MetaVR News Volume XII, Issue 3 August 6, 2008 MetaVR creates 3D real-time environments that provide the fidelity of geographically specific simulation with game-quality graphics and performance. In this issue: MetaVR Announces the Release of Terrain Tools 1.0 for ESRI ArcGIS 9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ MetaVR Announces the Release of Terrain Tools 1.0 for ESRI ArcGIS 9 MetaVR announces the release of its Terrain Tools 1.0 for ESRI ArcGIS 9. This set of tools enables users to turn their geospatial data into real-time 3D terrain from within their GIS software. Leveraging the significant infrastructure of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) technology within ESRI's industry standard ArcGIS platform, MetaVR's Terrain Tools extension combines powerful 3D terrain building functionality with an accessible and intuitive interface. The tools can be easily understood by anyone with a general understanding of geospatial data concepts, regardless of experience with ArcGIS. Users simply create a basic map in ArcMap and use Terrain Tools to generate the 3D terrain in MetaVR's geocentric Metadesic format. The resulting terrain can be rendered in real-time within MetaVR's flagship image generator software, Virtual Reality Scene Generator (VRSG). Until now, MetaVR has offered two terrain generation products: WorldPerfect to build flat-earth terrain, and the Metadesic Compiler to build whole-earth geocentric terrain tiles. With MetaVR Terrain Tools for ArcGIS, users will have a single application that can generate terrain in both of these formats. Version 1.0 of Terrain Tools supports Metadesic whole-earth format terrain output. Future versions of Terrain Tools will support flat-earth MDX output. Customers on active maintenance for MetaVR's Metadesic Compiler and WorldPerfect terrain generation products can obtain a license of Terrain Tools free of charge. MetaVR's future development of Metadesic terrain generation will be focused on Terrain Tools. Future work on Metadesic Compiler will be solely for resolving any issues encountered by customers on active maintenance. MetaVR Terrain Tools for ESRI ArcGIS requires any license level of ArcGIS version 9 (ArcView, ArcEditor, or ArcInfo), ESRI's 3D Analyst Extension, and VRSG version 5. MetaVR Terrain Tools for ArcGIS can be ordered directly from MetaVR. MetaVR recently built and delivered 3D terrain of the Vermont Air National Guard base facilities and airfield at the Burlington International Airport, Burlington, VT. The 6-geocell 3D terrain, built with the company's new Terrain Tools is comprised of 47 GB of data of Vermont and upstate New York, with 60- meter post spacing, 1 meter imagery with 0.5 meter imagery inset of the Vermont Air National Guard airfield and base facilities. The Vermont Air National Guard will use the terrain for F-16 simulation training. The virtual terrain contains approximately 45 high-resolution, geolocated models of hangars, offices, storage facilities, and other buildings in the area, a high-resolution F-16 aircraft model, and the runway. In addition, there are approximately 40 other models of other elements such as runway lights, signs, trees, and so on. The virtual terrain also contains the commercial air terminal at Burlington International Airport. All of these site-specific models were created with textures derived from .1 cm resolution photographs taken at the site in 2007 with a 10-megapixel camera using industry standard 3D modeling Tools such as Maya and 3D Studio Max. This database is available free of charge to all US Government agencies and contractors (for official use only) and will require VRSG version 5.4 or higher. MetaVR is an ESRI Business Partner. http://www.metavr.com/products/terraintools/terraintools.html http://www.metavr.com/technology/vang.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This electronic newsletter may be redistributed without restriction in any format as long as the contents are unaltered. Previous issues of MetaVR News can be found at http://www.metavr.com/aboutus/newsarchive.html Copyright 2008, MetaVR, Inc. MetaVR, Inc. 80 Somerset Road Brookline, MA 02445 USA MetaVR News is comprised of over 13,000 e-mail addresses collected from company correspondence and public forums comprised of those who have interest in visual simulation. To subscribe to MetaVR News, send email to news_request@metavr.com. This newsletter is in full compliance with the enrolled (final) text of bill S.877, which became law on January 1, 2004, and which allows the sender to transmit unsolicited commercial electronic mail so long as the message contains an opt-out mechanism, a functioning return email address, and the legitimate physical address of the mailer.