10 replies to this topic

[MapMedia]

I am been trying to get some info from Navteq and TeleAtlas, but its slow going.
I have a map here (below) and am trying to figure out where the data originated.

I have yet to get a quote from above firms, but anyone have experiences or tips with getting this level of data (streets, POIs, etc.)?

Location: Europe

[Hans van der Maarel]

I am been trying to get some info from Navteq and TeleAtlas, but its slow going.
I have a map here (below) and am trying to figure out where the data originated.

I have yet to get a quote from above firms, but anyone have experiences or tips with getting this level of data (streets, POIs, etc.)?

Location: Europe

The roads could be either Tele Atlas or Navteq. Both offer POI's as well. Please note that neither offers 100% road coverage in all of western Europe, although in some cases this statement applies to geocoding or navigation data that you would not necessarily need for map production.

The building contours probabely came from a different source. Italian Topographic Service perhaps, or the city of Venice?

[CHART]

This maybe a long shot.... but it seems like a paper map product that was rasterized? Look at the quality of the text placement....
So why not look into paper map products...

[Dennis McClendon]

What makes you think this was originally digital data at all? This looks like the kind of stuff we've done for 20 years drawing directly in FreeHand.

[MapMedia]

The building prints etc is what I was interested in - It seems digitized, but I have seen so many of these maps, esp in Europe, that I was thinking they were already available.

[Hans van der Maarel]

The building prints etc is what I was interested in - It seems digitized, but I have seen so many of these maps, esp in Europe, that I was thinking they were already available.

They probabely are, but not Europe-wide in a single dataset. You would have to get in touch with the local NMA or a lower level government body that is doing the mapping at that level. Not all of them would be willing to give or sell you their data though...

[MapMedia]

So, to clarify, these types of maps (street level with building footprints) are typically hand drawn using aerial/sat imagery?
I didn't know - I had assumed that for major urban areas the datasets existed. This will, of course, effect my quote! lol

[Matthew Hampton]

Speaking of street level building outlines, look what Google Maps has done with the 3D content from Google Earth!

[MapMedia]

That will be a great way to house/apartment hunt in the city! That looks like hand-drawn work - impressive!

[natcase]

That will be a great way to house/apartment hunt in the city! That looks like hand-drawn work - impressive!

It is pretty cool, definitely a step up from the "flattened" art they had before in some metros. Not sure about the prisms going down to ground level...makes the city look like the Crystal Palace. Has anyone done a survey to see how many cities are done up this way? GoogleMapMania says 38. I notice that their Minneapolis is way out of date (2 years? 3?); this will be a hard one for Google to keep up-to-date without some sort of partnering deal with local data sources.
Also interesting that this super detail only works at the bottom 2 layers of zoom.

[DaveB]

That looks like hand-drawn work - impressive!

I think it could be some kind of automated extrusion from building footprints with height attributes for the various sections (at some angle so as to keep the map planimetric while making the buildings appear 3-D). Still a lot of work to maintain the quality and it does look cool.