Author Archive: GeorgeK

Ypsilanti Water Tower in 3D

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I have been working a week to try and get some type of 3D image on the web site. FINALLY was able to get a plugin that worked for me.

I also had to update to Blender 3.4 to allow me to export to .glb and .glft formats. I was intentionally using older 2.7 version since that is what was supposed to work with the QGIS2Threejs plugin for QGIS.

I think some of my problem was in getting the image aligned on the correct planes. It just did not show up if it isn’t aligned just right.

Now to try a few of the others I have. Maybe even get better at cutting off loose parts and things that do not add to the image.

The Ypsilanti Michigan Water Tower

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Not your typical design, but it does catch your eye. Constructed in 1890 and built of stone.

Address: 303 N Summit St, Ypsilanti, MI 48197
Architect: William R. Coats
Opened: 1890
Height: 147?
Area: 13,070 ft²
Added to NRHP: October 26, 1981
NRHP Reference Number: 81000318 (National Register of Historic Places)

The Water Tower looking to the West.
The observation cupola on top of the water tower.

On the very top, and probably unknown to most people, there appears to be viewing windows. Probably is a pretty nice view from there!

I think Ypsilanti designers were way, way, ahead of their time! It certainly appears Blue Origin copied their design!

Finally, just playing around with looking at things differently. Start with DJI Mini 2 photos (about 150 of them) crunch them together in WebODM. While you can get a lot of outputs, this one is the “Dense Point Cloud”.

I have been trying to add it in the “raw” state to allow viewers to manipulate the file itself, but it requires a lot more skill than I have!

So I settled for making a video using OBS Studio, then putting it into Davinci Resolve, then finally running it through Hand Brake! While there are a lot of holes caused by overhanging areas, I was happy for a first attempt.

Grand Central Station in Detroit.

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The station is being refurbished and remodeled by Ford Motor Company for use as office space.

2022-12-06-Detroit-Central-Station-Copper Roof.
2022-12-06-Detroit-Central-Station-Copper Roof.

A beautiful new copper roof is being installed over the front entrance.

2022-12-06-Detroit-Central-Station-Atrium?
2022-12-06-Detroit-Central-Station-Atrium?
General "Mad" Anthony Wayne portrait.

Detroit’s Historic Fort Wayne

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I took the drone into Detroit to capture some points of interest. I have never been to Fort Wayne before. Well, not true I guess. I HAVE been to Fort Wayne, but in Fort Wayne Indiana. The one in Indiana seems to be an older version, as it is made of wood, and was completed on October 20, 1794. The Detroit Fort Wayne was constructed starting in 1840.

Aerial 360° view of Detroit’s Fort Wayne.

I suggest you definitely use the “Full Screen”    button at the bottom of the panorama to see the details of the fort.

Uniroyal Tire in Allen Park Michigan

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Took the drone on a small road trip to photograph a few locations around Detroit Michigan. One was the large Uniroyal Tire alongside I-94 in Allen Park Michigan. You can look up the history of it, but basically it was originally a Ferris Wheel.

For years the tire had a very large “nail” stuck in the top of it advertising Uniroyal Run Flat tires. It has been removed, and other repairs have been made.

Uniroyal “Tire” in Allen Park Michigan

Playing with Maps

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I have been wanting to change the way I display the nature preserves where I volunteer. I was using an image with “hot spots” added. It works, but I sorta wanted to do more.

I found a plugin that helps to easily construct and customize Google Maps.

The basic, free, WP Go Maps plugin produced the following map.

Filter by
Public Access
  • Yes
  • No
Guided Tour Only
  • No
  • Yes

You can see it’s pretty limited. The pop up justs shows the coordinates of a location. Actually when you enter an address it will show the address in the popup. BUT, many of the pins need moved to actually sit on the parking lot, trail head, etc. and when you move the pin. . . it no longer knows the address so it puts the GPS coordinates in the pop up, Not so useful since you cannot tell which of the preserves you are looking at, or any information about them.

I am thinking about “going Pro” with the plugin so I can do a lot of other fancy customization’s. One PRO feature is also being able to provide directions to the preserve to the user. Will also sort a list by distance away, and other fun things! It’s not expensive, but need to think if it is something that I am really going to spend time on, and why.

I shall go and ponder this for awhile and come to a decision.