OpenCycleMap in 3D using QGIS and Blender

Example of using QGIS, Blender and OpenCycleMap to produce an image of a 3d map. Using data copyright OpenStreetMap and its contributors under the ODBL. Uses terrain data from Ordnance Survey OpenTerrain50, crown copyright and database rights.

 

In QGIS, I added two layers

 

[1] an OpenCycleMap layer using OpenLayers plugin,

[2] an OS Terrain 50 raster.

 

The terrain raster was made into a heightmap using black-white from the current extent, clip to min/max.

 

Each layer was saved as a Geotiff. This was done using "File-Save as Image", rather than with the Print Composer. If I used the Print Composer, the OSM layer extents did not match what was shown on the print composer, so the two images didn't align properly :(

 

In Blender, added a plane mesh (smooth shading) and applied a simple subdivision surface of about 9 times. Used the displace tool using the heightmap and a strength of 0.2, and added the OpenCycleMap raster as an image texture. Textures both set to "clip" sampling.

 

Plane surface uses Toon BSDF, with smoothing and size adjusted.

 

Set camera focal length to wideangle (10mm). World background set to Black, Ambient Occlusion set to .09 to dial down the shadows. Added an orange emission plane out of view to add some warmth to the scene.

 

I found that this doesn't work too well with smaller areas (e.g. a mountain) due to the low resolution (50m) of the OS Terrain open data - the terrain gets noticably "lumpy". However, using Saga GIS and the low pass output from the resampling filter, it's possible to smooth the terrain and remove the low-res artifacts.

 

Rendered using the Cycles renderer.

 

Done