Possibly the best map tool ever?

[Brad_Edmondson]

Map makers MUST check out this site:

www.earthviewer.com

There is a 14 day free trial of the Pro software. Sadly my video card (Vodoo3) isn't supported :(

If you want the full version you'll pay a huge annual fee ($600!!!!!)

For those of you who can run the free trial, let me know how it turns out. If you can, take pictures of different areas of interest and post them here in the downloads section so that other mappers can benefit from detailed maps. I saw this software profiled on the CBC news and it looked incredible!

[AlphaSierra]

i've tried it out. Very nice pictures indeed, got one of a carrier in San Diego! Only thing with the trial version is that you have three "clouds" in the picture!

I haven't figured out how to get the richgt scale on it, but i will post some pics eventually!

[AlphaSierra]

There are only highres pictures of USA can zoom down to a 6 inch res!!! But I'm confident that's enough :)

BTW give me the Longs and lats to a place in U.S that interest you.

[Boof]

Hmmmm...
Good thing they don't have High-Res of Hell.....

I often swim nude in my pool...... :o

Nice height intergration, pretty close for a free trial of a consumer orientated product.

Now for a warning!

Allthough this site is for fun, Imagine how much more powerful our Big Brothers
"Eye's in the Sky" is....

Big Brother IS watching!

Not being employed by or even emotionally connected to ANY form of Goverenment.
I get access to real-time, high-res, multi-wavelength, imagery for "EVERYWHERE!"
Their is no place to hide anymore......

All your bases belong to us

And to think even with all this new technoglogy, It Won't ever compare to My Boss.

Not only can He see ALL,But He also Knows All.

We all know how important proper intel is to any plans.

Thank God :angel: I've got a source I can always Trust!

[Ssnake]

All your bases belong to usActually the term was ALL YOUR BASES ARE BELONG TO US... :P

[AlphaSierra]

I found something that might be even better!!! :D

Globalmapper

Download for free both the software (free for private use) and whatever maps (U.S) you want. :D

Bring up the DEM maps in global mapper and use the custom shader to get the right grayscale, disable the hill shading. Export the map to a jpeg file. Crop the file and rezise it to a mininmum of 1024 x 1024 pixels. Convert it to a 8 bit grayscale bmp file. Then you have a height map ready to convert to SB raw format to use.

Links
software: http://www.globalmapper.com
Maps: http://data.geocomm.com/dem/demdownload.html

[RnR]

EXPORT FEATURES NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL REGISTRATION is the message I get when trying to export jpeg - where did you get your version?

[AlphaSierra]

Screenshoot of result!

http://medlem.spray.se/alphasierra/images/AS_MAP.jpg

[RnR]

oh and what values are you using in the custom shader as black and white elevations?

[AlphaSierra]

I use 0 = Black and 100 = White. The software then will put out the grayscales in between the values.

[Sean]

I found something that might be even better!!! :D
Bring up the DEM maps in global mapper and use the custom shader to get the right grayscale, disable the hill shading. Export the map to a jpeg file. Crop the file and rezise it to a mininmum of 1024 x 1024 pixels. Convert it to a 8 bit grayscale bmp file. Then you have a height map ready to convert to SB raw format to use.


I second the recommendation on this, its a great piece of software. I've read it described as the swiss army knife of mapping software, thats a accurate description. It imports tons of different formats and exports in tons more. It automaticly converts and aligns data that came from different mapping systems. You can add layer upon layer of data (height) (satelite imagery) (vector data for roads/tranportation) for a very nice (3d) map.

Use something like 3dem to view it in 3d.

Alpha, what program are you using to change it to a 8 bit greyscale bmp file? I have never been able to feed sb hmc anything that it would take.

[AlphaSierra]

Alpha, what program are you using to change it to a 8 bit greyscale bmp file? I have never been able to feed sb hmc anything that it would take.


I have the same conclusion as you, sbmhc won't take anything :( . Eventhough I in AcdSee can see that it infact is a 8 BPP greyscale image SBMHC won't buy it!

Are there anyone out there who has a solution?!

[AlphaSierra]

Is there anyone who can use the pictures I made with global mapper and convert it to height maps?

[wheeldog]

Is there anyone who can use the pictures I made with global mapper and convert it to height maps?

Try to convert the bitmap file with SBRAW, I got a working height map with that program. By the way Alpha, did you see that they got swedish maps for download?

[Sean]

How exactly did u make the bitmap file?



[/quote]
Try to convert the bitmap file with SBRAW, I got a working height map with that program. By the way Alpha, did you see that they got swedish maps for download? [/quote]

[wheeldog]

How exactly did u make the bitmap file?
I took the jpg file into Photoshop, converted it to greyscale. used the crop tool so the picture was real square (in pixel). Then I rescale the pic to 1024x1024 and saved it as bmp.

[Sean]

I took the jpg file into Photoshop, converted it to greyscale. used the crop tool so the picture was real square (in pixel). Then I rescale the pic to 1024x1024 and saved it as bmp.

Many thanks for the detail. In photoshop, is it just image->mode->greyscale to convert it to a greyscale image?

[wheeldog]

is it just image->mode->greyscale to convert it to a greyscale image?Yes, by the way it seems that you MUST rescale your picture to the same size as you want your raw file to be.

[AlphaSierra]

Is there anyone who can use the pictures I made with global mapper and convert it to height maps?

Try to convert the bitmap file with SBRAW, I got a working height map with that program. By the way Alpha, did you see that they got swedish maps for download?

I saw that Wheeldog, I have downloaded and placed one of them on my homepage, mayby you can try to convert it? If you succed please send it over!!! :P

[Sean]

Many thanks, that did it! Now I can make some height maps finally.

is it just image->mode->greyscale to convert it to a greyscale image?Yes, by the way it seems that you MUST rescale your picture to the same size as you want your raw file to be.

[Skip]

How about someone who has succeeded in making a height map taking a few minutes to list the actual steps for this either in this thread or as a tutorial file elsewhere on the site?

[MatsW]

Another piece for the converting puzzle - SBRAW was written exclusively for Windows 2000, so if you try it you may want to keep this in mind - this is said to be one of the most common source of trouble. Think it has something to do with Windows/Kodak Imaging program that was excluded for the XP-version.

[morgan]

ssnake, it was "ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!"

[Ssnake]

ssnake, it was "ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!" Oops, how could I miss that???

[smogover]

I really wish I understood what you guys were talking about.... but to make it easier for me.... can someone just get a height map of southern victoria, australia for me (i know.... i know.... victoria is 1/4 the size of the US... )? That way I can make my dream scenario cum true

[wheeldog]

:D You got to be a little more specific I think, the largest map that can be done to SB is 51 x 51 km.