How to apply BING Maps overlay Images to specific subdivided LAT/LON tiles?

NÖRGRU™ · ‎06-26-2020

Hello Everyone ! 😃
I have this very Interesting question in mind.. What if we have a Raster DEM terrain on Autodesk Infraworks, and we need satellite imaging textures to be applied to it, but... what if this terrain we have it's so gigantic that we must subdivide it in several smaller tiles once we export it thanks to the usage of this java code:

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/infraworks-forum/infraworks-java-script-to-export-tiled-areas-of-terr...

We'll export the whole landscape in 16x16 tiles and as we subdivide the 1 latitude x longitude TILE (example: N023-E011 only) into 16 smaller tiles... = 1/16 = 0,0625 ---> example: N 23.0625 * E 11.0625 +etc.. <-- Tiled Coordinates
How can we tell Infraworks to download Bing Maps and apply them to 1/16 tiles only, and not for the whole terrain?

Ok.. I know it's hard to explain, so here's some Screenshots:

The only reason I have those " local / floating " texture terrain Images, it's because I canceled the Process of downloading the Satellite Images of the entire "GREY" Landscape area we can see above.

So it was most of a "mistake" / interruption of download process, instead of an actual feature.

But it's good it happened, so I can show you what I'm looking for and if it's even possible to obtain it?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As you can notice in the Image below, we really have NO OPTION of specific "Latitude/Longitude" based, satellite Imagery Import. You have only the option of selecting the download resolution, and Infraworks automatically assumes it has to download it, for the Whole terrain we see in the Viewport.

But that's not.. always what we want.

If you're wondering.. the reason I'm in need to get this done, it's because first of all.. My computer would simply explode if we even attempt to import thousands of 512x512px Image tiles into Adobe Photoshop and make a full image texture out of it in order to apply it on the FULL landscape above... I need a NASA supercomputer to do that, and the image would have a size of several thousands of pixels. It's not feasible at all !

Full picture size:
512|512|512|512|512|512|512
512|512|512|512|512|512|512
512|512|512|512|512|512|512
512|512|512|512|512|512|512
512|512|512|512|512|512|512
512|512|512|512|512|512|512
512|512|512|512|512|512|512 -> For those who didn't understand, if we combine together multiple Images, the computer needs more and more RAM and processing power in order to compute them, if we have thousands of 512x512 pixel pictures processed simultaneously.. no "common computer" on Earth would be able to handle that.
You need a quantum computer.

But, what we could do is to "join together" in Photoshop a 1/16 tile Satellite downloaded Images, and from that convert such "giant image" in a Displacement Map. We go to Zbrush, Apply such Displacement into the 1/16 tile terrain (.FBX or .OBJ imported file format), and just like that.. we Exponentially increase the Level of detail & realism of such tiled terrain.

Then, also in Photoshop it's possible to convert that UNIFIED Satellite Image, into R,G,B Masks. Each R,G,B color channel.. would tell UNREAL ENGINE 4, where texture materials shall be applied at.

https://docs.unrealengine.com/en-US/Engine/Rendering/Materials/HowTo/Masking/index.html

IT TOOK.. entire years for me to figure out this whole process, for "Game/Simulation" AAA+ quality production... No wonder you might be a bit surprised or "lost" about what I just said.
It's quite complicate indeed, but it's very worthy trying... Because as UNREAL ENGINE 5 is on the Horizon (with UNLIMITED procedural mesh rendering), we'll fully be able to create Extremely Photorealistic Real World terrains, and even the entire Planet Earth itself. Imagine the potential of this... we'll be able to make an Entire World War 2 FULL GLOBAL scale type of game.. that would be insane ! Basically... We're the Gods now. ͠° ) ͜ʖ ( ͠°
https://youtu.be/qC5KtatMcUw | https://youtu.be/SeNM9zBPLCA

It's... It's just.. mindblowing, seriously. So Help me out Guys, Please ! :'0
If it's not possible to get "specific satellite images based on coordinates" in Autodesk Infraworks, then.. I would have to make use of a plugin called: "World Composer" which works in the Unity Engine.
It also downloads BING Satellite images, but in there it's possible to specify the LAT/LON coordinates we want the program to begin the download from.

*AS YOU CAN NOTICE... the grid is RED, and not YELLOW. This means that's not working.. Because the INSERTED COORDINATES N24E11 * N23E12 are UNABLE to "extract" a 2048x2048 sized type of Image. And World Composer wants that.. it doesn't accept "cut in half" type of pictures, only FULL SIZED ones.

*NOW IT WOULD WORK... it would Export the Satellite Images, because it's a PERFEKT 23x25 type of Grid, with a resolution of 2048px per each cell.

However.. I would rather prefer achieving this whole procedure, inside Autodesk Infraworks.
Thanks to all in Advance, and have a Great Day ! 🙂

24 years old Northern-Eastern Italian Inventor & 3d/CAD Designer, Inv. Camelo da Silva Poloni, Manuel.
2142PMutc+2CET - Friday, June 26th 2020.

@manuellcamelo | Instagram

>Extra Closeup Images: / 2208pm now.

Karsten.Saenger · ‎06-29-2020

Hi @NÖRGRU™ ,

I understand the basic question is if it's possible to download Bing Images for certain portions of your model only.

A manual process that should work is to change the Model Extent in the Model Properties. InfraWorks should only load Bing Maps for the current model extent.

With your amount of tiles that process will be a bit cumbersome and time consuming. Maybe there is a way to script it?

Maybe the best approach is to create single models for each of your tile? You can prepare the extent in files. Then load the same extents as shape file coverage and load the Bing Maps. A lot of loading and stitching still....

Other possibility that might worth to check - as Bing Maps are "free" data, check if you can load them directly from Bing Map Dev Center.

Regards,

Karsten.

Karsten Saenger

andrewofabley · ‎06-29-2020

I frequently do exactly what you have described above, using calls via API or to an imageserver / REST endpoint to deliver the images at the LOD or 'zoom level' desired.

Believe it or not you can process 1000's of 512 x 512 size images, one simply parallelizes the process into manageable batches (one batch per logical core), and have a decent SDD to write to when you start running out of RAM.

Goes something like:

1. Describe bounding box

2. Tile into desired grid size

3. Query imageserver for each tile (mosaic if necessary)

Not doable in Infraworks alone, mind you.

AEC Collection / Safe FME / ESRI ArcGIS / Unreal Engine
Digital Engineering Lead, Compulsive Problem Solver.

NÖRGRU™ · ‎06-29-2020

That sounds as the Solution I was looking for, however as it seems quite "tricky", would you please create a Videotutorial about it?
I'm myself working on a Full Indepth video tutorial about how the entire process of "downloading a DEM Raster image" from websites like JAXA, NASA, ESA etc.. then importing it in Autodesk Infraworks, setting it up, then using also DEM overlays above each other, and then exporting it all using the java script I mentioned before.

I believe that if we all contribute with what we Know, our society will become a better place to be part of.
Culture & Knowledge is almost everything. Second only to our own People.

Btw.. I already made that tutorial.. unfortunately the program I used corrupted the screen capture, so only my voice can be heard (the screen was black only).. It was 1 Hour and 10 minutes long very well made tutorial I was in desire to upload on Youtube. Pretty annoying misfortune indeed. :'(

So I need my time to re-make it, but this time ensuring the screen recorder software, actually captures what I'm doing.

Thanks in Advance Dude, and if you're doing it.. either publish the link here in this Forum topic, so everyone can see it. Or email me at: contact@northstat.it
However the first option is preferable.

And YES, I do have and use BING KEYS in the "Bing Maps Dev Center".
Bing Keys are required to make WORLD COMPOSER Plugin work in the Unity Engine.

2346PMutc+2CET - June 29th, 2020.
Inv. C.Manuel.