Global Mapper LiDAR Module v18 Now Available

Hallowell, Maine – October 27, 2016 - Blue Marble Geographics (bluemarblegeo.com) is pleased to announce the immediate availability of an update to the Global Mapper LiDAR Module. Released in conjunction with Global Mapper version 18, Blue Marble’s renowned GIS software, the latest edition of the module leverages many of the improvements introduced in the standard version of the software to provide optimized LiDAR processing capability for airborne, terrestrial, or photogrammetrically generated point cloud datasets of any size or density.

For over two decades, Blue Marble's affordable, user-friendly GIS software has been meeting the needs of hundreds of thousands satisfied customers throughout the world. Users come from all industries including software, oil and gas, mining, civil engineering, surveying, and technology companies, as well as government departments and academic institutions.

The Global Mapper LiDAR Module is an optional add-on to the software providing numerous advanced point cloud management and analysis tools, including automatic ground point detection and classification; feature extraction; cross-sectional viewing and point editing; significantly faster terrain surface generation; and much more.

The latest release of the module includes numerous functional enhancements and performance improvements that have been designed to provide significantly enhanced point cloud visualization and analysis. New in version 18, the 3D View now offers “infinite view” capability with the extent of the display encompassing all loaded point cloud or other 3D data. A new dynamic rendering process updates the detail level and resolution as the map is zoomed and panned. This enables the creation of truly stunning 3D data visualizations and provides the means to work with even the largest LiDAR dataset completely and natively in a 3D environment. An improved 3D selection tool provides better selection feedback in the 3D View allowing LiDAR points to be quickly and easily selected and edited or deleted if necessary.

Improvements with the LiDAR Module have also been made in the process of extracting 3D vector buildings from a LiDAR file including the creation of building walls and floor polygons that are automatically associated with the extracted roof model. As with every release, version 18 introduces performance and speed improvements that allow ever larger LiDAR files to be quickly loaded and efficiently processed. Version 18 also features the addition of a dozen 3D point styles and an improved 3D point style assignment process.

“Many of the functional upgrades that were introduced with the version 18 release of Global Mapper were implemented to address the needs and requirements of our rapidly expanding LiDAR-user customer base.” stated Blue Marble’s President, Patrick Cunningham. “With LIDAR data becoming more widely available, there is increasing demand for accessible tools for effectively utilizing this data and the Global Mapper LiDAR Module is meeting that demand.”

The base version of Global Mapper 18 introduces a redesigned interface with customizable toolbars and reconfigured menus allowing anyone working with LiDAR data to quickly access the tools necessary for editing and processing point cloud data. To streamline workflow, all of the tools required for a series of sequential tasks, from data importing, to editing, to converting, to exporting, can now be assembled in a single dockable or floating toolbar.

Current users of Global Mapper version 18 can activate a free two-week trial of the LiDAR Module from the Module/Extension License Manager in the software.