On Jul 30, 2008, at 10:36 AM, Anselm Hook wrote: > Mapserver and Mapnik both generate 2d raster maps - they can't > "loft" geometry into 3d and they can't take advantage of the > hardware acceleration many motherboards provide ( as far as I know - > although the anti-grain technology in mapserver may do so now? ) . > Since they're intended to be used in a kind of "offline" mode - not > used to generate real time interactive displays - they tend to be > used only in server environments; not as an all in one solution - > like for say a high performance native client... so they get > exercised less and improved less.
If you want 3d acceleration, enable MapServer or Mapnik or MapGuide or GeoServer to be able to use Cairo. It wouldn't solve your "too many components" complaint tough. Take a look at ossimPlanet for OSG- enabled geo goodness -- although it isn't really a cartographic engine. I thought it was crazy to write Mapnik when we had MapServer (and then MapGuide came out), but I'm glad it was written and is gaining traction. There's always room for a better mousetrap, but this mouse (cartographic rendering + interacting with the geoworld's data and services ecosystem) is a tough one to fully catch. Howard _______________________________________________ Geowanking mailing list Geowanking@lists.burri.to http://lists.burri.to/mailman/listinfo/geowanking
