A couple of weeks ago we had an unusual visitor - a Northern Goshawk. The Northern Goshawk is the largest North American raptor in the Accipiter genus. Accipiters usually hunt other birds, but this one - a female - killed a rabbit near our house. Here's a picture (courtesy of Cat Russell from Spike Productions):
Looking at their range, it becomes clear where the "Northern" part of the name comes from. The map below is adapted from one I found on a US Fish and Wildlife site.
We typically see the Accipiters during Fall and Spring, when they're migrating.
Friday, November 19. 2010
Impending Storm ... or Clearing Skies?
I've been messing around with lighting and attenuation as a simple way to provide the feel of different weather conditions.
Here's the impending storm (click on image for larger version):
and the clearing skies (again, click for high res version):
Same view, imagery, etc - just different lighting and attenuation.
Here's the impending storm (click on image for larger version):
and the clearing skies (again, click for high res version):
Same view, imagery, etc - just different lighting and attenuation.
Monday, November 8. 2010
Making Linework "Pop"
Ever had problems making lines readable across different background colors? Here's an interesting technique (click on the image to see the whole picture):
The image above shows a property boundary; the one below shows a social trail network.
We've "extruded" a circular cross-section along each trail path to create a thin "tube." This tube is a 3d object that is subject to the lighting model and can be assigned a variety of reflective characteristics. It has the additional advantage of diminishing in size with distance, so it provides depth cueing into the scene. We started using this some years back to overcome difficulties with drawing simple 2d lines over varying background colors.
The image above shows a property boundary; the one below shows a social trail network.
We've "extruded" a circular cross-section along each trail path to create a thin "tube." This tube is a 3d object that is subject to the lighting model and can be assigned a variety of reflective characteristics. It has the additional advantage of diminishing in size with distance, so it provides depth cueing into the scene. We started using this some years back to overcome difficulties with drawing simple 2d lines over varying background colors.
Wednesday, November 3. 2010
Castle Rock Skylines
We were involved in a ridgeline protection project back in 1998 for the Town of Castle Rock, Colorado. This project was an early application of our skyline mapping algorithm, which delineates areas of the landscape where structures would break the skyline. Here's a link to the ordinance that was approved at the end of the project; and here's the final map with legend.
The image below shows a birds eye view of the skyline map.
We've gotten a chance to revisit this work with a new project in the area. It's been very rewarding to find that - with the new tools available 12 years later - that the original mapping is holding up very well. I may be biased, but I think the Town has one of the most defensible ridgeline protection zones around.
The image below shows a birds eye view of the skyline map.
We've gotten a chance to revisit this work with a new project in the area. It's been very rewarding to find that - with the new tools available 12 years later - that the original mapping is holding up very well. I may be biased, but I think the Town has one of the most defensible ridgeline protection zones around.
(Page 1 of 1, totaling 4 entries)