Bentley Descartes

Descartes is a very powerful application for integrating and processing reality modeling data such as reality meshes, point clouds, scalable terrain models, and raster data for use in your information modeling workflows and infrastructure projects. 

Descartes directly supports all raster formats provided by Raster Manager. Where applicable, Descartes V8 edits these formats in their native form, no conversion is required and no hidden background conversion is done. 

Raster formats: 

• CIT, TG4, RLE, and CALS. 

• HMR and ITIFF 

• TIFF, COT, IMG, PCX, IMG (24 bits), RGB, TGA, JPEG, RLC, RS, and BMP. 

• Mr.SID, ECW, IKONOS. 

• And many others... 

Compression algorithms: 

• Deflate, PackBits, CCITT3, CCITT4, RLE1 and JPEG data compression. You may open, edit, and save directly in any of these compression algorithms. Any of the supported file types will recognize and keep positional information intact. 

One of the key advantages of Descartes is its ability to mix image types. You can simultaneously use black and white or two color (1 bit include scanned drawings, black-and-white -24 bit) images, and the images can have different scales and resolutions. Typical image types are scanned drawings, black and white maps, color maps, aerial photographs, and satellite images. 

Mosaics tools allow automatic gray scale/color balancing and seam placement. Automatic seaming also features "feathering". Feathering allows the seam (cut-line) to be rendered invisible. Once the automatic mosaic/feathering process completed, images seamlessly blend together to create the perfect image scene.

Yes. Descartes supports automated raster-to-vector conversion. Raster lines that match user definable filter sets can be automatically vectorized with minimal input from the user to greatly enhance any conversion project. In addition to these tightly integrated raster-drawing tools, users can snap to individual pixels of an image while using standard MicroStation geometry creation methods. For areas that are difficult to view, one key selection invokes the "Spy Window" which magnifies the area encompassing the cursor to aid in proper alignment and location. 

A Point Cloud is a dense set of 3D points captured by LiDAR, offering very high measurement accuracy but no solid surfaces—objects can appear “see‑through” when zoomed in. A Reality Mesh is a continuous surface made of interconnected triangles, typically generated from photogrammetry. Because photo textures are applied to the mesh, it appears realistic and easy to interpret. Point Clouds are excellent for precision, while Reality Meshes provide clearer visualization and real‑world context. 

Software that turns photos and scans into accurate, realistic 3D models. The most common output is a Reality Mesh. This is a continuous 3D "fabric" of triangles draped with high-resolution photographic textures. Unlike a traditional CAD model, which is a manual "drawing" of what should be there, a reality mesh is a digital representation of what is there.