VSM 7.5.1 and Google Maps

[Nicholas Hood]

Hi Folks,

We just moved to VSM 7.5.1 and was interested in using Google Maps as my external map source, however there really isn't any guides on how to set that up. I see the two that are in there already and the special URL that is used but I can't find any information on how to obtain such from google or other. Has anyone had any success with this?

Thanks,

~N

[Nicholas Hood]

We are now on 7.6 and I am still having trouble figuring out the right combo for the google URL API page, has anyone set this up yet? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

-Nick

[StephanMC]

I believe you need to setup your own gis server if you want something custom done.

[Emanuel Hernandez · Accepted solution]

Yo Nick,

I have done some research on this topic. I found that google does not allow direct access to the map tiles. They want you to use the google maps or google earth as the front end application. Since the Video Surveillance Operations Manager map tool uses Leaflet (an open-source JavaScript library

for mobile-friendly interactive maps) it cannot easily be integrated with Google maps.  I ended up using Mapbox they provide a free api. The map information is better than  MapQuest and OpenStreeMap but is not as updated as google maps.

I created two links for the maps one for street view and one for satellite view. Links below:

https://api.mapbox.com/v4/mapbox.streets/{z}/{x}/{y}.png?access_token=YOUR API KEY HERE

https://api.mapbox.com/v4/mapbox.satellite/{z}/{x}/{y}.png?access_token=YOUR API KEY HERE

You can go the the Mapbox site and get a free api key.

Hope this helps you.

Manny

[Nicholas Hood]

Manny,

You are absolutely amazing. This is exactly what I needed to be able to finish this project. It is updated enough to where I can see the many new buildings that have been erected on my campus whereas on MapQuest and others, it was so outdated that these did not show.

Thanks so much for posting this. I hope it helps others in the future!

Cheers!!!

-Nick

[Scott Olsen]

I concur with Nick.  Many thanks for sharing what you've found.  

Cheers!

[sjamison]

Thank you this is amazing, especially in light of the fact that MapQuest has stopped support for direct tile access as of July 11, 2016

[jwitul]

Stale topic, I know, but hopefully your answer continues to help people out.  I was set in less than 10 minutes from scratch after your links and advice.  When going through Mapbox's navigation, I just needed to make sure I was looking for the GL JS library.