Wow, these are gorgeous! Can I ask where you get your DEM data and at what resolution? I’ve been wanting to play around with some relief maps of various bioregions (eg the Great Lakes watershed, Cascadia, etc), but I’ve had trouble figuring out where to find data at the right resolution
Where do we get it?
Only publicly available sources. Usgs has a great portal. Private data is too expensive to get. I was quoted 6 figures for a larger area. They were going to fly a plane and capture it :)
What resolution?
Totally depends on the area the customer would like to cover. If it’s their ranch or property, we usually need 1-meter. If it’s a mountain range than 30-Meter works.
It mainly depends on the resolution limit for 3D printing. So it also depends on the size of the model they want.
Unfortunately not all areas are covered with high res
For the benefit of those who aren't familiar: SRTM was the space shuttle radar tomography mission. 30m resolution is now available (I remember 30m being released for the first time in the 2000s sometime I think).
What are you using to get it into an STL? I've had OK results with DEMto3D plugin, but it has some weird artifacts that I can't seem to get rid of. Are there any better options you're aware of?
I actually use DEMto3D. It's touchy, but I do post-work on the .stl/3d model in blender so it works out ok for me.
If you have weird artifacts, I'm guessing that is due to the underlying data vs QGIS itself. Have you looked at their documentation (https://demto3d.com/en/)?
You have fewer products for sale than I was expecting.
I live in NE Los Angeles, which has the Verdugo and San Gabriel mtns, plus Mt Washington and other modest peaks - I think it would look great in this style. Especially because all the development would be excluded.
For every new location you do the process looks like:
1. Get the data and prep it for print (fixed)
2. 3D print it (fixed)
3. Rubber Mold (fixed)
4. Wax Model (variable)
5. Bronze (variable)
Steps 1-3 are 40-60% of the costs. So I haven't put the money out of pocket yet to put up new locations. I've let customer's ask first and then do them.
+1 to this, I can think of a few places id order for but i couldnt figure out how. Did i miss the link? Looks like it refers to "custom orders" but i wasnt sure how that works.
use these plates on a larger scale to make terra-cotta impressions and turn them into 'chia-pets' such that you can grow micro greens on the landscape of a particular area.
We make 3D Maps of American Landscapes in bronze.
We take Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data, do light transformations in QGIS and convert it to an .STL file before additional 3D modeling.
Our latest project was a hairy one doing Oahu (https://terramano.co/blogs/product/oahu-bronze-3d-map)