New Online Guidebook Maps

[Saxman]

So, if you upload them to google earth, we can see the cliffs any day of the year with the correct shadows right?

[marathonmedic]

Sorry. I already checked. The resolution sucks, the treeline covers the cliffline and you can't zoom anywhere nearly as close as you'd like.

[Artsay]

Sorry. I already checked. The resolution sucks, the treeline covers the cliffline and you can't zoom anywhere nearly as close as you'd like.

That's not necessarily true. With Google Earth Pro you can bring in your own data, like statewide imagery, that can add a lot more detail. There's also ArcExplorer (free and just like Google Earth) and other ESRI products that are expensive but can bring in some hefty datasets.

Technology is moving quickly in a good direction for this. My plan is just to get everything scaled and projected right so, when we're ready, the migration won't be too difficult.

Our Roadside data with KY 1m imagery:

[marathonmedic]

I stand corrected. That looks way better than the images I saw.

[Artsay]

That's not Google Earth. But it is data that may be brought into Google Earth Pro.

[Paul3eb]

you can always view the images without the geographic data, just as a straight image. you can download that and plenty of other stuff from here http://gis.ky.gov if you're wondering where exactly the red is on the ortho imagery grid, the southern region is right around m48.

or, if you'd like, you can download this one from esri http://esri.com/software/arcexplorer/index.html and you can bring in all sorts of data.. not quite as easy or intuitive as google earth but a little more versatile with the data (though i haven't played with pro).

[tomdarch]

Thanks so much for everyone's suggestions! I appreciate 'em all! FYI, SketchUp is what Google Earth uses for their 3D cities.

To answer a few questions/comments...
travlinyouth - SketchUp is kind of an architectural software I guess. It works in 3D model space so you can pretty much create anything.

Yep - architects were involved in developing it, and it's a total god-send for us. It makes basic and some not-so-basic building modeling way, way faster than with old school 3d apps like 3D Studio. One of the big limitations on Sketchup is that it doesn't do curves or 'organic' things well - which comes into play when modeling natural rock. But still, you're off to a great start!

bcrock - The program does make animation files. Definitely something to consider for more meandering clifflines.

the thing that comes to mind would be some sort of Flash or similar thing that would allow a Sketchup model to open in a window and be manipulated by the web page viewer. (Instead of trying to stream/download an animation file) But I don't know of a specific way to do this yet!

kek-san - top of route indicators could be good but there is a limitation to SketchUp in that it's not used for adding graphics (i.e. points). I'll have to look into a plugin maybe...

Actually the 'pro' version of Sketchup has a pretty cool 'text tag' tool that is fairly 'intelligent' at locating the text tag so that it stays readable from a lot of angles. The problem is that 'Sketchup Pro' is $500!

J-Rock - It's not a GIS application so you can't just "bring in" hydro features (I only wish!). It doesn't use projections, just units. The cliff line is to scale and eventually I would like to take all the clifflines into Google Earth and create a RRG virtual reality.

Again, SU Pro can read/write formats like .dwg and .dxf, so that gives you a way to get vector data in from GIS/CAD. But you would find that if you tried to model a fairly large area of the Red in Sketchup, it would bog down pretty quickly - all those 'organic' contours and clifflines mean a lot of polygons! But as computers get better and the application gets better, that is an awesome goal!

Ascentionist - There's a free SketchUp version out there and the tutorials are rad. I'm using SketchUp Pro5.
Josephine - I like your idea of clicking in for more detail. May have to give that one some serious thought.

Again, that's out of Sketchup's abilities. But you could use a good old HTML image map on top of the 3d jpeg image to create the links!

chh - Any edge (SU works with edges and faces) can be pulled out to get that steepness affect.
marathonmedic - I like the idea of showing parking areas at the RRG and those could be accurately and simply digitized off of imagery. It's beginning to look like I'm going to have some fun winter projects ahead for me!

The overall problem with SketchUp is that you can make things look pretty much as amazing as you want. It just depends on how much time you have. I'm going to start basic for now and make some changes based on the most common suggestions, i.e. north arrow, trail direction indicator...and think seriously about ways to incorporate other more advanced ideas like mouse over routes and route markers.

Thanks you guys!

You're on to the issue - 3d modeling is insanely labor intensive. You can spend a lot of time modeling the twists, turns, caves and cracks of the crags. But as a first draft, your sample is great!

About shadows - they can be an important 'depth cue'. Without a lot of detail or texture, a 3d image without shadows can be hard to 'read'. Typically, you need to play around with it on a case-by-case basis. Luckily, Sketchup makes it easy to do just that!

[captain static]

Forget the modelling and migrate to 3D Terrestrial Laser Scanning.

When to Use 3D Scanning
If the answer to any of the following is Yes, you should consider 3D scanning as a CAD input device:

-Contoured, freeform surfaces that cant be measured?
-Fine details that can’t be measured?
-Complex, detailed geometry that is impractical to measure?

[pigsteak]

forget it all, and get back to bushwhacking like our forefathers did....wimps.

[ynot]

I'm tired of bushwacking. If you are following me through rhodos, I'm lost and swearing I'm not. I suspect the same was true then. They just made the best of it and looked for a new line.