Apple Campus 2 construction site shown off in massive 1.7-gigapixel aerial image
Apple's Campus 2 project in Cupertino, Calif., is one of the most photographed construction sites in the world thanks to a steady stream of looky-loos and drone fly-bys. A newly published 1.7-gigapixel image from aerial camera platform specialists SkyIMD, however, offers a uniquely detailed look at the build progress.
Posted to SkyIMD's website, the data-rich bird's-eye view is actually a composite of about 380 photos captured by the 100 megapixel Phase One iXU RS1000, an industrial medium format camera system designed for aerial imagery.
According to SkyIMD, the hundreds of shots were snapped aboard a Cessna aircraft flying some 2,000 feet over Campus 2 for 30 minutes on Dec. 22. With a 90mm lens fitted to the Phase One body, the firm was able to achieve an impressive ground sample distance of 3 cm/pixel, good enough to perceive workers and even their tools.
The mosaic was stitched together using Photoshop and is largely unedited. A few misalignments and visual artifacts are apparent, especially noticeable near closely aligned geometric shapes like the "spaceship" structure's solar panels, but the overall result is impressive.
SkyIMD has the full resolution 34,111-by-49,487 pixel image available in an interactive viewer on its site. Users can zoom in from an area covering approximately one half of a square mile to roughly 10,000 square feet.
The image comes just days after the latest Campus 2 drone footage arrived earlier this week, which showed construction of the main building, auditorium and secondary office buildings as nearly complete. Workers are now moving on to landscaping and putting the finishing touches on building exteriors.
Posted to SkyIMD's website, the data-rich bird's-eye view is actually a composite of about 380 photos captured by the 100 megapixel Phase One iXU RS1000, an industrial medium format camera system designed for aerial imagery.
According to SkyIMD, the hundreds of shots were snapped aboard a Cessna aircraft flying some 2,000 feet over Campus 2 for 30 minutes on Dec. 22. With a 90mm lens fitted to the Phase One body, the firm was able to achieve an impressive ground sample distance of 3 cm/pixel, good enough to perceive workers and even their tools.
The mosaic was stitched together using Photoshop and is largely unedited. A few misalignments and visual artifacts are apparent, especially noticeable near closely aligned geometric shapes like the "spaceship" structure's solar panels, but the overall result is impressive.
SkyIMD has the full resolution 34,111-by-49,487 pixel image available in an interactive viewer on its site. Users can zoom in from an area covering approximately one half of a square mile to roughly 10,000 square feet.
The image comes just days after the latest Campus 2 drone footage arrived earlier this week, which showed construction of the main building, auditorium and secondary office buildings as nearly complete. Workers are now moving on to landscaping and putting the finishing touches on building exteriors.
Comments
Hopefully Apple will update Maps with a Flyover of this building soon after it's completed.
Apples latest wonder is a building. Nice.
actually, this makes me think the Spaceship may one day be one of the 7 wonders of the world.
Maybe they could make it a little different and fly around it in a circle. That way the slow-mo could just continue to loop a few times rather than the obvious restarting like the current videos do.
^^^^ THIS IS BRILLIANT ^^^^
Website is down too.
Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs presents his proposal for a new Apple Campus to the Cupertino City Council. This presentation was recorded Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at the Cupertino Community Hall.
What did he do?...he showed up at city hall to show respect for the town leaders in an effort to streamline the approval.
The Late Steve Jobs did NOT have to show up at city hall to show his vision of Apple's headquarters.
And remember it was Steve Jobs last public appearance... (if i recall correctly) In any case Steve Jobs had terminal cancer at that time meaning very sick, and it required alot of effort For him to show up (nobody knew this at the time,only rumours that he was sick..)
(Remember to single empty seat in the front row at the unveiling of iPhone 4s?... the seat was reserved for the Late Great Steve Jobs, who passed away just days after that unveiling...
OTOH, worst case, since Tim Cook was "running the company" Steve Jobs feld useful going to that meeting.
He contacted a designer and they worked together.
The buildings openness was designed after Steve's philosophy of employees mingling to spark new ideas. Most of the design was demanded by Steve(exposed steel, doors flush with walls).
he worked through all the legal processes while DYING.
this building wouldn't exist without him and some believe it was his last project. He was at his office a day before he died.
I know Steve died years ago but these things take time.
Note to SkyIMD: some 3D shots would be very compelling in a VR viewer, if you can do the flights on a Sunday when nothing's moving and then time-shift the shots from a parallel pass for left and right stereo. It's amazing how much more you want to see when it's in 3D.