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Terrain relief on a 3D map: on or off

Relief adds the landscape's third dimension: hills, slopes and valleys print from real satellite elevation data. For some cities it's the best part of the model; for others it's simply invisible. Let's sort out when it's worth it.

Cities where relief is a must

Kyiv: the drop between the Dnipro level and the Upper City is about a hundred meters — with relief you see the slopes and why the descents are descents. Lviv with its hills, any Carpathian town — relief does half the impression there.

A separate case is mountains without a city: ridges, a hiking spot. For those there's the topographic keychain mode where the relief itself is the story.

Cities where you can save

Steppe and seaside plains — Kherson, Mykolaiv, most of Odesa — vary by a few meters: on an 8 cm model that's fractions of a millimeter lost behind the buildings. Here it's more honest to keep relief off and spend the difference on a bigger size.

How relief is printed

Elevations come from global satellite data, get denoised and scaled so drops stay readable without drowning the buildings. Roads and rivers drape neatly over slopes — the river flows in the valley instead of hanging mid-air.

Create a map with relief

3D city maps

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