"Map This", Google Maps/SnugMap: zoom problem
dardens
Registered Users Posts: 39 Big grins
This post comes down to a feature/behavior change request. Which is not meant to criticize the geotagging implementation - a great feature.
I've not looked at the Google Map API, so I don't know if there is any way to amend the behavior. I observe the following:
1. "Map this" at site level [or gallery, with multiple geotagged images] does map to a sensible zoom level if the images cover a large area, say at least 100 miles in x or y. If "Map this" refers to only a single image you get the same unpleasant behavior as #2.
2. Every Google Map page misbehaves if any right-side thumbnail is clicked [not just our site, all sites]. The map is zoomed to [maximum zoom level - 1]. If the lat/lon happens to be e.g., downtown Seattle, there is imagery. Where we are typically shooting, in the boondocks, the result is a very ugly screen full of "no imagery" errors.
3. It appears that the Altitude parameter in the Edit Geography UI is ignored -- I've experimented with up to 10,000,000 meters --> no change.
FWIW, my tentative conclusion: the right-panel thumbnails should be eliminated unless the Google API allows passing your Altitude parameter. If altitude is respected, then the thumbnails could be useful. But to protect users who fail to set the Altitude parameter, I would prefer a default of perhaps 25,000m [not 1000m which seems to be the Google Map default].
I appreciate that different photogs will want different default zoom levels for the single-image case.
Our site is dardens.smugmug.com
I've not looked at the Google Map API, so I don't know if there is any way to amend the behavior. I observe the following:
1. "Map this" at site level [or gallery, with multiple geotagged images] does map to a sensible zoom level if the images cover a large area, say at least 100 miles in x or y. If "Map this" refers to only a single image you get the same unpleasant behavior as #2.
2. Every Google Map page misbehaves if any right-side thumbnail is clicked [not just our site, all sites]. The map is zoomed to [maximum zoom level - 1]. If the lat/lon happens to be e.g., downtown Seattle, there is imagery. Where we are typically shooting, in the boondocks, the result is a very ugly screen full of "no imagery" errors.
3. It appears that the Altitude parameter in the Edit Geography UI is ignored -- I've experimented with up to 10,000,000 meters --> no change.
FWIW, my tentative conclusion: the right-panel thumbnails should be eliminated unless the Google API allows passing your Altitude parameter. If altitude is respected, then the thumbnails could be useful. But to protect users who fail to set the Altitude parameter, I would prefer a default of perhaps 25,000m [not 1000m which seems to be the Google Map default].
I appreciate that different photogs will want different default zoom levels for the single-image case.
Our site is dardens.smugmug.com
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Comments
Feature Request: Could we please have a "maximum zoom level" attribute for photos? This would allow the photographer to forcibly zoom out the map, should Google Maps not have satellite imagery for the area. (Alternatively, does the Google API have a "no images at this zoom level" flag, which smugmug could latch onto?)
FWIW I have tested both Google Earth and ~Maps. Google Earth is actually worse -- the feed links auto-zoom to an altitude of 1 meter! regardless of the SmugMug altitude parameter.
Steve