Virtual Earth

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

Anyone want to give this a shot… I have tried it on a couple of different machines with no luck. I can not seem to get the print screen part to work. I hit the hot key, and nothing.

 

http://www.pushpullbar.com/forums/showpost.php?p=112783&postcount=11

[Chad Warner]

I'll give it a shot when I get a minute. I've always wanted to be able to do this.

[Ernest Burden III]

Anyone want to give this a shot…

 

From another thread, I wrote:

 

This weekend I was experimenting with the OpenGL Extractor, a DirectX version called 3D RipperDX and one from Dasault called 3Dprintscreen that does 3D export from both OpenGL and DX, though it saves in a flavor of XML that nothing could open besides their free player. All Free, none worked for me. I got a model captured from C4D but I didn't need that to work.

 

Is Acrobat Pro 3D (as mentioned in the push-bar link) the same as what's in CS3, or is that yet another different flavor?

[demo38]

Tired it out, I get the same thing...

 

Model loaded into Virtual Earth - 3DVia Beta just fine, turned on Environoment and see the 3d data loaded in.

 

Printscreen is running in the program tray. I set my options to a custom hotkey even... Have the Virtual Earth window active. Hit the Hotkey... Just sits there and doesn't capture anything.

 

Empty C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My 3D XML files

 

Anyone else?

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

From another thread, I wrote:

 

 

 

Is Acrobat Pro 3D (as mentioned in the push-bar link) the same as what's in CS3, or is that yet another different flavor?

 

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/

 

it looks like another flavor separate from what is included in CS3.

 

i have had some success with OpenGL ripper, but not a lot. I am going to try and figure this out more later tonight. i will post more information at that point.

[Ernest Burden III]

i have had some success with OpenGL ripper, but not a lot. I am going to try and figure this out more later tonight. i will post more information at that point.

 

Remember that Google Earth is OpenGL while VirtualEarth is DirectX

 

And when it comes to coverage for big cities, VE is kicking GE's cute little butt.

 

Also--what are you trying to do?

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

Remember that Google Earth is OpenGL while VirtualEarth is DirectX

 

And when it comes to coverage for big cities, VE is kicking GE's cute little butt.

 

Also--what are you trying to do?

 

I played a bit with the 3d Ripper DX last night. I was using version 1.5a. Unfortunately I did not have a lot of success. I guess I should say that I had no success.

 

The 3d Ripper DX, like GXLtractor for OpenGl, wants to launch the app for you, so it can “hook” onto the DirectX DLL’s, and monitor what is flowing throw them.

 

The problem I was having with trying to hook onto the Virtual Earth data. Virtual Earth is viewed through Internet Explorer, unless you are adding a model, then it utilizes a app called 3dvia. I was hoping to launch the 3dvia app out of 3d Ripper DX and hook onto the data that was visible in it. The problem is when I do that, 3dvia comes up with a empty screen with just a grid. So that is not going to work.

 

When I launch 3dvia without going through the app, it comes up with a choice to load previous sessions that I was working on. So my next thoughts were to look at what the shortcut was calling, and try to decipher it, and see if I could get it to load the links for the previous information when the 3dvia app launched. It was partially over my head, but for the most part, I wound up with the same results as above. Though I think someone that were smarter than myself might be able to do more in this area.

 

The next try was to do a Global Monitor, which is a feature in 3d Ripper DX that is supposed to cycle through all apps looking for DirectX information to latch onto. There was a warning that this might be unstable. I clicked it, and my computer instantly restarted. So I guess it was unstable on my computer to say the least.

 

I also looked through several directories to see of the information being pulled from Virtual Earth was temporarily being stored in a file that might be useful. I could not find files anywhere that looked like they might belong to this. I wonder if Virtual Earth is using XML data. If it is, then I have another idea. If so, they might be in my temp directory for Internet Explorer, and simply renamed without an extension. From past experience, I have copied files out of here, and renamed them with their proper extensions, and they worked fine. …but I would need to know what the proper extension would be for the Virtual Earth data.

 

I suppose my next step is to try 3d Ripper DX on another computer, and see if it responds the same way when I try to do a global monitor.

 

I should also mention that in the agreement for the Virtual Earth data, it states that this is copyrighted material. Which we should all know anyway. I was trying to pull a few background skyline buildings of the strip in Las Vegas. The photos I have of the site do not have the angle I need. So basically, I was trying to break the law.

[Ernest Burden III]

I was trying to pull a few background skyline buildings of the strip in Las Vegas. The photos I have of the site do not have the angle I need. So basically, I was trying to break the law.

 

 

With all the time we're pouring into grabbing data from GE or VE it probably is quicker to use the N/S/E/W photos from LocalLive to photo-model background buildings, starting with overall heights read from VirtualEarth. Capture would be more fun, of course. if we could do it technically and legally.

[Chad Warner]

Ideally, Virtual Earth would come out with a "pro" version like google did that would allow for the capturing of this data, or at the very least, image export at a decent resolution instead of resorting to screen caps.

[Ernest Burden III]

Where this is probably going is having cities open-source models, publishing them in GE and/or VE format. This encourages people to look at their city which encourages tourism and development. It just makes too much sense.

 

So I predict the era of proprietary city models in GE or VE is going to end soon. The owners of those products provide the viewers, which will develop to deliver value-added features like 3D nav, business adverts, info on WiFi hotspots, cell coverage, etc. The models are a means to those valuable ends, the more open they are the better.

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080411-hands-on-new-microsoft-live-maps-improvements-impressive.html

[jlspartz]

A piece of Chicago off of Virtual Earth

[Antisthenes]

A piece of Chicago off of Virtual Earth

 

no textures? or did you just not render them

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

A piece of Chicago off of Virtual Earth

 

Jamie,

 

This is interesting. Can you provide a little detail about how you did that?

 

ts.

[jlspartz]

Yes, I can get textures too. But, it's better as gray for surrounding masses, especially since the Virtual Earth textures are so ugly and unrealistic. The google earth textures are much better, but google earth has to be ripped as opengl and there's no ripper that maps the material locations yet for opengl, just grabs the materials. Let me know if you got google earth rips using directx, but I think the calls are protected.

 

For Virtual Earth it's much easier, just open it up, copy the url, close it, open 3D Ripper DX, point it to IEXPLORE.EXE and launch, paste the url, go to the location on the map, and press the capture button.

 

Some things I've found out:

1. Capture from a top view only, otherwise it skews (tilts) the buildings.

2. Your cursor with the circle and four arrows is a 3D object. It will export, so don't put it over a building you want.

3. The 3DR file it better for mapping the textures than the OBJ.

4. Move around the area you want and wait for everything to load zoomed in, so that you get the best detail. Also, more high-res pictures are captured instead of low-res this way.

5. If you want textures, even though you captured the frame already, it will still be capturing textures long after. For some reason, the textures need to be refreshed to be captured as well, so after you have the frame, move all around the area, in any perspective, so that it refreshes and captures as many textures as you want.

 

P.S. Don't share the info with everyone, because the more wide-spread the knowledge, the more likely Microsoft will put protection on Internet Explorer so you can't intercept the directx calls.

[Antisthenes]

the step i don't get is how are you pointing it to IEXPLORER

[Chad Warner]

I finally got around to trying both the original way of extracting data from the pushpullbar forums, and the method that Jamie mentioned above, neither with any results, even on different computers.

[Brian Cassil]

Where this is probably going is having cities open-source models, publishing them in GE and/or VE format. This encourages people to look at their city which encourages tourism and development. It just makes too much sense.

 

So I predict the era of proprietary city models in GE or VE is going to end soon. The owners of those products provide the viewers, which will develop to deliver value-added features like 3D nav, business adverts, info on WiFi hotspots, cell coverage, etc. The models are a means to those valuable ends, the more open they are the better.

 

That would sure be nice but I see some big legal hurdles that would have to be overcome. Mainly, the models they have were probably purchased for the specific use that they are already fullfilling. To expand that use they would have to go back to everyone that they contracted with and re-negotiate the fees and usage rights. The rights we are hoping for would basically be the same that google earth offers in its pro version which is almost like a photographer opening up his storage HD's and saying "come and get it!". Someday it may happen but I think that day is still quite a ways off.

[Brian Cassil]

Yes, I can get textures too. But, it's better as gray for surrounding masses, especially since the Virtual Earth textures are so ugly and unrealistic. The google earth textures are much better, but google earth has to be ripped as opengl and there's no ripper that maps the material locations yet for opengl, just grabs the materials. Let me know if you got google earth rips using directx, but I think the calls are protected.

 

For Virtual Earth it's much easier, just open it up, copy the url, close it, open 3D Ripper DX, point it to IEXPLORE.EXE and launch, paste the url, go to the location on the map, and press the capture button.

 

Some things I've found out:

1. Capture from a top view only, otherwise it skews (tilts) the buildings.

2. Your cursor with the circle and four arrows is a 3D object. It will export, so don't put it over a building you want.

3. The 3DR file it better for mapping the textures than the OBJ.

4. Move around the area you want and wait for everything to load zoomed in, so that you get the best detail. Also, more high-res pictures are captured instead of low-res this way.

5. If you want textures, even though you captured the frame already, it will still be capturing textures long after. For some reason, the textures need to be refreshed to be captured as well, so after you have the frame, move all around the area, in any perspective, so that it refreshes and captures as many textures as you want.

 

P.S. Don't share the info with everyone, because the more wide-spread the knowledge, the more likely Microsoft will put protection on Internet Explorer so you can't intercept the directx calls.

 

I assume this was all done using 3D ripper DX?

[Chad Warner]

Yes....from his post: "For Virtual Earth it's much easier, just open it up, copy the url, close it, open 3D Ripper DX, point it to IEXPLORE.EXE and launch, paste the url, go to the location on the map, and press the capture button."

[daniohayon]

the step i don't get is how are you pointing it to IEXPLORER

 

In the main screen press the folder icon and point it to 'program files', IE, IEXPLORER.EXE

 

This will open IE while the Ripper is in the background. The thing I'm stuck with is importing the 3DR format into Max. I can get the OBJ into Max with no textures.

 

jlspartz, do you get your 3DR into Max 2009 64-bit?

[jlspartz]

I was using 3D Max 9 on 32-bit. I believe I turned on the 3DR import option within Max. I could check on Max 2009 64-bit when it's deployment is up. It's not an option on Maya Unlimited 64-bit I know.

 

Also, I've got Google Earth Rips to OBJ, just got DWF Rips to OBJ through Navisworks, and PDF Rips to DXFs. I don't like protected file formats as you can tell. They're not useful.

 

By the way, if you are ripping 3D data to OBJ for use in Max, you should take the OBJ to Rhino 3D, then to DWG into Max (or Polytrans, OBJ to MAX directly). The Max OBJ importer is horrible. Maya's is much better.

[daniohayon]

Thanks jlspartz. From the 3D Ripper forum you can tell that 64-bit version is still something to look for in the future, but like you said it's working on Max 9 32-bit, which we happened to have sitting lonely at work and it works fine.

[Brian Cassil]

I'm getting an error: "unable to create process." when I click the launch button. The path for ie I have is: "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" I'm running this on XP64. Thanks for any help.

[Brian Cassil]

Allright, nm about the launching the ieplore.exe through dx ripper I set it to the 32bit version and that seemed to work fine.

 

Now the problem is that when I paste the url to go to virtual earth after launching it through dx ripper I get a message stating "virtual earth has detected that hardware acceleration is turned off"... huh? I've gone and checked and made sure that it is in fact turned on and when I launch virtual earth manually (not through dx ripper) than I can see all the 3D stuff fine. HELP!!!