4 ms·

I think it's worth replying to this to reinforce the point that the new mode has technical disadvantages compared to the old mode. Some of my projects involve a

I think it's worth replying to this to reinforce the point that the new mode has technical disadvantages compared to the old mode. Some of my projects involve a great deal of time spent looking at aerial imagery, sometimes for hours a day, and while Google Maps is not the panacea of aerial images it is one of the best single sources in terms of usability and quality of images. That said, prior to knowing this trick I was stuck with the effectively unmaintained Google Earth instead of the web view primarily because of the web maps insistence on the 3D rendering mode. The attempt to conform buildings and, most annoyingly, trees to the elevation data makes the imagery almost useless at close zoom levels, as all the actual detail disappears into clutter artificially introduced by the edges on the elevation data. It significantly reduces the amount of spatial resolution you can get out of areas where they have very good images. Earth still has tools that web view doesn't have, but often I'm not even that interested in measurements and just want to be able to carefully inspect the image. This doesn't seem to be something Google wants to support any more!

puzzle 8y ago
It's not elevation data, it's reconstructed geometry.
- jcrawfordor 8y ago
  My assumption had been that Google built these models using high-resolution LIDAR data, which is why I called it elevation... on a little more research though it looks like I was wrong and the models are perhaps constructed based on street view images and model data for other similar objects. Honestly, I feel like this makes the situation even more indefensible, because I get that collecting high-quality DEM is very expensive and so trying to use it comes with a lot of compromises. But if they're just substituting in models of "similar trees" like one person on Quora suggests it seems almost embarrassing for them that they're making the user experience more frustrating in order to deliver a 3D street-level experience that's still so bad as to be useless.
  - puzzle 8y ago
    It's more complicated than that. Among other things, it led to the open sourcing of Ceres: http://ceres-solver.org/users.html http://ceres-solver.org/users.html (a few clues on that page) You definitely can't use Street View data alone for objects not at ground level. Actually, sometimes there is no Street View data for a place, at all. E.g. check the planes on the runways at airports like SFO, AUS and JFK. Incidentally, the varying quality at different airports is also a hint of how easy it is to fly over each of them at the ideal altitude(s) and how often one can get the necessary permits to refresh imagery.

puzzle 8y ago

It's not elevation data, it's reconstructed geometry.

jcrawfordor 8y ago
My assumption had been that Google built these models using high-resolution LIDAR data, which is why I called it elevation... on a little more research though it looks like I was wrong and the models are perhaps constructed based on street view images and model data for other similar objects. Honestly, I feel like this makes the situation even more indefensible, because I get that collecting high-quality DEM is very expensive and so trying to use it comes with a lot of compromises. But if they're just substituting in models of "similar trees" like one person on Quora suggests it seems almost embarrassing for them that they're making the user experience more frustrating in order to deliver a 3D street-level experience that's still so bad as to be useless.
- puzzle 8y ago
  It's more complicated than that. Among other things, it led to the open sourcing of Ceres: http://ceres-solver.org/users.html http://ceres-solver.org/users.html (a few clues on that page) You definitely can't use Street View data alone for objects not at ground level. Actually, sometimes there is no Street View data for a place, at all. E.g. check the planes on the runways at airports like SFO, AUS and JFK. Incidentally, the varying quality at different airports is also a hint of how easy it is to fly over each of them at the ideal altitude(s) and how often one can get the necessary permits to refresh imagery.