Microsoft Excel 2016 – Discover geospatial patterns with 3D Maps

With 3D Maps you get access to the popular 3D geospatial visualization tool that allows you to discover patterns in your data as it relates to location, time, and geopolitical context.

The popular 3D geospatial visualization tool, previously named Power Map, has been renamed 3D Maps and is now available to all Excel 2016 customers.

Here’s what you do:

Access 3D Maps and other visualization tools by clicking 3D Map on the Insert tab.

Creating your first 3D Map:

When you have Excel data that has geographic properties in table format or in a Data Model for example, rows and columns that have names of cities, counties, post codes, countries/ regions, or longitudes and latitudes - you’re ready to get started.

Preparing your data (or using sample data workbooks):

1. In Excel, open a workbook that has the table or Data Model data you want to explore in 3D Maps.

2. Click any cell in the table,

3. Click Insert > 3D Map (Clicking 3D Map for the first time automatically enables 3D Maps.)

3D Maps uses Bing to geocode your data based on its geographic properties. After a few seconds, the globe will appear next to the first screen of the Layer Pane.

4. In the Layer Pane, verify that fields are mapped correctly and click the drop-down arrow of any incorrectly mapped fields to match them to the right geographic properties.

For example, make sure that Seattle is recognized as a City in the drop-down box.

5. When 3D Maps plots the data, dots appear on the globe.

Note:

For the best results with 3D Maps,

·      Use data in an Excel table or (preferably) a Data Model you created in Excel or by using Power Pivot.

·      If the data you want to use in 3D Maps is stored on external servers, you can connect to it from Excel and add it to the Data Model.

·      3D Maps doesn’t support hierarchies (groupings of data fields) that you create in the Data Model.