Mapping of the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) Ididaride! Bike Tour
The Ididaride! is an annual fund-raising event sponsored by the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) each August in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains of New York. In 2012, more than 200 cyclists of all ages participated in the 75-mile loop ride. Xtra-Spatial Production provided ADK with an annotated ride map (at right), with slope in the direction of travel depicted as a ribbon of color (see Slope Legend). In addition, XSP provided a KML file suitable for viewing in Google Earth (below). XSP also provided a YouTube video of the descent from Indian Lake.
Mapping the Bicycle Routes of the Washington County (NY) Cheese Tour
To help support the local agricultural economy of the Upstate New York region, Xtra-Spatial Productions volunteered time and effort to create and map three bike rides to visit up to five local artisanal cheesemaking operations in Washington County (one was just across the Vermont state line). These self-guided bike tours attracted dozens of riders over the past two Cheese Tours.
In addition to MapMyRide routes, complete with cue sheets to help riders navigate the route, Xtra-Spatial Productions also produced sped-up YouTube videos of both the 21-mile loop and the metric century (64-mile) loop to show the route to riders prior to their treks. Click on the Google Earth screen shot (below, right) to download the Google Earth KML file for the three rides.
Demonstrating the Degree of Visual Impact of a Large Commercial Office Complex
A critical component for securing permission to build is visual impact assessment. The burden of proof that a proposed project shall cause undue adverse visual impact must be satisfied by the developer of the project. This litmus test is used by planning boards in determining whether or not to accept such proposals. A visual impact assessment may also provide the public with a clear picture of the nature of such development.
In 2008, Xtra-Spatial Productions, LLC, in cooperation with Schemerhorn Commercial Holdings Company, conducted a series of photosimulations to assess the visual impact of a proposed 80,000+ square-foot office park in Queensbury, NY. The site was just off the busiest thoroughfare in the region, The Adirondack Northway (Interstate 87). In addition to concerns on how the project might alter the views of motorists on the Northway, there were also concerns about how the project would appear from its access road, West Mountain Road.
Many local residents were concerned about the appearance of the project as viewed from its rural access road, West Mountain Road. By clicking on the thumbnails at the right, you can view a slideshow of the proposed project as viewed at various stations along West Mountain Road near the entrance of the project.
For reference, West Mountain Road is the two-lane road seen in the lower left portion of the model view shown to the left. (The red, yellow, and blue balloons floating above the building were used to simulate a typical test for visibility of projects in the field.)
A complete model of the site and its environs was created using CAD drawings, existing GIS information, and sophisticated visualization software (Visual Nature Studio). In addition to the actual building, landscaping features such as clearings, lawns, and ornamental trees and shrubs were added to the model. Hardscaping such as entrance roads, sidewalks and parking lots were also included in the model. Surrounding trees were generated based on the species mix in the area, tree density, and typical tree heights. The figure below shows a simulated view from a given height above the model.