3D Surface Maps

The 3D surface map uses shading and color to emphasize your data features. Change the lighting, display angle and tilt with a click of the mouse. Overlay several surface maps to generate informative block diagrams.

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Create exciting 3D surface maps from your XYZ data!
Image courtesy of Igor Yashayaev, Bedford Institute of Oceanography,
Fisheries and Oceans, Canada.

3D Surface Map Features

  • Specify surface color gradation, shininess, base fill and line color
  • Control mesh line frequency, color, style, surface offset
  • Set lighting horizontal and vertical angles, ambient, diffuse, and specular properties
  • Overlay contour maps, image maps, post maps, shaded relief maps, raster and vector base maps, and other surface maps for spectacular presentations
  • Choose overlay resample method and resolution, color modulation (blending) of surface and overlays
  • Save and load custom color map files for the exact desired display
  • Use one of the built-in presets as the color map
  • Add color scales to explain the data values corresponding to each color
  • Disable the display of blanked grid nodes or map the blanked areas to a specific Z level

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Combining surface maps is an excellent technique to visually compare data sets.
Image courtesy of Igor Yashayaev, Bedford Institute of Oceanography,
Fisheries and Oceans, Canada.

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Overlay surface maps to visually depict changes with depth!

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 Show the surface as a construction of mesh lines, and overlay filled contours on top for a powerful display.

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Create photo-realistic 3D models containing both terrain and ground cover detail by
overlaying 3D surfaces with aerial photography, satellite imagery or other images.