What’s New on the Next LandMentor Update?

We will be soon releasing the next LandMentor Update (early November) and have some great additions which I’ve personally wanted to get in the software for a while, but it would require a file format change.  This new update will automatically convert the old formats to the new formats, so the transformation should not be noticeable.  Since ALL LandMentor users are perpetually updated and upgraded at no extra charge, there is no problem with file format incompatibility as with other CAD based software systems.

Vintage Mode:

Background of why ‘vintage mode’ is important:  The Land Surveying industry is in a bit of a quandary – the general public thinks ‘Google Earth’ replaces the need for a surveyor, even most planners and architects think that’s good enough.  AutoDesk that furnished the industry with most of the (limited ability) software, recently shocked me.  I was invited to a BIM webinar hosted by them in which they claimed you only need two control points and then geo-reference your Google Earth image eliminating the need for a Land Surveyor! I’ve never seen a software vendor systematically destroying the very customers that depend on their product – perhaps the industry should stop supporting this vendor?  Anyway, Land Surveyors have an image problem, which is why we developed LandMentor to reverse it and raise the awareness that Land Surveying should be the foundation of growth.

The Land Surveying industry is in ‘vintage mode’ today:  With all the advancements in field technology (and related high investment costs), today’s surveyor, thinks they have the latest technology – yet the actual deliverable drawings are not any different than the surveyor 50 years ago!  A half century ago, the surveyors who depended upon transit and tape delivering drawings painstakingly created using cross hatching, Rapidograph, and zip-a-tone on vellum.   These ‘vintage’ drawings are identical to those that land surveyors still deliver today. They are difficult for the public (i.e. paying clients) to understand, and the land surveyors work is less appreciated by an antiquated standard which should be abandoned if the industry is to reverse the downward public impression trend.

Beyond Vintage: LandMentor is NOT a line and arc drawing system but a ‘surface’ based system using positional coordinate geometry emulating more of the built environment that land surveyors are supposed to represent.  We live in a world of surfaces.  Surfaces possess area and impact (economic and environmental) – be it man made or natural.  The ‘point number based’ software of others are not spatial, making it difficult to produce in a precision manner the surfaces Land Surveyors define.  LandMentor's natural surface based geometrics require no extra effort to create. A surface based system eliminates most (if not all) geometric errors common to a CAD based software.  Each surface can be represented as to its visual appearance as if it was a photograph.  Concrete can appear – concrete, lawn as a lawn, wetlands as a wetland. The paying customer that hires the surveyor is presented with a replication of their site in a visual format which is easy for them to relate to, and more important – value.  Yet, in many cases submittal requirements demand a survey plat be submitted in the past ‘vintage mode’.  LandMentor can now deliver a cross hatched – black & white drawing automatically converting the fully rendered ‘normal mode’ with a button press.  The submittal can be in the past and the deliverable to the client in the future.  That is the purpose of Vintage Mode.

Scalable Images and Cross Hatching

Past versions of LandMentor allows textures to represent surfaces, but they were not scalable.  This meant the image used for the screen would appear different on the delivered drawing.  The file format change allowed images to be have a scale attached so what is seen on the screen is replicated exactly the same as on the plot.

Past versions of LandMentor crosshatching were calculated requiring no physical lines (as in CAD) and adding no extra data – another advantage of LandMentor vs. CAD.  The past LandMentor could not replicate complex symbols as a background task.  In other words, a wetland symbol would need to be linework added as a ‘group’.  This next version replaces mathematical crosshatching with scalable images creating the ability to emulate almost any symbology, zip-a-tone, or hatching format without adding any extra data. 

Overlay of Lines while in Interactive 3D and VR

LandMentor’s interactive 3D and VR headset support, as well as the reporting and analysis functions are free to the public, and as such instead of just a 2D rendering (and vintage drawing) to the client, Land Surveyors can also deliver the software and a LandMentor file for the client to replicate the surveyors work and access data never before possible – significantly increasing the ‘value’ of the land surveying profession.  Past versions could overlay contour lines (on and off by pressing [C] while in 3D), and now can do that same thing with linework while interactively moving in 3D.  This way, clients can see property lines, easements, or just about anything that could be important while moving about.  Like contours, turning the linework on and off pressing [W] (wireline).  When the 3D is being created, the active linework layers are automatically inserted into the 3D – like many LandMentor functions, a no-effort background task.

More Precise Text Locations

Past versions of LandMentor in some cases shifted text from what was shown on the screen vs. the plot.  This was actually a problem with Microsoft’s misreading of the computers actual screen size which was needed to properly scale the text.  A wrong reporting of the screen size would have a large impact on text positioning.  This next version changed the methods of measuring the physical size of the screen.

Precise Scale on the Screen

LandMentor can now display on the screen a drawing at a precise scale, so you can now lay a scale on the screen to measure, without having to plot and measure.  This is handy for site planning and land surveying applications.