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0 pointsgeofffox7y ago0 comments

I am very unusual in that I'm comfortable on both sides of the camera. What I learned is building a studio is an IT project!

Maybe the most unusual part is, none of this would work unless I could run the show by myself. My TriCaster is programmable with macros which is what I've done. I am my own director while on the air.

Oh -- with a friend I created a map making system which runs on an i5 and produces ~ 40,000 maps a day. Here are some samples I threw together a few months ago. These are 100% produced using FOSS including the map databases and fonts! https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/172O4Xl35np8RnbRi07PD...

My last computer class was as a senior in high school, 1967-68 semester. This was BEFORE computers had screens.

0 comments

mxstbr7y ago

Wow this is super interesting, you should do an AMA!

voltagex_7y ago

This doesn't look like any map system I've seen - can you share details on your renderer?

There's a lot of untapped potential in geospatial (even with Google taking most of the mindshare)

geofffoxOP7y ago

Sure -- It's a multistage process making a graphics sandwich. The meteo data is done by GrADS. I render these at full HD resolution-- 1920x1080.

The base map and overlay are both produced in QGIS using the NaturalEarth database. Because GrADS can't read geographical info from graphics they are built by hand and the parameters are entered into GrADS by hand.

Animations are made from still png frames using ffmpeg.

OpenSans is my font.

All of this runs on an i5 with 8Gb of RAM under CentOS7. I make around 40,000 maps a day (one per frame in the animations).

I am 68 years old. My only computer training came 51 years ago. This is all self taught.

FiveSquared7y ago

AMA on Reddit please?

Insanity7y ago

That is really amazing! My hat off to you!

I agree with the others here that an AMA might be worth it :)

bscphil7y ago

I would be thrilled to see some of the code for your map system, if you feel like open sourcing it on Github or the like. Even a verbal description of it would be great. It looks really great!

geofffoxOP7y ago

If you wrote code like mine you wouldn't want it seen. I have borrowed freely from others, especially the College of DuPage whose entire site (except satellites) is on github. Their code is well written and documented.

jonathanpoulter7y ago

Not meaning to be rude, it sounds like you're going strong and providing a great service. But if you retire in future do you plan on handing down your code and setup to someone?

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0 pointsgeofffox7y ago0 comments

I am very unusual in that I'm comfortable on both sides of the camera. What I learned is building a studio is an IT project!

Maybe the most unusual part is, none of this would work unless I could run the show by myself. My TriCaster is programmable with macros which is what I've done. I am my own director while on the air.

My last computer class was as a senior in high school, 1967-68 semester. This was BEFORE computers had screens.

0 comments

mxstbr7y ago

Wow this is super interesting, you should do an AMA!

voltagex_7y ago

This doesn't look like any map system I've seen - can you share details on your renderer?

There's a lot of untapped potential in geospatial (even with Google taking most of the mindshare)

geofffoxOP7y ago

Sure -- It's a multistage process making a graphics sandwich. The meteo data is done by GrADS. I render these at full HD resolution-- 1920x1080.

Animations are made from still png frames using ffmpeg.

OpenSans is my font.

All of this runs on an i5 with 8Gb of RAM under CentOS7. I make around 40,000 maps a day (one per frame in the animations).

I am 68 years old. My only computer training came 51 years ago. This is all self taught.

FiveSquared7y ago

AMA on Reddit please?

Insanity7y ago

That is really amazing! My hat off to you!

I agree with the others here that an AMA might be worth it :)

bscphil7y ago

I would be thrilled to see some of the code for your map system, if you feel like open sourcing it on Github or the like. Even a verbal description of it would be great. It looks really great!

geofffoxOP7y ago

jonathanpoulter7y ago

Not meaning to be rude, it sounds like you're going strong and providing a great service. But if you retire in future do you plan on handing down your code and setup to someone?

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse