Here's a beautiful animated tour of Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park.
This tour begins in Estes Park, follows the route over the continental divide at 12,183 ft and ends in Grand Lake. All video clips and photos are courtesy of Spike Productions.
Enjoy!
Friday, December 16. 2011
Trail Ridge Road
Wednesday, December 7. 2011
Illustrating complex sites with a combination of 2D & 3D maps
This property connects the Colorado Front Range to Forest Service Wilderness, the Eldora Ski area and 2 Mountain Huts as well as sitting within a key watershed to Boulder/Denver. Preservation being the ultimate goal, the property has been submitted for consideration to receive a Forest Legacy Grant. These grants consider properties across the US, so the reviewers are not usually local folks familiar with the complexity of the terrain in this area.
Because of the property's proximity to the Continental Divide and other recreational amenities, creating a single map was difficult. Generating a map in 2D worked nicely for illustrating the recreation trails, adjacent property ownership and adjacent real estate development but restricted the area to the west and was a challenge getting the impressive terrain to pop without obscuring the notation. Using both 2D and 3D maps, all of the key aspects of the property were beautifully conveyed.
Because of the property's proximity to the Continental Divide and other recreational amenities, creating a single map was difficult. Generating a map in 2D worked nicely for illustrating the recreation trails, adjacent property ownership and adjacent real estate development but restricted the area to the west and was a challenge getting the impressive terrain to pop without obscuring the notation. Using both 2D and 3D maps, all of the key aspects of the property were beautifully conveyed.
Tuesday, December 6. 2011
Landform Highlighting - Longs Peak
Here's a nice example of "putting the pieces together" - using lighting, attenuation, image tile color adjustments, high res rendering and the "extruded toothpaste" object for trails:
Click through for (very) high res version (~36 Mbytes)
The foreground is illuminated with a reddish hued light to provide an alpenglow feel. I've emphasized the green band of the NAIP imagery to highlight forested lands (theres' a mondo color shift between NAIP flight lines in the lower left third of the image.)
The trails are shown as orange "extruded toothpaste tubes," enhanced by using specular reflections. The goal is to make them stand out across differing background colors. The trails are from Park Service GIS data.
Finally, I've used an abrupt zone of blue light attenuation at distances just beyond Longs Peak's summit to make the landform stand out against the background.
Overall I love the look of this image and the amount of detail in the high res rendering. I've plotted this at 36" width and it holds its resolution beautifully.
Click through for (very) high res version (~36 Mbytes)
The foreground is illuminated with a reddish hued light to provide an alpenglow feel. I've emphasized the green band of the NAIP imagery to highlight forested lands (theres' a mondo color shift between NAIP flight lines in the lower left third of the image.)
The trails are shown as orange "extruded toothpaste tubes," enhanced by using specular reflections. The goal is to make them stand out across differing background colors. The trails are from Park Service GIS data.
Finally, I've used an abrupt zone of blue light attenuation at distances just beyond Longs Peak's summit to make the landform stand out against the background.
Overall I love the look of this image and the amount of detail in the high res rendering. I've plotted this at 36" width and it holds its resolution beautifully.
Friday, November 18. 2011
Glacier Gorge!
We're doing a project in Rocky Mountain National Park highlighting recreational amenities in this majestic setting. An area that I've always loved for its outstanding climbing opportunities and rugged beauty is Glacier Gorge. This image shows the Gorge along with the backcountry trails in the area. Longs Peak dominates the view at the left.
Be sure to click through. The URL provides a cool image map that gives trail names on mouseover (tap the trail on a touch screen.) We'll be providing a number of maps and images for rockymountainnationalpark.com for their re-designed site. Check the site out late this spring, before your summer trips to the Park; it's sure to provide a wealth of great information!
Be sure to click through. The URL provides a cool image map that gives trail names on mouseover (tap the trail on a touch screen.) We'll be providing a number of maps and images for rockymountainnationalpark.com for their re-designed site. Check the site out late this spring, before your summer trips to the Park; it's sure to provide a wealth of great information!
Wednesday, October 19. 2011
Adding Drama to the Landscape
A problem I often face in landscape rendering with image texture maps is what to do when the texture map image sucks. When natural lighting's good and photo colors are vibrant, things are pretty simple. Here's an example showing Sunshine Peak in the San Juan Mountains (click for the high res version):
The rendering looks great with very little work.
Here's an example, showing Forest Canyon in Rocky Mountain National Park, where the imagery's not so great (click for high res version):
Some landforms look OK, but overall it's a pretty dull image. The blue lines are trails, highlighted using the technique shown here.
But by adjusting the lighting and attenuation (mentioned here, here and here, for example), we can produce this much more compelling image (click for high res version):
A low (in the sky) light source with a red hue gives an alpenglow feeling in the foreground, while dark colored attenuation gives the "impending storm" feeling in the background - discussed in this post. The result is a dramatic image that also clearly shows the lay of the land around the Forest Canyon area.
The rendering looks great with very little work.
Here's an example, showing Forest Canyon in Rocky Mountain National Park, where the imagery's not so great (click for high res version):
Some landforms look OK, but overall it's a pretty dull image. The blue lines are trails, highlighted using the technique shown here.
But by adjusting the lighting and attenuation (mentioned here, here and here, for example), we can produce this much more compelling image (click for high res version):
A low (in the sky) light source with a red hue gives an alpenglow feeling in the foreground, while dark colored attenuation gives the "impending storm" feeling in the background - discussed in this post. The result is a dramatic image that also clearly shows the lay of the land around the Forest Canyon area.
Thursday, September 29. 2011
Water - Attenuation on Steroids
I've mentioned an attenuation model I've been playing with here and here. This model combines the traditional distance-based calculations with elevation-based computations. In those posts, I focused on utilizing this model to highlight landforms.
That got me thinking that this could provide a really easy way to model water bodies "filled up" to a particular elevation. The "lake" itself is defined by 100% attenuation below a specified altitude. Here's an example showing a flooded Summit County, Colorado (click for high res version):
We just need to set the attenuation color to a nice blue and it looks pretty good; and no lake surface polygons or 3d faces are needed. So there's 100% attenuation in the "lake" and a greatly reduced value (in this case, 20%) in the visible upper topographic range.
By ramping the attenuation from the 100% value to the 20% value over a short, but non-zero, elevation range, we can create a soft edge to the lake, avoiding the abrupt - and artificial looking - break that you often get using a lake surface polygon. Here's an example (click through to see the water-land interface):
This image gives us a nightmare global warming scenario - with a mostly-submerged Breckenridge Ski Area!
That got me thinking that this could provide a really easy way to model water bodies "filled up" to a particular elevation. The "lake" itself is defined by 100% attenuation below a specified altitude. Here's an example showing a flooded Summit County, Colorado (click for high res version):
We just need to set the attenuation color to a nice blue and it looks pretty good; and no lake surface polygons or 3d faces are needed. So there's 100% attenuation in the "lake" and a greatly reduced value (in this case, 20%) in the visible upper topographic range.
By ramping the attenuation from the 100% value to the 20% value over a short, but non-zero, elevation range, we can create a soft edge to the lake, avoiding the abrupt - and artificial looking - break that you often get using a lake surface polygon. Here's an example (click through to see the water-land interface):
This image gives us a nightmare global warming scenario - with a mostly-submerged Breckenridge Ski Area!
Monday, September 26. 2011
Staunton Partnering Video
Monday, September 12. 2011
Valley Haze, Part II
In this post, I introduced a hybrid attenuation model that combines contributions to attenuation from distance and elevation. For simplicity, if we "clear the air" at higher elevations, we can simulate the crisp high country views while adding valley haze that increases with distance from the viewer.
Here's another illustration. Here's a view of Copper Mountain with no attenuation. The skyline peaks show a beautiful crispness, but the middle of the image - around the ski area itself - is a bit ho-hum (click for high res image - ~13.3 Mbytes):
This next example includes the hybrid attenuation. The peaks retain most of their crispness while the valley attenuation increases the realism and enhances the 3d feel of the rest of the image (click for high res - ~12.7 Mbytes):
And if you really what to go wild, here's an example with the lower valleys completely obscured by haze (click for high res image - ~8.8 Mbytes):
Here's another illustration. Here's a view of Copper Mountain with no attenuation. The skyline peaks show a beautiful crispness, but the middle of the image - around the ski area itself - is a bit ho-hum (click for high res image - ~13.3 Mbytes):
This next example includes the hybrid attenuation. The peaks retain most of their crispness while the valley attenuation increases the realism and enhances the 3d feel of the rest of the image (click for high res - ~12.7 Mbytes):
And if you really what to go wild, here's an example with the lower valleys completely obscured by haze (click for high res image - ~8.8 Mbytes):
Friday, September 2. 2011
More Ridgeline Stuff
In this post, I discussed using attenuation to help highlight ridgelines, particularly those that run nearly parallel to the viewing direction. While this is generally an effective technique, there are occasions where you get some undesirable results.
Take, for instance, this (no attenuation) image with Keystone ski area in the foreground and the Tenmile Range in the background (click for high res version).
I really like the crispness of the background mountains, but the ridgelines to the right (West) of the ski area don't "pop" as well as I'd like.
So, let's try distance-based attenuation (click for high res version):
There's better ridgeline definition, but the background peaks get washed out by the attenuation.
So, what if we "cleared the air" at higher elevations, still keeping the distance-based attenuation? I then got this result (click for high res version):
I still get good ridgeline definition, but much greater clarity in the high peaks!
Take, for instance, this (no attenuation) image with Keystone ski area in the foreground and the Tenmile Range in the background (click for high res version).
I really like the crispness of the background mountains, but the ridgelines to the right (West) of the ski area don't "pop" as well as I'd like.
So, let's try distance-based attenuation (click for high res version):
There's better ridgeline definition, but the background peaks get washed out by the attenuation.
So, what if we "cleared the air" at higher elevations, still keeping the distance-based attenuation? I then got this result (click for high res version):
I still get good ridgeline definition, but much greater clarity in the high peaks!
Wednesday, July 6. 2011
Photo simulations for assessing development impacts
A picture is worth a thousand words ...
For public meetings, photo simulations can answer questions about visual impacts to the most laymen of crowds.
These images were generated for a proposed silo on the NREL campus near Golden, Colorado.
For public meetings, photo simulations can answer questions about visual impacts to the most laymen of crowds.
These images were generated for a proposed silo on the NREL campus near Golden, Colorado.
Thursday, June 30. 2011
The Power of Custom Imagery
The Edware on the Web Elevation Server is the talk around the proverbial water cooler this week. We are testing the software, and based on feedback from our reviewers, we are really excited about the possibilities. Yesterday, while talking to a reviewer about the future of EdWare ES, the topic of visualization of EdWare imagery in Google Earth came up. In past posts we talked about using the Edware ES to brand web maps...yesterday's conversation reminded us that the output from elevation server can be brought in to brand a Google Earth project as well.
As we all already know Google Earth is a powerful visualization software application. The top image – of the Grand Canyon – is a screen shot taken straight from Google Earth. In my opinion, the shadowing in the foreground (southeast corner) of the image provides a compelling view of the canyon. Obviously the tiles in the foreground were captured when the sensor on the satellite was at some angle past nadir. While informational, the first image lacks continuity and clarity. I would go so far as to say that the tiles form a dissonant patchwork of imagery.
The second image (below) was developed by the EdWareontheWeb Elevation Server; the KMZ was then imported into Google Earth (the kmz for this file can be accessed from this link). Besides providing a clean, consistent base layer I think the addition of the EdWare Elevation Server imagery gives me a better idea of what the landscape actually looks like.
As we all already know Google Earth is a powerful visualization software application. The top image – of the Grand Canyon – is a screen shot taken straight from Google Earth. In my opinion, the shadowing in the foreground (southeast corner) of the image provides a compelling view of the canyon. Obviously the tiles in the foreground were captured when the sensor on the satellite was at some angle past nadir. While informational, the first image lacks continuity and clarity. I would go so far as to say that the tiles form a dissonant patchwork of imagery.
The second image (below) was developed by the EdWareontheWeb Elevation Server; the KMZ was then imported into Google Earth (the kmz for this file can be accessed from this link). Besides providing a clean, consistent base layer I think the addition of the EdWare Elevation Server imagery gives me a better idea of what the landscape actually looks like.
Tuesday, June 14. 2011
Hillshading With Multiple Light Sources
Hillshade or shaded relief imagery provides an informative view of topography. This technique involves illuminating the virtual landscape with a light source, most commonly a directional light source located to the northwest (upper left) of the image area.
Here's an example with the traditional lighting (click for high res version):
Directional light sources are typically implemented as a vector, indicating the direction to the "sun" or light source. Alternatively, you can use point light sources, located at specific locations. Direction vectors are then calculated from each locale on the landscape to the point source.
Here's an example of the same area illuminated by a point light source located just above and left of the image center (click for high res version):
Mixing the light sources from the above examples produces this image (click for high res version):
...and here's one more where I've added a red-hued directional light source from the East (click for high res version):
Mixing light sources can help accentuate landscape features that aren't easily brought out with a single source. This feature is coming soon to the elevation server.
Here's an example with the traditional lighting (click for high res version):
Directional light sources are typically implemented as a vector, indicating the direction to the "sun" or light source. Alternatively, you can use point light sources, located at specific locations. Direction vectors are then calculated from each locale on the landscape to the point source.
Here's an example of the same area illuminated by a point light source located just above and left of the image center (click for high res version):
Mixing the light sources from the above examples produces this image (click for high res version):
...and here's one more where I've added a red-hued directional light source from the East (click for high res version):
Mixing light sources can help accentuate landscape features that aren't easily brought out with a single source. This feature is coming soon to the elevation server.
Thursday, May 19. 2011
Elevation Server and Commodity Mapping Sites
We've mentioned the elevation server here and here. It's a versatile web service that provides DEM data, slope maps and highly customizable hillshade imagery.
Recently, I've played around with producing imagery for use with the major commercial web mapping APIs - Google, Bing, Yahoo - to dramatically improve the appearance of web-served maps and provide options for branding web maps to stand out from the overcrowded masses.
Here are some samples, centered on the Grand Canyon:
Bing
Yahoo
Google
Here's a link to an interactive site deployed via openlayers:
http://206.168.217.250/openlayers_gc.html
There's a simple opacity control at the bottom left. Turn the hillshade off and on to see the difference.
Also, here's a link to try it out in Google Earth:
http://192.231.196.243/gc_tiles/gc.kml
Let me know what you think!
Recently, I've played around with producing imagery for use with the major commercial web mapping APIs - Google, Bing, Yahoo - to dramatically improve the appearance of web-served maps and provide options for branding web maps to stand out from the overcrowded masses.
Here are some samples, centered on the Grand Canyon:
Bing
Yahoo
Here's a link to an interactive site deployed via openlayers:
http://206.168.217.250/openlayers_gc.html
There's a simple opacity control at the bottom left. Turn the hillshade off and on to see the difference.
Also, here's a link to try it out in Google Earth:
http://192.231.196.243/gc_tiles/gc.kml
Let me know what you think!
Thursday, May 5. 2011
Order and Chaos
This bizarre landscape juxtaposes regular and random geometries. A blue cylinder pierces a fractal monolith while a sphere emerges in the foreground, all faded in an attenuating haze.
(Click for high res version):
Guess I'm just bored today...
(Click for high res version):
Guess I'm just bored today...
Friday, April 29. 2011
Yellowstone National Park map wins award
Periodically we like to showcase our clients' successes - successes that we feel we've made some humble contribution toward. Beartooth Publishing, from Bozeman, MT, has been producing a plethora of award-winning maps. They've published 2 maps that have won "Best of Category" for recreation and travel, and three additional maps winning "honorable mention" in Cartography and Geographic Information Society's annual map competitions. The latest (2010) winner was for Yellowstone National Park (cover shown below).
CTM has provided Beartooth Publishing the base data for these fabulous maps for many years, including hillshade imagery from our elevation server profiled in this post. Here's a hillshade example from their Yellowstone Map:
More on the elevation server coming soon...
CTM has provided Beartooth Publishing the base data for these fabulous maps for many years, including hillshade imagery from our elevation server profiled in this post. Here's a hillshade example from their Yellowstone Map:
More on the elevation server coming soon...
