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What a shame. I guess they got sick of people taking their code and ripping out their API subscriptions. For anyone interested in an open source mapping librar

What a shame. I guess they got sick of people taking their code and ripping out their API subscriptions. For anyone interested in an open source mapping library (that also has 3D support) that can handle raster data (including the Mapbox tiles), I launched a project 2 weeks ago that is the culmination of 7 years effort: https://github.com/felixpalmer/procedural-gl-js/ https://github.com/felixpalmer/procedural-gl-js/. I must say (while acknowledging my huge bias) that I'm disappointed with how the 3D terrain works in the new Mapbox version. It is the top-billed feature, but the controls feel clunky, the terrain often disappears and they didn't even bother implementing distance fog to give the scene scale. When they announced the 3D feature last year I was expecting more.

leetrout 6y ago
Kudos to you. Was a cesium user for a brief period in time. This domain is deceptively difficult.
tuukkah 6y ago
procedural-gl-js is very cool tech! It's unfortunate it doesn't work globally, above 60 degrees north (yet?).
grandchild 6y ago
Very very cool :) Three observations: - Why have a vertical limit when rotating in 3D? I have to click on 2D to look directly top-down. This would be the natural result if I simply tilted the camera all the way downward, but instead it maxes out at some arbitrary angle. (Same the other way, I want to look at the horizon, but I guess there are bandwidth issues involved.) - Scroll zoom is waaay to slow. I have a mouse with an inertial wheel, so I can just let 'er rip, but this must be frustrating with a regular mouse wheel. - +/- keys don't zoom, like I'd expect them to.
- pheelicks 6y ago
  The camera limits are just defaults, and can be overridden. Manipulating a camera in 3D can be counterintuitive, so the defaults try to keep things manageable at the expense of flexibility. As you say, the further you can see the higher the bandwidth bill. If you really want to see the horizon, make the window narrow :) For the other issues, could you please file a issue on the repo? This is not expected and works great on all machines I've tested.
  - grandchild 6y ago
    Sure: https://github.com/felixpalmer/procedural-gl-js/issues/6 https://github.com/felixpalmer/procedural-gl-js/issues/6 https://github.com/felixpalmer/procedural-gl-js/issues/7 https://github.com/felixpalmer/procedural-gl-js/issues/7
  - jsmith45 6y ago
    I've also noticed a minor issue, I don't have time at the moment to file a report on github. I noticed on the demo that if I zoom all the way out, and then use my mouse wheel to zoom in quickly enough I can clip into the earth and see the black below. This does seem to depend on scroll speed being high enough.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
FpUser 6y ago
Kudos for great project. I did see some funny looking monument looking artifacts while browsing your NZ parks examples.
karussell 6y ago
What other alternatives exist? I know now: * openlayers, but vector tiles have no web GL support there * Procedural GL JS * tangram * deck.gl (from Uber) * harp.gl (from HERE Maps)
- Waterluvian 6y ago
  Openlayers has some prototype webgl support that's a bit promising. I enjoyed working with it (but hate working with buggy webgl in general). Leaflet is also great. If you're doing any sort of front end GIS I recommend openlayers above all else including mapbox. But I suspect 99% of users just need basic maps. Leaflet is great for that.
  - karussell 6y ago
    Openlayers has web GL support but not for vector tiles and I would like to have fast vector tiles :) They removed this support in some previous version, I think. Or do you have a link to a pull request or issue? (IMO Leaflet is dead now that the creator is working since several years for Mapbox)
    - bdon 6y ago
      I suspect Leaflet's current install base is many times that of any alternative - it's certainly not dead, and I'd argue its simplicity makes it ideal for most basic mapping applications.
    - mourner 6y ago
      7+ years to be exact. It's unfair to call Leaflet dead — it's still quite actively maintained, gets regular releases and has a huge community of both users and contributors, and Mapbox have always been supportive of me spending time on it during work hours. What someone can see as less development activity is simply a sign of a mature product that doesn't need many new features and changes to remain useful — focusing on the core basic mapping needs has always been its goal, and it continues to adhere to it.
resoluteteeth 6y ago
> For anyone interested in an open source mapping library (that also has 3D support) that can handle raster data (including the Mapbox tiles), I launched a project 2 weeks ago that is the culmination of 7 years effort: https://github.com/felixpalmer/procedural-gl-js/ https://github.com/felixpalmer/procedural-gl-js/. This is really impressive. Just one question about the distance fog, though: as you say it does give the scene scale when you're close to ground, but if you zoom out everything becomes foggy so it seems like it kind of gets hard to see anything. Wouldn't it make sense to somehow reduce the fog as you zoom out so this doesn't happen?
- pheelicks 6y ago
  You're not the first person to point this out and the answer is: yes it does need tweaking. I'll add it to the list!
pedalpete 6y ago
Looks like you're making good progress on windows, less spikes in terrain than I saw last time (I think it was the same project). We also created a 3D renderer for sports tracking app Ayvri. Our standard player is Cesium, but if you click on the view beta link, you'll see our custom renderer. Still improvements to be made in tile loading. https://ayvri.com/scene/v5plro09jr/cki6prg1a00013b6baegp6ub6 https://ayvri.com/scene/v5plro09jr/cki6prg1a00013b6baegp6ub6
- pheelicks 6y ago
  Isn't your custom player also Cesium? I see a Cesium logo in the top right on both players

leetrout 6y ago

Kudos to you. Was a cesium user for a brief period in time. This domain is deceptively difficult.

tuukkah 6y ago

procedural-gl-js is very cool tech! It's unfortunate it doesn't work globally, above 60 degrees north (yet?).

grandchild 6y ago

Very very cool :) Three observations: - Why have a vertical limit when rotating in 3D? I have to click on 2D to look directly top-down. This would be the natural result if I simply tilted the camera all the way downward, but instead it maxes out at some arbitrary angle. (Same the other way, I want to look at the horizon, but I guess there are bandwidth issues involved.) - Scroll zoom is waaay to slow. I have a mouse with an inertial wheel, so I can just let 'er rip, but this must be frustrating with a regular mouse wheel. - +/- keys don't zoom, like I'd expect them to.

pheelicks 6y ago
The camera limits are just defaults, and can be overridden. Manipulating a camera in 3D can be counterintuitive, so the defaults try to keep things manageable at the expense of flexibility. As you say, the further you can see the higher the bandwidth bill. If you really want to see the horizon, make the window narrow :) For the other issues, could you please file a issue on the repo? This is not expected and works great on all machines I've tested.
- grandchild 6y ago
  Sure: https://github.com/felixpalmer/procedural-gl-js/issues/6 https://github.com/felixpalmer/procedural-gl-js/issues/6 https://github.com/felixpalmer/procedural-gl-js/issues/7 https://github.com/felixpalmer/procedural-gl-js/issues/7
- jsmith45 6y ago
  I've also noticed a minor issue, I don't have time at the moment to file a report on github. I noticed on the demo that if I zoom all the way out, and then use my mouse wheel to zoom in quickly enough I can clip into the earth and see the black below. This does seem to depend on scroll speed being high enough.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

FpUser 6y ago

Kudos for great project. I did see some funny looking monument looking artifacts while browsing your NZ parks examples.

karussell 6y ago

What other alternatives exist? I know now: * openlayers, but vector tiles have no web GL support there * Procedural GL JS * tangram * deck.gl (from Uber) * harp.gl (from HERE Maps)

Waterluvian 6y ago
Openlayers has some prototype webgl support that's a bit promising. I enjoyed working with it (but hate working with buggy webgl in general). Leaflet is also great. If you're doing any sort of front end GIS I recommend openlayers above all else including mapbox. But I suspect 99% of users just need basic maps. Leaflet is great for that.
- karussell 6y ago
  Openlayers has web GL support but not for vector tiles and I would like to have fast vector tiles :) They removed this support in some previous version, I think. Or do you have a link to a pull request or issue? (IMO Leaflet is dead now that the creator is working since several years for Mapbox)
  - bdon 6y ago
    I suspect Leaflet's current install base is many times that of any alternative - it's certainly not dead, and I'd argue its simplicity makes it ideal for most basic mapping applications.
  - mourner 6y ago
    7+ years to be exact. It's unfair to call Leaflet dead — it's still quite actively maintained, gets regular releases and has a huge community of both users and contributors, and Mapbox have always been supportive of me spending time on it during work hours. What someone can see as less development activity is simply a sign of a mature product that doesn't need many new features and changes to remain useful — focusing on the core basic mapping needs has always been its goal, and it continues to adhere to it.

resoluteteeth 6y ago

> For anyone interested in an open source mapping library (that also has 3D support) that can handle raster data (including the Mapbox tiles), I launched a project 2 weeks ago that is the culmination of 7 years effort: https://github.com/felixpalmer/procedural-gl-js/ https://github.com/felixpalmer/procedural-gl-js/. This is really impressive. Just one question about the distance fog, though: as you say it does give the scene scale when you're close to ground, but if you zoom out everything becomes foggy so it seems like it kind of gets hard to see anything. Wouldn't it make sense to somehow reduce the fog as you zoom out so this doesn't happen?

pheelicks 6y ago
You're not the first person to point this out and the answer is: yes it does need tweaking. I'll add it to the list!

pedalpete 6y ago

Looks like you're making good progress on windows, less spikes in terrain than I saw last time (I think it was the same project). We also created a 3D renderer for sports tracking app Ayvri. Our standard player is Cesium, but if you click on the view beta link, you'll see our custom renderer. Still improvements to be made in tile loading. https://ayvri.com/scene/v5plro09jr/cki6prg1a00013b6baegp6ub6 https://ayvri.com/scene/v5plro09jr/cki6prg1a00013b6baegp6ub6

pheelicks 6y ago
Isn't your custom player also Cesium? I see a Cesium logo in the top right on both players