[PD] maps, shapes, vector graphics and kml files

[marius schebella]

hi,
I am trying to get a good world map in Pd where I have separated 
countries. My initial idea was to be able to switch between a flat and a 
spherical view... that was probably too ambitious.
First I wanted to work with the shapes of the countries, leaving the 
rest of the map black (for alpha blending), but that gave me some 
limitations when zooming in. Now I am reading into svg formats and how 
google earth handles location data and country borders (with kml files) 
and I wonder how I can display any vector graphics format in pd. at the 
moment I am converting from adobe illustrator to blender to wavefront 
obj. Is there an easier way to do that? I read that there are opengl 
libraries like cairo that can handle svg and draw them in opengl.
otoh, with wavefront objects I have the problem that the countries are 
all flat and not bent to the sphere, so I wonder if that is solvable at 
all? I would rather stay with a flat map if I get moveable and resizable 
country shapes...
thnx for hints!
marius.