For version 4 of the NatGeo World Atlas app we rebuilt everything, including the data processing workflow.

1. Data Processing Workflow
for the
National Geographic
World Atlas Mobile App
Rosemary Wardley
Steve Gifford

2. Introduction
World Atlas App
Previous versions & Problems
Goals for new app
Data production
Data processing
Conclusions

3. World Atlas App for iPhone/iPad
Digital & Interactive Atlas
Political basemaps
Flags & Facts
Search Index
Statistical Overlays
Distance Calculator

4. How
it
was
done
before

5. How
it
was
done
before

6. How
it
was
done
before

7. How
it
was
done
before

8. How
it
was
done
before

9. App
Design/UX
Flaws

10. App
Design/UX
Flaws

11. App
Design/UX
Flaws

12. Goals
for
World
Atlas
v.4
Tighter
control
over
the
data
for
editorial
purposes
Leverage
more
of
our
databases
Reduce
the
amount
of
custom
processing
Fit
into
evolving
Editorial/Production
workflow
App
data
that
is
easier
to
update
&
replicate
Maintain
NG
brand
identity
Add
flexibility
&
reduce
size
of
the
App
Hybrid
Raster
&
Vector
process

13. Full
Workflow

14. Data
Production

15. Inputs:
Standard
Carto
Datasets
75
Million
Zooms
0-­‐2
40
Million
Zooms
2-­‐4
20
Million
Zooms
5-­‐6
10
Million
Zooms
7-­‐8

16. Editorial
&
Production
Steps

17. GFID
match

18. Flags
&
Facts

19. Search
Index
Creation

20. GIS
Database
Steps

21. Final
Product

22. Raster
&
Vector
Outputs
Background
Raster
Full
PDF
Symbol
Shapefiles
Boundary
Shapefiles

23. Data
Processing

24. Why Vectors?
Image Artifacts
Blurry text & symbols
Tile edge discontinuities
Size
Images are big
Vectors are small
Selection Data
Tapping logic simpler

25. Vector Processing
Symbols
Points from GIS database
Both visual and selection
Text
Extracted from PDF
Purely visual
Boundaries
Areals from GIS database
Invisible, just for selection

26. Background Raster
Including
Roads, Rivers
Fills, stipples
Etc (lots of etc)
Excluding
Symbols
Text

27. Text Extraction
Parse the PDF
Need for each character
Location
Rotation
Size
Font
Output to Shapefile

28. Uploading to Mapbox
Image basemaps
Low res everything
High res blanks
Vectors
Symbols
Text
Boundaries

29. Anatomy of a Tile

30. How did it go?
App is released and working
Text is Sharp
Symbols are Sharp
Data size is way down
Old app: 500MB per layer
New app:75MB per layer

31. Conclusions:
Data
Update
Process

32. Conclusions:
Software
Used
Mapbox Studio

34. Wrapup & Contact
Rosemary Wardley
rwardley@ngs.org
nationalgeographic.com
Steve Gifford
sjg@mousebirdconsulting.com
mousebird.github.io/WhirlyGlobe/