View your map

There are two ways to display your map. Default mode is photorealistic and easier for the human eye to interpret. Point Cloud mode offers a clearer look at the raw 3D data and is great for more in depth GIS analysis.

We automatically produce both versions and it's easy to switch the viewing mode:

1. Open a map.
2. Open the Display & Filters panel.



Under Display it automatically selects Default.

3. Click on Point Cloud

Use Map Layers

Map Layers are vector (point, line, polygon) datasets that are uploaded to Hivemapper and displayed on top of the 3D map. You can upload your own data or you can display any layer that another user has uploaded and made public.
To view the public Map Layers:

1. Open a map.
2. Click on the Map Layers button on the toolbar.
3. Find a layer in the list that interest you and select it. You may need to navigate to a section of the map where the layer would be visible.

Map Layers is currently a beta feature. Some details from KML of GeoJSON datasets may not be visible. Performance and additional features and controls will be added regularly.

Upload a Map Layer

1. Have a GeoJSON or KML dataset.
2. Open the Map Layers panel and drag your GeoJSON or KML file onto it
3. Give your layer a name and description and hit Upload.
4. Once uploaded, enable the layer by checking the box by it’s name.
5. Click the arrow to view additional details and set custom colors and icons, as well as delete or make the layer public.

Find public data to upload as a Map Layer

Hivemapper supports adding Map Layers in the form of GeoJSON and KML files. There are many publically available datasets online. Here is a great source for California data.

Create data to upload as a Map Layer

You can easily create your own Map Layers with free online tools like Google My Maps or GeoJSON.io. Using this method you can create layers using your own data or copy data from an unsupported filetype or an image of a map.

To create a Map Layer using Google My Maps:

1. Go to google.com/mymaps and sign into your google account.
2. Click the + CREATE A NEW MAP button.
3. Navigate on the map to find the location you want to build your Map Layer.
4. To mark a point of interest select the Add a marker tool and click on a spot on the map where you want to set the point. Place as many points as you want in 1 layer.
5. To create a path select the Add a line or shape tool. Click on the map to set your first point and begin to draw your line. Double click your final point to end the line and create the path.
6. To create a polygon or area select the Add a line or shape tool. Click on the map to set your first point and begin to draw your polygon. Click on the first point again to close your polygon.
7. To export your Map Layer click rename your map to the name of your Map Layer and then click the menu button to the right and select Export to KML/KMZ.
8. Select the entire map of just one layer. Check the box next to export as KML instead of KMZ.

Currently hivemapper only allows you to select colors and icons for entire Map Layers so if you have data that you want to represent on the map with multiple colors or icons you need to export each layer as its own KML.

View Video-LiDAR Change Detection

When a LiDAR basemap is available any map will be able to be used for automatic Change Detection. This means that any physical changes that have occurred in between the time the LiDAR was collected and your videos are collected will be highlighted in green for immediate identification. To view change detection against LiDAR:

1. Open a Map.
2. Turn on Change Detection with the button on the toolbar.
3. Adjust the slider to filter out smaller levels of change.

Hovering the cursor over any spot on the map will reveal the specific amount of change.

If the map appears grey without any green highlighting that means that your map has no LiDAR basemap or your map has registered to the map with only medium-low accuracy.

Learn how to View LiDAR maps a way to verify your video-LiDAR Change Detection as well as inspect an area at the time of the LiDAR collection.

View Video-To-Video Change Detection

Video-To-Video change detection allows you to directly compare two segment maps against one another and highlighting any changes as being either added or removed. To view Video-To-Video Change Detection maps from a particular area:

1. Open a Map.
2. Turn on Change Detection with the button on the toolbar.
3. Find the Video-To-Video Changes list and select a change detection set that interests you. You can also expand the Video-To-Video Changes panel to reveal an option to sort by Recent instead of Nearest and a slider to specify the minimum time between collection dates.
4. Adjust the slider to filter out smaller levels of change.
5. Click anywhere on your Change Detection map to reveal a before and after video of that exact location.

When viewing before and after videos a yellow dot will appear on the map and on sections of your video where that point is available. The playback bar will also be highlighted in green to show every moment in the video where that point is available.

Hovering the cursor over any spot on the map will reveal the specific amount of change.

View Video-To-Video Change Detection with segment IDs

Whenever you have the Change Detection panel open you will see an automatically generated list of any available Video-To-Video Change Detection sets in the area. Additionally you can manually create a Change Detection set if you have the segment IDs of 2 overlapping maps. To do this:

1. Find the segment IDs of 2 overlapping segment maps. You can find segment IDs in the dashboard by selecting any video segment and clicking on the More Info dropdown.
2. Add the segment IDs to the following URL:

   hivemapper.com/compare/<ID1>/to/<ID2>/
   Example - hivemapper.com/compare/5bc8145c5c969cb9827598b5/to/5bc9041e5c969cb98275b436/

Measure between 2 points

You can quickly measure the distance between any 2 points on the 3D map. To do this:

1. Open a map.
2. Press the spacebar on your keyboard to open the measurement tool.


3. Click on the map at any location to begin measurement.


4. Click on the map at any other location to measure the distance between the 2 points.

Additional coordinate information is also listed for each point on the left side of the measurement tool. Clicking the screen a 3rd time will reset the tool and allow for further measurements.

Find coordinate information

To find coordinate information, including altitude, for any point on the map:

1. Open a map.
2. As you mouse over your map find Location under cursor on the bottom left of the screen.


3. Left click on any point on the map to lock the Location under cursor value to a specific point. A yellow dot will be added on the map for reference.

Find video of a location

You can select any point on the map and instantly retrieve all videos available where that specific point is visible. To do this:

1. Open a map.
2. Click on any point on the map and all videos with that point will appear on a list to the right.


3. A yellow dot will appear on the map and on all videos to help you identify and track the exact location of any point in the videos. Each video will also feature a timeline with the sections of video containing the point being highlighted in green.


4. You can pull out any video from the right to access additional video controls as well as saving the video after unselecting the point on the map. To unselect the point on the map and close the video search tool click on the 3D map a second time.

View video 3D coverage

The 3D map automatically loads all available maps in the viewing area. You can also quickly visualize how much 3D map coverage you have by navigating around the 2D map. To do this:

1. Open a map.
2. Click the 2D Map button on the bottom right of the screen.



Purple overlays will appear on the 2D map wherever there is 3D coverage.

When zoomed in and hovering over these overlays, outlines will appear revealing the coverage of the individual segment maps used to create the global map.




By clicking on the map when 1 or more of these segments are selected the videos associated with those segments will appear in a list on the right.




Within the Display & Filters panel you will also find an option to hide the coverage by selecting None in the 2D Overlay section or view the coverage in the form of fight paths by selecting Flight Paths.

View terrain maps

Terrain data helps provide visual context. Hivemapper, by default, displays this terrain data alongside your map so you can instantly identify if your map is located within a valley, on a hillside, or wherever there are geographical points of interest. To hide or re-enable this terrain layer:

1. Open a map.
2. Open the Display & Filters panel.


3. Under 3D Map select the Terrain checkbox.

View LiDAR maps

Whenever a map is generated Hivemapper automatically checks for, and imports, any existing LiDAR data from the mapped location. LiDAR data can be viewed in the Map to help provide situational context of a location as well as offering a look of that location as it appeared at the time of the LiDAR collection. To view the LiDAR map:

1. Open a map where LiDAR is available.
2. Open the Display & Filters panel.


3. Under 3D Map select LiDAR Basemap checkbox.

Viewing LiDAR maps is very resource intensive. Loading these maps may take some time and browser performance may decrease.

View infrared maps

Hivemapper is capable of generated 3D maps from Infrared video which can reveal additional temperature related information about a location. Any maps generated from Infrared video are not displayed on the map by default. To view these maps:

1. Open a map where infared maps are available.
2. Open the Display & Filters panel.


3. Under 3D Filters select Infrared checkbox.



In many cases, to properly view the Infrared map, you may want to hide the standard 3D map by unselecting the Color checkbox.

View medium-low accuracy maps

When a map is generated in an area where no LiDAR basemap is available it will be registered as having medium-low accuracy. These maps are not viewable by default. To view these maps:

1. Open a map where medium-low accuracy maps are avaliable.
2. Open the Display & Filters panel.


3. Under 3D Filters select Medium-Low checkbox.



In many cases, to properly view the Infrared, map you may want to hide the standard 3D map by unselecting the Color checkbox.

Export maps

Hivemapper can export your maps in a .las format for viewing in 3rd party applications. To export your maps:

1. Open a map.
2. Open the Menu panel.


3. Select Export Map.


4. Navigate on the map to select the area you want to export. The rectangular selector is resizable and any individual segment maps found within the area will be represented by a blue overlay.


5. Click on Begin Export.

Download exported maps

Once an Export is initiated it may take some time for your export to become ready. To download your exported maps:

1. Go to the Export Manager.
2. Select the export that you want to download and cofirm that the export is complete.


3. Click the Download Export button.