Welcome to the spring 2007 e-bulletin - A special welcome to all those new LSS users for whom this will be their first e-bulletin. We've started sending these out because the gap between the printed Newsletters doesn't allow us to keep everyone informed of the latest product developments and training courses. If you want to amend the email to which this bulletin is being sent choose the 'Amend Details' button. If it has been forwarded to you by someone else you can register your own email address so you receive future bulletins by clicking the 'Register' button below.

Training in Chesterfield - We have a few spaces left on our Chesterfield training in April. So, if you are still thinking about attending then please contact us straight away. Alternatively, you can book training courses on our website by hitting the 'Book online' button at the top of this bulletin.

Spaces are currently available for:- Land Surveyors and Engineers on 11th; Advanced on 13th; Leica System 1200 Workshop on 10th; Trimble Workshop on 12th and Topcon Workshop on 13th. All events are subject to minimum and maximum numbers.

World of Geomatics Exhibition, Stoneleigh Warwickshire 28th & 29th March - It's this week, but if you haven't already booked your place it is still possible to attend by registering at the door. World of Geomatics 2007 is the only exhibition in the UK specifically for land surveying (Geomatics). We'll be there as usual, so please come along to our stand. If you want more details of the show then click the logo below.

Reaching the masses - One of our users, Adrian Wilkinson of Land & Minerals Consultancy

has recently been involved in a major UK Geodiversity project. It involved him presenting 3D fly-throughs of a quarry park to members of the public as well as several other Geopark partners. He was able to use LSS to overlay aerial photography, yet also represent the underlying geology in a way which everyone could understand.

And just one final image from Adrian Wilkinson showing the underlying geology in plan and section.

LSS 3D Vantage update - As a result of Adrian Wilkinson's work with LSS (see previous article) we noticed that we could improve the 3D viewing experience. In the past, some graphics cards have generated a grid of black lines when showing draped aerial imagery in 3D Vantage. Also it was possible that two models close to each other vertically would vie with each other to be the one being displayed. This 'Z-fighting' as it is known would manifest itself in a 'flashing' of triangles within the 3D view in 3D Vantage. We have overcome both of these potential problems and have posted the updated program both on our forum and website. If you do download the updated program please replace all copies of it on your computer.

Message to all Beta testers - If you have downloaded a pre-release version of LSS version 9.55 (LSS Beta) in recent months, but haven't been back to the website to check if any further updates have been posted, please do so. If the version of LSS Beta you are running is more than a month old (Help / About LSS) then please update it via our website. Also, we'd remind everyone that as this is a pre-release version it may contain nuts, sorry we mean bugs, so don't use it on live jobs without first backing-up your work and checking any output it produces. Also, please report any anomalies you find immediately to us by phone or email. Thanks.

Message to all other LSS users - Please be reminded that LSS is currently on version 9.50.13. If you are using anything prior to version 9.50.01 then it is imperative that you either download the latest update from our website or call us for a CD. We did send everyone a CD last autumn, but some don't appear to have got through to their intended recipients. Anyone on version 8.nn should be aware that we stopped supporting version 8 over a year ago. Please don't miss out on the fantastic array of new facilities in version 9 designed to make your job easier and more productive, not to mention the long list of new commands.

Support files on the Forum - We realise that CDs can get mislaid and files which were meant to be on the computer mysteriously go missing just after a disk defrag. So, in order to provide an even higher level of support, we have copied all the LSS support files onto our forum. That way you can download the files 24/7 whenever you need them.

We have categorised the files in such a way as to make it really straightforward to find what you're looking for. There are categories for land survey-specific equipment, the LSS Testdata and the updated 3D Vantage program. Registering to use the site is free, quick and straightforward.

And don't forget the LSS forum for advice, support and general chat.