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Landscape Simulations
Software Evaluations Ecomodeler was designed specifically for creating landscape simulations that display real stand data. The output image is very similar to Visual Nature Studio. This is a very good piece of software designed specifically for its use in the resource management arena. www.viewscape3d.com Cost: $6000 Ease of Use This is a simpler program to use than most. It does not have as much functionality for manipulating the generation of surfaces and textures, but that enhances its ease of use. Ease of viewpoint placement It is very easy to place the camera using coordinates. Terrain accuracy The terrain is as accurate as the DEM imported. Vegetation accuracy Ecomodeler uses actual pictures of vegetation for the display. This is the same as Visual Nature Studio and Envision. For this reason it is fairly easy to add new species and images to the program to customize the vegetation for each application. Ease of vegetation manipulation Vegetation is placed by reading the GIS data file and placing ecosystems as specified in the database. The attributes read by Ecomodeler are stand type, average height, and something else. If the GIS database does not have these specific headings/attributes, then they need to be added. Ecosystems/stand type are automatically matched to the appropriate image library, and the polygon is populated. Ecomodeler will do the same for roads and rivers. Photo-realism The photo-realism is good. Walk-through/Fly-through capable Ecomodeler is very easy to fly-through and view. Training availability Unknown |
 
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