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Heya, I'm the developer behind Woodcut Maps! The site is built on python/django and hosted on AWS. Most of the interesting work happens in python with PIL, nu
by gabesmed 14y ago
Heya, I'm the developer behind Woodcut Maps!
The site is built on python/django and hosted on AWS.
Most of the interesting work happens in python with PIL, numpy and scipy. We download maps tiles (Google for now, working on an OSM render path), and split them into channels for landscape, water, roads and parks. Then we apply several steps of scipy's image morphology filters to get the masks ready for laser cutting and to ease assembly by simplifying the design. Removing small pieces, filling small gaps (which gives the maps the distinctive look of dense roads being filled in, creating chunky blocks), and simplifying boundaries.
All the rendering happens on picloud.com, which has been a really robust part of our infrastructure. It helps us scale up and down based on demand without having to manage an autoscaling AWS backend processor setup ourselves, or overpay for AWS instances.
I'm probably going to talk more in detail about it at WhereCamp this weekend if anyone wants to talk in person.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- baconner 14y agoThis is a bit out of scope but I would love to have a similarly crafted version of john snow's classic cholera map.
- nosignal 14y agoDefinitely. Could be offered as a one-off design, I imagine.
- _gabesmed 14y agoOh we could totally do that. One color for roads, one for bars, one for background. We could probably do Minard's Napoleon's March map too (minus the labels) just for fun. http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/posters http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/posters
- lancefisher 14y agoHere's a cool idea if you haven't thought of it already: Find a way to inlay routes on the map. It would be cool to plot a marathon course and give it as a gift to a friend who finishes.
- _gabesmed 14y agoWe can do anything custom, just shoot us an email at team@woodcutmaps.com
- lancefisher 14y agoThanks! I'll definitely keep this in mind when I need it. Your startup is a awesome blend of design, technology, and craftsmanship. Best of luck.
- acheron 14y agoLove the idea. Thanks for the back-end info. Would love to read more details if you get time to write something. Hadn't heard of picloud.com before, sounds like you're pretty happy with them.
- ondrae 14y agoI'm really interested in hearing more about your process. See you at WhereCamp.
- nitrogen 14y agoStrictly for the sake of curiosity, how large of a custom piece could you produce with and without seams (e.g. another commenter asked about creating a custom floor)?
- gabesmed 14y agoWe'd love to make a custom floor! We can do any size piece as long as it's tiled by panels. It'd be cheaper to use the standard sizes (so the largest panel to tile would be 16x20) as it helps us conserve material. But we can conceivably make single maps or panels as large as 18x32, which is the size of our laser-cutter.