On 30 Jul 2008, at 08:36, Anselm Hook wrote: > I've been thinking a bit that maybe one of the secret inhibitors of > good open source mapping is the map rasterization tools... ( by > comparison to the state of the art of the engines underlying > applications in other domains such as say flight gear ). > > If you look at the quality of results from google maps and from > microsoft - you really do see them starting to play with richer > representations of geometry as well. > > Mapserver and Mapnik both generate 2d raster maps - they can't > "loft" geometry into 3d
no - I've seen demos of mapnik doing building pseudo 3d outlines a-la google > 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. no - there is a realtime mapnik renderer browser thingy thats in it's svn tree > > > I guess the same is true for geoserver. > > There's a related problem of premature optimization that you see in > the GML OGC standard and in standards such as ESRI shapefiles. They > lack concepts such as multiple-instancing, 3d, matrix transforms, > scene-graphs - all basic concepts that are so important for swiftly > representing complex geometry. Style management is hard as > well.... but this is unrelated to the focus of the discussion here. > > In any case - it feels like there might be merit in building (or > finding) a better rasterization stack. Offhand I see such a stack > including: > > 1) 3d. > > 2) Hardware accelerated. > > 3) Vector Font Support. > > 4) Deterministic de-cluttering. ( more suitable for tile generation > -> crschmidt's tile cache project has to request large images to > then slice up - and this is in part due to the way that the > decluttering will yield different results based on requested image > size ). > > 5) Import support for shapefiles, gml, postgis and the like. > > 6) Plug-in architecture with a minimalist core. ( one of the > things that is so frustrating about mapserver and mapnik is how > (like most unix apps) they depend on pretty much the entire universe > of every other application ever written... it is like the minimum > quanta of computing is the unix operating system... I would like > to run a microkernel mapping engine on an iphone! ) > > 7) Scripting ( python, lua, ruby ... even php ) > > 8) Runs as a native app; not just intended to run as a cgi... > embeddable. > > Of course proposing to build yet another mapping engine is > foolhardy. But I figured it could get a few minutes speculation. > What tools out there could make such a project less tedious? > > 1) http://vterrain.org => vterrain which is based on openscenegraph > might be a one stop shopping solution. > > 2) http://www.openscenegraph.org/projects/osg => open scene graph > by itself might do the trick... > > 3) A 3d game rendering engine => One benefit would be collision > detection and "operator in the loop" functionality as well as a > framework for behavior such as digital agents... see > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_engine > ... but that's probably overkill eh? > > - anselm > > > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: [web-49] Lineup Announced: Web 2.0 Mapping and > Social Networks Group August Meetup > Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:57:53 -0400 > From: Catherine Burton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > July's Meetup was a HIT! We had 80+ people attend, which was just > super great. Thanks guys. You Rock! > > *Locate, Locate, Locate* is the theme for August's Meetup. We've > scheduled presentations from three companies that build apps to > locate people, places, and things. > > The Lineup: > > Loopt <http://www.loopt.com/> - you know 'em, you love 'em, but have > you met 'em... > Geogad <http://www.geogad.com/geogad/index> - "Your personal mobile > tour guide" > 3SI Security Systems <http://www.3sisecurity.com/>- "...the world > leader in cash protection systems..." > > Also, due to your organizers deep affinity for sugar, I've decided > that we *need* and will have free chocolate samples from the Bay > Area's own Fearless Chocolate <http://www.fearlesschocolate.com/> > once again. > > Come for the information, stay for the community. Remember, you make > this Meetup great. > > Please make a note of our new location at Google in Mountain View! > Check this page within the week of the event date for an exact > building number and room name. > > Thanks folks. See you there, > > Catherine > > > P.S If you have an interesting or fledgling geo/social web, GIS, app > or tech that you would care to share, please do not hesitate to > contact us: > > Catherine Burton - [EMAIL PROTECTED] <http://[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > Alec Dara-Abrams - [EMAIL PROTECTED] <http://[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > > -- > Please Note: If you hit "*REPLY*", your message will be sent to > *everyone* on this mailing list ([EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >) > This message was sent by Catherine Burton ([EMAIL PROTECTED] > ) from Web 2.0 Mapping and Social Networks Group <http://web.meetup.com/49 > >. > To learn more about Catherine Burton, visit his/her member profile > <http://web.meetup.com/49/members/3457959/ > > > To unsubscribe or to update your mailing list settings, click here > <http://www.meetup.com/account/?tab=comm > > > > Meetup Support: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > 632 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 USA > > _______________________________________________ > Geowanking mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.burri.to/mailman/listinfo/geowanking Best Steve _______________________________________________ Geowanking mailing list [email protected] http://lists.burri.to/mailman/listinfo/geowanking
