Visual Explanations
course notes - June 8th, 2011
Situations
Review drawings
Explain an idea
Confirm understanding following meeting
Better explanation of industry standards
Visualize alternatives
Map based visualization
Sources
Google Maps - road map, terrain, cycling, satellite, 45° aerial, street view
Google Earth - 3d buildings, panoramio
Bing Maps - road map, satellite, birds-eye, streetside
PortlandMaps - GIS portal for taxlot & urban infrastructure details
iStockPhoto - low cost option for royalty free photos and illustrations
Flickr - another good source for location specific photos
Ped/bike info center - searchable photo archive
Metropolitan Design Center - Univ Minnesota program, TOD projects
Perry Castañeda Library map collection - University of Texas Austin
ODOT county maps / high quality Oregon road maps by county
ORMAP - Statewide taxmaps online
ODOT Digital Video Log - state highways from a driver’s perspective
Historic Photo Archive - includes roads and bridges all over US
Tools
Print Screen (Windows)
Screen Capture (MacOS)
Skitch (MacOS)
Jing (Windows/MacOS)
Aviary (Browser-based) - screen capture, markup, image editing
Adobe Reader (Windows/MacOS) - simple markups
PowerPoint (Windows/MacOS) - presentation and simple page layout
Keynote (MacOS) - presentation and simple page layout
iShowU (MacOS) - real time screen capture
SnagIt (Windows/MacOS) - still image and video screen capture
Windows Movie Maker (Windows)
Gimp - Cross platform image manipulation (photoshop alternative)
Adobe Acrobat - professional PDF file editing
Taking it further (a few examples of what is possible with bit of 3d modeling)
• Utility Tunnel: 3d model used to present logistics and phasing plan for urban campus project.
• Williams Bikeway: Animation shows perspective of a driver, cyclist, and pedestrian.
• Portland Stormwater: Cutaway diagrams explain how the sewer system handles stormwater.