Introducing "Bring Your Own Charts" (BYOC)

Mike · 2012-Oct-30 9:08 am

BRING YOUR OWN CHARTS (BYOC) USER GUIDE

Since the very beginning our customers from around the world have been asking us, "When will Naviator have charts for my country?" We would love to be able to add charts for many more countries, but the reality is that this usually requires dealing with various government agencies that are often very slow moving. So we decided that rather than be at the mercy of these slow moving government agencies, we should do something to make Naviator more useful for our customers. Beginning with Naviator version 1.3.3 it is now possible to import your own charts! We call this the Bring Your Own Charts feature, or BYOC for short. If you have a digital image of a chart, whether it be from a scanned paper chart or downloaded off the internet, you can now import it into Naviator. The remainder of this post will outline how to import a regular (non geo-referenced) image file into Naviator from start to finish.

Note: The BYOC feature requires a free trial subscription, a monthly chart subscription, or an annual chart subscription in order to function.

Required Tools

MapTiler - to chop the geo-referenced image into small tiles
Naviator Chart Packager - to package the tiles into a format compatible with Naviator

Note: The MapTiler free version limits the zoom levels of your custom map and adds a watermark to the final output. For unlimited zoom levels and no watermark, you will need to purchase MapTiler "Start" edition.

Step 1: Running MapTiler
The main MapTiler screen looks like the image below. Make sure you select the 'Standard Tiles' option.

Step 2: Geo-Referencing the Image
A regular image file does not contain any location information. In other words when looking at a scanned paper chart (for example), a computer program would have no idea where in the world that chart was actually located. The process of adding this location information to a regular image is called geo-referencing. All BYOC charts are required to be geo-referenced before they can be viewed with Naviator.

MapTiler enables you to easily geo-reference any image file. For a detailed tutorial, follow this link: http://www.maptiler.com/how-to/overlay-image-over-map/

Step 3: Creating the Image Tiles
After you have geo-referenced your image file, MapTiler cuts the image into many very small tiles which are more convenient and faster for Naviator to work with, compared to a single large image file.

Choose an output folder and then click the "Advanced Options" button:

Important: Make sure you use the same settings as indicated by the red arrows!

Click 'Render' and wait until the process completes. It may take a long time to finish, depending on the speed of your computer and the size of the geo-referenced image.

Step 4: Packaging the Image Tiles
When you finish Step #3 you will have a directory structure containing thousands of small image files. The next step is to package up these image files into a single file that Naviator can understand.

Start the Naviator Chart Packager
Click 'Select Input' and select the output directory created in Step #3
Give the chart a name and then click 'Start'

When the process finishes, you will have a new file ending in .chart. This is your final chart that you can view inside the Naviator app!

Step 5: Installing BYOC Charts
To install the new chart, connect your Android device to your computer using a USB cable. Using Windows Explorer, browse to your Android device's storage. Look for a folder called 'Naviator'. If it doesn't exist, create it. Inside the 'Naviator' folder create another folder called 'Charts'. Copy the .chart file created in Step 4 to the 'Charts' folder on your Android device.

That's it! Disconnect your Android device from the computer and start Naviator. You should now be able to see your chart on the Map Screen.

robjs1000 · 2013-Jan-25 3:34 pm

Hi, Could you perhaps provide a procedure to do the above using the command line GDAL2Tiles program instead of Maptiler as Maptiler hangs on the tile details screen. (appears an issue with zoom level). I have an aviation map that is already georeferenced as WGS84 (EPSG:4326). I am not able to find examples on how to use GDAL2Tiles with the required parameters. Many Thanks, Rob

Mike · 2013-Jan-25 6:32 pm

The following command should work (replace 'mymap.tif' with the file name of your own map image):

gdal2tiles -w none -r bilinear -z 4-11 mymap.tif

For other options type

gdal2tiles --help

Windows users: there are instructions for installing the gdal2tiles utility at the bottom of this page: http://help.maptiler.org/betatest/

Ornellas · 2013-Mar-18 10:38 am

Hi.

I can't understand.

If possible, you have how make a tutorial more complete?

Tanks

haydent · 2013-May-12 5:38 am

i made a guide to get 250k topo's for australia for free:
http://forum.naviatorapp.com/viewtopic.php?id=660

hpl · 2013-Nov-10 6:54 am

The current WAC tif files do not work with the old Maptiler. The current Maptiler recognizes these tif files but none of the files outputs offered by Mercator Tiles option

Overlay PNG + optimisation (8-bit palette with alpha transparency)
Overlay PNG format (32-bit RGBA with alpha transparencyy)
Base map JPEG format (without transparency)
Base map PNG format + optimisation ((8-bit palette without transparency)
Base map PNG format (24-bit RGB without transparency)

works with Naviator.

I poked around other tiles option (Google Earth, Custome tiles, raster tiles) and found the same file output formats. None of them offers the 'old' file output format which works with Naviator

file format: Hybrid JPEG+PNG - only for Google Earth

I am planning for a trip to Puerto Rico and would like to bring the WAC charts (CJ 26 and CJ27) to Naviator.

Last edited by hpl (2013-Nov-10 6:57 am)

hpl · 2013-Nov-11 1:50 pm

I posted my question at google maptiler forum and got a quick reply from the maptiler developer, Petr Pridal. I followed his suggestion and got the problem solved. Below is my reply to Petr at the maptiler forum
----------

Petr,
Thank you very much for your quick reply. The Titling scheme "OSGEO TMS" did the trick. I chose Mercator in the first screen and OSGEO TMS in the Advanced Options then tried different file output formats:

Base map JPEG format (without transparency): worked but resulting in a huge white background with the map in center.
Base map PNG format (24-bit RGB without transparency) did not work (Naviator did not show the map)
Overlay PNG format (32-bit RGBA with alpha transparencyy): work perfect!!!

So the correct procedure is Mercator. OSGEO TMS titling and Overlay PNG format (32-bit RGBA with alpha transparency)

----
I was able to 'port' all the needed WAC charts to Naviator. I think the BYOC is a great feature of Naviator.

batake · 2015-Jan-11 9:20 am

I made 4 maps of Japan west.

1) Make GPS Map File with QGIS 2.6.
CRS of Map and Georeferencer set to WGS84 .
Map image I scanned was with 600dpi. 300dpi is useable but a little bit difficult to read letters. Not beautiful.

2)Make map tiles with MapTiler.
I bought MapTiler Plus.
2-1) File -> Add an input file... Select map file.
Don't choose Google Earth or Custom Tiles or Raster Tiles.
2-2) Push Continure button.
2-3) Set Zoom.
4 to 10 - 12.
Before buying MapTiler upgrade, I coudl not change zoom.
2-4) Push Advanced options. ( Folder button was selected)
2-5) Choosed options.
Tile Format : Overlay PNS format (32-bit RGBA with alpha transparency)
Resampling : Bilinear
Transparency settings : Default
Tiling Scheme : OSGEO TMS (bottom-left origin)
2-6) Push Render.
2-7) Choose Folder where make tiles.
File name allowed only single bite letters.
Folder including Double byte in full path was failed to make tiles.

3) Make package with ChartPackager.
Chart file name may be with in 8 letters. Naviator could not find file with long name.

4)Send chart file to device.
( If you don't run NaviatorApp yet, you can't find Chart folder.)

Last edited by batake (2015-Jan-11 9:27 am)

CmtJhonald · 2016-Feb-27 6:20 am

Hi

I'm having problems to run/load ChartPackager.exe on linux. I'm using Wine. I changed the permissions and the program doesn't load. Stay a while trying to load and do not open at all. Somebody already use it on linux. Thanks

CmtJhonald · 2016-Mar-06 2:29 pm

Hi Mike

I would like to know if it's possible BYOC using Maptiler 0.6.4. With this version isn't necessary to use QGis. If possible post a tutorial for use this new tool available. Thanks a lot

Mike · 2016-Mar-15 10:45 am

I've updated the first post with details about how to use the new version of MapTiler to create a BYOC chart.

Cheers,
Mike

areyesj · 2016-Jul-05 7:13 am

Is there a easy tutorial to follow step by step on the WAC conversion? For example someone said download from FAA but I am not an expert, I see the zip file downloaded, open it and I see three different files there so wich one to use? Also how do you tell Naviator to search & load that file? Thanks
Alex

alaslistas · 2016-Sep-09 6:20 pm

I have been playing with maptiler and chart packer for months and have not been succesful I got three wacs digitized and they want $50 each to attatch georeferences and more to put them in .chart format they are in pdf

Danie · 2016-Nov-07 2:29 am

Can any direct me to a place where one can download maps? I'm looking for a map of Namibia/Southern Africa. Thanks in advance.

Naviator Forums

Announcement

#1 2012-Oct-30 9:08 am

Introducing "Bring Your Own Charts" (BYOC)

#2 2013-Jan-25 3:34 pm

Re: Introducing "Bring Your Own Charts" (BYOC)

#3 2013-Jan-25 6:32 pm

Re: Introducing "Bring Your Own Charts" (BYOC)

#4 2013-Mar-18 10:38 am

Re: Introducing "Bring Your Own Charts" (BYOC)

#5 2013-May-12 5:38 am

Re: Introducing "Bring Your Own Charts" (BYOC)

#6 2013-Nov-10 6:54 am

Re: Introducing "Bring Your Own Charts" (BYOC)

#7 2013-Nov-11 1:50 pm

Re: Introducing "Bring Your Own Charts" (BYOC)

#8 2015-Jan-11 9:20 am

Re: Introducing "Bring Your Own Charts" (BYOC)

#9 2016-Feb-27 6:20 am

Re: Introducing "Bring Your Own Charts" (BYOC)

#10 2016-Mar-06 2:29 pm

Re: Introducing "Bring Your Own Charts" (BYOC)

#11 2016-Mar-15 10:45 am

Re: Introducing "Bring Your Own Charts" (BYOC)

#12 2016-Jul-05 7:13 am

Re: Introducing "Bring Your Own Charts" (BYOC)

#13 2016-Sep-09 6:20 pm

Re: Introducing "Bring Your Own Charts" (BYOC)

#14 2016-Nov-07 2:29 am

Re: Introducing "Bring Your Own Charts" (BYOC)

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