See Screen Shots of this product at the 3D View Studio page.

3D Rendering and Data Analysis for Any Database

29 July 1999 – Carson City:  Manifold Net has commenced shipments of Manifold 3D View Studio, perhaps the most sophisticated 3D visualization and analysis program ever introduced for database visualization or GIS systems.  The product runs as an independent Windows application and can open databases in almost any format, including ODBC database sources such as SQL Server 6.5 and 7.0, Oracle, Sybase, Access 2000 and many others.  Prime uses are creation of presentation graphics, data mining, business intelligence, demographic analysis,  terrain analysis and 3D Statistical analysis.  At $75, the package delivers 3D Analytic capability found only in packages that cost thousands of dollars.

"Our breakthrough with 3D View Studio was providing the feature richness of a 3D rendering environment in a simple, point-and-click environment that anyone can use," commented Dimitri Rotow, a marketing spokesman for Manifold Net,  "By providing numerous 'presets' in dialogs throughout the system, we made it possible for people to create cool 3D scenes without being 3D experts. We have fully automated presets that will create an elegant and impressive scene even if the user has no idea what they are doing.  On top of that we delivered a startling array of sophisticated analytic features normally found only in packages that cost thousands of dollars.  It's the first package that combines artistic splendor with killer analytics at a price anyone can afford."

Beta testers described 3D View Studio as "addictive." They compared 3D View Studio to Bryce and 3DMax for its extensive array of rendering controls, and to ESRI's 3D Analyst for the sophistication of the 3D analytics provided.  All of these packages cost considerably more than the $75  charged for 3D View Studio.

Database Display and GIS Integration

3D View Studio can launch with a table-driven interface that can open database tables from almost any database format.  Choose any three numeric fields to use as X, Y and Z fields.  The product also includes a dedicated solver add-in for Manifold System GIS, a geographic information system sold by manifold.net.  When launched from within Manifold System, the 3D View Studio package can automatically generate 3D database images or terrain images from any map database field or from elevation data such as contours, points, or even area heights.  3D View Studio can also launch as an accessory from Manifold's new Database Commander product to automatically display database tables or queries in 3D views.

Multiple Data Fields Automatically Displayed

3D View Studio can automatically display data sets as points, wireframe surfaces, or fully synthetic smooth surfaces using triangulation or Akima interpolation in hundreds of different styles.  Some styles look great for 3D bar charts and similar "data plot" effects, while other styles create transparent, metallic, glowing or other types of surfaces.  3D View Studio easily displays multiple data fields simultaneously in multiple simultaneous styles if desired.  This makes it possible to show some fields as surfaces while simultaneously other fields are displayed as bars or lines or wireframes or points or other styles.

When used with database information such as oil and gas borehole data, these capabilities let 3D View Studio can easily interpolate data points to show subsurface layers of water, oil, gas and so forth.  The analysis features can then be used to compute volumes of those reservoirs.  Multiple data layers are a key requirement in business intelligence, statistics, demographics, science and many other areas that utilize 3D plots of multiple variables.

3D Rendering and Scene Creation

3D View Studio includes sophisticated, point and click editing and automatic object creation that can be used to populate 3D scenes with cool 3D accessory objects.  For example, a 3D plot of data points will look better with automatic creation of 3D axes and cool 3D labels.  A 3D scene showing oil, gas and water layers will look better with 3D boreholes, a ground surface and even 3D buildings or oil well platforms drawn above the surface. Manifold 3D View Studio provides an extensive array of "Elements" that may be used and combined to make new objects as well as sophisticated editing commands to transform, resize, rotate, rescale or move elements. 3D objects may be saved to a file for re-use in other scenes, or may be imported from other sources.

Full Lighting and Rendering Effects

3D View Studio automates handling of lighting and materials effects.  Any object can have materials and lighting effects independently defined, including full control over ambient, specular, diffuse and emissive response in RGB.  Such effects are normally automated using point-and-click "Presets" that provide a cool effect without requiring extensive study of 3D rendering science.  Any object can have a variety of sophisticated transparency effects, including transparency that varies by data attribute (wow!), transparency varied by color and much more.  An infinity of colors and color effects may be deployed, including automatic gradation.  Any bitmap or texture may be "draped" over any object to provide memorable effects of startling reality.   Terrains may be "draped" with a cartographic map or objects can be "draped" with a texture such as stone or cloth to provide "real life" fidelity.  3D View Studio includes a starter set of handy textures.

Automated Fly Throughs

Viewing 3D scenes in "fly throughs" is always fun and results in unforgettable multimedia presentations: 3D View Studio makes this easy with the Animator.  Manual flights using the Voyager (choose MS Flight Simulator, Quake, Descent or default flight controls) can be automatically recorded into movies, or let 3D View Studio automatically "fly" paths between cameras.  Cameras are easy to define or position in 3D View Studio, plus a "Traverse Cameras" button will automatically fly a path that's interpolated between cameras.  Presets will arrange cameras for cool flights with a single key stroke.

Killer Analytics

3D View Studio provides some of the most powerful 3D analysis ever delivered on a desktop.  The package includes volumetric and statistics calculations on 3D data sets and surfaces, 2D and 3D averaging triangulations of various kinds that can "smooth" data or "kink" it, sophisticated interpolation capability to recalculate data sets either up or down in resolution, visibility zones from multiple points simultaneously including the ability to AND or OR the visibility zones from multiple points, profiling with "tunnel" or "bridge" computations, line of sight computations, local extremes and drainage paths to compute relaxed energy and slope paths.  Automatic intersections in 3D between multiple surfaces can be computed as well as elevations above and below the intersections of multiple surfaces.  At $75, there has never before been offered a package of such tremendous mathematical sophistication.

Sophisticated Labels

Unlike ordinary 3D visualization programs, 3D View Studio is intended to provide real measurement and data read-out in addition to sheer aesthetic splendor.  The sophisticated labeling system can automatically generate numeric readouts in various formats based on data that's presented.  Because labels are dynamically updated, it's easy to do "waterline" analysis using semi-transparent planes with dynamic labels.  Automatic labels make it easy to add labels to the scene, including sophisticated auto-labeling of axes, alterations in fonts or even full 3D labels with materials and lighting effects on a per-label basis.

3D View Studio is shipping today from the online store at www.manifold.net  It runs on Windows '95, '98, NT 4.0 and Windows 2000.  Price is $75.

About manifold.net

Manifold Net is a privately held company that creates cool data visualization and manipulation software.  It is best known for Manifold System, one of the most sophisticated GIS software packages ever developed. It is unique in providing spatial, networking, geometric, database, and statistical GIS capabilities for only $145. Despite the low price, it usually outperforms in capacity, speed, and sophistication packages that sell for thousands of dollars. Manifold can do so because it was created using the software tools of the late '90s and it leverages the new generation of desktop systems. 3D View Studio benefits from the heavy duty computational geometry math developed for Manifold System.

Contact: Dimitri Rotow, 800-556-5919 / dar@manifold.net

See Screen Shots of this product at the 3D View Studio page.

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