extreme perspective projection advice needed

General discussion of map projections.
Post Reply
Joe LeMonnier
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2018 10:18 am

extreme perspective projection advice needed

Post by Joe LeMonnier »

I'm looking for a projection (perhaps tilted perspective) that I can show a view facing west with an enlarged Berlin and west Germany and western Europe diminishing into the background . Kind of like the Saul Steinberg New Yorker cover. I've tried Tilted perspective but cannot get the hang of the settings. Please advise.
Milo
Posts: 271
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2021 11:11 am

Re: extreme perspective projection advice needed

Post by Milo »

If you're just using your typical satellite photo map source data, it's not going to have enough resolution to show Berlin as an actual city.
Joe LeMonnier
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2018 10:18 am

Re: extreme perspective projection advice needed

Post by Joe LeMonnier »

I've got plenty of vector data from OSM. Just need to show the sectors in Berlin with a few streets, then the major roads, rivers and borders
daan
Site Admin
Posts: 977
Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2009 11:17 pm

Re: extreme perspective projection advice needed

Post by daan »

Joe LeMonnier wrote: Wed Jan 25, 2023 5:27 am I've tried Tilted perspective but cannot get the hang of the settings. Please advise.
It’s a hard projection to do right, both because it has a lot of parameters and because of a quirk in Geocart’s model of controlling the projection center and boundary independently. I’m not entirely happy with those controls because you need to be able to adjust both the projection center and the projection boundaries simultaneously in some projections. Otherwise, you end up “scooting” the projection toward what you want, which can take a lot of time or even be impossible if you don’t understand what’s going on.

All that said, I don’t think tilted perspective will give you what you want because what you describe is not a realistic view: If you’re close enough to the surface to see details in Berlin such as streets, then you would be too close to the ground to see other countries. The tilted perspective only yields physical views.

The Steinberg view of New York is, perhaps, closer to something like Hägerstrand’s projection. Geocart does not implement that; the closest to it would be the fisheye lens projection, but that’s not going to give you such an extreme drop-off in scale.

Sorry.
— daan
Post Reply