3DEM

3DEM is a Windows application developed to help you generate terrain animations using different models, such as USGS DEM, GeoTiff DEM, SRTM data, terrain matrix, GLOBE or GTOPO30 tile, LIDAR or XYZ point cloud, as well as Mars MOLA or Mars Polar MOLA.

The setup procedure does not take a long time to finish. As for the interface, 3DEM does not include visually attractive elements, but it is simple to navigate. At startup you can select the DEM file type for generating the terrain animation, by picking an option from the list with the above mentioned models.

It is possible to view DEM specifications, change the projection, toggle a 3D scene, apply, remove or adjust the map overlay, resize the overhead view, patch missing data, select a smaller area, as well as to view and animate flyby.

When it comes to GPS, you can enter the coordinates using the mouse or transfer GPS points to other locations. Meanwhile, the grid for latitude and longitude can be either shown or hidden, and the measurement unit can be selected between degrees, minutes and seconds, as well as UTM meters. The map image can be saved and printed.

We have not come across any issues in our tests, since 3DEM did not freeze, crash or display error notifications. It has a good response time and runs on low CPU and RAM, so it does not hog system resources. Help documentation is available for inexperienced users. All in all, 3DEM proves to be quite a resourceful software utility for helping users generate terrain animations. Too bad it has not been updated for a while.