Some holiday fun in 3d

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Boyd

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Note: This 3d Demo is no longer available, however the same 3d maps are now available in the boydsmaps app! See the discussion here:

https://forums.njpinebarrens.com/th...-app-is-finally-here.13910/page-4#post-167490

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Have spent the past few days playing around with something completely new using the Mapbox GL API. Eventually, I want to integrate this into the main site, it should be possible but it's more code than I want to write at the moment. So, I created this fun little diversion - sort of a "Christmas toy" to play with. There are no controls or menus, but the map covers the whole world in 3d so you can explore and link to individual views.

Hold down your RIGHT mouse button and drag left and right to spin the map and you will see the full 3d effect (on a phone, hold two fingers on the screen and make a rotating gesture (just like the boydsmaps app). Here's a view of the Delaware River around Matamoras (another good example of an "invisible" LIDAR bridge too).

(old link removed)

delaware.png


Here's Apple Pie Hill - rather flat to be too exciting, so I used 2.5x vertical exaggeration. Although there is no obvious way to set exaggeration, it's controlled by the last number in the web address - /2.50 in this example. You can manually change that to see the effect (1.00 would be no exaggeration).

(old link removed)

applepie.png


BTW, these aerials are interesting. Generally speaking, developed areas were photographed at much higher resolution - perhaps as high as 3 inches/pixel. The green area in the distance is the lower resolution imagery. Try tilting the map all the way up for a regular 2d view and look at Chatsworth, for example. This is some nice looking imagery!

(old link removed)

Head out West to see some more impressive topography, such as Yosemite for example. I used a value of 1.00 (no vertical exaggeration) in this view.

(old link removed)

yosemite.png


Depending on the size of your screen/browser window, you might need to zoom in/out to see the same kind of view. It may also be rather slow to access on a phone, due to the 3d computation load (some older devices might not be able to handle it?)

Aside from the obvious 3d effect, there's something else very significant in these maps, they are vector-based. As you rotate the map, notice that the labels always stay right-side up (on raster-based maps, the labels rotate with everything else). And this is a feature that I actually will be adding to the boydsmaps app in the next week or so - a collection of vector-based maps (aerials, street maps and a topo) from Mapbox. This will mean nothing to you die-hard North-uppers, but it's a pretty big deal for everyone else. In 3d/track-up view, all the labels will remain right-side up regardless of what direction you're driving in. More on this soon.

Mapbox has some very impressive technology and it should be pretty straightforward to implement it in two dimensions for starters. In the future, I think it can be adapted to work with my LIDAR data. These examples all use relatively low-resolution DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data, so you won't see the kind of small details that LIDAR offers. I still have a lot to learn, these examples are just the result of three days "playtime" with the API.

This stuff isn't free, unfortunately, but they seem to have a pretty generous quota of free stuff that you can use with no charge. Will just have to feel my way along here and see if it starts to cost me money. My sense is that it won't be a problem until my site gets much more popular, but we shall see.

In the meantime, play around and have fun. I am only going to make this available for a limited time, so be sure to check it out before it goes away and let me know what you think! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all!!! :dance:
 
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bobpbx

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Did you try it full-screen on your ultra-wide monitor? Was it slow? The bigger the screen, the longer it will take to render.
It was not fast, but not so slow that I was annoyed. Sometimes it would take some time for the landscape to turn green, but not a big deal.
 
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Jon Holcombe

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Boyd, I went down Rt. 70 to some areas that I photograph. I have a 32" monitor with a Mac Pro and the rendering was pretty quick. I kept wanting to zoom down and see areas in close-up (like I was a drone) but I guess that is not possible. Is there a quick way to jump to areas that I want to see? Like the Mullica, Batsto, Tulpehocken?

(After I wrote that I figured out how to zoom out and in. Pretty neat!)

I noticed that areas I am interested in like the Tulpehocken are pretty low res.
 
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Boyd

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You could create bookmarks for locations you like and use them as starting points. For the pines, you will probably want to set a pretty high value of vertical exaggeration. If you then make a bookmark for that location, it will retain the vertical exaggeration value that you set.

You could use this Chatsworth link as a starting point for the pines, it's a "straight down" view with North at the top and vertical exaggeration set to 2.5.

(old link removed)

Or if you want to go really extreme, use this as a starting point, with exaggeration cranked all the way up to 5.0 (will cause severe distortion in some places)

(old link removed)

Headed off to the mountains on Savoy Blvd! :cool:

(old link removed)

savoy.png


Just be aware, as I said above, this is a temporary site that will eventually go away. I still don't quite understand their billing policy for this imagery. Depending on how you interpret the fine print, it has the potential to cost me hundreds of dollars a month. :eek: I sent them an e-mail with some questions to clarify that and their answer could affect how long I make this available. The good thing is that they don't have my credit card yet, so the worst that can happen is they will cut me off.
 
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Boyd

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I noticed that areas I am interested in like the Tulpehocken are pretty low res.

I believe their basic coverage comes from NAIP (Natl Agriculture Imagery Program) 2019, which is photographed during the growing season to show foliage. The resolution on the new NAIP imagery is 50cm (about 1'-7") per pixel (level 18). Although the trees obscure things and the the details are soft, they have this beautiful emerald green color that makes me want to go out into the woods.
:)


https://boydsmaps.com/#18.00/39.720559/-74.581677/njgin2019/0.00/60.00

But then Mapbox has this very high res imagery (level 20) for certain developed areas, not sure where that comes from. I still like the 2007 aerials for their clarity, but they're getting kind of old...

https://boydsmaps.com/#19.00/39.720559/-74.581677/njgin2007/0.00/60.00

In the future I will be looking for a way to combine the aerials with the full-resolution 1-meter LIDAR, like the old site that I shut down. Will look at hosting my own 1-meter LIDAR terrain from the pines using this new Mapbox format.
 
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Boyd

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I am only going to make this available for a limited time, so be sure to check it out before it goes away

Since Mapbox bills on a monthly cycle, I have decided to take down this little demo on New Years eve (Friday). That will allow me to accurately track usage of the two-dimensional maps from Mapbox that I plan to add to the boydsmaps app. Enjoy playing around for the next few days because it will be gone soon. After I take it down, any links will stop working.
 

Boyd

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Last call for the 3d map! I am going to take it down before midnight, so that I can more accurately track usage of the 2d Mapbox maps in the boydsmaps app.
 
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