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Landscape Simulations
Software Evaluations Envision is free software developed and maintained by the USDA Forest Service. It provides the ability to model landscapes and use the Stand Visualization System or the Forest Vegetation Simulator to grow or simulate management in units of the landscape. This is a functionality that does not exist with other software to this level. This software does not portray roads and rivers with any realism. It will overlay the vector files and color them however you would like. http://forsys.cfr.washington.edu/envision.html Cost: free Ease of Use This is very easy piece of software to learn and use. Ease of viewpoint placement Either specifying exact coordinates, or clicking and dragging the camera places viewpoints. Terrain accuracy The terrain is as accurate as the DEM's used. Vegetation accuracy Envision will use a variety of methods to portray vegetation. It does allow the use of photos to give a good presentation. Ease of vegetation manipulation Envision places vegetation in GIS polygons according to the polygon attributes. These must be specified. FVS and SVS stand data can also be used by creating stand look up tables. FVS and SVS allow the ability to model stand changes due to growth or management. Photo-realism The photo-realism is good, but not as good as other programs that allow texturing and bump mapping of the ground. The current version has a problem when saving an image to file using SVS stands. It places the trees in rows that look very odd. Walk-through/Fly-through capable There is no fly-through capability. Training availability None Sample Image 
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