Eric, I too have been looking at this for some of our field workers. Basically the cameras are simply recording 'tags' of GPS and thumbnail info into an EXIF header embedded within the Photo image (normally jpg or tiff)...The arcpad software appears to include scripting that can read the exif tags thus pulling out the GPS xy and automatically building a shapefile of point locations, the shapefile contains a photo-id and I am guessing (because I haven't got any kit to play with yet) that the images are downloaded via the arcpad tool into preset folder on the mobile platform (tablet/ipaq) so that the shapefile can be populated with the correct file hyperlink etc)....the photo itself doesn't have any georeferencing files (JGW or TFW) because the cameras are only recording the locations of where the photo was taken,...
SO in essence there is an arcpad exif-decoding script that makes a hotlinked shapefile.......and this is followed up by a mouse-over tool that pops up thumbnails and a mouse-click tool that pops up the actual photo....I think that can be partly replicated in MapInfo just via the UT conversion route you suggest ...but I'd also argue that the whole process (download-geocode and then build a hotlinked table) could be replicated via a vb/ net (or even mapbasic??) solution providing there is a way to extract the binary data from the exif header...(and this is where I get very cautious because I never seem to get binary access to files right...it would have been a lot easier if embedded EXiF had just been a bolt on XML file imho)...the trickiest bit will probably be the mouse-over thumbnail display..i'm guessing a vb-mapbasic callback is required (something else i struggle to get right)..... some links for coders better than myself.... http://www.exif.org/ http://www.exif.org/Exif2-2.PDF http://www.jeita.or.jp/ hth r -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Eric Gagnon Sent: 02 October 2006 14:56 To: [email protected] Subject: [MI-L] Geo-imaging cameras Hi, I was wondering if any of you has had experience with geo-imaging digital cameras. I found this site. www.ricoh-usa.com/geoimaging I think you can combine it with a gps that uses Arc Pad from Esri. Could it be possible to import that (pictures and coordinates) in MI after.. I know you can with just the map layers using the Universal translator to import shape files.. but i'm wondering with the pictures. Or is there a MI software/application that already does this? Or an other product that I don't know of. TIA Eric Gagnon, B.Sc., GIS Specialist _______________________________________________ MapInfo-L mailing list [email protected] http://www.directionsmag.com/mailman/listinfo/mapinfo-l ********************************************************************* This message (and any attachments) is for the recipient only. NERC is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the contents of this email and any reply you make may be disclosed by NERC unless it is exempt from release under the Act. Any material supplied to NERC may be stored in an electronic records management system. ********************************************************************* _______________________________________________ MapInfo-L mailing list [email protected] http://www.directionsmag.com/mailman/listinfo/mapinfo-l
