Landon,
We've used VTP (vterrain.org) and modified the GUI of it's Enviro viewer to
be a little more end-user friendly. VTP does a good job of providing an
interactive 3d environment of DEM and texture (e.g satellite image), and
optionally 3d structure models. On the downside, you have to author your
datasets carefully (using VTBuilder) to get good performance, and you have to
limit your map/model to an extent (it doesn't model a globe, only a projection).
There's a ton of 3d modeling info on the VTP web site.
Ossim (www.ossim.org) has OssimPlanet which DOES model a globe but it can be
an effort to set up (I've never tried it).
While we've seen some interest in 3D mapping environments, one difficulty is
ease of use from the end user's perspective. They're OK with rendered 3d
perspective images, and they LIKE "fly-thru" movies of terrain. But they LOVE
interactive 3d environments, as long as they navigate with ease (and this can be
a big problem).
They mainly care about the terrain (dem+image) and overlaying map data like
points, lines, and polygons (with styling and annotation). While we've shown
demos of including 3d structures models (buildings), it hasn't generated much
interest. But then we talk to mapping depts, not engineering/construction.
Best Regards,
Brent Fraser
GeoAnalytic Inc.
Landon Blake wrote:
I’m curious if anyone knows of a decent open source viewer for 3D maps.
Does such a viewer exist? How widespread is its adoption?
I know that Adobe PDF has become a fairly common way to share 2D maps
digitally, but I didn’t see a lot on the web about a PDF solution for 3D
maps. If you build 3D maps and models as part of your work, how do you
share them with your clients and the wider public?
Thank you for your thoughts.
Landon
P.S. – Here are a couple of links I ran across for what appear to be
open file formats for 3D models. I’m not sure how applicable they would
be to 3D maps:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COLLADA
http://www.web3d.org/about/overview
*Warning:
*Information provided via electronic media is not guaranteed against
defects including translation and transmission errors. If the reader is
not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any
dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly
prohibited. If you have received this information in error, please
notify the sender immediately.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss@lists.osgeo.org
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss@lists.osgeo.org
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
