotter I built from a drafting table, a raspberry pi + arduino, stepper motors, and some 3d printed mounts

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