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How to Make this 3D Diorama of the Straits of Mackinac

Here’s how to make a 3D diorama micro world sort of thing for the Straits of Mackinac. Plus a little bit of Nelson nostalgia thrown in!

Colorful 3D mountain diorama:
Undersea 3D diorama:
Fake 3D atmosphere :

Here’s the World Imagery Wayback app to get archived versions of the imagery basemap:

Source elevation/bathymetry data from the Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab:

Michigan GIS data portal:

This demo is an extract from a presentation given at the IMAGIN annual conference of lovely Michigan map nerds.

More work from Tau Rho Alpha:

00:00 Intro examples
00:24 Nelson nostalgia and diorama intro
02:08 Finding and clipping an elevation model
3:10 Lets go 3D!
4:16 Finding better archived imagery
5:04 Hillshade!
5:29 Water and watery effects
8:38 Arranging a layout and perspective
9:14 Drawing and styling the dirt curtains
11:34 Sneaking in an easter egg
12:48 Labels and title
14:07 Adding a locator map

Check out some other social channels where I share how-to’s and updates on random map adventures:

By: John Nelson Maps
Title: How to Make this 3D Diorama of the Straits of Mackinac
Sourced From: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eecq5D5Y7_E

[MethodMotion.com]

Did you miss our previous article…
https://methodmotion.com/character-creation-workflow-with-zbrush-cinema-4d-redshift-2-6/