Tiling a large Mr Sid raster

[KenLucas]

I have a large Mr Sid raster and would like to make it render faster in ArcMap. I could get access to the Spatial Analyst extension, but before I go to the considerable trouble to get the extension, I'd like to query the group about whether that extension is what I should use to break up my Mr Sid into 4 chunks or tiles. What other app or workflow should I use? My understanding is that ArcMap won't do the tiling, itself, without degrading the raster resolution.
Ken

[RobertBorchert]

Because of the nature of SID photos you may not be able to do that.  Issues with them rendering fast or slow are more of a hardware issue.

I would suggest changing the visible scale range instead so the Sids are only visible when your  scale is less than 1:10000 or so.  Us that as a start and increase it as you observer performance.

SIDS are a highly compressed data format.

I have a large Mr Sid raster and would like to make it render faster in ArcMap. I could get access to the Spatial Analyst extension, but before I go to the considerable trouble to get the extension, I'd like to query the group about whether that extension is what I should use to break up my Mr Sid into 4 chunks or tiles. What other app or workflow should I use? My understanding is that ArcMap won't do the tiling, itself, without degrading the raster resolution.
Ken

[KenLucas]

Robert,
   I hadn't thought of setting a scale range for a raster; that's a good trick to keep in mind. I realize that MR Sid is an image format. What format would you recommend changing the raster to to enable us to change it to a format that we can tile? 
Thank you for the prompt help,
Ken

[RobertBorchert]

You really cannot do much with SID's.

If you convert a SID to another format it will uncompress it and a 5 gb sid could end up being 20 gb or more.

I would recommend if you have online access to use the ESRI online air photos.

SID's are actually getting kind of old.  In my state they have not been updated since 2004 due to other methods being available, such as online.  What I don't like about online is that if you are not online you don't have any photos.

Robert,
   I hadn't thought of setting a scale range for a raster; that's a good trick to keep in mind. I realize that MR Sid is an image format. What format would you recommend changing the raster to to enable us to change it to a format that we can tile? 
Thank you for the prompt help,
Ken

[KenLucas]

Robert,
  Your point about the file size greatly expanding when we change from the Sid format is really helpful. I'm wondering if the increased file size, in another format, will make it render faster. I agree with you that accessing the ArcGIS.com imagery is an option, unfortunately, we're dealing with historical imagery. From what format, other than SID, can we tile the images into smaller chunks? would spatial analyst allow us to tile?
Ken

[RobertBorchert]

Where are you looking for.  Different options for different locations.

Here in Minnesota we have standard historical images going back to 1991 available.  They are pretty scary to look at compared to what we can get now but back in they day they were the cats meow.

Robert,
  Your point about the file size greatly expanding when we change from the Sid format is really helpful. I'm wondering if the increased file size, in another format, will make it render faster. I agree with you that accessing the ArcGIS.com imagery is an option, unfortunately, we're dealing with historical imagery. From what format, other than SID, can we tile the images into smaller chunks? would spatial analyst allow us to tile?
Ken

[KenLucas]

We're mapping historical right polygons for the Fallon, Nevada area. We have an existing MR sid of 1948 air photos. Does spatial analyst offer anything that would help us, like changing the format or tiling? I can get short term access to spatial analyst, if I think it would help us.   I know the ERDAS app would help us, but I doubt I'll be able to get access to that app.

[MichaelNesius · Accepted solution]

Since it sounds like you a primarily interested in just having faster rendering, have you considered any of the following:

• Add this SID into a mosaic dataset, then define and build overviews. With overviews, the mosaic will display these lower resolution/resampled images at smaller scales


• Or create a cache of this SID/mosaic


• Use the Split Raster tool, then create a mosaic of these rasters (using this on a SID might be an issue)

As a previous poster suggested, setting the Visible Scale Range is also an option. When the imagery is within a mosaic dataset, the rendering/visibility is controlled by the MinPS-MaxPS cell size attribute fields. I'd suggest defining and building overviews,

Some helpful ESRI documentation:

mosaic dataset overviews: http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.1/index.html#//009t00000040000000
mosaic dataset cell size rangers: http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.1/index.html#/Cell_size_ranges_in_a_mosaic_dataset/009t0... (you may need to modify these and define the overview levels manually to get your desired performance; e.g. once the SID is added to the mosaic, change the MaxPS to something small (e.g.a cell size of 0.5971) then define and build overviews for everything above it. Note the dataset size of the overviews can get large, so disk space is a consideration)
Image Cache: http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.1/index.html#/An_overview_of_the_Tile_Cache_toolset/0017...
Split Raster tool: http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.1/index.html#//00170000009v000000

[KenLucas]

Michael,
  Thank you so much for your thread. You've directed us to look at a number of geo processing tools available to arcmap. Cleared up my mis understanding that spatial analyst was required. Geo processing tools: Just what I was hoping was available. We'll  especially research the tiling cache toolset. I'll post back here the results of what we get from trying various workflows and tools.   I'm really grateful for your direction. 
Ken

[808707]

You'd be better off investing your spatial analyst budget in more RAM and a faster processor and a decent graphics card for your computer.