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Author: Xpirix

content/posts/about-label-halos.md

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+---
+source: "blog"
+title: "About label halos"
+date: "2017-04-28T10:46:33+0000"
+link: "https://nyalldawson.net/2017/04/about-label-halos/"
+draft: "false"
+showcase: "planet"
+subscribers: ["nyalldawson_net"]
+author: "nyalldawson.net"
+tags: ["qgis", "3.0", "cartography", "colour", "geospatial", "labelling", "osgeo", "qgis"]
+languages: ["en_gb"]
+available_languages: ["en_gb"]
+---
+
+<p>A lot of cartographers have a love/hate relationship with label halos. On one hand they can be an essential technique for improving label readability, especially against complex background layers. On the other hand they tend to dominate maps and draw unwanted attention to the map labels.</p>
+<p>In this post I’m going to share my preferred techniques for using label halos. I personally find this technique is a good approach which minimises the negative effects of halos, while still providing a good boost to label readability. (I’m also going to share some related QGIS 3.0 news at the end of this post!)</p>
+<p>Let’s start with some simple white labels over an aerial image:</p>
+<p><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-719 size-full" height="411" src="/img/subscribers/nyalldawson_net/about-label-halos/2017-04-27.webp" width="412"/></p>
+<p>These labels aren’t very effective. The complex background makes them hard to read, especially the “Winton Shire” label at the bottom of the image. A quick and nasty way to improve readability is to add a black halo around the labels:</p>
+<p><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-720 size-full" height="426" src="/img/subscribers/nyalldawson_net/about-label-halos/2017-04-27-1.webp" width="454"/></p>
+<p>Sure, it’s easy to read the labels now, but they stand out way too much and it’s difficult to see anything here except the labels!</p>
+<p>We can improve this somewhat through a better choice of halo colour:</p>
+<p><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-721 size-full" height="423" src="/img/subscribers/nyalldawson_net/about-label-halos/2017-04-27-2.webp" width="391"/></p>
+<p>This is much better. We’ve got readable labels which aren’t too domineering. Unfortunately the halo effect is still very prominent, especially where the background image varies a lot. In this case it works well for the labels toward the middle of the map, but not so well for the labels at the top and bottom.</p>
+<p>A good way to improve this is to take advantage of blending (or “composition”) modes (which QGIS has <a href="http://nyalldawson.net/2013/03/coming-soon-in-qgis-2-0-blend-modes-for-layers/">native support</a> for). The white labels will be most readable when there’s a good contrast with the background map, i.e. when the background map is dark. That’s why we choose a halo colour which is darker than the text colour (or vice versa if you’ve got dark coloured labels). Unfortunately, by choosing the mid-toned brown colour to make the halos blend in more, we are actually lightening up parts of this background layer and both reducing the contrast with the label and also making the halo more visible. By using the “darken” blend mode, the brown halo will only be drawn for pixels were the brown is darker then the existing background. It will darken light areas of the image, but avoid lightening pixels which are already dark and providing good contrast. Here’s what this looks like:</p>
+<p><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-722 size-full" height="420" src="/img/subscribers/nyalldawson_net/about-label-halos/2017-04-27-3.webp" width="428"/></p>
+<p>The most noticeable differences are the labels shown above darker areas – the “Winton Shire” label at the bottom and the “Etheridge Shire” at the top. For both these labels the halo is almost imperceptible whilst still subtly doing it’s part to make the label readable. (If you had dark label text with a lighter halo color, you can use the “lighten” blend mode for the same result).</p>
+<p>The only issue with this map is that the halo is still very obvious around “Shire” in “Richmond Shire” and “McKinlay” on the left of the map. This can be reduced by applying a light blur to the halo:</p>
+<p><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-723 size-full" height="409" src="/img/subscribers/nyalldawson_net/about-label-halos/2017-04-27-5.webp" width="406"/></p>
+<p>There’s almost no loss of readability by applying this blur, but it’s made those last prominent halos disappear into the map. At first glance you probably wouldn’t even notice that there’s any halos being used here. But if we compare back against the original map (which used no halos) we can see the huge difference in readability:</p>
+<p><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-719 size-full" height="411" src="/img/subscribers/nyalldawson_net/about-label-halos/2017-04-27.webp" width="412"/></p>
+<p>Compare especially the Winton Shire label at the bottom, and the Richmond Shire label in the middle. These are much clearer on our tweaked map versus the above image.</p>
+<p>Now for the good news… when QGIS 3.0 is released you’ll no longer have to rely on an external illustration/editing application to get this effect with your maps. In fact, QGIS 3.0 is bringing native support for applying many types of <a href="http://nyalldawson.net/2015/04/introducing-qgis-live-layer-effects/">live layer effects</a> to label buffers and background shapes, including blur. This means it will be possible to reproduce this technique directly inside your GIS, no external editing or tweaking required!</p>

content/posts/add-to-felt-qgis-plugin.md

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+---
+source: "blog"
+title: "‘Add to Felt’ QGIS Plugin"
+date: "2023-06-22T22:58:44+0000"
+link: "https://north-road.com/2023/06/23/add-to-felt-qgis-plugin/"
+draft: "false"
+showcase: "planet"
+subscribers: ["north_road"]
+author: "North Road"
+tags: ["partners", "qgis", "collaboration", "community", "felt", "geospatial", "integration", "plugins", "qgis", "sponsors"]
+languages: ["en_gb"]
+available_languages: ["en_gb"]
+---
+
+<p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-212558" height="538" src="/img/subscribers/north_road/add-to-felt-qgis-plugin/Q_F-1024x538.webp" width="1024"/></p>
+<p>The gift economy of Open Source is community driven and filled by folks with ideas that just go for it!</p>
+<p>We at <strong>North Road</strong> are blessed that we get to join these creatives on their journey in order to get their products to you. Recently, the first <a href="https://www.qgis.org/">QGIS</a> flagship sponsor, <a href="https://felt.com/product">Felt</a>, engaged us to further strengthen their support for the up to <a href="https://feed.qgis.org/metabase/public/dashboard/df81071d-4c75-45b8-a698-97b8649d7228">600,000 daily QGIS users</a> to integrate their workflows between <strong>QGIS</strong> and <strong>Felt</strong>.</p>
+<p>The result is the “<a href="https://plugins.qgis.org/plugins/felt/">Add to Felt”</a> QGIS Plugin, which makes it super-simple to publish your QGIS maps to the Felt platform.</p>
+<p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-212556" height="631" src="/img/subscribers/north_road/add-to-felt-qgis-plugin/felt_blog_image_fromQ-1024x631.webp" width="1024"/></p>
+<p>To get started, install the <strong>Add to Felt Plugin</strong> from the <strong>QGIS Plugin manager</strong>.</p>
+<p>If you don’t have a free <strong>Felt</strong> account, you’ll need to sign up for one <a href="https://felt.com/signup">online</a> (or from the <strong>Add to Felt</strong> plugin itself once you have installed it).</p>
+<p>Within <strong>QGIS</strong>, users can easily publish their maps and layers to <strong>Felt. </strong>You can either:</p>
+<ul>
+<li>Publish a single layer by right-clicking the layer and selecting “Share Layer to Felt” from the Export sub-menu</li>
+<li>Publish your whole QGIS project/map by selecting the Project Menu, Export, “Add to Felt” action</li>
+</ul>
+<p>Whilst <strong>Felt</strong> is loading up your map, you can continue working and it will let you know once your map is ready to open on Felt and share with others.</p>
+<p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-212557" height="741" src="/img/subscribers/north_road/add-to-felt-qgis-plugin/felt_blog_image_inF-1024x741.webp" width="1024"/></p>
+<p>We are happy to let you know that the collaboration does not stop there! As with our <a href="https://north-road.com/slyr/">SLYR</a> tool, there is ongoing development as the requirements of the community and technology grow.  So install the <a href="https://plugins.qgis.org/plugins/felt/">Add to Felt Plugin</a> via the <strong>QGIS Plugin manager</strong>, and let us know where you want it to go via the <a href="https://github.com/felt/qgis-plugin/issues">Add to Felt GitHub page.</a></p>
+<p>Read more about it here:</p>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="https://felt.com/blog/qgis-plugin-and-felt-api">Felt’s Blog about the QGIS Plugin</a></li>
+<li><a href="https://feltmaps.notion.site/Using-The-Add-To-Felt-QGIS-Plugin-cda366f83d5f47ecb63b45de749b0c3c">Installation Guide</a></li>
+<li><a href="https://feltmaps.notion.site/Getting-Started-For-QGIS-Users-c3147f78cbdd49b493261e17bc30536c">Getting Started for QGIS Users</a></li>
+</ul>

content/posts/cesium-ecosystem-grant-win-for-qgis-3d-tiles.md

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+---
+source: "blog"
+title: "Cesium Ecosystem Grant Win for QGIS 3D Tiles!"
+date: "2023-06-01T03:23:23+0000"
+link: "https://north-road.com/2023/06/01/cesium-ecosystem-grant-win-for-qgis-3d-tiles/"
+draft: "false"
+showcase: "planet"
+subscribers: ["north_road"]
+author: "North Road"
+tags: ["3d tiles", "core feature development", "integrations", "partners", "qgis"]
+languages: ["en_gb"]
+available_languages: ["en_gb"]
+---
+
+<div class="ql-block">Success! <a class="ql-link" href="https://www.lutraconsulting.co.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lutra </a>and North Road have been rewarded a Cesium Ecosystem Grant to provide access to 3D tiles within QGIS. We will be creating the ability for users to visualise 3D Tiles in QGIS alongside other standard geospatial sources in both 3D and 2D map views.</div>
+<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_212525" style="width: 680px;"><img alt="3D Tiles Cesium integration ecosystem diagram" class="wp-image-212525" height="641" src="/img/subscribers/north_road/cesium-ecosystem-grant-win-for-qgis-3d-tiles/Cesium-integration-ecosystem-diagram_QGISv2-1024x964.webp" width="680"/><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-212525">3D Tiles Cesium integration ecosystem</figcaption></figure>
+<div></div>
+<div class="ql-block">We are very excited about it, but to be included in the first cohort of awardees is also an added honour! We share this distinction with 3 other recipients:</div>
+<ul>
+<li class="ql-block"><a class="ql-link" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ACoAAA1MAWYBhe7u7Uc40tXIg_s6awS97NHgGYs" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Peter Kimberley</a>, <a class="ql-link" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/gradata-systems/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gradata Systems Pty Ltd</a>, Canberra, Australia Vietnam War Missing in Action (MIA) Support</li>
+<li class="ql-block"><a class="ql-link" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ACoAADsgMRwBYuXpHANwZ5tTIbjtE4OP7Ky2UTQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">HIdenori Watanave</a>, <a class="ql-link" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/university-of-tokyo/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The University of Tokyo</a>, Tokyo, Japan, Digital Archives of War and Disasters</li>
+<li class="ql-block"><a class="ql-link" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ACoAAB8in-kBGeFovnyDWRugvSvMD-y0dYpVZAE" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ethan Berg</a>, <a class="ql-link" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/agoraworld-io/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Agora World</a>, Philadelphia, PA, USA, GeoForAll: Simplifying 3D Geospatial Metaverse Creation</li>
+</ul>
+<div class="ql-block">The opportunity was brought to our attention by our friends over at <a class="ql-link" href="https://www.nearmap.com/au/en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nearmap</a>, which, along with the existence of this grant, shows how the geospatial community is working together by evolving the Open Source Economy. A movement close to our hearts and our core business. Working between commercial software and open-source, Cesium’s <a class="ql-link" href="https://cesium.com/why-cesium/open-ecosystem/cesium-business-model/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">business model</a> recognises the legitimacy of Open Source Software for use as a geospatial standard operating procedure by promoting openness and interoperability.</div>
+<div class="ql-block"></div>
+<div class="ql-block">Our team of <a class="ql-link" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nyall-dawson-18b6016a/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nyall Dawson</a> and <a class="ql-link" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-dobias-92590339/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Martin Dobias</a> will create a new layer type, QgsTiledMeshLayer, allowing for direct access to Cesium 3D tile sources alongside the other supported geospatial layer types within QGIS. This will include visualisation of the tile data in both 3D and 2D map views (feature footprints). It will fulfill a critical need for QGIS users, permitting access to 3d data provided by their respective government agencies to work alongside all their other standard geospatial layers (vector, raster, point clouds). By making 3D Tiles a first class citizen in QGIS we help strengthen the case that those agencies should be providing their data in the Cesium format (as opposed to any proprietary alternatives).</div>
+<div class="ql-block">
+<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_212532" style="width: 1024px;"><img alt="Proposed Technical Architecture Cesium QGIS" class="size-full wp-image-212532" height="593" src="/img/subscribers/north_road/cesium-ecosystem-grant-win-for-qgis-3d-tiles/Proposed-Technical-Architecture-Cesium-QGIS-v2-e1684390715529.webp" width="1024"/><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-212532">Proposed Technical Architecture for Cesium 3D Tiles in QGIS</figcaption></figure>
+</div>
+<div class="ql-block"></div>
+<div>
+<div class="ql-block">Here’s a breakdown of what we will be doing:</div>
+<ul>
+<li>Develop a new QGIS layer type “QgsTiledMeshLayer”</li>
+<li>Develop a parser for 3D Tiles format, supporting Batched 3D Model (with a reasonable set of glTF 2.0 features)</li>
+<li>Develop a 3D renderer which dynamically loads and displays features from 3D Tiles based on appropriate 3D view level of detail. (A similar approach has already been implemented in QGIS for optimised viewing of point cloud data).</li>
+<li>Develop a 2D renderer for 3D Tiles, which will display the footprints of 3D tile features in 2D QGIS map views. Just like the 3D renderer, the 2D renderer will utilise map scale information to dynamically load 3D tiles and display a suitable level of detail for the footprints.</li>
+<li>Users will have full control over the appearance of the 2D footprints, with support for all of QGIS’ extensive polygon symbology options.</li>
+<li>By permitting users to view the 2D footprints of features, we will promote use of Cesium 3D Tiles as a suitable source of cartographic data, eg display of authoritative building footprints supplied by government agencies in the Cesium 3D Tile format.</li>
+</ul>
+<p>Through past partnerships, North Road and Lutra Consulting have developed and extended the 3D mapping functionality of QGIS. To date, all the framework for mature, performant 3D scenes including vector, mesh, raster and point cloud sources are in place. We are now ready to extend the existing functionality with Cesium 3D tiles support as QGIS 3D engine already implements most of the required concepts, such as out of core rendering and hierarchical level of detail (tested with point clouds with billions of points).</p>
+</div>
+<p>So there we go! Working together collaboratively with Lutra Consulting on another great addition to QGIS 3D Functionality thanks to Cesium Ecosystem Grants. Stay tuned on our social channels to find out when it will be released in QGIS.</p>
+<p><img alt="Cesium Ecosystem grant Badge" class="wp-image-212524 aligncenter" height="250" src="/img/subscribers/north_road/cesium-ecosystem-grant-win-for-qgis-3d-tiles/73304078772281.webp" width="250"/></p>
+<p> </p>