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If you have a regular broadband connection, all of the changes you make in location will happen almost instantaneously. It doesn't seem like more than a couple of years ago that we were all marveling over dynamic mapping ability at any speed; now it is all standard fare.

Live Search Maps is Microsoft’s entry into this market. Microsoft's Virtual Earth web-based mapping technology provides the mapping interface for Live Search Maps (formerly Windows Live Maps or Microsoft Live Maps, formerly Windows Live Local — can't they make up their minds?).

Along with the typical mapping views, they have quite a good assortment of aerial view options, in some urban cases with maximum resolution as high as 4.5 pixels per meter (much lower, of course, in rural areas).

Of prime interest to architects is a very nice viewing option called "Bird's Eye" view. At last report, in over 100 U.S. cities and over 80 European locations, a Bird's Eye view offered aerial photos showing images at higher resolution than the aerial shots and, in some cases, provided quite a bit of detail.

Another nice feature of the Bird's Eye view is that you can use the turn arrows to give bird's eye views from four different aerial angles of your site.

In addition, as reported by Neil Blanchard, a designer with David Dunlap Associates in Hanover, Massachusetts, "Microsoft has added 3D buildings to their Virtual Earth/ Live Search Maps program... for commercial buildings at least (but not for residential). This new feature is in addition to the excellent Bird's Eye view. You can now tilt the view down or up and the 3D buildings will maintain their shapes."

This 3D viewing mode comes from Live Search's tie-in with Microsoft’s Virtual Earth 3D program (similar to Google Earth), which is now in beta testing, but can also be used as a direct mapping tool.

(Editor's note: Use of the 3D function in the Virtual Earth web interface requires installation of Microsoft Virtual Earth 3D software, which is available for download for Windows only.)

The real leader in mapping services now is Google Maps, which has a little ant army of mapping vehicles out there combing street after street in many cities to provide 360-degree panoramic views from street locations every couple of hundred feet apart. In some of these panoramic views you can swivel your point of view in any direction, zoom up and back, and even swivel straight up and down to where you can see the camera mount on top of the vehicle!

(Live Search Maps also has a street-side viewing component in beta with a snazzy interface — view options include from race car, from sports car, and walking — but at present it is limited to only Seattle and San Francisco.)

Google Maps has five standard viewing options: "Map" (topographic and street map), "Satellite" (satellite and high-resolution aerial photographs), "Terrain" (geographic features in high relief with street overlay), "Street View" (eye-level 360-degree view of certain streets), and "Traffic" (traffic congestion maps).

The Street View coverage has expanded in a year's time (feature released May 25, 2007) from a few U.S. cities to now more than 40 U.S. cities, and includes the suburbs of many cities as well. Editor's Note: On June 10, 2008, Google announced expansion of Street View to 37 new areas.

When you hit the Street View button, a pop-up window opens over your regular map view, with onscreen navigation tools that are very easy and intuitive to use. Any of these images can be printed or captured using tools standard to most operating systems.

On screen are also directional arrows along the street that, when clicked on, will move you to the next camera location down the road. Planning a trip to, say, Boston, Massachusetts? Go to Google Maps, and you can literally drive around the town to get to know the look and feel of the city before you arrive. Amazing!

Google Street Views can be navigated using either the arrow keys on the keyboard or by using the mouse to click on arrows displayed on the screen. Additionally by clicking and dragging your mouse, you can swivel the view straight up to the sky or down to the camera mount.

As always, you are free to pick and choose the mapping service whose features might best serve you at the time. A nice way to compare the quality of images for any location can be had at Ryan Jonasson's web site, which will put up side-by-side images from Google Maps and Live Search Maps. Navigating movement in either window will simultaneously make the same movement in the other window.

Many architects are already putting these mapping services to work in their practices.

"I have just been burning up my keyboard using MS Virtual Earth lately," reports David Porter, AIA, principal of David Porter Associates—Architects, Inc. in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

"I found a power pole on a client's site using it the other day and it saved me a trip to the jobsite," he says. "Also, I did a couple of cursory roof 'inspections' using it. It's like flying my own plane over sites and taking angled, aerial shots from all four elevations."

Our cup now overflows when it comes to mapping services, so drink up and enjoy the free bar!   >>>

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Evan H. Shu, FAIA is an architect with Shu Associates Inc in Melrose, Massachusetts. He is a contributor to The Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice and is publisher and editor of Cheap Tricks, a monthly newsletter for DataCAD users and computer-using architects.

This article was reprinted from the June 2008 issue of Cheap Tricks © Shu Associates Inc. with permission of the publisher.

SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE Google and its contractors use car-mounted multicamera assemblies with laser range-finders to document city streets. Photo: Olivier Londe The "Street View" function pops out of the standard Google Maps interface with the click of a button. Image: Courtesy Google Maps In most major U.S. cities, Google's "Map" view includes 3D massing outlines of buildings for easy reference. Image: Courtesy Google Maps With the "Satellite" view, full-color aerial or satellite photography appears, though the display can be confusing where tall buildings appear to overlap streets and obscure other buildings. Image: Courtesy Google Maps With a general location selected in the Map or Satellite view, a single click activates the Street View. A small yellow figure can be dragged across the screen to select the viewpoint Image: Courtesy Google Maps The Street View is initially a small window. Image: Courtesy Google Maps Street View can be expanded to fill the available width and height of the browser window. Image: Courtesy Google Maps With careful positioning along the street and use of the panning and zooming tools, dramatic building views can be achieved. Image: Courtesy Google Maps   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.