Below is a collection of some of the most frequently asked questions, and their answers, regarding the Urban Analyst™ software. If you have additional questions, feel free to email us.

General Questions:

Q: What does Urban Analyst do?

Q: Can Urban Analyst generate a movie of a 3D flythrough?

Q: Do I need 3D data to use Urban Analyst?

Q: How does Urban Analyst compare to Google Earth?

Q: How accurate are the 3D models generated by Urban Analyst?

Q: Does Urban Analyst work as a standalone application?

Q: What data comes with Urban Analyst?

Q: Does Urban Analyst require Feature Analyst^® or LIDAR Analyst^® to work?

Q: Where does Urban Analyst fit into the product workflow of Feature Analyst and LIDAR Analyst?

Technical Questions:

Q: Will Urban Analyst run on my operating system?

Q: What are the hardware requirements for running Urban Analyst?

Q: Will I receive software updates for as long as I own a license and current maintenance?

Q: What types of elevation data (terrain) does Urban Analyst require to generate 3D scenes?

Q: What formats of imagery does Urban Analyst require to generate 3D scenes?

Q: What formats of feature data does Urban Analyst require to generate 3D scenes?

Q: What formats of pre-built 3D Models does Urban Analyst support?

Q: Can I adjust the ambient lighting for the 3D scene in Urban Analyst?

Q: Does Urban Analyst provide support the MIL-STD-2525 Symbology standards?

Q: Does Urban Analyst support the MGRS coordinate system?

Q: Will Urban Analyst work in non urban areas?

General Questions:

Q: What does Urban Analyst do?

A: Urban Analyst provides users the ability to visualize, analyze and publish 3D geospatial data directly within the familiar ArcMap application.

Q: Can Urban Analyst generate a movie of a 3D flythrough?

A: Yes, Urban Analyst provides the capability to record all movements and actions performed within the 3D environment. Several industry standard CODECs (Video Drivers) are provided to allow deployment to various movie players.

Q: Do I need 3D data to use Urban Analyst?

A: No, Urban Analyst can use all the data sets supported by ArcMap. If your data does not have explicit three-dimensional coordinates, you can drape it on other surface data, such as DTED or you can extrude the features in a 3D thematic representation.

Q: How does Urban Analyst compare to Google Earth?

A: Urban Analyst focuses on provided highly detailed, accurate 3D geospatial information. Urban Analyst also provides unique analytical capabilities not available in Google Earth. Urban Analyst also allows users to stay within the familiar ArcMap environment, and does not require users to convert the data to specialized formats or utilize specialized servers.

Q: How accurate are the 3D models generated by Urban Analyst?

A: Urban Analyst will visualize and provide analytical results to the degree of accuracy provided by the source data inputs.

Q: Does Urban Analyst work as a standalone application?

A: Urban Analyst is a plug-in (extension) to ESRI’s ArcGIS/ArcMap application. It currently requires ArcMap version 9.1 to operate.

Q: What data comes with Urban Analyst?

A: Urban Analyst contains a number of sample and tutorial datasets.

Q: Does Urban Analyst require Feature Analyst or LIDAR Analyst to work?

A: Although Urban Analyst is complimentary to both Feature Analyst and LIDAR Analyst, it does not require either complimentary software in order to operate.

Q: Where does Urban Analyst fit into the product workflow of Feature Analyst and LIDAR Analyst?

Urban Analyst can directly read and operate on the data outputs from Feature Analyst and LIDAR Analyst. Therefore, Feature Analyst, LIDAR Analyst and Urban Analyst together provide the user the unique capability to go from raw source data to actionable analytics within a matter of hours and minutes as opposed to the longer production times associated with other industry tools.

Technical Questions:

Q: Will Urban Analyst run on my operating system?

A: Urban Analyst will operate on any system running Microsoft Windows XP, Windows XP Pro or Windows 2000 server. It is recommended to have service pack 2 and version 1.1 of the .Net framework installed.

Q: What are the hardware requirements for running Urban Analyst?

A: It is recommended that you have a modern computer/laptop consisting of a minimum of a Pentium 4 2.8Ghz CPU or Pentium Mobile 1.7Ghz CPU, 1gb of RAM, a three button mouse and an OpenGL-based graphics card with a minimum of 256MB of texture memory.

Q: Will I receive software updates for as long as I own a license and current maintenance?

A: Of course! As part of our commitment to customer satisfaction, we will update your software any time a new version is ready for release, as long as you have current maintenance. Updates will be available via our website, and users will be notified via email when these updates become available.

Q: What types of elevation data (terrain) does Urban Analyst require to generate 3D scenes?

A: Urban Analyst can access elevation data from most standard formats such SDTS DEM, ArcGRID, DTED, GEOTIFF and more.

Q: What formats of imagery does Urban Analyst require to generate 3D scenes?

A: Urban Analyst can utilize imagery formats such as GEOTIFF and MrSID.

Q: What formats of feature data does Urban Analyst require to generate 3D scenes?

A: Urban Analyst can load shapefiles, and also utilize data layers added through and SDE database connection.

Q: What formats of pre-built 3D Models does Urban Analyst support?

A: Urban Analyst currently supports Overwatch Systems' I3DM format and Openflight format. Numerous other 3D model formats will be supported in an upcoming release.

Q: Can I adjust the ambient lighting for the 3D scene in Urban Analyst?

A: You can adjust a variety of environmental effects through a button on the toolbar such as weather, time of day, as well as azimuth and angle of the sun.

Q: Does Urban Analyst provide support the MIL-STD-2525 Symbology standards?

A: Urban Analyst will support the MIL-STD-2525 symbology in the 2D map if you are using the Military Analyst Extension to ArcMap and map those symbols as 3D icons.

Q: Does Urban Analyst support the MGRS coordinate system?

A: Urban Analyst will support the MGRS coordinate system if you are using the Military Analyst Extension to ArcMap.

Q: Will Urban Analyst work in non urban areas?

A: Yes. Urban Analyst can load data from non urban areas such as open area elevation data, imagery and other cultural features.