Virtual Terrain Media Notes

Books

	Digital Representations of the Real World: How to Capture, Model, and Render Visual Reality (2015) A very general textbook giving an overview of a large number of fields relating to 3D capture (mostly from imagery) and modeling (largely of humans).  Given the broad title, I would have liked to have seen more emphasis on terrain.
	3D Engine Design for Virtual Globes (2011) A book by two senior developers from Analytical Graphics, Inc. on how to build a "very nice, modern, usable OpenGL rendering engine" that deals with the issues, like coordinate systems and precision, involved in rendering the whole earth.
	Digital Earth – Virtual Nations – Data Cities (e-book, 2012) From Australian think-tank D_City, a glossy, colorful overview of a few 'digital earth' efforts worldwide.  It's heavy on abstract theory and buzzwords, and full of spotty history, fuzzy thinking, impractical concepts, greenwashing and inaccuracies, but nonetheless covers a lot of interesting ground in 180 pages.
	Visualization in Landscape and Environmental Planning, Ian D. Bishop and Eckart Lange eds., 2005
	Trends in Real-Time Landscape Visualization and Participation, Proceedings at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences 2005
	Real-Time Rendering, by Tomas Akenine-Möller, Eric Haines, and Naty Hoffman 3rd edition, 2008, 1045 pages! Much of the book is relevant to terrain rendering, especially chapter 12, 'Polygonal Techniques' See also the book's website, Real-Time Rendering Resources
	Geo-Information Science and Digital Earth (地球信息科学与数字地球), Chen Shupeng, 2004 Reportedly, the book contains "an almost complete history and overview of developments in earth observation and geo-information science in China. However, this book on digital earth is much more global in its perspective and not limited to Chinese applications."
	Real-Time 3D Terrain Engines Using C++ and DirectX 9 (2003) Mixed reviews, and by now potentially quite dated, but it reportedly does "discuss texturing, quadtrees, a few CLOD algorithms, sky and water rendering, Perlin noise, and a few other things as they relate to terrain".
	Focus on 3D Terrain Programming, Trent Polack, 2003
	Landscape Modeling: Digital Techniques for Landscape Visualization, Stephen Ervin and Hope Hasbrouck, 2001
	Constructing the Future: nD Modelling, Edited by: Ghassan Aouad, Angela Lee and Song Wu, 2006 Although it focuses only on the 'built environment' and only partly about visualization, chapter 22. 'Modelling Cities' has a good history of that subject, esp. for European cities.
	Level of Detail for 3D Graphics, D. Luebke, M. Reddy, J. Cohen, A. Varshney, B. Watson, and R. Huebner, 2002.  Although it's a general book on LOD, chapter 7 is about terrain.  The site includes course material with excellent presentations.

Non-English language:

Modelli virtuali per la progettazione ambientale e territoriale, Empler, Bianconi, Bagagli 2006

Press Coverage

2011

• Legislating the Use of Visual Simulation in the Planning, Review, and Permitting Process
  • by Michael Kwartler of ESC; covers increasing use of virtual terrain in Planning

2007

• April 2007 GIS Development magazine (India)
  • 3D CITY MODELS: Data Generation and Applications, 3D Mapping of Walled City, Open Source 3D WebGIS, 3D City Models for Urban GIS, and related articles.

2006

• Virtual globes: The web-wide world, Declan Butler, Nature magazine, February 2006
  • Gives a good overview of the greatly increased public interest and exposure caused by Google Earth, some use by actual scientists, comparison to World Wind, and speculation about ESRI's response.
• Digital Reality: Comparing Geographic Exploration Systems, Matt Ball, GeoWorld magazine, January 2006
  • Brief comparison with some interesting details on Google Earth, Skyline, GeoFusion, ViewTec, World Wind, OGC, GeoTango, and ESRI.

2005

• Open-source Visualization: Virtual Terrain Project, Ben Discoe, GEOconnexion International magazine, May 2005
  • an attempt to summarize the VTP (this website and associated software) and the larger context of open tools and open data in a print publication

Physical Output

• GeoSolutions Consulting
  • provides a service called Solid Terrain Modeling (STM) which will take a textured heightmap and produce a solid, physical model of it
  • they carve the models from high density polyurethane foam, up to several meters in length and width, and can print extremely detailed images using terrain-hugging inkjet print heads
• 3D Nature Scene Express
  • Capable of exporting STL and VRML to fabrication industry machinery such as that of LGM.
  • "LGM has two technologies.  One is a large gantry mill that carves out of blocks of polystyrene, up to 4ft by 8ft sheets and make as many sheets as necessary.  That machine does not do color, it's used for large models that will be landscaped by hand.  Their other process uses the Z-Corp rapid prototyping machines. These are an additive process that builds the model layer by layer by spraying a colored binder agent on top of a thin layer of a powder deposited evenly on the previous layer. The powder is a sort of plaster/cornstarch, and the binder is a glue agent emitted from 4-color inkjet heads that lay down the adhesive and color in one pass.  The Z-Corp machines can make models up to about 18" square."
• RhinoTerrain, a plugin for the Rhino modeling software
  • allows user to "extract any part of a terrain and send it to a 3D Zcorp Printer as easy as printing a document."