New Enhancements for Terrain Rendering Extension

MetaVR has released its latest version of Terrain Tools, version 1.6, with a host of new features. Terrain Tools is MetaVR’s extension to the industry standard Geographic Information System (GIS) platform, Esri ArcGIS for Desktop, that enables users to turn their geospecific data into real-time 3D terrain for rendering in MetaVR’s image generator software, Virtual Reality Scene Generator (VRSG).

Terrain Tools combines powerful 3D terrain building functionality with an accessible and intuitive interface that enables users to create real-time terrain for simulated military and civil training scenarios in MetaVR's Metadesic round-earth terrain format.

Some of the new features and enhancements include the ability to recompile an existing 3D terrain's cultural features (such as models, instances, lights, and fences) without having to recompile the terrain and textures; the colorization of tree models and other vegetation by automatic color matching of the models with underlying geospecific imagery, and improved coastline rendering.

For a report showing how the military is increasing the bar on performance, read  Measuring and Evaluating – With Greater Purpose.

Using Terrain Tools version 1.6, MetaVR has built a new high-resolution 3D terrain dataset of Spain as part of its coverage of Europe. The geospecific round-earth terrain was built with 0.50 mpp resolution source imagery and SRTM1 (30m) elevation source data covering the entire country, and bathymetry data of the northern/western Spain coastline. It includes areas of high-resolution insets of Lugo province in the Galicia region of northwest Spain and Los Llanos Albacete Air Base (LEAB) in Albacete province in central Spain.