More than rendering – printed tourist maps and an interactive 3D information system from highly detailed 3D landscape models

The management of the open-air museum Ballenberg with about 100 original century-old buildings from all over Switzerland plans an attractive new overview map and a 3D information system of the museum area and exhibits. …

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Abstract

The management of the open-air museum Ballenberg with about 100 original century-old buildings from all over Switzerland plans an attractive new overview map and a 3D information system of the museum area and exhibits. In this paper we investigate how highly detailed 3D terrain and building models can be utilised as base data for a printed 2D overview map of the Ballenberg area. Several aspects are found to influence the creation of effective 2D tourist maps of the area. The project uses Cinema 4D to vary and analyse visualisation parameters like viewing angle, textures, alignment, etc. of the view, the terrain, the buildings and the woods. Discussing the advantages and disadvantages of the different parameters two different types of maps of the museums area are proposed. The first is similar to the current overview map of Ballenberg and the second uses a map-like overview window and several zoomed views to show details.

Figures

Ballenberg overview map with windows showing details

Previous overview maps (left, middle) and current overview map (right) of Ballenberg (www.ballenberg.ch)

Different levels of detail for the buildings, a) block model with coloured roof, b) detailed & textured model, c) detailed & textured model with coloured ground, d) detailed & textured model with coloured roof, e) building sketch from current Ballenberg overview map, f) non-photorealistic rendering (‘Sketch and Toon’)

Different viewing angles: 30°, 45°, 60° (left to right)

Comparison of different building sizes: original (left), 1.5x (middle) and 2x (right)

Tilted building (left); different tilting angles for the buildings (original – no tilting, 30° and 40°)

Woods represented by single trees: abstract (left), detailed (right)

Woods: trees from digital surface model (left), block model (middle), transparent block model (right)

Ballenberg overview map showing all content in one window

BibTeX

@inproceedings{bleisch_moreThanRenderingBallenberg_2007,
 abstract = {The management of the open-air museum Ballenberg with about 100 original century-old buildings from all over Switzerland plans an attractive new overview map and a 3D information system of the museum area and exhibits. In this paper we investigate how highly detailed 3D terrain and building models can be utilised as base data for a printed 2D overview map of the Ballenberg area. Several aspects are found to influence the creation of effective 2D tourist maps of the area. The project uses Cinema 4D to vary and analyse visualisation parameters like viewing angle, textures, alignment, etc. of the view, the terrain, the buildings and the woods. Discussing the advantages and disadvantages of the different parameters two different types of maps of the museums area are proposed. The first is similar to the current overview map of Ballenberg and the second uses a map-like overview window and several zoomed views to show details.},
 author = {Bleisch, Susanne and Nebiker, Stephan},
 booktitle = {ICC International Cartographic Conference, Moscow},
 title = {More than rendering – printed tourist maps and an interactive {3D} information system from highly detailed {3D} landscape models},
 year = {2007}
}