Learn How to Use Bentley Descartes CONNECT Edition Update 4 for Editing, Modeling, Extracting, and Visualizing Reality Modeling Data
Bentley Descartes CONNECT Edition Update 4 Free Download
If you are looking for a powerful software to process reality modeling data for your infrastructure projects, you might want to check out Bentley Descartes CONNECT Edition Update 4. This software allows you to integrate point clouds, reality meshes, scalable terrain models, and raster imagery into your workflows, and use advanced tools to extract value from them. In this article, we will give you an overview of Bentley Descartes and its main features and benefits, show you how to download and install it, and guide you through some of its key functions. By the end of this article, you will have a better understanding of how Bentley Descartes can help you make the most of your reality modeling data.
Bentley Descartes CONNECT Edition Update 4 Free Download
What is Bentley Descartes and what are its main features and benefits?
Bentley Descartes is a software application that enables you to work with all types of reality modeling data, regardless of size, in a single product. It is part of the Bentley Reality Modeling suite of applications, which also includes ContextCapture, a software for creating high-fidelity reality meshes from photos or lidar data. With Bentley Descartes, you can extend your capabilities to edit and clean up reality modeling data, such as point clouds with billions of points, changing their classification, color, and removing or editing points. You can also integrate any 2D or 3D imagery into your engineering workflows to make well-informed design decisions and improve the overall quality of your project.
Some of the main features and benefits of Bentley Descartes are:
Work with all data types, regardless of size: You can import and process point clouds, reality meshes, scalable terrain models, raster imagery, vector data, CAD models, GIS data, and more.
Use advanced modeling, clipping, and sectioning tools: You can easily model geometry from reality modeling data to extract break lines, paint lines, surfaces, planes, cylinder, and cylinder center lines. You can also create sections from any geometry type using interactive or automated tools.
Extract ground and breaklines from reality meshes and point clouds: You can use powerful algorithms to detect ground points and create breaklines from them. You can also refine the results using manual editing tools.
Enrich, segment, and classify point clouds and combine them with engineering models: You can add attributes to point clouds such as color, intensity, classification, or user-defined values. You can also segment point clouds into regions based on spatial proximity or attribute similarity. You can then combine point clouds with engineering models using various methods such as snapping or alignment.
Produce animations and renderings for presentations: You can create high-quality images and videos from your reality modeling data using various rendering modes, effects, lighting options, camera settings, and animation tools.
Bentley Descartes is compatible with MicroStation CONNECT Edition Update 4 (10.04.00.46) or later versions. It also supports other Bentley applications such as OpenRoads Designer CONNECT Edition Update 4 (10.04.00.48) or How to download and install Bentley Descartes CONNECT Edition Update 4
To download and install Bentley Descartes CONNECT Edition Update 4, you need to have a valid Bentley account and a license for the software. You can create a free account on the Bentley website and request a trial license if you don't have one already. Once you have your account and license, you can follow these steps to download and install the software:
Go to the Software Downloads page on the Bentley website and log in with your credentials.
Search for "Bentley Descartes" in the search box and select the "Bentley Descartes CONNECT Edition" option from the results.
Click on the "Download" button next to the latest version, which is "Bentley Descartes CONNECT Edition Update 4 (10.04.00.48)" at the time of writing this article.
Save the installer file to your computer and run it as an administrator.
Follow the instructions on the screen to configure the installation options and accept the license agreement.
Wait for the installation to complete and click on "Finish".
Note that Bentley Descartes CONNECT Edition Update 4 is not available as a separate installer, but as a companion feature that is bundled with MicroStation CONNECT Edition Update 4 or later versions. This means that you need to have MicroStation installed on your computer before you can use Bentley Descartes. If you don't have MicroStation, you can download it from the same Software Downloads page and install it following the same steps as above. For more information on how to install MicroStation CONNECT Edition Update 4, you can refer to this Wiki article.
System requirements and compatibility
Bentley Descartes CONNECT Edition Update 4 has some minimum system requirements that you need to meet in order to run it smoothly on your computer. These include:
Operating system: Windows 10 (64-bit), Windows 8.1 (64-bit), or Windows 7 SP1 (64-bit)
Processor: Intel or AMD processor 1.0 GHz or greater
Memory: 8 GB minimum, 16 GB recommended
Disk space: 9 GB free disk space
Graphics card: See MicroStation Graphics Hardware List
Display resolution: 1024 x 768 or higher
Internet connection: Required for installation, activation, and access to cloud services
Bentley Descartes CONNECT Edition Update 4 is compatible with MicroStation CONNECT Edition Update 4 (10.04.00.46) or later versions. It also supports other Bentley applications such as OpenRoads Designer CONNECT Edition Update 4 (10.04.00.48) or later versions, OpenRail Designer CONNECT Edition Update 4 (10.04.00.48) or later versions, OpenBridge Modeler CONNECT Edition Update 4 (10.04.00.48) or later versions, OpenBuildings Designer CONNECT Edition Update 4 (10.04.00.48) or later versions, and LumenRT Designer Edition Update 5 (16.05.02.70) or later versions. You can check the compatibility of other applications with Bentley Descartes on the Bentley Product Compatibility page.
Installation options and steps
Bentley Descartes CONNECT Edition Update 4 offers several installation options that allow you to customize your configuration and network settings according to your needs. These include:
Default installation: This option installs Bentley Descartes with the default settings and configuration files in the local drive of your computer.
Custom installation: This option allows you to change the installation location, select the features to install, and specify the root folder for your custom configuration.
Deployment image: This option allows you to create a deployment image that can be used to install Bentley Descartes on multiple machines with consistent settings.
The steps for each installation option are different, but they all start with running the installer file as an administrator and accepting the license agreement. For more details on how to configure each installation option, you can refer to these Wiki articles. How to use Bentley Descartes CONNECT Edition Update 4
Once you have downloaded and installed Bentley Descartes CONNECT Edition Update 4, you can start using it to work with your reality modeling data. Bentley Descartes provides a user-friendly interface that allows you to access various tools and functions from the ribbon, the toolbox, the status bar, the view window, and the dialog boxes. You can also customize the interface to suit your preferences and workflows. In this section, we will show you some of the basic steps on how to use Bentley Descartes to work with different types of reality data and perform some common tasks.
How to work with reality data types such as point clouds, reality meshes, scalable terrain models, and raster imagery
Bentley Descartes supports various types of reality data that you can import, attach, display, and manipulate in your projects. These include:
Point clouds: These are collections of points that represent the shape and color of an object or a scene. Point clouds can be generated from lidar scanners or photogrammetry software. Bentley Descartes supports point cloud formats such as POD, LAS, LAZ, E57, XYZ, PTS, PLY, and more.
Reality meshes: These are 3D models that represent the geometry and texture of an object or a scene. Reality meshes can be generated from photos or lidar data using ContextCapture or other software. Bentley Descartes supports reality mesh formats such as 3MX, 3SM, OBJ, FBX, STL, and more.
Scalable terrain models: These are 3D models that represent the elevation and texture of a terrain. Scalable terrain models can be generated from photos or lidar data using ContextCapture or other software. Bentley Descartes supports scalable terrain model formats such as TIN and DTM.
Raster imagery: These are 2D images that represent the appearance of an object or a scene. Raster imagery can be captured from cameras or satellites. Bentley Descartes supports raster imagery formats such as JPG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, ECW, JPEG2000, MrSID, GeoTIFF, and more.
To work with any of these reality data types in Bentley Descartes, you need to follow these steps:
Open or create a new DGN file in MicroStation.
Go to the Reality Modeling tab on the ribbon and click on the Attach button in the Data group.
Select the type of reality data that you want to attach from the drop-down menu.
Browse to the location of the reality data file on your computer or network and select it.
Click on Open to attach the reality data to your DGN file.
You can now see the reality data in your view window. You can use the tools in the Display group to change the display mode, level of detail, transparency, clipping boundary, and other settings of the reality data.
You can also use the tools in the Edit group to edit and clean up the reality data, such as changing its color, classification, intensity, or removing unwanted points.
How to use advanced modeling, clipping, and sectioning tools
Bentley Descartes provides a set of advanced tools that allow you to model geometry from reality modeling data and create sections from any geometry type. These tools can help you extract valuable information from your reality modeling data and use it for design purposes. Some of these tools are:
Model by Points: This tool allows you to create geometry elements such as lines, arcs, circles, ellipses, splines, shapes, solids, surfaces, planes, remove vertices, smooth vertices, and classify vertices.
Create DTM: This tool allows you to create a digital terrain model (DTM) from ground points and breaklines using various options such as interpolation method, grid size, boundary shape, and output format. You can also refine the results using manual editing tools such as add triangles, remove triangles, flip triangles, and smooth triangles.
Create Contour: This tool allows you to create a contour map from a DTM using various options such as contour interval, contour color, contour style, contour annotation, and output format. You can also refine the results using manual editing tools such as add contours, remove contours, smooth contours, and label contours.
To use any of these tools in Bentley Descartes, you need to follow these steps:
Select the point cloud or the reality mesh that you want to work with in your view window.
Go to the Reality Modeling tab on the ribbon and click on the tool that you want to use in the Terrain group.
Follow the prompts on the status bar and use the mouse and keyboard inputs to define the parameters of the tool.
Click on Accept or press Enter to complete the operation.
How to enrich, segment, and classify point clouds and combine them with engineering models
Bentley Descartes allows you to enrich, segment, and classify point clouds and combine them with engineering models using various tools that help you add attributes, create regions, assign classes, and align geometries. Enriching, segmenting, and classifying point clouds can help you organize your data and extract useful information from it. Combining point clouds with engineering models can help you verify your design and detect any conflicts or discrepancies. Some of the tools that you can use for this purpose are:
Enrich Point Cloud: This tool allows you to add attributes to point clouds such as color, intensity, classification, or user-defined values. You can use various methods such as by selection, by distance, by elevation, by slope, by normal vector, by RGB value, by intensity value, by classification value, or by expression. You can also use various options to control the range, mode, and operation of the attribute assignment.
Segment Point Cloud: This tool allows you to segment point clouds into regions based on spatial proximity or attribute similarity. You can use various methods such as by distance threshold, by attribute threshold, by region growing, by region splitting, or by region merging. You can also use various options to control the criteria, mode, and operation of the segmentation.
Classify Point Cloud: This tool allows you to assign classes to point clouds or regions based on predefined or user-defined categories. You can use various methods such as by selection, by attribute, by expression, by machine learning, or by manual editing. You can also use various options to control the class name, color, style, and operation of the classification.
Combine Point Cloud and Engineering Model: This tool allows you to align point clouds and engineering models using various methods such as by reference points, by reference lines, by reference planes, by reference axes, by best fit, or by manual adjustment. You can also use various options to control the accuracy, tolerance, and operation of the alignment.
To use any of these tools in Bentley Descartes, you need to follow these steps:
Select the point cloud or the engineering model that you want to work with in your view window.
Go to the Reality Modeling tab on the ribbon and click on the tool that you want to use in the Point Cloud group or the Combine group.
Follow the prompts on the status bar and use the mouse and keyboard inputs to define the parameters of the tool.
Click on Accept or press Enter to complete the operation.
How to produce animations and renderings for presentations
Bentley Descartes allows you to produce animations and renderings from your reality modeling data using various tools that help you create high-quality images and videos for presentations. Animations and renderings can help you showcase your project and communicate your design intent to your stakeholders. Some of the tools that you can use for this purpose are:
Render: This tool allows you to render your reality modeling data using various rendering modes such as wireframe, hidden line, smooth shading, realistic shading, realistic with edges, illustration, or photorealistic. You can also use various effects such as shadows, ambient occlusion, depth of field, fog, or lens flare. You can also use various lighting options such as sun position, sky model, environment map, or artificial lights.
Animate: This tool allows you to create animations from your reality modeling data using various animation tools such as keyframes, paths, cameras, targets, transitions, or effects. You can also use various options to control the speed, duration, resolution, and quality of the animation. You can also use the Animation Producer dialog box to manage multiple animations in your project.
Export: This tool allows you to export your reality modeling data as images or videos using various output formats such as JPG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, AVI, MP4, or WMV. You can also use various options to control the size, resolution, compression, and quality of the output.
To use any of these tools in Bentley Descartes, you need to follow these steps:
Select the reality modeling data or the view that you want to work with in your view window.
Go to the Visualization tab on the ribbon and click on the tool that you want to use in the Rendering group or the Animation group.
Follow the prompts on the status bar and use the mouse and keyboard inputs to define the parameters of the tool.
Click on Accept or press Enter to complete the operation.
Conclusion
Bentley Descartes CONNECT Edition Update 4 is a powerful software that allows you to work with all types of reality modeling data in a single product. It enables you to integrate point clouds, reality meshes, scalable terrain models, and raster imagery into your workflows, and use advanced tools to extract value from them. With Bentley Descartes, you can edit and clean up reality modeling data, model geometry from reality modeling data, extract ground and breaklines from reality modeling data, enrich, segment, and classify point clouds and combine them with engineering models, and produce animations and renderings from reality modeling data. By using Bentley Descartes, you can make well-informed design decisions and improve the overall quality of your project.
If you are interested in trying out Bentley Descartes CONNECT Edition Update 4 for yourself, you can download it for free from the Software Downloads page on the Bentley website. You can also request a trial license from the same page if you don't have one already. For more information on how to use Bentley Descartes and its features, you can refer to the Bentley Descartes Help, the Bentley Descartes Wiki, or the Bentley Descartes Community. You can also watch some Bentley Descartes Videos on YouTube to see it in action.
FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions about Bentley Descartes CONNECT Edition Update 4:
What are the differences between Bentley Descartes and ContextCapture?
Bentley Descartes and ContextCapture are both part of the Bentley Reality Modeling suite of applications, but they have different purposes and functions. ContextCapture is a software for creating high-fidelity reality meshes from photos or lidar data. It allows you to capture existing conditions of any site or object and generate 3D models that can be used for design, analysis, visualization, or simulation. Bentley Descartes is a software for processing reality modeling data such as point clouds, reality meshes, scalable terrain models, and raster imagery. It allows you to edit and clean up reality modeling data, model geometry from reality modeling data, extract ground and breaklines from reality modeling data, enrich, segment, and classify point clouds and combine them with engineering models, and produce animations and renderings from reality modeling data. In other words, ContextCapture is a software for creating reality modeling data, while Bentley Descartes is a software for processing reality modeling data.
How can I access free data to generate terrain scalable meshes with Bentley Descartes?
Bentley Descartes allows you to generate terrain scalable meshes from various sourc