It is not always necessary to make a full model of the context. We have already seen some Weebly sites with good examples of experiments combining drawings and photos to be used as backgrounds for the models. That is very smart and creative.

Most smartphones have an option to take panorama pictures by slowly turning the camera from one point. A few years ago we used ‘stitching software’ to combine a number of pictures.

More advanced and spherical pictures can be taken with this app for iPhones, or use Cardboard Camera for Android Phones. If needed, you are likely to find similar apps for other types of smartphones. There are also 360 degree cameras available, but those are still either expensive or not sharp enough.

This suggested hurdle is to experiment with one or more options to make a 360 spherical background to relate your scale model to the context. Surprise us with your approach!

If you have a pro account on SketchFab you can also use such spherical pictures as a background for your digital models. The extra hurdle is to prepare the 360 sphere in the right dimensions and to change it into an HDR image, but you can do that online.

We found this impressive example on SketchFab. The photo sphere of the context and the 3D castle model match perfectly.

https://skfb.ly/6HJxO