Location Scout draws manga backgrounds from real streets

Developer MIYADAIKU (おやすみゲーム開発部) has released the β version of the web tool Location Scout (どこでもロケハン). It assembles real urban blocks anywhere in the world in 3D from map data and terrain elevations, and the output is a line drawing with tones, that is, a finished manga background.

How to set a location

A location is set with a link to Google Earth, Google Maps or OpenStreetMap, with decimal coordinates, with degrees, minutes and seconds, or with an entry of the form "northern latitude, eastern longitude", with a Plus Code, or with a KML or KMZ file, which can be dragged onto the screen. A link to the browser version of Google Earth also carries the viewing direction. In the settings you can change the width of the plot, the distant background, contour lines, the direction and height of the light, shadows, haze, the season and the way trees are drawn, as well as the number of people and cars.

Building height is taken from the map if it is given there as a height or as a number of floors. If there is no data, the tool estimates it from the purpose and the footprint, and the estimate can be recalculated with a button showing a die icon. Export is either to PNG with a long side of 2400, 3600 or 4800 pixels, where the lines can sit on a transparent background, or to a GLB 3D model, which can also include the distant background if desired.

Data and licenses

Buildings, roads and rivers are taken from OpenStreetMap under the ODbL license, so the attribution "© OpenStreetMap contributors" is required next to the image or in the output data of the work. The tool is permitted in both commercial and non-commercial works, and with a distant background "© OpenMapTiles" is added as well. Elevations for Japan are taken from 国土地理院 tiles, for the rest of the world from Terrain Tiles, AWS open data, the distant background is built from OpenFreeMap tiles, and the 3D display runs on three.js under the MIT license.

When searching for a place and assembling the city, the entered name and the coordinates of the plot are sent to OpenStreetMap services (Nominatim and Overpass API) and to the elevation tile providers; nothing else is transmitted, and the data is stored in the browser for 7 days. Search in the β version is temporarily limited because of a surge of visitors, and it is promised to be opened later.

Translation editors: Соловьев В., Пеков А.