VanMap Pictometry Tools

Several sections of this documentation are excerpted from the Electronic Field Study Help, version 2.4, Copyright Pictometry, Inc., 2002

Note: Please note that at this time, Pictometry imagery is only available to users of ActiveX controls in IE on Windows platform. We are working on expanding the base of platforms which are supported, but there are some issues doing this and thus other platforms are not yet supported. First-time users have to allow their IE browser to download and install the Pictometry Viewer ActiveX Control called 'ImageControl3.0' from 'Pictometry International Corporation'. When opening up Pictometry the first time, you will be prompted by a yellow information bar on top of your web page. Simply right-click on it and choose "Install ActiveX Control…" to complete the required viewer installation. Make sure you have adimistrator rights and proper IE security settings on your PC. As well, because the Pictometry imagery file sizes are quite large, performance may be very slow depending on your network connection speed and general network traffic. We are working on resolving these issues but this will take time. We have chosen to release this functionality, even with the limitations, because of the usefulness it will have for many users.

Introduction

Pictometry imagery is similar to the orthophotos you are used to in VanMap in that they are images taken from an airplane. The major difference is that Pictometry imagery is oblique in nature. This means that is taken from an angle rather than from directly above. As a result there are four directional views (north, south, east, and west) as well as images from above (orthophoto). The City has licensed the Pictometry imagery and is now making it available to the public for viewing via VanMap. The 2007 imagery currently available was acquired on

• May 12, 15, 18, 25
• June 20
• November 5, 6, 14, 22 and 23

As a result, there are some locations where the images will look quite different depending on the direction being viewed. The 2009 imagery was captured between April 27 and April 29, 2009. The date the imagery was taken is shown next to the zoom scale below the image; it appears as Image Date: mm/dd/yyyy.

An application has been built on top of VanMap using tools from Pictometry to view imagery from both 2007 and 2009. There is also functionality to support zooming in, zooming out, panning and “walking man”, a means of viewing neighbouring imagery. There is also a link to Google Maps so that Google Street View can be seen for the specified location.

Pictometry images are different from orthophotos in that they are a set of discrete images which have edges. Thus certain functions below are limited to the particular image being viewed, whereas the Walking Man function allows you to move from an image to adjacent images.

The VanMap Application

The VanMap application drop down list includes a choice for Pictometry. Clicking on this item opens a new window (as does clicking on most choices in the application dropdown).

Getting an Image of Interest

When you first open the Pictometry application, it opens to show the image for the center of the map area to which you have zoomed to in VanMap IF you have zoomed into a scale of 1:6,000 or closer (that is, when the parcels and addresses show). If you have not zoomed into closer than 1:6000 or you have not zoomed in at all, when you open the Pictometry window it will zoom into City Hall (453 W. 12th Avenue).

When the Pictometry window is open, you can use the “Locate a Site” button to digitize a site of interest in the map view; alternatively, you can simply select a map feature (a polygon, line or point) and the image centered around the selected map feature will display.

If the Pictometry imagery application is open and you use the address search in VanMap, the image for that address will appear in the Pictometry window without having to digitize the point. When a new address is searched for using the VanMap Address Search, the Pictometry for the new address appears.

Hint: You may want to zoom in within VanMap first to make it easier to select your location of interest. Once you have selected your location of interest, switch back to the Pictometry window and you will see the Pictometry image plus the interface buttons.

Hint: Depending on the resolution and size of your screen, you may benefit from making the Pictometry window full-screen size by clicking on the Maximize button in the upper right hand corner of the window (if you have not already maximized the screen). Also, it is a good idea to start out with a full zoom (100%)

Interface Functions

Pictometry tool:

Year

Above the image window is a toggle to choose between imagery from 2007 and 2009. Imagery for the selected year is displayed. When you click in the other year, the image for the same location appears although the zoom factor may be different.

Zoom In

To zoom in closer, click on the Zoom In button. The magnification of the image is increased by adding approximately 1/3 to the current zoom factor. As an example, if the Zoom Factor is 100%, clicking on Zoom In zooms to 133%.

Zoom Out

To zoom farther out, click on the Zoom Out button. The magnification of the image is increased by subtracting approximately 1/4 from the current zoom factor. As an example, if the Zoom Factor is 100%, clicking on Zoom Out zooms to 75%.

Pan Tool

The Pan Tool enables you to move around the image being displayed within the window but it does not allow you to move to adjacent images.

• Click on the Pan Tool:
• To reposition an image:

1. Click the image and hold down the mouse button.
2. Move the image up, down, left or right within the window.

Zoom Box

To increase magnification on a selected area, click a point and drag the mouse to outline the area you want to magnify. The selected area is magnified and centered in the window.

Zoom to 100%

By clicking this button, you zoom directly to a 100% zoom image regardless of the zoom factor that was previously used.

Walking Man Tool

With the Walking Man, you can click in the direction of travel for easy navigation through the current and adjacent images. As you approach the edge of an image there is a seamless transition to the adjacent image. It opens the image in the direction of travel, so you can continue drawing your route. When changing from one image to another, the orientation remains the same. Pictometry draws the path traveled and reports on the Status Bar the total distance traveled.

• Click the Walking Man Tool and note that the route begins at the crosshairs.
• Click on the image in the direction you wish to travel. A line is drawn connecting these two points.
• Continue to click points along the path you wish to travel, until the route is complete. The Status Bar shows the current cumulative distance.
• To finish the route, double-click anywhere in the image. The route is complete. The path is erased, and the location crosshair appears where you clicked.

View From North, South, East, West Ortho

You can use the View From function to open other views of the same area you are viewing in the Image window. Alternate views show the location you searched for from different directions.

- Displays an image captured from the north showing the same geographic area as the image currently in the image window.

- Displays an image captured from the south showing the same geographic area as the image currently in the image window. This is the default view.

- Displays an image captured from the east showing the same geographic area as the image currently in the image window.

- Displays an image captured from the west showing the same geographic area as the image currently in the image window.

- Displays an orthogonal (straight down) image that most closely covers the same geographic area as the oblique image currently in the Image window. This is similar to the orthophotos that have been in VanMap for some time.

Google Maps

When you click on the Google Maps button, a new window is opened which displays Google Maps information for the approximate center location you were looking at in the Pictometry window. At this point, you are no longer on a City website. You then have all of the functionality of Google Maps to use including Google Street View. Street View provides imagery take from a car-level camera. Thus it is possible to easily see orthophoto, oblique, and street level imagery for a single location.

Note: Please note that Google has not captured Street View imagery for every street and lane in Vancouver. As a result, the location that Street View displays may not be the exact location that you have chosen in VanMap, or the Street View window may be empty if no data was captured close enough to your desired location. The City has no control over the streets and lanes for which Google has chosen to capture imagery or how they have assembled and presented them.