Microsoft’s Vexcel Imaging Announces Release 2.1 of UltraMap and UltraMap/AT

Graz, Austria — July 16, 2010 — Vexcel Imaging GmbH, a Microsoft® company, will roll out version 2.1 of its UltraMap 2.1 and UltraMap/AT photogrammetric software to customers beginning July 19, 2010. These releases continue the tradition of providing a flexible and scalable distributed system for managing and processing vast amounts of UltraCam data.

UltraMap 2.1 and UltraMap/AT 2.1 include many new capabilities to enable customers to process projects even faster and better than previously possible, and with a higher level of automation. Project-based color balancing, 1-click system reports, and level-2 quality visualization are examples of key new capabilities in UltraMap 2.1.

Other key new major features of UltraMap 2.1 include:
• Framework now offers “One-click” system report generation for any local UltraMap node and the complete UltraMap system.
• Raw Data Center now offers the option to format a data unit; the option to check unverified raw data on a data unit; generation of Level-2 quality information for each image to be visualized by the UltraMap Viewer; and generation of a Level-2 quality xml file for each image.
• Radiometry now offers automated quick view generation; fully integrated project-based color balancing based on automatically extracted parameters during AT; clipping visualization; and the option to specify the output range (min/max).
• Viewer now offers Level-2 quality visualization; text overlays for shot position; and a new viewer with DFI stand-alone support.

UltraMap/AT 2.1 now offers text overlays for ground control points; vector residual overlays; tie point merger; automated blunder removal during bundle adjustment; a detailed AT report; integrated data extraction for project-based color balancing; and PAT-B bundle result export.

UltraMap includes features for managing data download, distributed processing using load balancing and resource management, aerial triangulation, and interactive data visualization for quality control. Use of Microsoft’s Dragonfly technology enables incredibly smooth and high-resolution image browsing and zooming for very large sets of data content. Dragonfly supports multi-channel 16-bit UltraCam imagery for high quality visualization within the complete photogrammetric workflow.

“I am proud of the accomplishment this product release represents for the Vexcel Imaging team,” notes Alexander Wiechert, Business Director of Microsoft and Managing Director for Vexcel Imaging GmbH. “It supports our customers’ businesses by enabling easier, faster image processing and more automation than ever before.”

About Vexcel Imaging, GmbH
Acquired by Microsoft Corporation in May 2006, Vexcel Imaging GmbH brings more than two decades of photogrammetry expertise to Microsoft’s Bing Maps business unit and is at the heart of the burgeoning Microsoft photogrammetry business. The company’s offerings include its series of UltraCam large- and medium-format digital aerial mapping cameras and related software tools such as the UltraMap 2.1 workflow software.