Digital Earth Models
summary
Uses open LiDAR from OpenTopography and LidarNZ/Land Information NZ, processes point clouds with PDAL and CloudCompare, grids to 25–50 cm DEMs, then composes multiple hillshades and blends aerial imagery in QGIS to produce diorama‑style maps. For photoreal lighting and tactile models the workflow exports to Blender or Aerialod; point clouds can be colorized and exported for 3D printing. Results regularly show surprising microdetail (individual boulders on volcanoes) but require shadow fixes and careful temporal matching of imagery to avoid artifacts.
AI-written summary · about
chapters (12)
- 0:00Introduction to talk
- 1:25Style and goals of visuals
- 2:48Data sources and tools
- 5:13Point cloud workflow
- 7:20Creating digital dioramas in QGIS
- 10:48Handling shadows and artifacts
- 12:553D modeling with Blender
- 15:213D visualization techniques
- 16:04Key learnings for 3D mapping
- 19:13Alternative to Blender: Aerial OD
- 20:223D printing models
- 21:04Resources and closing
related talks
30mCreating 3D Maps using Python
59mMake a great-looking 3D landscape visualization!
50mBehind the scenes of Mapbox Satellite imagery
16mBuilding Heights: From Open USGS lidar to open Overture maps
25mCreating an Atlas of Aotearoa with open source software
22mIsland Mapping: Measuring Urban Footprints with Mapillary & Open Source Tools
25mDrawing carbon boundaries: How Mapbox powers land eligibility analysis - Earthshot’s LandOS platform
29mCreating 3D web maps with Cesium