vhclmaps demviewer

Introduction

vhclmaps demviewer is an interactive 3d terrain viewer for digital elevation data. It reads files produced by the usgsdem2vtk utility program included in vhclmaps to allow the visualization of DEM files. It supports the 1 degree (1:250,000) DEM format published by the USGS. This database covers the United States at a 3 arcsecond resolution. It also supports 7.5 minute 30 meter USGS DEMs. The entire database is available online by alphabetical list, state or graphics.

Screenshots

This is a picture of demviewer displaying some terrain in San Francisco.

Downloading and running

If you have downloaded and installed vhclmaps vpfviewer or dlgviewer, and can figure out how to bring up the San Francisco peninsula (122.5W 37.8N) in either one of them then (following instructions requires an ivtools built with ACE support to get the 2d map viewer talking to demviewer):

  • - download and untar this sample elevation data (dem-san_francisco_e.vtk.tar.gz [1.1Mb]) (these are vtk format files produced by the usgsdem2vtk utility from the san_francisco_e.dem 1 degree DEM)
  • - bring up vpfviewer or dlgviewer on San Francisco
  • - use the Open command (on demviewer) to load dem/san_francisco_e/SANFRANCISCO-ECA.3.4.vtk
  • - position vpfviewer or dlgviewer over San Francisco by panning, zooming and/or using the Magnify tool
  • - use the CameraPos (single line) or CameraPath (multiline) tool on vpfviewer or dlgviewer to position the 3d camera-- you will get a view just above the elevation of the x,y camera position in the direction of the arrow drawn by the tool
  • - use the Up/Down or Yaw buttons to manually move the camera around and update the view

    • More information

    Here is more info on using demviewer.

    vhclmaps map viewers vpfviewer dlgviewer demviewer utmviewer

    vhclmaps home page