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Montpelier Quilt #3
|| 2/1/2011 || 12:58 pm || + Render A Comment || ||

: rendered at 18,000 X 12,000 :
Montpelier Quilt #3 by Nikolas Schiller

By sampling the previous map in this series, I was able to construct this Dodecagon Quilt Projection map. I have prepared imagery for a forth iteration, but I’m in no hurry to render it.

One interesting observation that I can extract from this series is that the imagery that is currently being used as the source material is of better quality than what is currently viewable on Google Maps and Google Earth. I’ve found the capitol dome to be a bit washed out on their imagery.

View the Google Map of Montpelier, Vermont.


: detail :
Detail of Montpelier Quilt #3 by Nikolas Schiller

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Montpelier Quilt #2
|| 1/30/2011 || 12:50 pm || + Render A Comment || ||

: rendered at 18,000 X 12,000 :
Montpelier Quilt #2 by Nikolas Schiller

As the title indicates, this map is the second iteration of the series and is composed entirely of a recursively sampled portion of Montpelier Quilt. I chose to sample the area around the Vermont State Capitol building as means to highlight the most important building in the map. The result is an Octagon Quilt Projection map that features more green tones around the center of the map due to the lawn surrounding the building. To me, the central portion almost looks like a gear or sprocket.

View the Google Map of Montpelier, Vermont.


: detail :
Detail of Montpelier Quilt #2 by Nikolas Schiller

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Montpelier Quilt
|| 1/24/2011 || 8:25 pm || + Render A Comment || ||

: rendered at 18,000 X 12,000 :
Montpelier Quilt by Nikolas Schiller

About four years ago I sent a request to the State of Vermont asking for color imagery of downtown Montpelier. At that time, Vermont was one of the last states that I had not made a map of and I was eager to complete the State Capitol project. To my surprise, they sent me a DVD of the imagery around Montpelier, but sadly the DVD-Rom was a bad burn, and I was never able to extract the imagery and this map, and the entire project, was put on hold.

According to the meta-data supplied with the imagery, it appears that this aerial photography was taken by Aero-Metric, Inc. on April 24th, 2009 and released to the public in October of 2009. This means I’m over a year late in making this map!

View the Google Map of Montpelier, Vermont.


: detail :
Detail of Montpelier Quilt by Nikolas Schiller

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[Upcoming Exhibition] Geospatial Art at The Old Print Gallery
|| 9/1/2010 || 3:10 pm || 2 Comments Rendered || ||

I hope you can make it!


Adding a radical new dimension to traditional cartography, Nikolas Schiller: Geospatial Art disrupts the singular geopolitical viewpoint and in its place reveals infinite paths and perspectives of specific places at specific times in history. Experimenting with new methods of projecting geospatial information in a three-dimensional environment, Nikolas Schiller creates these unique maps out of public domain orthophotography. He has re-projected much of urban America, from downtown central business districts to state capitals to highway intersections to national monuments, and now, Georgetown.

The Old Print Gallery, a destination for map enthusiasts since 1971, invites you to view Nikolas Schiller’s postmodern cartography amidst the gallery’s collection of maps dating from the seventeenth century to the present. Nikolas Schiller: Geospatial Art is on view September 17 through November 13, 2010. All are welcome to attend the both the opening reception on September 17 from 5 to 8 pm and Nikolas Schiller’s artist talk on October 15 from 6 to 8 pm.


The Old Print Gallery is located at 1220 31st Street NW in Georgetown.
Visit: www.oldprintgallery.com
E-mail Questions: info@oldprintgallery.com or call #202-965-1818.
Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 am to 5:20 pm.


The map used in the graphic above is Georgetown Lenz #2.



The 2008 Washington, DC Orthophotography
|| 10/21/2009 || 4:30 pm || 1 Comment Rendered || ||

Screen grab from https://www.nikolasschiller.com/blog/wp-admin/post-new.phpGraphic Converter showing the entire dataset of the 2008 Washington, DC Orthophotography

A couple weeks ago when I was writing the entry about crime in my neighborhood, I discovered that the DC Government’s Citizen Atlas was using aerial orthophotography taken in 2008. I subsequently checked the USGS website to see if they had obtained the dataset, but they were still using the imagery taken in 2005. I decided to e-mail one of my contacts in the Office of the Chief Technology Officer. I asked if the dataset was available to the public or if it was going to be ported over to the USGS’s distribution system, and to my chagrin, the offer was extended to mail me a copy of the entire dataset. About a week later I received the CD in the mail and today I started to explore all the brand new imagery that I now have at my disposal! I now have the ability to use aerial orthophotography of Washington, DC taken in 2002, 2005, and 2008.

I first must note that the roughly 67 gigs worth of aerial orthophotography of Washington, DC was all compressed using the Mr. SID file format and was able fit on one CD-Rom. While that level of digital compression is pretty insane (80 to 1), I still have my reservations about it. Almost two years ago I wrote about how Mr. SID has been the bane of my cartographic explorations, and well, not much has changed since then. There is still only one software program for Macintosh that I am aware of that allows users to uncompress the imagery locked away in the proprietary file format, GraphicConverter X for PowerPC-Macs.

Worse, I am having difficulty extracting the imagery that I want to use! The screen grab above shows the selection screen that pops up after I open the Mr. SID file containing the 2008 Washington, DC orthophotography. At first I was really excited that I could quickly and easily draw a box around the portion of the city I wanted to extract. However, after testing it out, I found that there is some latent bug in either the program or the file.

After I draw a box around the area I wish to extract, Graphic Converter spends a few moments decompressing the portion of the file, then it opens up the imagery. There is just one catch: the box I draw does not correspond to the imagery that opens up! For example, if I draw a box around the White House, a few moments later I am looking at imagery from Woodley Park neighborhood. After experimenting for about an hour, I discovered that the imagery is being extracted from somewhere northwest of where I am selecting. This is frustrating to say the least! Instead of quickly and easily obtaining the exact imagery that I want, I now have to do a series of trial & error selections in order to obtain exactly what I am looking for.

Moreover, due the level of compression used in Mr. SID, the uncompressed imagery contains small artifacts that diminish the overall quality of the original aerial orthophotography. To visualize this, imagine for a second that you decided to save a photograph using JPEG compression, but instead of selecting a high number (less compression) you select a very low number (high compression). When you look at the file that you saved, you can see little bits of digital static in the image. These artifacts are the result of high levels of digital compression in the Mr. SID file (80 to 1) and while its not excessive, it is present. I prefer uncompressed TIFFs because they generally look better.

The only way I’ve figure out how to reduce this annoyance is to actually reduce the size of the source aerial photography and in doing so, I’m reducing the overall spatial resolution of the original aerial photography. Released at approximately 15 centimeters per pixel, the imagery is so sharp that you can see people walking on the ground and be able to identify types of cars, but any reduction in size results in less precision and detail.

Nonetheless, I am very excited to start making more maps of Washignton, DC using the 2008 imagery! I look forward to exploring the nuances in development that have taken place over the years. I am also very appreciative of the DC GIS Program for providing me the new imagery free of charge. Thank You!



Philly Mandala #2
|| 2/27/2007 || 4:46 pm || Comments Off on Philly Mandala #2 || ||

: saved at 9,000 X 9,000 :
Philly Mandala No.2 by Nikolas Schiller

When processing Philly Quilt #2 for my on-line store I made this derivative map. By taking the original map and keeping only the exact circular center of the map, I was able to easily construct this mandala.


View the Google Map of downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania


: detail :

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Philly Quilt #2
|| 1/12/2006 || 7:21 am || Comments Off on Philly Quilt #2 || ||

: rendered at 18,000 X 12,000 :
Philly Quilt No. 2 by Nikolas Schiller

So I have yet to do so, but this weekend I plan on going through all my diamond quilt projection maps and re-categorizing them by rotation (0 & 45 degrees). I have yet to make any quilts that are wholly asymmetric. I have thought about making one or two, but for some reason I just don’t like the way they look. I guess it’s a sense of balance I am after and when I have one seam going horizontally across the page and add another seam that is 25 degrees rotated, it just looks awkward. I’d rather have clouds, than an asymmetric map.

As for this map, the seam makes an interesting reflection on the Pennsylvania Convention Center. What I also discovered last night, and is something I look forward to doing some more research on, is how there is a secondary texture that is being created in these maps.

When an aerial photograph or satellite image is taken there is usually some degree of distortion embedded into the orthorectified (defined as correcting distortions in an aerial image to produce a more accurate depiction of surface features) photograph. This distortion is usually caused by the angle at which the photograph was taken (directly above- nadir or at an angle- oblique). Thus if you take a photograph overhead at nadir (0 distortion at the center), then the buildings at the center will only show their tops, and the buildings at the edge will show their sides due to the angle of viewing. The interesting thing I discovered was the way the angles change with the seams. If you look closely at the details below, this angle creates an embedded texture of rotating the angle in which the buildings show. Essentially, its oblique alterations in the fabric of the quilt, and I think they make the tessellations even more intricate.

: detail :

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Nikolas Schiller is a second-class American citizen living in America's last colony, Washington, DC. This blog is my on-line repository of what I have created or found on-line since May of 2004. If you have any questions or comments, please contact:

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::THE QUILT PROJECTION::

Square
Square

Diamond
diamond

Hexagon
hexagon

Octagon
octagon

Dodecagon
Dodecagon

Beyond
beyond

::OTHER PROJECTIONS::

The Lenz Project
Lenz

Mandala Project
Mandala

The Star Series


Abstract Series
abstract

Memory Series
Memory

Mother Earth Series
Mother Earth

Misc Renderings
Misc

::POPULAR MAPS::

- The Los Angeles Interchanges Series
- The Lost Series
- Terra Fermi
- Antique Map Mashups
- Google StreetView I.E.D.
- LOLmaps
- The Inaugural Map
- The Shanghai Map
- Ball of Destruction
- The Lenz Project - Maps at the Library of Congress
- Winner of the Everywhere Man Award

::MONTHLY ARCHIVES::



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  • thank you,
    come again!