I've been using it for a few months now and agree that it is really cool. It is great for trip planning across the seasons. I run it on my Mac and have it loaded on my laptop for when I am on the road.
That is a sweet piece of work! Thanks for the link Rick.
Posted by David Taylor on April 10, 2010 at 1:18 AM
I've been beta testing the iPhone app for Stephen, along with a small group of other photogs. Stephen is a great guy and the iPhone app has a ton of functionality. I still prefer the laptop version (for the screen real estate), but the iPhone app (beta) has worked great. I heard from Stephen (last weekend I think) and the app was going through the App Store acceptance process, and should be available shortly. He's also planning on working on a iPad version. Good stuff all around.
I've got TPE installed and its seemed rather handy, but I discovered a better option (for the computer at least - iPhone/Pad/Pod is another story) the other night. Google Earth can actually render the sky with the sun in it (ie render sunrise and sunset), accounting for shadows and such. Its not CGI quality, obviously, but it can give you a better idea of when there may be vertical impediments to the early / late hour light than a 2D map can.
Just click on the button with the Sun on it (sixth from the right) on the toolbar along the top of the screen, then drag the slider to the time of day you want to render the lighting at. Even shows star paths at night.
Posted by John Williams on April 11, 2010 at 12:16 PM
Discussion
8 repliesI just ran across a really cool ephemeris tool:
http://stephentrainor.com/tools#requirements
It does require Adobe Air but that shouldn't be a problem. It runs on Windows, Mac OS-X and even Linux!
Just click on the button with the Sun on it (sixth from the right) on the toolbar along the top of the screen, then drag the slider to the time of day you want to render the lighting at. Even shows star paths at night.