FME can be used for creating professional cartographic products and thanks to its flexibility, it can often overpower standard desktop GIS and graphic design applications. Jan will share his experience with developing new concepts for using various hillshading techniques for creating cartographic products in FME. During the presentation, Jan will describe the crucial steps for creating stunning terrain models using multiple hillshading methods and their application. Samples of will include "Turning a Vintage Map into a 3D Art in FME", "Enhancing Aerial Imagery with Hillshade in FME" and "Minimal Atlas of the US". The presentation will summarize the articles and gallery Jan has made on the topic: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/turning-vintage-map-3d-art-fme-jan-rykr/ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ambient-hillshading-fme-jan-rykr https://firwoodmaps.com/usminimalatlas https://firwoodmaps.com/usminimalatlasII

1. Adventures with Hillshading in
FME

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Jan Rykr
GIS Analyst
Environmental Data Management and Analysis
Jacobs Engineering Group
San Diego, CA

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• Global Solutions Provider
• Our Accelerators: Climate Response, Data Solutions, Consulting and Advisory
• Our markets: Advanced Manufacturing, Cities & Places, National Security, Infrastructure,
Health & Life Sciences, Space, Energy & Environment
• 20 Certified FME Professionals
• 3 FME Servers
• FME for: CAD to GIS, Field to Office, Compliance, Reporting

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FME and
Cartography?

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“FME can be used for creating
professional cartographic
products, while overpowering
standard desktop GIS and graphic
design applications.”
Absolutely!

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Agenda
● Cartography in FME
● Hillshade types and theory
● Application in FME
● Samples

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Cartography in FME
● Using minimalist approach:
○ Remove all unnecessary content and focus on single
element
■ Simple Geometric shapes,
■ Simple colors, Limited color palettes,
■ Bold typography
○ In cartography:
■ Remove “noise” and let users focus only on the main
message of a map
■ Reduced marginalia and background content
“Minimal Cartography in FME” FME World Tour 2020

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Conference Cartography in FME: Samples

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Hillshade
● Also known as Shaded relief
● Cartographic method for terrain representation.
● Provides a perception of terrain and depth.
● A Derivative from a Digital Elevation Model (DEM)
modeling light distribution over terrain.

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Standard Hillshade
● Usually calculates with the light
source (Sun) positioned at 315
degrees and 45 degrees altitude
+ fast to generate
- lacks clarity in flat parts and in NW
faces
- distorts colors when overlaid
Data source: USGS National Map 3D Elevation Program (3DEP);

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Multidirectional Hillshade
MultidirectionalHillshader | FME Hub (safe.com)
● Calculates hillshade from multiple
light sources directions:
360, 315, 270, 225, (180, 45) + Slope
to highlight steep parts in all
directions
+ adds clarity to all faces
+ easy to blend with other layers
Data source: USGS National Map 3D Elevation Program (3DEP);

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Ambient Hillshade
● Takes into account light distribution
over surrounding terrain.
● Opposed to the standard hillshading
method, it projects shadows that are
cast by surrounding terrain shapes.
● Unavailable in Standard GIS tools
● Created by 3D modelling software
(Blender) - time consuming
manipulation, non-georeferenced
output
Data source: USGS National Map 3D Elevation Program (3DEP);

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Rayshader
• R plugin that generates beautiful 2D and 3D terrain renders based on
values in a numeric matrix.
• Fortunately, FME has an integrated transformer RCaller and even
better, there already is a custom transformer RayshaderCaller on FME
Hub.
• Adjust colors and shadow length in R code
Ambient Hillshade Generator | FME Hub (safe.com)

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Application: Imagery Overlay

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Imagery Overlay
• Use to emphasize terrain in a
locality
• Sandwich method for composing
maps in GIS
• Use blending methods in Mapnik
Data: USGS National Map 3D Elevation Program (3DEP); USGS The National Map: Orthoimagery;
Alder Lake, WA

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Raystown Lake, PA
Data: USGS National Map 3D Elevation Program (3DEP); USGS The National Map: Orthoimagery;

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Mt Saint Helens, WA
Data: USGS National Map 3D Elevation Program (3DEP); USGS The National Map: Orthoimagery;

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Mono Lake, CA:
Data: USGS National Map 3D Elevation Program (3DEP); USGS The National Map: Orthoimagery;

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Austin, TX
Data: USGS National Map 3D Elevation Program (3DEP); USGS The National Map: Orthoimagery;

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Application: 3D Art From a Vintage Map

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Source
● Find a georeferenced map with some relief
● Register coordinates of map frame extent
Vintage Map to 3D Art | FME Hub (safe.com)
Data: USGS National Map 3D Elevation Program (3DEP); USGS TopoView: USGS Guadalupe Peak, TX (1933)

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DEM
● Download DEM within map frame
● Generate constant raster with a value of the
lowest point in DEM
● Merge both using RasterMosiacker
Data: USGS National Map 3D Elevation Program (3DEP); USGS TopoView: USGS Guadalupe Peak, TX (1933)

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Ambient Hillshade
● Generate ambient hillshade in
Rayshader and georeference the
output to match the map extent
Data: USGS National Map 3D Elevation Program (3DEP); USGS TopoView: USGS Guadalupe Peak, TX (1933)

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Blend Hillshade layer and the Map
● Blend using blending methods in
MapnikRasterizer
Data: USGS National Map 3D Elevation Program (3DEP); USGS TopoView: USGS Guadalupe Peak, TX (1933)

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Data: USGS National
Map 3D Elevation
Program (3DEP);
USGS TopoView

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Application in Automation: Minimal Atlas of the USA

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Create a minimal relief map for every
state:
● Read shapefile with state boundaries
● Read DEM within a state bounding box
and clip DEM to state border.
● Extract lowest point within a state and
create a constant raster around the
state boundary (75% buffer)
● Merge rasters in RasterMosaicker.
● Calculate Ambient hillshade in
Rayshader and cast shadows outside
the state boundary.
● Offset a point from bounding box (66%)
and create a map title from state name
attribute.
● Merge layers in MapnikRasterizer.
● Run using WorkspaceRunner

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Use FME for cartographic
and artistic work!

31. Thank You!
jan.rykr@jacobs.com

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