Skyline Software Systems Announces the Release of New TerraExplorer v6.1

Herndon, VA (February 20, 2012) - Skyline Software Systems, Inc. is pleased to announce the formal release of TerraExplorer version 6.1. TerraExplorer v6.1 extends the current platform with impressive performance improvements, powerful new capabilities, and ever-increasing compatibility.

Performance Improvements

Significant advancements in performance have accelerated the loading, streaming, and publishing processes, enhancing the viewing experience and saving you time.

Using the urban model processing tool, you can quickly load highly-detailed urban models with hundreds of thousands of buildings. The urban model algorithm provides seamless transition between Levels of Detail (LOD) as the viewer position is changed while its use of multi-resolution geometries in addition to multi-resolution textures accelerates loading speed and consumes less memory.

TerraExplorer 6.1’s new pyramid format for imagery and elevation layers offers reduced pyramid file size and optimized format based on data type. The new MPT v3 format, furthermore, dramatically reduces pyramid creation time by allowing utilization of multi-core resources, and by automatically creating pyramids based on the project resolution and coordinate system.

Other performance improvements include accelerated drawing of polygons and polylines with a large number of points, as well as an increased frame rate resulting from memory cleanup optimization.

Enhanced Analysis and Measurement Capabilities

TerraExplorer 6.1 introduces new capabilities for measuring the true surface area of a selected region and for measuring the area of a polygon on an arbitrary plane, such as a building window.

Expanded viewshed capabilities enable you to determine what areas are visible from any selected point along a route. The calculated route viewshed can be displayed as a single composite viewshed, as individual viewsheds, or as a series of individual viewsheds that display according to a set timespan.

Object Enhancements

TerraExplorer 6.1 features several object improvements that add increased realism and vibrancy to 3D objects. These include a new mapping technique that improves texture appearance on all sides of a 3D shape and an additional new effect approximates the way light radiates in real life, especially off of “non-reflective” surfaces.

With the new release, you can easily create walls and fences of a precise size and shape by stretching the edges of a polyline or polygon to the ground, and then applying any desired texture or fill color. Expanded 3D model scaling capabilities enable you to independently scale each dimension of the model to your precise size requirements.

TerraExplorer’s compatibility with KML has been significantly extended, with an export to KML process that now also preserves the properties of 3D shapes, complex geometry objects, and textured polygons/layers.

New Supported Formats

TerraExplorer v6.1 has added support for new formats and data standards. Industry standard, 3D Studio (.3ds) model files can now be loaded directly into TerraExplorer. Additionally, both .3ds and .flt files can be converted to XPL2 using TerraExplorer’s publishing tools or the MakeXPL tool.

Enhanced Customization Options

Using TerraExplorer API, developers can now easily create applications that have multiple 3D windows, with each window displaying different content. Camera position can be synchronized between windows to show different aspects or zoom levels of the same geographical area.

About Skyline

The SkylineGlobe Enterprise suite of applications was created to provide all of the necessary software tools for an organization to implement its own private, 3D virtual globe application or embed 3D visualization capabilities into enterprise applications.  The SkylineGlobe tools have been deployed throughout the world in a wide range of markets for diverse applications, including military and public safety command and control, urban planning, large public geo-portals and tourism and real-estate applications.  The robust API and flexible architecture allow the SkylineGlobe applications to be deployed as Skyline branded applications, white-labeled or integrated into enterprise applications.

Skyline Software Systems, Inc. is a leading provider of 3D earth visualization software and services. The company offers a comprehensive platform of applications, tools and services that enable the creation and dissemination of interactive, photo-realistic 3D environments.  Skyline technology works on any platform including desktops, wireless handheld devices and in-vehicle systems and over any type of network, including secure intranets, private extranets and the Internet.  Skyline is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia.  For more information, visit https://www.skylinesoft.com