Thanks for your quick response, John. You're right that my requirements are quite basic. That's because I am not sure about the basics and I prefer going step-by-step (I'm sure my questions will be more specific the more I know about the process). My idea was to create a map (raster or vector, don't know yet) that would display OSM data that is not displayed by current renders. I would skip anything related to smartphones, offline use or routing (although I would love to expore routing in the future), because it is too complex for me at this time.
I think I understand some of the basics: yes, I understand that I need a collection of tiles that need to be stored and served somewhere and that the requirements will vary enormously from zoom level and region (you made a good point in your email saying that I should start small and see the requirements and then scale it). I understand that in order to generate those tiles I need to create a style (don't know how -I've only seen two options here: either using mapnik styles or mapbox gl). But I am completely lost when it comes to specific tools to achieve those tasks. So far I've discovered the following ones: 1. Mapnik: allows creating styles and serving tiles. 2. OpenMapTiles: aparently is a tile server and allows creating custom styles. Seems to me that it could be a replacement for Mapnik. 3. T-rex: a tile server. I think it would require to generate tiles using another service/tool. 4. Maputnik: style editor for mapbox. I understand that resulting maps can only be used within a mapbox account. 5. MAperitive: I have just discovered it thanks to you. AFAIK is a desktop software that generates custom maps for offline use. If that would be true, it's not what I am looking for. Hope is clearer now. Thanks again! Carlos Cámara http://carloscamara.es 2017-10-22 21:57 GMT+02:00 john whelan <[email protected]>: > Basically you need a collection of tiles. The load on the server will > depend on the number of concurrent users and how many tiles they download. > > Initially I'd go with a small test server to prove the concept. > > Maperitive runs under Windows and gives you a lot of flexibility. You > should be able to generate tiles fairly easily. There is a mailing list > for support. > > Mapbox is commercial but having said that they have provided a lot of very > valuable support to a nearby government agency and they can put all the > bits together for you. > > Do you want to provide routing and searching capabilities? Or is a raster > map enough? A raster map is much like a printed one. Looks nice. > > Do your end users have smartphones? Will they want to use the maps > offline? If so look at OMand. > > I'm not seeing your requirements at the moment and the constraints. Just > how you want to build it and I think you need to step back and just confirm > them. > > Cheerio John > > On 22 Oct 2017 1:51 pm, "Carlos Cámara" <[email protected]> wrote: > > I would like to create a custom map for online use that loads OSM data but > displays it in different ways as the standard, cyclemap, transport... > layers. > > *Some background: What I think I know so far* > > I have made some research and, although I have to admit that I am still > quite confused, I have come to the conclusion that the process outline may > be the one that follows (with many variations): > > 1. *Get the data.* AFAIK, data can be downloaded either partially or > globally from several sources, like Planet OSM > <https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Planet.osm> or OpenMaptiles > <https://openmaptiles.com/downloads/planet/>. If I'm not wrong, data > can be accessed online by querying it or using services like Mapbox (see > below) (correct me if I'm wrong). > 2. *Style the map.* Our data has to be styled according to our needs. > Again, if I'm not wrong, there are to different (not sure if they are > excluding or not) ways to do it: either using Mapnik > <https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Mapnik> or Mapbox GL > <https://www.mapbox.com/mapbox-gl-js/style-spec/> (more on this > below). In case that we opt for Mapnik we should create a Mapnik style (a > XML file that AFAIK has to be manually edited and seems to be quite > cumbersome for complex settings) and, in case we opt for mapbox we can use > either Tilemill <https://tilemill-project.github.io/tilemill/> or the > FLOSS editor Maputnik <https://maputnik.github.io/>. > 3. *Render the map* in order to convert the data and styles into an > appealing map. This map can either be a raster map (which will generate > lots of tiles and will require the next step: tileserver) or a vector map > (which don't understand how it works other than inside mapbox). Don't know > how to do this. I assume that in case that we opt for mapnik we need to > have it installed in our server and execute a command. In case of Mapbox I > assume we need an account on their service. I have also found this > exhaustive list of rendering options on OSM's wiki > <https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Rendering>, but haven't > assimilated all that information yet. > 4. *Serving tiles:* the myriad of raster tiles that have been > generated in the previous step need to publicly available. In order to > achieve that a tileserver is needed. AFAIK, there are several options here, > being Mapnik <https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Mapnik>, T-rex > <http://t-rex.tileserver.ch/> or OpenMapTiles > <https://openmaptiles.org> some of them. All of them require a custom > server in which they need to be installed. I'm assuming that this server > requires a lot of RAM, CPU and Disk space, but I don't have an idea of how > much is "a lot" (I assume it will vary "a lot" depending on the cover area > and zoom level, but do not have the slight idea not even for the whole > world at city level zoom or just one city area). > > *Conclusion:* > > Provided that everything I wrote above is true, I see three excluding > options: > > 1. *Mapnik* covers steps #2-#4 and needs a custom server to be > installed at and to host all the data (both, OSM data and generated tiles). > 2. *OpenMapTiles* cover steps #1-#4. Needs a custom server to be > installed at and to host all the data. Apparently seems easier to setup and > run that Mapnik. > 3. *Mapbox* covers steps #1-#3, since #4 is not needed, being that are > vector layers. Does not require any webserver but requires a paid account. > Don't know if it means that using Mapbox GL you are locked in Mapbox > plattform. > > Don't know how does t-rex fit on this equation. > > Does that make sense? Do you have some recommendations in how to achieve a > custom map? > > At this point I feel quite confused, since despite things start to make > sense to me, I have the feeling that I am missing some pieces of this > complex puzzle. Not to mention that I'm not sure if I am right, though. > > Regards, > > > Carlos Cámara > http://carloscamara.es > > _______________________________________________ > talk mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk > > >
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