[HN Gopher] 3D map of the Czech Republic, made from 12.5cm/px im...
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       3D map of the Czech Republic, made from 12.5cm/px imagery (2017)
        
       Author : Toutouxc
       Score  : 271 points
       Date   : 2022-11-06 12:02 UTC (10 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (mapy.cz)
 (TXT) w3m dump (mapy.cz)
        
       | 101008 wrote:
       | Awesome - since I was a kid I always dreamt with something like
       | this but for the cities I know, because I thought that would make
       | it easy for videogames to use them to set stories. Playing GTA
       | (or other videogames) on my own city would be an incredible
       | experience.
        
       | Toutouxc wrote:
       | 3D map of my home country made available by our local map
       | provider Mapy.cz (those guys rock).
       | 
       | Some more info:
       | https://www.melowntech.com/post/2017/08/11/mapycz-country-wi...
        
       | yread wrote:
       | my only gripe with mapy.cz is that it's difficult to figure out
       | the altitude of a place. You have to count the contour lines
       | which can get tricky. Id love m seeing it (next to wgs84) when i
       | long tap a location on a map
        
       | TDiblik wrote:
       | I like to use mapy.cz when looking at czech republic, because
       | they're veeery recent. Only problem I have with them, is that
       | they are intentionally uncompatible with leaflet. They have their
       | own api/map library and for some reason prohibit usage with other
       | map libraries, because (as per their docs, api.mapy.cz) they
       | believe that accessing their maps directlly is some kind of
       | abuse? Other than that, it's a good product.
        
       | Toutouxc wrote:
       | Some places to see:
       | 
       | - Rattay from Kingdom Come: Deliverance:
       | https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?m3d=1&height=399&yaw=57&pitch=-2...
       | 
       | - ArmA II / DayZ map (hovering above Chernogorsk):
       | https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?m3d=1&height=3369&yaw=-14&pitch=...
       | 
       | - Church moved by 841 meters in 1975, artificial lake (ex-coal
       | mine) opened in 2020:
       | https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?m3d=1&height=303&yaw=-16&pitch=-...
       | 
       | - Military training area, Doupov mountains:
       | https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?m3d=1&height=1582&yaw=-75&pitch=...
       | 
       | - Pumped-storage reservoir, Dlouhe Strane:
       | https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?m3d=1&height=1337&yaw=-177&pitch...
        
         | statico wrote:
         | Here's a video contrasting the ArmA/DayZ Cherno map versus
         | drone footage of the real place:
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLhCNEpcPO4
         | 
         | I'm completely lost without driving directions these days. But
         | after accruing a few hundred hours in ArmA and DayZ, if you
         | dropped me in or north of Usti nad Labem, I could get around no
         | problem.
        
         | 0x138d5 wrote:
         | Also:
         | 
         | - Livonia, ARMA III: Contact:
         | https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?m3d=1&height=4952&yaw=-27&pitch=...
        
         | joannabs wrote:
        
           | joannabs wrote:
        
             | joannabs wrote:
        
               | joannabs wrote:
        
               | joannabs wrote:
        
       | andrewshadura wrote:
       | Tatra mountains:
       | https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?m3d=1&height=2926&yaw=15&pitch=-...
        
       | zokier wrote:
       | Anyone with MSFS, how does its terrain compare? Both are based on
       | conceptually similar tech?
        
         | ponyous wrote:
         | Didn't play for some time but pretty similar. MSFS spawns
         | individual meshes for trees/buildings when you get closer so
         | still a bit better imo, but keep in mind in game you are always
         | pretty high so they didn't focus on first person view details.
        
         | dividuum wrote:
         | The raw terrain texture and height data is probably a bit lower
         | res in most cases. Some places have photogrammetry, in which
         | case it looks pretty good and looks similar. Outside those
         | areas, which is limited to mostly major cities, any structure
         | you see is auto-generated using some AI algorithm. It looks at
         | the satellite images, open street map metadata and more and
         | guesses what kind of structure matches best. Cities generated
         | that way look ok, unless you fly too close :)
        
       | ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
       | That's cool!
       | 
       | However, this road looks like it might give a rough ride:
       | https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?m3d=1&height=138&yaw=234&pitch=-...
        
       | ralusek wrote:
       | This is a very pleasant 3d space to navigate on mobile. I was
       | intuitively able to pan, zoom, rotate about the vertical axis as
       | well as tilt. Put two fingers on the screen and move them
       | vertically to tilt, move them tangent to the original contact
       | center point of the place between two fingers to rotate, pinch
       | them to zoom.
        
       | wwilim wrote:
       | It also has a route planner which can plan a walk around a given
       | spot that takes roughly the specified time or is roughly the
       | specified distance
        
       | dvh wrote:
       | And the practical application of data like these:
       | https://prehrada.hrach.eu/en.html
        
         | imhoguy wrote:
         | Reminds me "Ocean of Dreams" meme map
         | https://imgur.com/gallery/Hkr5jgW
        
         | fifilura wrote:
         | And the more sinister application of this kind of map is for
         | programming optimal paths for cruise missiles.
         | 
         | This, however, makes it easier to get funding. If you want
         | money, create military, banking or casino/betting applications.
        
         | kfajdsl wrote:
         | Wouldn't this put Prague underwater?
        
           | hoseja wrote:
           | That's one of the main benefits.
        
             | B1FF_PSUVM wrote:
             | also
             | 
             | > only a relatively small levee is needed.
             | 
             | facing towards Germany, if those small red lines are it.
        
             | Bud wrote:
        
         | Markoff wrote:
         | let me guess it's proposed by someone from Brno
        
         | glogla wrote:
         | I see Jenda being Jenda.
        
         | mks wrote:
         | This site is quintessential Czech humor, similar in spirit to
         | recent Kralovec annexation and Jara Cimrman. Thank you for
         | linking it here.
        
         | sorenjan wrote:
         | This looks very useful and would bring electricity prices way
         | down. The best time to start building would have been years
         | ago, the second best is today!
        
           | yojo wrote:
           | I assume you're joking, but in case you're not - the plan
           | would put the capital city (Prague/Praha) under 200m of
           | water.
        
             | [deleted]
        
             | googlryas wrote:
             | We just need to float it. A new Venice of the North. Take
             | that, Amsterdam!
        
             | sorenjan wrote:
             | Yes, but 2 PWh clean energy though. Great for economic
             | growth, and the new lake would be good for leisure and
             | tourism.
        
       | TheRealPomax wrote:
       | Might be cool, won't know, because of that full page "we are
       | tracking you, do you consent, or do you want to go through a
       | click adventure that'll probably take half an hour before we
       | pretend that analytics and tracking cookies are essential site
       | functionality and we refuse to give you the option to turn those
       | off" notice.
       | 
       | If you can't write your site code to do the right thing when DNT
       | is turned on and without needing sessions to serve restful data,
       | your site isn't done, and your code has bugs that need fixing.
        
         | BossingAround wrote:
         | You can open it in the incognito mode, consent to all, and then
         | let the browser delete everything upon closing the window.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | adenozine wrote:
         | Or just don't use it?
         | 
         | These sorts of comments always ignore the bidirectional
         | relationship between websites and web users. They don't owe you
         | anything, you're just another customer with a choice to make.
        
           | TheRealPomax wrote:
           | Yes, that's implicit to the complaint: "too much tracking and
           | profiling being requested: won't use." And then you post a
           | comment letting others know, in the hopes that they do better
           | on their own websites because they see people voice the fact
           | that they'll bounce on unreasonable tracking modals.
           | 
           | They don't owe me anything, I don't owe them anything, and
           | when someone with whom we have no debt relationship one way
           | or the other goes "give me your personal data or I won't show
           | you anything, not even a preview to justify handing over your
           | data" should be called out as making an unreasonable request
           | before, as you suggest, moving on.
        
             | adenozine wrote:
             | I suppose I could understand this complaint more if this
             | was an unusual sight to behold, but surely you see this
             | pattern a million times a day like the rest of society?
             | 
             | I guess it just seems like it's a little overly pedantic,
             | like those people that insist every intersection be
             | replaced with a roundabout because it's more efficient for
             | traffic. It misses the point.
             | 
             | I think the law requiring websites to show the stupid
             | things at every turn was a bad one. It should have been
             | required of browsers to come up with some kind of one-time-
             | per-user configuration standard of data collection and just
             | be done with it. To me, that's better to do it once or
             | twice per computer or whatever the case is, than with every
             | little single-purpose website that someone browses to.
             | 
             | Anyhow, I misread your original complaint anyways, I
             | should've read more carefully before typing. That's my
             | mistake.
        
       | UltraViolence wrote:
       | Awesome. Breathtaking.
       | 
       | But the imagery isn't from satellite data, is it? Must be from
       | airplanes.
        
         | lucgommans wrote:
         | Indeed, something like 25cm or better is typically shot from
         | airplanes. I don't remember what the physical limit is for
         | image quality given a reasonably sized spy satellite (iirc it's
         | around the 20cm mark), but commercially at least, the high
         | quality imagery is all airplanes. Governments often commission
         | such planes to fly ~yearly at something like 10 cm, as well as
         | commissioning height maps[1], but the very good stuff is not
         | released to the public for privacy reasons. I think the best
         | I've ever seen is 15cm.
         | 
         | The point clouds from those height maps alone, though, I
         | already find to be quite interesting/revealing. You can see the
         | contours of e.g. a tree exactly, even without having any
         | imagery laid onto them: https://snipboard.io/tPsRBo.jpg
         | 
         | [1] For those that can read Dutch, how the Actueel
         | Hoogtebestand Nederland is made: https://www.ahn.nl/ahn-the-
         | making-of
        
           | iwillbenice wrote:
        
           | vetinari wrote:
           | > but the very good stuff is not released to the public for
           | privacy reasons.
           | 
           | You can buy the data, the agencies responsible for these data
           | make some decent coin. Yes, they are expensive to obtain, but
           | that is paid by taxpayers anyways, so it is kind of double
           | dipping.
           | 
           | The entire area of Czech republic is available at 0,2-0,125 m
           | per pixel for around ~100k EUR. Not unattainable for those
           | who need it, but not hobbyist price either. For the
           | neighboring Slovak republic, the ortophoto at 0,2 m per pixel
           | is available for free.
        
           | blacha wrote:
           | New Zealand regularly uses flying companies to take aerial
           | imagery photos of most of the country, which is generally
           | taken between 30cm and ~2cm, Land Information New Zealand
           | (LINZ) then releases this imagery imagery completely free
           | (CC-BY)[1,2] to the public and can be downloaded as GeoTIFFs
           | [3]
           | 
           | I think LINZ decided that <0.05m might have some privacy
           | issues due to being able to distinguish people in it, and
           | have held back releasing some <0.05m or they may have reduced
           | the quality of it.
           | 
           | disclaimer: I work at Land Information New Zealand
           | 
           | [1] https://basemaps.linz.govt.nz/?i=hawkes-bay-
           | urban-2022-0.05m... [2]
           | https://basemaps.linz.govt.nz/?i=christchurch-
           | urban-2021-0.0... [3] https://data.linz.govt.nz/layer/106915-
           | christchurch-005m-urb...
        
           | isoprophlex wrote:
           | Doesn't PDOK provide 8 cm resolution photos of The
           | Netherlands?
        
             | lucgommans wrote:
             | Recently at an OSM meetup with the local government in
             | Aachen (Germany), they mentioned that some imagery they
             | shot was deemed too invasive and only used internally. I
             | thought that was 10cm, but now checking what is available,
             | looks like I was wrong! Probably it was 5-7cm then? Or
             | maybe this was rather about the imagery available from
             | different angles, so you can see into gardens from
             | different directions?
             | 
             | In iD I see that indeed the PDOK imagery is now labeled
             | 7.5cm, but checking that against the Belgian and German
             | 10cm:
             | 
             | PDOK 7.5cm: https://snipboard.io/fbWqYM.jpg
             | 
             | AIV Flanders 10cm: https://snipboard.io/Ahn4lJ.jpg
             | 
             | NRW (Germany) 10cm: https://snipboard.io/RpT3vA.jpg
             | 
             | PDOK's looks awful, much worse than 10. Maybe some regions
             | are available in a higher resolution?
        
         | timeon wrote:
         | I guess the geometry is also from lidar/airplanes. As example
         | case in Slovakia:
         | https://zbgis.skgeodesy.sk/mkzbgis/en/teren?pos=48.262614,17...
        
       | aaronharnly wrote:
       | Very cool map, but wow that is a lot of advertising cookies to
       | individually choose!
        
         | ssl232 wrote:
         | Didn't see any, which I assume is due to my use of the Easylist
         | Annoyances list in uBO. In my experience it blocks most cookie
         | popups.
        
       | yreg wrote:
       | Mapy.cz are very good outside of Czech Republic as well.
        
         | Jamie9912 wrote:
         | I was wondering why it kept working as I passed the German
         | border
        
         | Daniel_sk wrote:
         | Perfect for offline hiking maps in Slovakia. Google Maps are
         | basically unusable outside of car roads.
        
           | andrewshadura wrote:
           | Not for offline (unless you pre-cache), but
           | https://Freemap.sk (which is also OSM-based) is even better
           | for online use.
        
         | inglor_cz wrote:
         | I prefer them to Google Maps. I even like the look better.
        
         | sorenjan wrote:
         | They're probably my favorite OSM map style, especially the
         | outdoor variant.
        
       | lucgommans wrote:
       | Impression for those that don't want to wait for the application
       | to load: https://lucgommans.nl/tmp/prague3d.html (5MB, 10s mp4 of
       | a square in Prague)
       | 
       | A bit choppy because of the basically nonexistent GPU, and I just
       | made it with xdotool (moving the mouse straight/consistently)
       | while recording the screen, but I'm quite impressed with the
       | level of detail of this 3d map!
        
       | pedalpete wrote:
       | This is pretty good, though tile loading needs some work.
       | 
       | I'm the founder of Ayvri, and we did some work with in the
       | Carpathian Mountains (Romania, but they also cross into Czech).
       | https://ayvri.com/scene/7ykxgdzoj9/xkol16r7k4
        
       | sanguy wrote:
       | Nice!
        
       | the_only_law wrote:
       | This is actually really cool. Is the data used public? I can
       | imagine some pretty cool game concepts using such detailed real
       | world data.
        
       | gus_massa wrote:
       | Nice! (Note: It takes forever to load, but it's worth the wait.)
       | 
       | The not yet loaded tiles give a interesting "thirteen floor"
       | effect :)
       | 
       | I found a glitch https://imgur.com/a/6Oh3AQn
       | https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?m3d=1&height=1100&yaw=234&pitch=...
       | It looks like a quarry. Is the wall too vertical just in the
       | border between tiles? Did they dug that part just between photos?
        
         | tomas789 wrote:
         | Yes, it is owned by a company I work for. It is an open pit
         | coal mine. Not a glitch.
        
           | gus_massa wrote:
           | The glitch is a small very black thing under the arrow in my
           | screenshot. It looks like a rotated "P". If you move, it's a
           | hole and you can see the map under the image through it.
        
       | s1k3s wrote:
       | Doesn't work in Firefox.
        
         | BossingAround wrote:
         | It does work on Firefox for me (on macOS at least)
        
         | Tajnymag wrote:
         | It does.
        
       | photochemsyn wrote:
       | Why don't map sites ever publish 3D as topo lines overlaid on a
       | flat 2D map? It's computationally much cheaper, and it's not too
       | hard to learn to read a topo map, as long as the elevations are
       | printed in a reasonably dense manner.
        
         | jeffalyanak wrote:
         | Why sacrifice accessibility and usability to save on a bit of
         | computation?
        
           | jeffalyanak wrote:
           | Don't get me wrong, I think it would be super cool to _also_
           | include a topographical map feature for those who
           | wanted/needed it, but I don't expect most people would be
           | able to use it in lieu of a simple, visual 3D view.
        
         | asutekku wrote:
         | Because for a layperson, an actual 3D map is much easier (and
         | prettier) to read than a topo line map.
        
           | torstenvl wrote:
           | Literally none of these are "actual 3D maps," they _are_ topo
           | maps. The only additional information they provide is the 3D
           | extension of objects that were already discoverable in 2D.
           | 
           | "Can this map help me find the town hall of Whittier,
           | Alaska?" If not, it isn't a 3D map.
        
             | infinityio wrote:
             | > Can this map help me find the town hall of Whittier,
             | Alaska?
             | 
             | For those who (like me) who didn't get the reference and
             | were curious about this - the town appears to be mainly
             | consolidated into a single 14-story building [0]
             | 
             | [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begich_Towers
        
         | hoseja wrote:
         | Protip: open the hiking layer.
        
       | c7DJTLrn wrote:
       | Very nice. Now I can look at Prague and think about how much I
       | miss it :) went in April and had such a great time.
        
       | cycrutchfield wrote:
       | It's missing Kralovec
        
         | smcl wrote:
         | For the non-Czechs: this is a running joke about Kaliningrad
         | electing to be annexed by Czech Republic after the occupied
         | territories in Ukraine "voted" to join Russia.
         | 
         | There were a bunch of memes and tweets going around, adverts
         | for holidaying by the Czech seaside, or joining the new Czech
         | Navy to serve aboard the aircraft carrier "Karel Gott". A few
         | companies played along, it was actually pretty funny :)
        
       | folli wrote:
       | Very nice! Obligatory and shameless self promotion everytime the
       | topic of 3D maps comes up:
       | 
       | I recently created a web app to visualize GPS tracking files in a
       | 3D terrain. You can upload your GPX or FIT files and it generates
       | the 3D Terrain using Babylon.js
       | 
       | It's called https://cubetrek.com
        
         | sytelus wrote:
         | Is there anyway to get such track or map from Apple Fitness?
        
           | folli wrote:
           | I don't use Apple Fitness, but I assume there's a way to
           | export GPX files?
        
         | reaperducer wrote:
         | _I recently created a web app to visualize GPS tracking files_
         | 
         | Off topic, but since you work with GPS tracking files, perhaps
         | you can recommend a GPS tracking device for me.
         | 
         | Until last year, I used one I got around 2005 that was about
         | half the size of a pack of cigarettes. You turned it on, and it
         | would start logging waypoints at 10 minute intervals to a
         | standard text tracking file on a microSD card. I could unload
         | that text file into my computer and plot the route on a map in
         | a bunch of mapping applications.
         | 
         | It was great because when I was going on an adventure off the
         | grid, or traveling overseas or something, I'd clip it to my
         | backpack and then when I got home look at all the fun places
         | I'd been.
         | 
         | I recently tried to find a replacement on Amazon, and nothing
         | is suitable. They are all:
         | 
         | - Built with a big magnet for clamping to the underside a car
         | 
         | - Just a stripped-down Android phone, so large, fragile, and
         | complicated
         | 
         | - Require a subscription
         | 
         | - Require cellular connectivity
         | 
         | - A watch
         | 
         | - A piece of software
         | 
         | I don't want connected. I don't want to subscribe to anything.
         | I don't want it to drain my phone's battery. I don't want to
         | stalk my ex-girlfriend.
         | 
         | I just want something simple that I can turn on and turn off. I
         | know it's possible, because I had one. I just want to find
         | another one.
        
           | folli wrote:
           | I personally use a Garmin Fenix (an old one, Fenix 3). The
           | watch form factor is perfect for my use cases (mainly hiking,
           | running and ski mountaineering).
           | 
           | Also: the barometric altimeter is a must have for
           | mountaineering purposes.
           | 
           | I guess it very much depends on what you need it for.
        
           | habi wrote:
           | What a blast for the past! I still have a functioning Wintec
           | GPS tracker which I bought in 2007. One battery lasts for
           | some days, I have multiple batteries... It's barely larger
           | than a pack of matches. Currently they sell This model here
           | https://www.win-tec.com.tw/portfolio-item/wbt202/, I have a
           | WBT200.
        
             | reaperducer wrote:
             | This is very much like the one I want to replace.
             | Unfortunately, it's not available for retail purchase
             | anymore.
        
               | habi wrote:
               | True, sorry. I just looked at the site on my mobile. Also
               | no luck on eBay for me...
               | 
               | If my memory serves me good, then a
               | https://www.amazon.com/i-gotU-GT-120-Travel-Logger-
               | Software/... should also do the trick.
        
           | baggsie wrote:
           | Garmin Etrex.
        
             | reaperducer wrote:
             | Discontinued, according to https://www.garmin.com/en-
             | US/p/6403
             | 
             | The only available Garmin alternative is $200. The one I'm
             | replacing was $30. But I'm willing to go to $75.
             | 
             | Also, it's a bit large because it has a screen, but that's
             | not a deal-breaker.
             | 
             | The one I'm replacing didn't even have a screen, just a
             | light for power and a light to indicate it was connected to
             | the satellites.
        
               | frant-hartm wrote:
               | There is a newer model eTrex 10.
               | 
               | https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/87768
               | 
               | I have it, it does the job well. It can store about 14
               | days of walking, the 25 hour battery life is accurate, it
               | can do more with good batteries (uses 2 AA) and if you
               | reduce the recording interval.
               | 
               | The map is rubbish, I deleted it to get more data for the
               | exported tracks, which you can download to any computer
               | with a USB cable, no special driver needed. Unfortunately
               | it doesn't have a card slot.
               | 
               | The great thing for hiking is it supports just about any
               | coordinate system you can think of (at least supports all
               | that I know).
        
           | usrusr wrote:
           | Watches appear on the reject list, but fail to match any of
           | your explanations. If it's about not wanting something on
           | your wrist, just replace the strap with one that is good for
           | clipping to your backpack. Most of the cheaper Garmin don't
           | offer an option to lower recording frequency for extreme
           | battery runtimes, but the Instinct series should do that just
           | fine.
        
         | 2Gkashmiri wrote:
         | like,mind=blown.
         | 
         | i was on a trek last month and was following a trail from a gpx
         | file. there was no other guide with us so i had to constantly
         | keep the phone on, try to be on the dotted line and more often
         | i would divert to one side and had going up, we diverted a lot,
         | had to face trouble being rimrocked more than once.
         | 
         | one, i felt like a need for voice navigation on OSM for hiking,
         | just a simple "you have diverted from track, move to right 10
         | meters to be back on track" followed by "you are on track".
         | 
         | then i felt like the app should have 3d elevation data WITH the
         | gpx track so that i can look at the phone, see the contour and
         | look up at the rock and cross reference. This is 100% what i
         | wanted.
         | 
         | 1. is this open source ? 2. can this be added to some hiking
         | app or even to osmand? 3. i tried to add a gpx track and got
         | "Track does not contain Timing data.". if the file does not
         | have that data, why not ignore all that and just show the
         | visualization?
        
           | folli wrote:
           | Thanks for checking it out.
           | 
           | No, it's not open source yet. I don't yet know where to go
           | with this and if there's enough interest to continue
           | development. I'm currently working on having accounts, so
           | users can upload their tracks to their own profile. Also,
           | integration with Garmin Connect is almost finished (so Garmin
           | tracks will be automatically synced to your profile). Sign up
           | to the newsletter if you want to keep in touch (or write me
           | an email).
           | 
           | Regarding 3.: It only works for GPX files with timing data
           | (i.e. from a n actual activity) in order to show speed etc.
           | But this is the most requested feature so far, so I'll work
           | on it...
        
         | matsemann wrote:
         | Very cool! But when trying stuff like this I'm always reminded
         | how flat things look at scale, hah. Like my bike ride to work
         | the other day: https://cubetrek.com/view/8197 200m of elevation
         | from kilometer 25 to kilometer 31, but hard to grasp how steep
         | some of those hills are, haha.
         | 
         | But for hiking mountainsides, or where I specifically bike up
         | steep hills it looks really great
         | https://cubetrek.com/view/8203
        
           | folli wrote:
           | I completely agree. To let you in on a little secret: the
           | hills/mountains are already exaggarated by a factor of 1.5 to
           | make them stand out more. So reality is even more flat.
           | 
           | The tracks are definitely more impressive on mountaineous
           | terrains (see some of the examples on the homepage), for flat
           | terrain a traditional 2D map is more helpful.
        
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       (page generated 2022-11-06 23:00 UTC)