3D maps / satellite images

farss wrote on 12/9/2004, 1:13 PM

I'm doing a series of DVDs covering places of interest in various states. What would add some real polish is 2D or 3D relief maps that can be rotated / zoomed in on to great detail. I seem to recall there's a serious system used by news depts that generate these out of the box but I'm suspecting I'd need to invest in the whole box and dice and it'll cost very serious money.
My other alternative is to used a series of maps at various scales to create a pan / zoom from 1000s of miles to miles. This might be the easiest way to go, just need to negotiate the rights to use the maps.
The other option would be satellite images, I believe I can order shots of specific locations from a commercial portal, anyone tried using this service, I remember the costs were pretty reasonable but it did take some time, you had to wait for the bird to be in position, if you wanted it done quick and they had to shift the orbit then the price went very high.
Bob.

Comments

jsteehl wrote on 12/9/2004, 1:26 PM

From a company named Keyhole but front ended by Google (I swear they are posied to take over the world :).

http://www.keyhole.com/

The personal version is $30, Pro version is $300. Basically Space to (detailed) earth fly-bys.

Wilded stuff!

-Jason

skibumm101 wrote on 12/9/2004, 1:49 PM

nasa worlwind totaly free.

http://learn.arc.nasa.gov/worldwind/

http://www.worldwindcentral.com/

has some pics of interseing places.

epirb wrote on 12/9/2004, 2:05 PM

I have the keyhole personal edition, they make a plug for the pro version that allows you to save/make movies and more.
Big dollars ,to me anyway ,and since I have no profesional use for it..
I did a little birthdaycard video things for a friend in another state basicly circleing around my houseat a 45 degree angle then shooting up above the earth and zooming down to her house and circling. Some areas like where she lives ,the photos are pretty recent andthe resolution is good enough I recognized her car on the street.
I just set up the "tour" as they call it and shot my lcd display with my cam.
(told her I had contacts at the CIA..heheh)
It kinda cool, you can try it free for a week or something.
Now if you all wanna post your addresses I'll take a fly over your house?!

donp wrote on 12/10/2004, 11:42 AM

Those high reslution fly by's are only done in certain cities not everywhere. You can check the USGS website to find out which areas (cities) are done.

farss wrote on 12/10/2004, 12:21 PM

That'll be the issue, the places I need are not big cities, they're not even in the USA, they're remote parts of Australia.
Actually I just realised, the clients news department probably already has all this stuff on their zillion TByte servers, now how to prise it out of them.
Bob.

JJKizak wrote on 12/10/2004, 12:42 PM

I haven't seen any that are worth a crap. Almost have to have 2 ft topo's instead of 20 ft. The 3d has to be exagerated to look decent. The USCG 20 ft topos are almost worthless. Maptech also has some discs.

JJK