Seattle, WA – May 10, 2011 – With improved GIS data support, enhanced customization options and new drawing and data management tools, the release of Depiction 1.3, announced today by Depiction, Inc., makes rapid, affordable mapping, simulation and visual collaboration even easier.
“We’re very happy to provide our users with numerous features they have been asking for in this latest major update,” said Depiction founder and board chairman Mike Geertsen. “These include drawing tools, new labels that can include web links and photos, and tools that make customizing your depictions even simpler.”
Depiction 1.3 is a web-enabled desktop program incorporating mapping, simulation and collaboration capabilities, enabling users to build dynamic, interactive location based scenarios, representing historical, hypothetical or even ongoing situations. These capabilities have previously been reserved for highly trained systems engineers, analysts and programmers using complex, expensive, enterprise-level installations, but Depiction, and the enhancements in this new version, changes that.
“Depiction has proven to be an extremely valuable tool during our Search and Rescue Events,” said Gordon McCraw, Emergency Management Director for Tillamook County, Oregon. “The new enhancements in version 1.3, which includes the UTM data specifically used by our SAR folks, will make this excellent tool even more useful and quicker to use.”
“Frankly I have been spoiled and won’t even begin to plan or manage an event of any type without it,” said Doug Carter, an Amateur Radio Emergency Services District Emergency Coordinator from Saint Augustine, Florida. “Because Depiction is an everyday planning tool for me, I am excited about the new features in version 1.3, adding enhanced performance and customization capabilities to meet any and all unique circumstances.”
New features and enhancements included in Depiction 1.3 include:
- New drawing tools, enabling users to rapidly draw lines, circles, rectangles and freehand polygons. These drawn elements can then serve as map components, markup, and even as interactive simulation elements.
- New Quickstart data, including the latest FEMA flood maps, NLCD land cover maps, USGS shaded relief maps and data from the 2010 census.
- Enhanced multi-monitor support that makes Depiction even more valuable as a presentation tool.
- Significant performance enhancements, especially when dealing with GIS data.
- A new scale is now shown for easy reference in either metric or imperial units.
- A new element creation tool makes customizing Depiction scenarios even easier.
- An enhanced interactions editor to enable further customization.
- A new fire perimeter element that disables buildings, people and vehicles.
- A new capacity for labels that allows for the inclusion of HTML formatting and images in map element annotation.
- Support for the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinate system.
- Simple but powerful additions such as a visual selection tool and the ability to copy the current location to the user’s clipboard.
- Plus many more minor improvements.
See Depiction 1.3 in action during a live webinar on Thursday, May 12 at 1 PM EDT/10 AM PDT, “Depiction 1.3 – Map, Collaborate, Simulate and Decide”.
Two new add-ons are also available for Depiction. Depiction’s Small Business add-on adds seven new elements to Depiction to enable small businesses to rapidly map employees, customers, distributors and more, enabling better business intelligence, business continuity planning and more. The Recreation Add-on, built by Russell Deffner Consulting, provides 52 new elements for use in outdoor and non-organized recreation mapping, planning analysis and more. The new API provided by Depiction 1.3 opens the doors to more add-ons in the future, adding even more functionality to the program.
Version 1.3 is available immediately. Current Depiction users can upgrade to the latest version at no cost by visiting www.depiction.com/upgrade. Depiction 1.3 can be purchased risk-free and downloaded for just $199 at www.depiction.com, and requires no subscription or maintenance agreement. Volume discounts and discounts for volunteers are available.
