Top 5 New Features of Global Mapper v22.1

Blue Marble is excited to announce the release of Global Mapper v22.1! The latest version includes new tools and significant improvements to existing functionality throughout the software. This blog highlights the top five new features.

1. Save 3D Views Tool

Updates to the 3D Viewer include a new drop-down menu for selecting from a list of predefined 3D perspectives or for creating and saving a custom view. This provides a convenient way to automatically orient the simulated viewpoint or to define a custom saved camera position. The drop-down list offers several options, including front, back, top, bottom, east, and west. Similar to Name and Save Current View in the 2D view, this new function can be used to create a series of custom views that will be specific to the displayed data, providing a simple way to quickly jump back to a saved orientation location. Saved custom views will be listed in the 3D Viewer drop-down menu and in the Restore Named View dialog box, which is accessed from the View menu in the 2D view.

New drop-down for perspectives in the 3D Viewer

Front View of elevation data in the 3D Viewer

Select Saved View to Zoom To box with new Custom 3D views option

2. New 3D View Navigation Tools

Another enhancement to the 3D Viewer is the option to pivot the view around a selected feature. After selecting a vector object with the Digitizer in the 3D Viewer, using the Z key on the keyboard locks the target while holding down the left mouse button to dynamically adjust the pivot angle and orientation. With this function enabled, the perspective is locked onto the selection until the view is manually panned away from the feature. This tool offers an easy way to rotate the view around a selected object and provides the option to zoom in closer to features for a clearer view of the area of interest.

3D camera locked on a feature

3. Improved Graphing and Charting

Global Mapper’s Graph and Chart Manager is used to display attribute values as a line graph, bar graph, or pie chart. Until now, this unique visualization option has been limited to creating a single series graph using just one attribute field. With the release of version 22.1, it is now possible to create a multi-series graph using more than one source layer. The series can be colored to match the associated features in the map view and will be automatically updated if the attribute values for the layers are changed. The updates to graphing and charting in Global Mapper v22.1 provide a dynamic way to visualize data with multiple series. 

Graph and Chart Manager Properties box showing the new Multiple Series Attribute option

Line Graph showing population in Africa Subregions over time

Bar Graph showing population in Africa Subregions over time

4. New Spatial Operations and the Ability to Call Them from a Script

Several new operations have been added to Global Mapper’s Spatial Operations tool, which now performs numerous vector overlay operations and spatial predicate queries on area features. Previously, the only available option was to perform the intersection operation to define the overlap between two layers. In version 22.1, it is now possible to perform Union, Difference, and Symmetrical Difference operations on area features.

Areas of land impacted by Hurricane Irma data

Difference Operation showing what parts of Hurricane Irma do not overlap with land features

Spatial Predicate Operations have also been added, which find features in a layer that have a spatial relationship to features in a second layer. The results of this operation are then written into a new layer in their original form while leaving the original layers intact. The predicate operations added in version 22.1 include Intersects, Overlaps, Touches, Contains, Equals, Within, and Disjoint.

Within Operation showing what land areas were wholly contained within Hurricane Irma

Global Mapper v22.1 includes an expansion of the Spatial Operations tool to incorporate scripting components for performing more complex queries of vector data.

Scripting operations showing an intersection operation between the US and UTM Zones

The Spatial Operations tool has been moved from the Analysis toolbar to the Digitizer (Advanced) toolbar to provide easier access when working with vector layers.

5. Support for New Formats

As with all previous Global Mapper releases, version 22.1 includes support for several new data formats, including export to COG (Cloud-Optimized GeoTiff) format and import of IFC (Buildings) and GeoSLAM files.

 Global Mapper v22.1 – What’s new? Join us for a webinar overview!

Join us on March 3 for a one-hour live webinar during which Blue Marble application specialists will showcase many of the latest features of Global Mapper v22.1. Register today! Don’t have Global Mapper and want to try out the new release features? Request a 14-day free trial!