[WIP] Urbis Redux Map

[Jürgen Hubert]

It's been a very long time since I have been active here, but I decided I want to give cartography another go. In the past, I've worked on a setting called "Urbis" (there is a thread in this very forum about it), and now I want to rebuild it from the ground up - using the added experience I've developed as a writer those past 10+ years to good effect.

"Rebuilding from the ground up" also means a completely revamped geography. In contrast to my earlier efforts, I have decided that I want to start with a procedurally generated world map. I used "Songs of the Eons" to good effect, and came up with one I rather like (see attachment).

Then, because [s]I am a glutton for punishment[/i] I like the of adding individual locations to a true 3D globe which then can be used as a base for custom 2D maps, I decided to use QGIS for the next step (also, my place of work uses GIS technology, so becoming familiar with this kind of tech doesn't hurt).

...and that decision is where I currently stand now. I am wholly new to QGIS, and while I am pretty sure that there is some way of importing an equirectangular map into QGIS and mapping it on a 3D globe, I haven't figured out how - and googling has been less than helpful (presumably because I can't phrase the right questions).

If necessary, I will wade through the handbooks and documentation myself (I have to do that eventually anyway) - but if anyone has already done this and can give me any pointers, it would be much appreciated.

[Naima]

It's been a very long time since I have been active here, but I decided I want to give cartography another go. In the past, I've worked on a setting called "Urbis" (there is a thread in this very forum about it), and now I want to rebuild it from the ground up - using the added experience I've developed as a writer those past 10+ years to good effect.

"Rebuilding from the ground up" also means a completely revamped geography. In contrast to my earlier efforts, I have decided that I want to start with a procedurally generated world map. I used "Songs of the Eons" to good effect, and came up with one I rather like (see attachment).

Then, because [s]I am a glutton for punishment[/i] I like the of adding individual locations to a true 3D globe which then can be used as a base for custom 2D maps, I decided to use QGIS for the next step (also, my place of work uses GIS technology, so becoming familiar with this kind of tech doesn't hurt).

...and that decision is where I currently stand now. I am wholly new to QGIS, and while I am pretty sure that there is some way of importing an equirectangular map into QGIS and mapping it on a 3D globe, I haven't figured out how - and googling has been less than helpful (presumably because I can't phrase the right questions).

If necessary, I will wade through the handbooks and documentation myself (I have to do that eventually anyway) - but if anyone has already done this and can give me any pointers, it would be much appreciated.

You can use this :
https://www.giss.nasa.gov/tools/gprojector/
It helps making the projections
Nice map also , thouh it seems to retain a bit of fractalism and randomness that kind of makes it less realistic, but its a good starting point in my opinion.

[Jürgen Hubert]

You can use this :
https://www.giss.nasa.gov/tools/gprojector/
It helps making the projections
Nice map also , thouh it seems to retain a bit of fractalism and randomness that kind of makes it less realistic, but its a good starting point in my opinion.

I've used the G.Projektor in the past, but it will only transform global maps into different projections. I want a globe in QGIS, using that equirectangular map as a base, and then I want to use QGIS to work on it further - adding locations, national boundaries, roads, railroads and so forth.

[Naima]

I've used the G.Projektor in the past, but it will only transform global maps into different projections. I want a globe in QGIS, using that equirectangular map as a base, and then I want to use QGIS to work on it further - adding locations, national boundaries, roads, railroads and so forth.

You then probably have to convert your raster image into a shapefile then apply a projection conversion in QGIS.
But I don't use it so you might have to look for specific tutorials on how to do that online.

[morne]

What you can do is "georeference" your raster equirectangular map. I've always found the easiest way to do this is using the command-line tool GDAL, if you're comfortable with that. Depending on what installer you used to download QGIS, it's likely you've got an installation of GDAL. There is a program that you can use that comes with some of the QGIS installers called "OSGeo4W Shell", which will open a command-line shell that has all of the GDAL commands already on the PATH for you.

I wrote this blog post a long time ago to help me remember what gdal commands are useful when working with fantasy maps. The one you'd likely use for your equirectangular map is:

gdal_edit.py -a_srs EPSG:4326 -a_ullr -180 90 180 -90 map.tif

Do note, you'll need to convert your map image to a tif file, which should be possible with most image editing software, such as gimp.

Once georeferenced, your raster can be added to a QGIS project and it will show up properly.

[Jürgen Hubert]

gdal_edit.py -a_srs EPSG:4326 -a_ullr -180 90 180 -90 map.tif

Do note, you'll need to convert your map image to a tif file, which should be possible with most image editing software, such as gimp.

Once georeferenced, your raster can be added to a QGIS project and it will show up properly.

Thanks, that was very useful!

Unfortunately, while I was able to open up GDAL, I got the following error message:

gdal_edit.py -a_srs EPSG:4326 -a_ullr -180 90 180 -90 Urbis_Globe.tif
ERROR 1: _TIFFVSetField:Urbis_Globe.tif: Sorry, cannot nest SubIFDs

Do you have any idea what the cause of this could be?


EDIT: Apparently, the base size of the .tif file was too small - when I enlarged it, it worked without a problem.

But this brings me to another issue: The base map provided by the generator is only 1600x800 pixels, and the generator cannot create a bigger one. So... I need to come up with a higher-res version that, preferably, adds some more detail.

Any recommendations for what software I could use for this? Perhaps some new "AI sharpener" tools (which preferably are available for free and without registering)? Or perhaps some older fraktal terrain tools?

[johnvanvliet]

there is a plugin for gimp called "resynthesizer" but it is a ROYAL pain to use in the current gimp 2.10

http://www.logarithmic.net/pfh/resynthesizer

you might need to use a old version of gimp to get it to work

i run Linux and can build from source and can get it to work but on MS Windows ????? i do not know

[Jürgen Hubert]

I've decided to stick with the base image for the time being, especially since there is a limit to how large the images can be which G.Projector can import.

I've managed to add my first two locations to the map, and then came up with a Equidistant Conic map projection (generated by G. Projector) of the region which I quite like.

Centered on Lon: 140 °E, Lat -60 °N
Std. Par 1: -48 °N, Std. Par. 2: -72 °N, Height: 40 °
Autoset Parallels

The only thing I don't like is the resolution of the image - the labels are barely readable. This isn't too much of a problem - my main goal is to use QGIS for putting down points on the map, ensuring that they have the correct geographical relationships to each other, and then get map projections that I can "draw over" with other mapping tools. Still, I'll have to see if I can increase the resolution for exports of such "regional maps" further...

EDIT: Yup, exporting a smaller geographical area with QGIS works fine, since G.Projector can import "partial" maps.

[Naima]

I've decided to stick with the base image for the time being, especially since there is a limit to how large the images can be which G.Projector can import.

I've managed to add my first two locations to the map, and then came up with a Equidistant Conic map projection (generated by G. Projector) of the region which I quite like.

Centered on Lon: 140 °E, Lat -60 °N
Std. Par 1: -48 °N, Std. Par. 2: -72 °N, Height: 40 °
Autoset Parallels

The only thing I don't like is the resolution of the image - the labels are barely readable. This isn't too much of a problem - my main goal is to use QGIS for putting down points on the map, ensuring that they have the correct geographical relationships to each other, and then get map projections that I can "draw over" with other mapping tools. Still, I'll have to see if I can increase the resolution for exports of such "regional maps" further...

EDIT: Yup, exporting a smaller geographical area with QGIS works fine, since G.Projector can import "partial" maps.

How big is your map ? Gprojectior can manage up to 15000 pixel sized images .

[Jürgen Hubert]

How big is your map ? Gprojectior can manage up to 15000 pixel sized images .

Depends on the export resolution. But G.Projector complains if the image is larger than 28,125,000 pixels.