Those cool 3-D and elevation maps - how?

A fair number of races promoters now have these cool computer-generated elevation profiles and 3-D maps of the courses they're using. How are those generated? Is there a site I can go to and create elevation profiles for my ride?

Thanks!

David

 

www.nationalgeographic.com then send them 99 billion dollars and they will send you the cds of your
choice. you probably want puerto rico, so you may have to wait.

check em out. jeff nelson director of worldwide topographic research

 

Delorme Topo 4.0. http://www.delorme.com

Danny Callen

"JTN" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> www.nationalgeographic.com then send them 99 billion dollars and they will send you the cds of
> your choice. you probably want puerto rico, so you may have to wait.
>
> check em out. jeff nelson director of worldwide topographic research

 

try this one: www.topozone.com

"Danny Callen" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Delorme Topo 4.0. http://www.delorme.com
>
> Danny Callen
>
> "JTN" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> > www.nationalgeographic.com then send them 99 billion dollars and they will send you the cds of
> > your choice. you probably want puerto rico, so you may have to wait.
> >
> > check em out. jeff nelson director of worldwide topographic research
> >
>

 

nycdave wrote:
> A fair number of races promoters now have these cool computer-generated elevation profiles and 3-D
> maps of the courses they're using. How are those generated? Is there a site I can go to and create
> elevation profiles for my ride?
>
> Thanks!
>
> David

Hire me. http://www.xmission.com/~lawall/kutvnew.htm

The digital elevation data is free for the finding on the web.
http://edcdaac.usgs.gov/gtopo30/gtopo30.html is cool cuz it's the whole globe. The 30 or 90-meter
data is high resolution enough for a ride profile. Search on "digital elevation data."

You then feed that into one of several of programs that can swallow it, massage the program in the
way it likes, and it spits out frames of rendered terrain.

My favorite was World Construction Set ($several hundred). There is also Vista Pro and Bryce 3D
(<$100-ish). But it's been a few years since I played with it so there might be other worthwhile
programs. These programs aren't very simple so if you have only a passing interest, it's probably
better to sit back and say wow at what others are doing.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall "I'm not proud. We really haven't done everything we
could to protect our customers. Our products just aren't engineered for security." --Microsoft VP in
charge of Windows OS Development, Brian Valentine.

 

Bruce <[email protected]> wrote:
> try this one: www.topozone.com

> "Danny Callen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Delorme Topo 4.0. http://www.delorme.com

Delorme output is copyrighted: http://www.delorme.com/companyinfo/copyright.htm

Not that they've got the time or inclination to chase after the promoter of the typical small time
bike race. But you never know, I've had the minions of corporate Amerika bug me over lesser stuff in
the interest of copyright protection.

Topozone is a little more generous:
http://www.topozone.com/link.asp

Topozone maps are rendered as a set of smaller maps. If you're a Linux-head you can download the set
and assemble it with ImageMagick. This should be legal because the base for the TopoZone stuff is
taxpayer paid for USGS maps and that's really all you have, but don't quote me on that.

Bob Schwartz [email protected]

 

Bob -

Thanks! We're pretty low-key about using the maps, as long as you don't try to make money
selling them.

But I wanted to clear up the common misconception that our maps are somehow free of copyright
because they use USGS maps to start with. While the USGS maps are public domain, our maps are what
are called a "derivative work". You can't get what you see on TopoZone from the USGS - you need to
rescale, reproject, collar-clip, etc. the maps just to get them to fit together. Then you have to
buy a lot of hardware, develop map-serving software, and keep the whole thing running.

Our maps hold our copyright, too. If you want to distribute them, we ask that you keep the copyright
message on the map, and that you make sure people know you got them from TopoZone so they can get
more for themselves.

- Ed

Ed McNierney President and Chief Mapmaker TopoZone.com / Maps a la carte, Inc.

"Bob Schwartz" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Bruce <[email protected]> wrote:
> > try this one: www.topozone.com
>
>
> > "Danny Callen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> >> Delorme Topo 4.0. http://www.delorme.com
>
> Delorme output is copyrighted: http://www.delorme.com/companyinfo/copyright.htm
>
> Not that they've got the time or inclination to chase after the promoter of the typical small time
> bike race. But you never know, I've had the minions of corporate Amerika bug me over lesser stuff
> in the interest of copyright protection.
>
> Topozone is a little more generous:
> http://www.topozone.com/link.asp
>
> Topozone maps are rendered as a set of smaller maps. If you're a Linux-head you can download the
> set and assemble it with ImageMagick. This should be legal because the base for the TopoZone stuff
> is taxpayer paid for USGS maps and that's really all you have, but don't quote me on that.
>
> Bob Schwartz [email protected]

 

www.topowest.com

No 3D or Elev profiling yet. Maybe this year. So far, just free topos.

-Doug

"JTN" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> www.nationalgeographic.com then send them 99 billion dollars and they will send you the cds of
> your choice. you probably want puerto rico, so you may have to wait.
>
> check em out. jeff nelson director of worldwide topographic research

 

www.topowest.com

No 3D or Elev profiling yet. Maybe this year. So far, just free topos.

-Doug

"JTN" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> www.nationalgeographic.com then send them 99 billion dollars and they will send you the cds of
> your choice. you probably want puerto rico, so you may have to wait.
>
> check em out. jeff nelson director of worldwide topographic research

 

If the ride is in Illinois see below:

__________________________________________________

HTH Michael

"nycdave" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> A fair number of races promoters now have these cool computer-generated elevation profiles and 3-D
> maps of the courses they're using. How are those generated? Is there a site I can go to and create
> elevation profiles for my ride?
>
> Thanks!
>
> David
>
>
>
> --
> >--------------------------<
> Posted via cyclingforums.com http://www.cyclingforums.com

 

You want the OziExplorer3D software: http://www.oziexplorer.com

It's very cool. Can turn any map into a 3D map using USGS elevation data, and lets you spin it
around with your mouse.

You can download functional free trial software.

nycdave <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> A fair number of races promoters now have these cool computer-generated elevation profiles and 3-D
> maps of the courses they're using. How are those generated? Is there a site I can go to and create
> elevation profiles for my ride?
>
> Thanks!
>
> David