Town Raster Map & Super Zoom With FM8

[Mark Oliva]

I've worked with similar systems for HMI display screens. The key is to have different symbol representation tied to the zoom level (even if dealing with vector graphics, which neither of these are).

Ideally, you need to set a visibility threshold in the zoom out, and provide ranges for different representations. I believe Viewingdale does (can?) work this way.

-Rob A>

In FM8 this is absolutely correct with fill styles (textures), but it doesn't apply to raster symbols (objects), because they have their own scale definitions.

[Redrobes]

Ok I think I see some of it now. You can say that one object is only viewed at specific zoom ranges and that some of the vector art can be represented with something else at particular zoom levels too. So you can draw several maps of different scales and it will fade them in depending on the zoom and presumably change some markers into the full vector art at certain ranges.

The question I was asking was a little different but ill let it go for a while and maybe see it when there are some more demos. Its basically if at some zoom level you would use a certain bitmap for a city then is it possible to use another different FM8 map as that layer and thus be able to zoom into that map like a city with houses and everything. Ok lets put it this way. If one user of FM8 makes a city, can a different user put that city into a regional map so that you can zoom down to the house level.

For the record, ViewingDale auto generates all of the LODs with antialiasing and manages them for you and regenerates them if they change. It fades out small maps on a controllable global setting but not per object as objects can be reused at different scales. It also has a different optional setting for text only where it fades that out if its too big and therefore unreadable but not for objects, once big enough then it stays in. I could see why you might replace with an alternative but not entirely get rid of something there.

This is all very interesting and I am keen to see more of it and some different demos. Maybe a video of it running would be cool.

[Mark Oliva]

Ok I think I see some of it now. You can say that one object is only viewed at specific zoom ranges and that some of the vector art can be represented with something else at particular zoom levels too. So you can draw several maps of different scales and it will fade them in depending on the zoom and presumably change some markers into the full vector art at certain ranges.

The non-vector objects in an FM8 map (raster fill patterns and raster symbols) are not a physical part of the map. They remain their own individual objects, and are referenced into the map, being allotted a certain sized portion of the map. But the resolution remains that of the object, not that of the map. Each symbol catalog (folder or directory) contains a file with a small bit of XML code that tells FM8 what scale space it should give the object inside of the map. If, for some reason, a specific object in a catalog needs a different scale than other objects in the catalog, then it can have its own XML file and it will ignore the XML file for the rest of the folder. These XML files also perform one other important task. They define whether the objects should be embedded in the map file. If the object is embedded, it retains its own identity and properties within the map file. FM8 references the embedded object from within the map file and positions it in the right place with the right size. If the object is not embedded, then FM8 references the object from its location in a folder on the hard drive. Maps made with unembedded objects are not portable for the same reason that CC3 raster maps are not portable. If the object isn't available on the second machine, it's invisible on the map. CC3 is different in that it cannot embed raster objects. In FM8, the cartographer decides whether he or she wants to embed. We will be describing how all of this works in detail with graphics in our upcoming FM8 raster mapping tutorial (free and open).

Its basically if at some zoom level you would use a certain bitmap for a city then is it possible to use another different FM8 map as that layer and thus be able to zoom into that map like a city with houses and everything. Ok lets put it this way. If one user of FM8 makes a city, can a different user put that city into a regional map so that you can zoom down to the house level.

The answer to the first question is that it's done differently, but it works. The city would not be a single bitmap, as such (although one can make it into one). The answer to the second question is yes, that is how it works. To put it simply, putting a map inside of a map is a basic and necessary ability of FM8. It not only can do it; it has to be able to do it to work at all. Fractal Mapper acquired this property before Version 8, when it supported raster fills or textures but only vector objects or symbols. To exemplify: If you want to make a 3 x 4 foot vector symbol in Fractal Mapper 8 or earlier, you open a new 3 x 4 foot new blank map, draw your content into it and memorize it as a map file (extension FMP). You then move this file into a symbol folder (directory) and that's it. You have a new vector symbol.

This ability is available to raster mappers too. If you want to make a raster symbol preset, you simply make a new map and place your raster content into it, then save it as a map file. After you've done that, you move the file into a symbol catalog and you can drop it into your map wherever you want it. You can do this with any FM8 map. So, if I wanted to stick the Odínsdomov map I showed here into a regional map, I would need only to move the Odínsdomov map file into a symbol folder (directory). From then on, I could drop it into any other map just as easily as I could drop a single house symbol into the map. Most of the buildings in the Odínsdomov map are in fact that, symbol presets. Not too long ago, our project group released a catalog of symbol presets for generic 500-foot long city blocks. About 90% of the buildings you see in my map are these presets, or maps inside of a map. In the zoom I showed of some farms, everything is a part of the preset ... the buildings, outhouses, firewood piles, etc. Again, this whole map-in-a-map technique will be explained in illustrated detail in our tutorial. This will be a 200+ page PDF with accompanying files. However, the opposite side of this otherwise excellent map-in-a-map system is the question of system resources. I have two FM8 licenses. My main machine is an Intel Dual Core Quad system with 8 GB memory. It's running 64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate. FM8 always has done everything I've wanted it to do there. The secondary machine in my office is an Intel Dual Core (no Quad) system with 2 GB memory running 32-bit Windows 7 Ultimate. At times, it gives me messages that I'm out of memory, when I have bigger things on the screen

For the record, ViewingDale auto generates all of the LODs with antialiasing and manages them for you and regenerates them if they change. It fades out small maps on a controllable global setting but not per object as objects can be reused at different scales. It also has a different optional setting for text only where it fades that out if its too big and therefore unreadable but not for objects, once big enough then it stays in. I could see why you might replace with an alternative but not entirely get rid of something there.

I wasn't aware of ViewingDale until yesterday, but it looks interesting. Once my two active projects are done, I'll give it some time.

This is all very interesting and I am keen to see more of it and some different demos. Maybe a video of it running would be cool.

Actually, I think you'd get more out of it if you would download the free trial version of FM8 (http://www.nbos.com) after our tutorial is released, earmark the themes in the tutorial that interest you and then try them out. With two exceptions, the trial version is identical to the retail license version. The trial version has map saving crippled, and it comes with a smaller symbol library.