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How is it done?

So how are these 3D images created... Well, it took me absolutely ages to find the right software package that was affordable and could read the British Ordnance Survey data.

The software I used was GENESIS II from Geomantics at www.geomantics.com The non-commercial version is FREE and bloody excellent!!

 

 

The Data was purchased from the Ordnance Survey at www.ordsvy.gov.uk and costs £10 per 20km x 20km tile.

I needed 2 Height Tiles and 2 "raster" tiles of the 1:50000 map dat to "drape" over the height data.

Don't worry - GENESIS II does it all for you! - easily and simply.

First - a 3D Mesh is generated from the Ordnance Survey Landform Panorama 1:50000 DTM Height Data in Genesis and previewed with the camera to find the right view. Here we are hovering over the A57 Snake Pass road as it nears the top of it's climb to the point where the Pennine Way crosses from Kinder Scout to Bleaklow.
(1) - Here is the "mesh" view generated in Genesis II. Once I am happy with the preview I can add the drape.

The "drape" could be any image - for example, an aerial photograph or simply a green image to give a grassy landscape. However, the map data is good because it shows contours, place names and roads/rivers etc. Ordnance Survey also charge me to use this on the Internet - but their prices are very reasonable.

 

(2) - This is the map data - 1:50000 "raster" map of the same area as the height data. This is brought into Genesis and laid over the height mesh like a sheet..
(3) - Here, you can see the start of the process cut away to show the mesh and the map drape being added. In reality this happens as one process that results in...
(4) - The final result - the rendered landscape showing Kinder Scout, Fairbrook Naze and the distant Edale Valley with Mam Tor just visible in the distance.
Here is a slightly different result, - here I lowered the camera a fraction... the red line is the A57.
This is the approximate area of the Peak District covered by the map data I purchased. Sheet SK08 covers pretty much all the main Dark Peak from Castleton up just fractionally past the Torside reservoirs. SE00 covers the area directly above this - extending as far as Standedge heading towards the M62.

Before any of you mail me - No - I cannot send you the data I used to generate the images. You must pay for them yourself. Contact the Ordnance Survey on www.ordsvy,gov.uk

Data Sets Required:

Height Data:
SK08 and SE00 Landform Panorama DTM files in NTF 2.0 Format

Map Data:
SK08 and SE00 1:50000 Raster maps in Windows .BMP Format