MAC, WIN$600

WINfree

MAC, WIN$89

MAC$??

full control of coloredelevation classessmooth (continuous)transition among classesunlimited number of classes

full control of coloredelevation classesoptions for differentcoloring methods, i.e. slopeoptions for 3 types oftransition among classeslimited number of classescant turn off hypso. tinting

full control of coloredelevation classescan only color elevationoptions for 2 types oftransition among classescant turn off hypso. tintinglimited number of classes

azimuth & altitude ambience (overhead oruniform) illuminationcolor of brightness & contrastcolor optioncontour lines

azimuth & altitude, & verticalexaggerationillumination ambience withshadows optionno contour lines

azimuth, altitude, verticalexaggeration, aerial perspective, etc.ambient, diffuse, specular,shininess illumination optionsno contour lines

adjacent image mergegood metadata informationno reprojection capabilitiesno support for imagedrapingNONE OF THE APPLICATIONSCAN CROP IMAGE TO SPECIFIED COORDINATES

small windowfor perspective viewingno animationimports andexports 16-bitimages

perspective viewing supportno animationno informationon 16-bit

perspective viewing supportno animationno informationon 16-bit

perspective viewing and animation supportimports andexports 16-bitimages

adjacent image mergelimited metadata informationno support for reprojectionimage draping support

adjacent image mergeno reprojection capabilitiesimage draping supportlimited metadata informationadding reprojecting, joining, cutting, vertical & horizontaloffset, filtering, etc.

no georeferencing supportno metadata information apart from graphic imageno reprojection capabilitieslayering and transparencyfacilitate graphic image draping

excellent results that can besaved, but non-numericmust be familiar with basicfunctions of Photoshop toachieve resultscan create contour lines usingselection/path tools

full control of coloredelevation classesmust be familiar withintermediate functions of Photoshop to achieve resultsunlimited number of classes

full control of coloredelevation classesoption for hypsometric orexposition coloringunlimited number of classesdiscrete, continuous, or both

raster manipulation (visual effects) is excellent, if not thebest tool available

interactive, localized editing (fences)exposition coloringas opposed tohypsometric

includes MapRenderConvert for reprojection(not included in demo)good metadata informationfully georeferenced butno adjacent image mergefull support for image draping

does not includeMapRender Convertgood metadata informationfully georeferenced butno adjacent image mergeno support for imagedraping

adjacent image mergemini-GIS: one of its many functions is relief shadingwell supported for imagedraping/manipulationno support for reprojection,except datum conversion

solid (discrete), linear (continuous), & exponential (emphasis on colorsat top of each range)gradient options forhypsometric colorsreprojection options

solid (discrete) & linear (continuous)gradient options for hypsometric colors

more GIS functionalitythan any otherscan import GPS data

filters to fill gapsand smooth datacan edit DEM elevations

0.97

MACfree

WIN$295

WIN$95

only in HTML & limitedbut clear and informativewww.treeswallow.com/macdem/index.htmdownloadable, fully operational version

contained within application & completewww.maprender3d.comdownloadable demo withmost functions operationalbut limited data

contained within application & completewww.maprender3d.comdownloadable demo with most functions operationalbut limited data

contained within appl. ora separate PDF documentvery extensivewww.nadn.navy.mil/Users/oceano/pguth/website/microdem.htmdownloadable, fully operational version

elevation data: USGS ASCIIDEM, SDTS DEM, DTED (Level 0, 1, and 2),Arc-ASCII-GRID, GTOPO30,GLOBE, TerrainBase, SRTM, PGM, Raw ASCII, Raw Binaryimage: no support

elevation data: USGS DEM,SDTS DEM, LandformPanorama NTF, RAW, ASCII,GHz PSBimage: BMP, PCX, TIFF, PNG, PSB

elevation data: USGS DEM,SDTS DEM, LandformPanorama NTF, RAW, ASCII,GHz PSBimage: no support

elevation data: DEM, SDTS,GTOPO30, SRTMimage: DRG, DOQ, PICT,TIFF, JPEG, BMP

elevation data: Rawimage: PSD, BMP, GIF, EPS,Filmstrip, JPEG, PCX, PDF,Photo CD, PICT, Pixar, PNG,Raw, Scitex CT, Targa, TIFF,DCS 1.0/2.0, vector linework& type

elevation data: it will be able to import and exportaround 30 different DEM file formatsimage: BMP

image: TGA, BMP elevation data: DXF 3D, 3DMFQuickDraw 3D Binary and ASCII, ESRI ASCII and Surfer ASCII, Matlab, PGM, Raw

image: PSD, BMP, GIF, EPS, JPEG, PCX, PDF, PICT, Pixar, PNG, Raw, Scitex CT, TGA, TIFF,DCS 1.0/2.0, vector linework &typeelevation data: no support

image: TIFF, JPEG, PICT, BMP elevation data: DEM, DXF,World

IMPORT elevation data: DEM, DTED, SDTS, GEOTIFF, NGDC GRD 98, NOS EEZ, USGS ASCII CDO, OS 5 or 20 km tile, BC Grid, SRTM, BT image: IDX, USGS DOQ, CIB, NITF,ERDAS IMG, BIP, GEOTIFF, BMP/JPEG with World file, DRG, CADRG various, ADRG vector: TIGER, SHP, VPF, SIN, DXF, SDTS DLG EXPORT image: BMP, BMP with World file, GEOTIFF, JPEG (screen only), GIF (screen only)elevation data: ASCII XYZ, DTED vector: see import

image: BMP, TGA, PPM,PNG, TIFF, GEOTIFFelevation data: USGS DEM

image: BMP, TGA, PPM,PNG, TIFF, GEOTIFFelevation data: no support

image: PICT, TGA, TIFFelevation data: binary, PGM (for Bryce), Photoshop 16-bit, POV-Ray,USGS ASCII, World (TFW)

only in print and completewww.naturalgfx.com/index.htmno demo available

better than anyothers for perpectiveview quality andinterface

in print but Online Help ismore extensivewww.adobe.comTom Pattersonssite with many Photoshoptutorials: www.nacis.org/cp/cp28/resources.htmldownloadable demo

currently in PDFjenny@karto.baug.ethz.chnot yet available commercially

azimuth, altitude, & verticalexaggeration; only v.e. can beentered as a valueindividual colors for emission,ambient, diffuse, & specularilluminationno contour lines

azimuth, altitude, & vertical exaggerationcontour lines

several options for pre-set palettesemphasis is on screen analysis: slope, aspect, stereoanaglyph (need glasses), etc.limited number of classes

azimuth, altitude & vertical exaggerationindividual colors for emission,ambient, diffuse, & specularilluminationno contour lines

1.0.1

1.0.1

6.0

3.0.8X

6.0.1

1.9.5

full control of colored elevation classessmooth (continuous) transitionlimited number of classes

one of its mainfunctions is perspectiveviews andanimationimports andexports 16-bitimages

no support for perspective views or animationsupports 16-bit,but not all toolsavailable in thismode

small windowfor perspective viewingno animationimports andexports 16-bitimages

DATA IMPORTFORMATS *

DATA EXPORTFORMATS

HYPSOMETRIC COLORING (TINTING)

ILLUMINATION& SHADING

GEOREFERENCING& IMAGE DRAPING

INTERESTING FEATURES

EASE-OF-USE& REVIEWEDVERSION **

AVAILABLEPLATFORMS& COST (U.S.$)

DOCUMENTATION& WEB SITE

PERSPECTIVEVIEWS & 16-BIT

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*NO DOCUMENTED INFORMATION ON PIXEL LIMITS FOR ANY OF THE APPLICATIONS **EASE-OF-USE=RELATIVE TO THE OTHER APPLICATIONS IN THIS REVIEW ( LEAST DIFFICULT, MOST DIFFICULT) DAN VAN DORN I.C.A. M.C.W. MT. HOOD, OREGON MAY 02 and N.A.C.I.S. COLUMBUS, OHIO OCTOBER 02