TerraTools is a complete simulation database construction system for automated and rapid generation of high-fidelity 3D simulation databases from cartographic source materials. TerraTools provides the most comprehensive set of integrated terrain generation tools and features available, including heterogeneous data import, rapid and incremental database construction, realistic and accurate geometry, detailed feature attribution, paging support, high levels of automation, and detailed diagnostics in an easy-to-use and flexible stand-alone package.

TerraTools is an advanced multi-threaded application. It supports two independent processing threads per workstation processor, providing significant speedups at no additional cost using a single TerraTools license. Workstations with dual processors or dual-core architectures are automatically recognized by the TerraTools front end and each TerraTools project graph is scheduled to maximize parallel execution.

3D geospatial visualization spans a broad continuum of customer applications. Ranging from aerial and satellite imagery warped to a 3D terrain grid, to photo-realistic 3D models of urban environments, the variety of civil, defense, and entertainment applications of 3D geospatial visualizations is almost unlimited. TerraSim's products automate the production of 3D geospatial visualization, minimizing the need for manual modeling and instead relying on the use of cartographic vector data, digital elevation models, and geo-rectified imagery.

Core processing includes ingest of ESRI shapefile data, USGS DLG data, digital elevation models (DEMs), and 3D models from AutoCAD, 3ds Max, and OpenFlight. Advanced database construction tools include processing of cartographic features into the TerraSim ITIN representation as well as "just enough GIS" to support feature correction, merging, buffering, and attribution processing.

TerraTools Core supports the export of 3D visual databases to a variety of formats for customer delivery including Google Earth, VRML, 3DStudioMAX, and TerraSim's native Tiled Scene Graph (TSG), with demand paged runtime.

Also see the customizable data import and export plug-ins available for TerraTools.

TerraTools Core provides all of the standard geospatial data processing capabilities necessary to create high fidelity geospatial visualizations. Some of the most significant Core capabilities include:

• Generation of Integrated Triangulated Irregular Networks (ITINs) with automatic feature integration, including transportation networks, drainage networks, areal drainage (lakes, swamps, marsh areas), soil and surface material layers, and foliage layers. ITINs guarantee trafficabilty of transportation networks and realistic appearance of natural and manmade materials and objects.
• User-defined database paging sizes and control of terrain density and complexity using dynamic terrain accuracy metrics enforced during ITIN generation.
• Generation of an underwater surface from bathymetric source data and its integration with terrain elevation data using a coastline vector to ensure a continuous and complete surface description.
• Generation of buildings and other 3D structures from 2D areal footprints, to include a variety of roof shapes and user-defined texture appearances.
• Generation of buildings with detailed interiors from manual, semi-automatic, and fully automated "blueprint" representations. This includes complex roof shapes, windows, doors, all specified as components of the TerraTools blueprint attribution.
• Automatic generation of underground structures such as pipelines, utility lines, and tunnels based upon source data vectors and attribution.
• Parametric bridge generation with user-defined bridge cross sections and selection of bridge support geometry to create a variety of bridge models tailored to the landscape and functional requirements.
• Parametric model scatter and automated model alignment to support creation of forests with variable tree models and urban street signs and lights appropriately oriented to roads and buildings.
• TerraTools Core contains over 500 unique 3D models and over 1300 textures to support a variety of geospatial database generation tasks. The TerraTools Sample Model Library illustrates the variety and quality of models available to users.
• Multi-threading enabling parallel processing to support up to eight independent processing threads on a single TerraTools Core license. Supports rapid database construction, iterative refinement, and design without requiring specialized hardware.

Input data formats supported

• USGS DEM, DLG, SDTS
• USGS DEM, DLG, SDTS
• CDBW, CHRTR (DBDB-V), TDF2.0 (TOWAN), & YXZ Bathymetry
• ESRI Shapefiles, Shape3D vector data, Multipatch object data
• GRIDASCII/GRIDFLOAT DEM formats
• AutoCAD^® DXF, Bentley MicroStatation^®
• DGN (Plug-in for Version 7.0)
• GRIDASCII, MOSS, GeoTIFF, XML

Model Import formats supported

• AutoCAD^® (.dxf)
• 3ds Max^® (.3ds) (Plug-in for Versions 3-9 and Versions 2008 and 2009)
• MultiGen OpenFlight^® (.flt)
• Designers Workbench^® (.dwb)

Export database formats supported

• TSG (Tiled Scene Graph) format
• ESRI Shapefiles, Shape3D vector data, Multipatch object data
• GRIDASCII/GRIDFLOAT DEM formats
• ADDWAMS, GRIDASCII, MOSS
• VRML 2.0, TIFF
• 3ds Max^® (.3ds) (Plug-in for Versions 3-9 and Versions 2008 and 2009)
• Google Earth KMZ format

• OmniWizard™ support for OneSAF and VBS2 export.
• Support for advanced roof structures.
• Improved VBS2, OneSAF, CTDB, and JCATS export.
• Support for building interiors in VBS2 and JCATS.
• Advanced viewers with animation support.
• Improved graphical user interface for ease of use.

TerraTools 3.8 is supported on 32-bit and 64-bit processor workstations. On 64-bit processors, TerraTools 3.8 runs in 32-bit application mode. It is limited by the Windows OS to use 3gb of application address space.

+ Minimum System Requirements

+ Recommended System Requirements

Compatible Graphics Cards and Drivers

TerraTools workstations should have a modern graphics card with a minimum of 256mb of texture memory. Graphics cards from the following product lines have been used successfully within TerraSim:

• NVIDIA FX series FX 1500 or higher
• NVIDIA Quaddro series Quaddro FX 3400 or higher
• ATI Radion HD series Radion 3000 series or higher

In most cases, the best cards for running the TSGFly viewer application have high graphics (polygon) fill rate even if they have smaller texture memory sizes.

TerraTools does not make special use of onboard processing (GPU or Shaders) in order to compile source data or build correlated databases.

If you observe poor performance and/or graphics artifacts, we recommend that you obtain the most recent drivers for your card or system and test with these new drivers before reporting graphics-related problems to TerraSim.

• What's new in 3.8 (1 Mb DPF)
• What's new in 3.5 (2 Mb PDF)
• What's new in 3.0 (796 Kb PDF)
• What's new in 2.0 (468 Kb PDF)
• What's new in 1.5 (1.31 Mb PDF)
• TerraTools^® Brochure (928 Kb PDF)