Geocap 6.4 Release Notes

About this release

Release distribution

Geocap 6.4 is available from http://www.geocap.no/downloads to all clients under paid maintenance agreement.
Please note that you will need a user account to access this page. If you do not already have one, you can register at: http://geocap.no/user/register

Licensing

Installing a new license file: See our FAQ page and the document Installing on Windows.

Supported operating systems

Geocap 6.4 is currently not available for Linux or Unix, contact support@geocap.no if you want more information on this.

Both 32bit and 64bit versions of Geocap 6.4 are available on our download page. Make sure to download the correct one.
Consult this Microsoft support page to figure out which system type your are running on. (Or you may try Properties on Computer)

Project upgrade

Updated releases

• 6.4.2

Highlights

1. Point cloud outline

2. TVU and THU display

3. Mid-lines with tri-point calculation and basepoint connection polygons

4. Geobodies 

5. Trackline filtering

6. Project list view

7. Set default command 

General

Windows 8

• Geocap runs on Windows 8

Installation

• You will no longer have to run initialize as administrator after installation, as the initialize is performed during the installation.
• We have updated the install shield. The installation file will now be a .msi file.

Project list view 

• The new list view is introduced as the default project view. 
• The list view sorts a folder content into a separate window and allows multiple select, which makes it easier for you to work with your project
• The multiple select enables you to run commands, zoom to, cut, copy and set schema on any selected datasets.
• The "old" treeview is available by clicking the Tree-tab on top of the project.

Default command 

The default command concept has been around for a while. The default command is the command that is executed when checking the box in front of a dataset if no other displays are hiding underneath a dataset. A default command may be either an item command or a schema command.

• Whatever is default command is now highlighted in the toolbox with a green D. 
• To set the a default command on a dataset, right click the command and select Set as default command.
• Setting a schema command to be a Default command will apply to all datasets with the same schema, except those that has got an item command assigned as their Default command.
  

Save scene

It is now possible to save what ever is displayed in your graphics window, as a scene. This enables the user to retrieve a graphic display in one click.

• To save a scene right click a folder and select New > Scene.
• To view a scene tick the check box next to it, or right click and select View.
• To update a scene, right click it and select Assign
• Elements displayed from the toolbar (i.e. axes and frames) and/or short cur keys (i.e 'v') is currently not supported.
• There is currently only support for the use of one sticky surface.

Keyboard shorcuts: j & y

• A new keyboard shortcut, j snaps to visualized poly-data sets. This is very useful for snapping to exact positions e.g. in digitizing, distance calculations and creation of outer limits. Details are listed in both message window and in lower left corner on the frame.
• The keyboard shortcut , y snaps to visualized surfaces/grids and seismic lines. It will now show details about the picked point (coordinate, amplitude, depth/time etc)  in the lower left corner of the frame and also the message window.  

Point cloud and 3D editing

• We have introduce a new datatype called Point cloud. 
• Point clouds support 3D editing.
• When points are deleted, they are not removed from the dataset, but they are flagged as deleted. They can later be un-deleted.
• It is possible to set user defined flags on points. You may later display points with a flag in a specific color, or extract points with a flag to a new dataset.

Point cloud display 

• We now support displaying a black point outline on point clouds. The black outline is drawn slightly "behind" the color fill.
• This means that the black outline will not be drawn between two points that are close together. 
• This is a nice silhouette effect, which gives more "depth" to the visualization. 
• It is a lot easier to see single points, and points that stick out from a group of points.

The command Function has been updated
 

• Update of the graphical user interface
• The command now has a list of the variables used in the function.
• You can use field data as input in function.
• You can use other grids as input for functions executed on both grids and poly data. 
• When you use another grid as input, the function will do an interpolation in the grid based on the x and y coordinates of the points in the input dataset.
• This means that grids do not need to have matching grid nodes in order to do mathematical operations on two or more grids.
• A new predefined function command "Grid to grid function" was added which can be used for grid to grid mathematical operations.

Graphics

• LOD grid display is now much faster.
• Actors in the graphics window is now updated when the dataset in the project changes.

Seismic

• Fixed a memory leak in Seismic Display.
• Extract Navigation from seismic lines and store the navigation as new data sets in the project. 
• Assign Navigation now reports back.

Seismic Interpretation

• The auto tracker now remains active atfter it stops, which means you can just continue to press <space> to interpret.
• The auto tracker no longer overwrites previous interpretation, unless specified otherwise.
• The auto tracker is now a lot more stable.
• The insert option is now a lot faster.
• The options  Delete between pick and end / beginning and pick now highlights segment before it is deleted 
• It is now possible to display interpretation directly from a Pick Group 
• 2D Index map 

Color Table import from ASCII

• Geocap can now import color tables from ASCII files with RGB values listed row-wise with any non-numerical character as separator. Each RGB value must be in the range 0-255.
• We can also import color tables(*.clm) exported from Landmark 

Images

• Command syntax for setting opacity to images, see Reference Manual for details.

PostScript Plotting

• Support for Georeferenced images.
• A0, A1 and A2 in addition to scaled plots and A3 + A4

Workflows

• The play button on a workflow is now gray until a step has been completed, meaning it is not possible to accidentally start a new action until the ongoing is completed.
• Double-click on elements to execute

Minor updates

• Exporting LOD displays to PDF3D is still not supported, but will now give a warning message.
• The model tree for PDF3D files has now been cleaned up, and display elements has been given more meaningful names.  
• Table View now has an invert selection button
• Fixed problem with checkbox in Display simple feature.
• Fixed problem with KML import
• Problem with multiple selected color tables in the Toolbox has been fixed.
• Fixed problem with drag/drop of color tables when many datsets were displayed in the graphics window.
• Fixed problem with adjusting apperance and color table range when many datasets were displayed in the graphics window.
• Shapefiles now displays filled polygons properly in 2D
• ASCII import will now ask for datum/projection if it can`t find it.
• ASCII import file filer now includes *.csv
• Recent projects now only shows the 5 lates projects. Move your mouse cursor over the More entry to see more projects.
• Function now keeps geodetic settings.
• Quick Digitizer now longer overwrites digitized_line in selected folder. It will now add (1), (2) etc. at the end of the name.
• Actor Manipulator will now uncheck dataset in the project when hide is used.
• Zoom to data and keyboard shortcut X will now fly to its position instead of "jumping".

Seafloor

New Point cloud data type

• In this version of Geocap we introduce the Point cloud data type for xyz data. 
• The data type is introduced to utilize the functionality developed for Multibeam data for editing and flagging points by displaying data in the 3D or 2D graphics. 
• By using the Point cloud Editor the user can delete or flag points directly in 3D. It is also possible to turn on and off flagged points in the display. 
• The Point cloud data displayed in 3D can also be automatically viewed in the Cross section window.

Crossline Analysis

• This new tool can be used during a patch test. 
• By following the procedure and gridding selected survey lines, this tool can be used to compare the cross lines with the grid. 
• The tool will calculate the deviation between the points and the gridded surface, group the beams, and report the uncertainty and how large percent are within the different IHO order definitions. 
• The output will be a report and a table which for instance can be exported to excel.

THU and TVU and Backscatter display 

• Display Multibeam Data can now display additional information from the Multibeam data.
• The calculation of THU (Total Horizontal Uncertainty) and TVU (Total Vertical Uncertainty) is using information from each instrument which needs to be known in advance.
  
  

Eiva NaviModel support

• Eiva databases can be imported as XYZ data into Geocap. 
• The user interface will list the available survey lines in the database, and the user selects which lines to import.
• The data are imported as Point cloud data.

GSF support

• Geocap now supports GSF (Generic Sensor Format) files that do not contain the enough information to recalculate the XYZ position of each ping and beam in a multibeam survey line.
• Geocap will handlethis type of data as xyz point cloud data

Reader for R2Sonic XTF files

• R2Sonic XTF files are now supported. Previously R2Sonic data was read as GSF files only.

Shelf

Mid-lines with basepoint connection polygons 

• It is now possible to generate base point connection polygons for mid-lines. Just tick the check box on the menu. 
• The command has been updated to handle user specified calculation area
• Accuracy has also been greatly improved in the mid-line generation. We have removed the "Result point accuracy" option in the command. Instead, the new algorithm will make an effort to make the mid-line points as accurate as possible.
  
  

Tri-point calculation

• The mid-line generation will now automatically detect tri-points between three baselines, and include them in the mid-line.
• In the resulting mid-line table view, you will see the reference to neighboring countries baseline points.

Analysis Profile

• New method for FOS calculations
• Color fill under the seafloor inn the FOS analysis panel. Right click Seafloor in the plot item list to change color.
• Fixed problems with Save analysis changes that was not updating some columns in field data.
• Fixed problem where settings for Fourier low pass filter was not remembered.

FOS + 60M lines

• Following field data has been added and can be viewed in Table View: 
  • FOS Dataset Index
  • FOS Analysis Name
  • FOS Dataset
  • FOS Point Name
  • FOS Profile Name
  • FOS Dataset Second Index

New 1% sediment thickness visualization

•  Display/Generate >1% Distance to FOS Area will now display the cross section in the following way:

  • Red: <1%
  • Green: >1%

Minor updates

• Implemented selection list for interpretations in Generate Velocity Profile.
• Added option for color and line thickness in Generate Outer Limit.
• The command Digitize FOS line has been removed. Please use Quick Digitizer and set the schema of the digitized line to Foot of Slope.
• Fixed problem with 1% sediment calculation on sediment grid.
• The command Merge all FOS points can be found on folders with the schema Bathymetric Profiles and will group all FOS point children into one dataset.
• The command Generate Baseline command was removed.

GIM

Dip Steering

• Dip Steering creates coherency and dip. 
• The calculations are based on the original seismic and works for both 2D and 3D seismic. 
• Results are stored as new data sets. 
• Coherency and dip can be very useful in GIM tracking and GIM body generation.

Seismic Trace Attributes

• A vast amount of Seismic Trace Attributes are available for both 2D and 3D seismic - Polarity, Bandwidth, and Frequency just to mention a few. 
• There is also an attribute "calculator" that allows users to create their own. 
• Results are stored as new data sets.

Tracking

The following have been added for more continuous horizons in GIM Tracking:

• Improved analysis of minima/maxima.
• Optional Tracking based entirely on dip for 2D lines.
• Optional dip-based stop criteria for 3D brick cubes.

Trackline Attributes / Trackline Filtering 

• Trackline Attributes are attributes based on the lines (horizons) you get when Tracking 2D lines. 
• Various attributes are generated and you visualize the attributes using the Trackline Filtering dialog. 
• This dialog best used with a two-screen setup, consist of a pair of sliders for each attribute. 
• Use the sliders to look for patterns – seismic facies. One of many interesting attributes is the new On-lap attribute.

Body Generation 

• Geocap 6.4 introduces the unique concept of geobody expansion. 
• Fluvial channels and salt domes are two types of geobodies that this algorithm can produce.

Oil & Gas

Brick technology

• Brick - the seismic cube format that was introduced in Geocap 6.3 - has been refined with more robust visualization and functionality for creating seismic attributes.

Basemap

• A Basemap viewer has been added. It maps seismic navigation, interpretation, wells, and cultural data.

Seismic Filter

• The following Seismic Filters are available: Bandpass and SOF for 2D lines; Anisotropic Diffusion, Bandpass, and Trace Mix for 3D brick cubes.

Seismic Flattening

• Seismic Flattening is used to flatten seismic lines based on an existing horizon. The horizon can be an interpreted horizon, a line, or a grid. There is also an advanced option for flattening and smoothing between two horizons.

Geocap Extensions

The Area Generator is updated, and you will need the new version for running on Geocap 6.4