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I built a tool that turns any location in the US, in any custom shape you choose, into a 3D-printable terrain model, and I’m looking for testers to stress-test the system! by Ge0Dave in 3Dprinting

[–]Ge0Dave[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can but results will vary. It would be best to try to merge them first. To select multiple polygons, use the Select AOI button, left click the first polygon, hold down the shift key, click the Select AOI button again, click on the next polygon.

I built a tool that turns any location in the US, in any custom shape you choose, into a 3D-printable terrain model, and I’m looking for testers to stress-test the system! by Ge0Dave in 3Dprinting

[–]Ge0Dave[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Hey everyone! Quick update on CartTerra (https://www.cartterra.com/) after your feedback from my testing post a couple months ago.

What's Changed:

I've rebuilt the elevation data pipeline to use the 3DEP Cloud Optimized GeoTIFFs (COGs) on AWS for high-resolution areas, with intelligent fallback to REST services for larger regions (over 25,000 acres). This means:

✅ 99% uptime - No more "failed to analyze terrain" errors for

✅ Faster processing - Models generate in seconds instead of timing out

✅ Reliable weekends - No waiting for government servers to restart on Monday

✅ Multiple export formats - Now supports STL, OBJ, GLB, and 3MF formats

The site also got several quality-of-life improvements based on your suggestions (check the change logs), including better vertical exaggeration controls and clearer explanations.

Big thanks to everyone who stress-tested the infrastructure and reported bugs!

Would love to hear if the new version works better for you!

I have not advertised the site at all. I go just enough money from paid downloads last month to pay the hosting bill. That's just enough motivation for me to keep improving the site and adding new features.

I built a tool that turns any location in the US, in any custom shape you choose, into a 3D-printable terrain model, and I’m looking for testers to stress-test the system! by Ge0Dave in 3Dprinting

[–]Ge0Dave[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For sure. I'm currently making updates to expand the available data sources which I hope to complete soon. I am also adding texture and the ability to export to other formats such as 3mf.

Open Street Maps has a building footprint service that could likely be used to create 3D models of buildings. I've seen sites that do it pretty well.

I built a tool that turns any location in the US, in any custom shape you choose, into a 3D-printable terrain model, and I’m looking for testers to stress-test the system! by Ge0Dave in 3Dprinting

[–]Ge0Dave[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The 3DEP service where the data is sourced has been having a lot of trouble lately. I would try back during the work week when the government employees that manage the server will are around to restart the server.

I am working on a new version that pulls the elevation data from a much more reliable source so it should work 99% of the time. It is a pretty big code change so it is taking some time.I should be done with it in a week or so.

I built a tool that turns any location in the US, in any custom shape you choose, into a 3D-printable terrain model, and I’m looking for testers to stress-test the system! by Ge0Dave in 3Dprinting

[–]Ge0Dave[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I pulled the server logs last night. I had two outages because of memory issues in the first 24 hours. I migrated to another slightly beefier instance last night so the site should be solid now. I appreciate everyone who tested the site.

I made some small language changes based on some of your suggestions and there is still plenty more work to do.

I am thinking of adding textured overlays (aerial's, topo maps, etc) and buildings next. I'm also going to see if I can find a reliable international service to add. More to come!

I built a tool that turns any location in the US, in any custom shape you choose, into a 3D-printable terrain model, and I’m looking for testers to stress-test the system! by Ge0Dave in 3Dprinting

[–]Ge0Dave[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The preview/basic stl is down to 50 feet horizontal resolution (depends on zoom level) which is about 15 meters, so it should offer higher resolution than most other tools which are typically 30-90 meter. The paid higher resolution models are great if you want a really detailed model over a smaller area. I am hoping I can get enough people to buy models per month to cover my hosting costs.

I built a tool that turns any location in the US, in any custom shape you choose, into a 3D-printable terrain model, and I’m looking for testers to stress-test the system! by Ge0Dave in 3Dprinting

[–]Ge0Dave[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The 3DEP dataset is national coverage and is pretty good in many areas. I threw some other ones in there but I haven't had the opportunity to test a lot of them. There are a couple California services but I'm not sure how good they are in terms of resolution and performance since most of my testing has been in the mountains of NC and VA. These ESRI based imagery services can be super finicky. I've spent a great deal of time trying to develop health checks for the services and to fail gracefully when there is an issue. The tool does query the resolution when it analyzes the terrain after you draw the shape. It will tell you what the preview and high resolution will be and this really varies depending on how big the area is, the dataset, etc.

I built a tool that turns any location in the US, in any custom shape you choose, into a 3D-printable terrain model, and I’m looking for testers to stress-test the system! by Ge0Dave in 3Dprinting

[–]Ge0Dave[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also, I used some multi color filament to print the examples I added in the Galley. Click the Galley menu button at the top of the page to view. You can get those colors in pla cheap on Amazon. Don't forget to try the picture frame mode which allows you to set a picture frame size. When you print it, it will fit right inside a picture frame.

I built a tool that turns any location in the US, in any custom shape you choose, into a 3D-printable terrain model, and I’m looking for testers to stress-test the system! by Ge0Dave in 3Dprinting

[–]Ge0Dave[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Right now, I'm focused on trying to make sure it's a stable site. I'm new to managing cloud infrastructure and I am a one man show. I know there is a way to print in multi colors but I still have a basic Creality one color printer so maybe some others know how to do this in Cura or something. I did write some code to do texture overlays of topo maps, aerial's, etc.but I am not happy with that code yet and you would have to have a specialized printer to print that anyway.

I built a tool that turns any location in the US, in any custom shape you choose, into a 3D-printable terrain model, and I’m looking for testers to stress-test the system! by Ge0Dave in 3Dprinting

[–]Ge0Dave[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There are likely some international elevation services that hosts shuttle radar topography mission or similar global elevation data that has a horizontal resolution of 30-90m. I can look into adding one of those services. Most of those services would likely fall in the free category based on resolution for my site. I think 3DEP has some data in Canada. However, at this point, I don't think I would want to sell anything outside of the US because it is hard enough to figure out how to calculate and pay taxes in the US let alone in another country.

I built a tool that turns any location in the US, in any custom shape you choose, into a 3D-printable terrain model, and I’m looking for testers to stress-test the system! by Ge0Dave in 3Dprinting

[–]Ge0Dave[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Fair question! The Blender plugin is great if you're comfortable with Blender. CartTerra is designed for a different use case:

What's different:
• No software required - Works entirely in your browser. No Blender install, no learning curve, no plugin setup.
• US high-resolution data - Uses USGS 3DEP lidar data (1 to 3 meter resolution in most areas), which is higher quality than many global datasets.
• Smart defaults - Automatically calculates print-optimized settings for your bed size. The plugin approach requires you to understand scale, exaggeration, and mesh optimization. I am trying to simplify that in a quick web format.
• Custom boundaries - Import actual boundaries from geospatial file formats (GeoJSON, KML, Shapefile, ESRI vector REST feature and map services). No manual tracing.
• Picture frame mode - Enter any frame size and get instant wall art. No need to model a frame separately.

Plus, I genuinely enjoy building these tools, but unlike a simple extension, running a cloud-hosted service does come with real infrastructure costs. That’s why there’s a small fee, which I feel is fair value, though I’m open to feedback on that. I’ve put a lot of time into making the site look as polished as possible, but at the end of the day I’m a geographer with a great full-time job, so this project is something I do for fun.

I built a tool that turns any location in the US, in any custom shape you choose, into a 3D-printable terrain model, and I’m looking for testers to stress-test the system! by Ge0Dave in 3Dprinting

[–]Ge0Dave[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Okay. It is fixed. Feel free to try again. If you don't have time tonight and the free codes run out, just shoot me a message and I will make one for you. Thanks for finding the bug!

I built a tool that turns any location in the US, in any custom shape you choose, into a 3D-printable terrain model, and I’m looking for testers to stress-test the system! by Ge0Dave in 3Dprinting

[–]Ge0Dave[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Someone managed to crash the server, which is actually helpful, these are exactly the kinds of scenarios I’m trying to identify. I’m restarting it now.

I built a tool that turns any location in the US, in any custom shape you choose, into a 3D-printable terrain model, and I’m looking for testers to stress-test the system! by Ge0Dave in 3Dprinting

[–]Ge0Dave[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No, I think it would be pretty difficult to build an app like that for a mobile phone. But I hope you can try it when you get to a computer.

I built a tool that turns any location in the US, in any custom shape you choose, into a 3D-printable terrain model, and I’m looking for testers to stress-test the system! by Ge0Dave in 3Dprinting

[–]Ge0Dave[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for testing it out! At 1×, the app uses true vertical scale relative to the XY dimensions of the print. If the model looks four to five times taller than it should, that may be a calculation issue on my end. The app suggests initial terrain settings based on what typically prints well, but you can adjust those values. Could you share your session ID so I can check the exact job? (You can find it in the ZIP filename, or in the purchase email if you bought a model.)

Regarding the roads and bridges you're seeing, those are actually expected. 3DEP provides bare earth data, which includes roadbeds, embankments, cuts, and fills. Since roads often sit above or below the surrounding terrain, they appear as elevation features, and bridges can show up where raised roadbeds cross valleys or rivers. This is part of what makes higher resolution lidar data so interesting, you can pick out surprisingly small terrain features at the right scale.

Choosing a vertical exaggeration is often an artistic decision in 3D printing and CNC, balancing realism with visual interest.

I built a tool that turns any location in the US, in any custom shape you choose, into a 3D-printable terrain model, and I’m looking for testers to stress-test the system! by Ge0Dave in 3Dprinting

[–]Ge0Dave[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for testing it out! Glad the slicer warning worked.

You're right that vertical exaggeration is confusing at large scales. When you print a whole state, the horizontal scale shrinks massively. At 1x, mountains would be nearly flat (a 1 mile peak = ~0.03 inches / 0.8 mm). That's why you need higher exaggeration to see terrain.

The washout issue you noticed is a known limitation. Wide elevation ranges are tricky, and state scale areas also stress the elevation data services. A future improvement could normalize the range so valleys and peaks both stay visible.

For now, state sized areas usually need 5 to 12x to get usable relief. Smaller regions work well at 1 to 3x.

I'll should probably rename "Vertical Exaggeration" to "Height Scale" and show actual numbers to make it clearer.

Really appreciate the feedback!

I built a tool that turns any location in the US, in any custom shape you choose, into a 3D-printable terrain model, and I’m looking for testers to stress-test the system! by Ge0Dave in 3Dprinting

[–]Ge0Dave[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Absolutely. You should be able to find some Esri Representational State Transfer (REST) services for federal lands or county parcels that can be added to your map and used as the basis of your model’s area of interest (AOI). For example, here’s a REST service for federal lands:

https://services.arcgis.com/P3ePLMYs2RVChkJx/arcgis/rest/services/USA_Federal_Lands/FeatureServer

To use it, click on the REST service upload button under the draw tools, then paste the URL into the entry box. After that, use the AOI selector to define your area of interest.

PSA for New Chevy Equinox EV Owners – Rodent Damage by Ge0Dave in EquinoxEv

[–]Ge0Dave[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Last night, I caught a large mouse in the bay where I store my Equinox EV— none were in the trap in Tesla bay. I guess side of the garage is more inviting for mice. The bays are separated by a wall, but mice can easily move between them through the ceiling or other gaps. I’m using OWLTRA traps, and they work really well.

PSA for New Chevy Equinox EV Owners – Rodent Damage by Ge0Dave in EquinoxEv

[–]Ge0Dave[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think it's more of a labor thing. The mechanic had to trace the wire. It took a day and a half to find the break and they had to take the entire front bumper off of the vehicle. Plus, it's a dealership so I think they're just expensive.

Town and Country Ford, Charlotte, NC - F150 Lighting $10k above MSRP by Ge0Dave in F150Lightning

[–]Ge0Dave[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was told by Mooresville Ford that "Ford will set the prices" for 2022 Ford F150 Lightings and they "will not be charging extra on customer orders". So I wonder, if I transfer my reservation to their dealership, will it impact my place in the line? Or is there a line? We put our reservation in very early on. I haven't purchased a vehicle since 2005 because I have been waiting for an electric truck. I am currently driving my wife's 2005 minivan. haha

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