Geodata Services, Inc.

GIS services for planning and business, featuring CommunityViz and Business Analyst
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CommunityViz® Training

by Geodata Services, Inc.

 

Geodata offers a variety of course offerings ranging from 1 hour webinars to 5 day hands-on courses in CommunityViz.  Courses are taught in Missoula at the University of Montana or on-line using WebEx. On-line courses allow participants to attend from their home or office without travel and lodging expenses.  The course outline and hands-on exercises for on-line courses are identical to the in person courses, with participants using University of Montana workstations remotely from their home location.  Geodata also offers ArcGIS Deskop I: Getting Started with GIS, a two day introduction to ESRI ArcGIS software and basic principles of GIS, intended for those with no previous experience with GIS.  For planners and managers with no previous GIS experience, this course is a recommended pre-requisite before taking the full three day CommunityViz course.

 

Geodata also offers custom courses for 5 to 25 participants, either in person, or on-line via WebEx.  We provide training software for courses taught on customer sites.  Depending on the number of participants, these custom courses can be less expensive than the standard courses taught in Missoula.  We can also combine training with CommunityViz services, such as building custom models, analyses,visualizations and presentations with your own data on your local projects.  Please contact us for details and custom quotes.

 

Ken Wall, President of Geodata, is a certified CommunityViz trainer and an ESRI authorized ArcGIS instructor.  Ken has 20 years experience in GIS and geospatial technologies. He has been using CommunityViz for 8 years, since it was initially released. He has extensive project experience applying the software to projects ranging from regional to local scale. He has also designed and carried out CommunityViz projects in both urban and rural environments, and designed templates that can be applied in greenfield and brownfield settings, urban redevelopment and renewal, natural resource planning, local government comprehensive planning and other environments.
 

 
CommunityViz Overview
 

1 hour Webinar

Cost: Free

Prerequisites: no GIS experience required

 

CommunityViz is advanced yet easy to use GIS software that is designed to help people visualize, analyze, and communicate about land use and planning. This is a one hour program introduction designed for users with little or no GIS experience. We provide an overview of the software and present case studies of CommunityViz in action for decision support, suitability analysis, land use planning and 3D visualizations.  This webinar is presented by a certified CommunityViz trainer. 


            

CommunityViz Training

 

3 day course, May 16-18, 2011 at the University of Montana, Missoula, Montana ($900)

 

Prerequisites:  Basic familiarity with ArcView GIS is required.  We recommend taking ArcGIS Desktop I:  Getting Started with GIS, if you have no previous GIS experience.

 

Register (Click here to register)

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A complete introduction to using CommunityViz, a GIS extension designed for visualization, analysis and decision support for community planning and natural resource management.  Participants will learn to operate CommunityViz with ArcView, and explore methods to plan, operate and build custom CommunityViz models.   The course also covers many of the custom tools and modules in CommunityViz, including suitability analysis, buildout with phasing and timescope, common impacts analysis, land use designer and sketch tools. Participants will also learn the basics of 3D visualization, including the Google Earth export functions and Sitebuilder 3D, and techniques for presenting the results from CommunityViz in multiple formats.  A brief overview of advanced CommunityViz modules is covered  in lectures. Participants will create their own analysis in the final exercise.  This course is taught by a certified CommunityViz trainer and is offered in GIS labs at the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana.  A minimum of 5 participants is required for the course to proceed.  If cancellation is necessary, Geodata Services, Inc. will notify registrants by May 2, 2011.


 

GIS and 3D Visualization

 

2 day course, May 19-20, 2011 at the University of Montana, Missoula, Montana ($750)

 

Prerequisites:  Previous experience with ArcView GIS is required

 

Register (Click here to register)

 

GIS and 3D visualization and modeling allows users to explore and work with maps in a more understandable and realistic way than traditional two dimensional maps and software. This is a two day hands on training workshop in 3D visualization and modeling including building, manipulating and deploying GIS maps in multiple formats, and presenting the results as images, videos and dynamic visualizations. This workshop will introduce you to the techniques for converting GIS data into 3D scenes, graphics and video. We will cover the use of commercial and open source free software for 3D GIS applications. Software to be covered will include ESRI 3D Analyst, ArcGISExplorer, CommunityViz, SketchUp and Google Earth. Specific techniques will cover tips and tricks to prepare GIS data for 3D visualizations, building models of structures, vegetation, street furniture, and other components, texturing surfaces, mashups of GIS and Google Earth, 3D viewing software, 3D graphing, and output as still images and videos.  This course is taught by a certified CommunityViz trainer and is offered in GIS labs at the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana.  A minimum of 5 participants is required for the course to proceed.  If cancellation is necessary, Geodata Services, Inc. will notify registrants by May 4, 2011.


Using CommunityViz

 

1 day course

Prerequisites: no GIS experience required

 

Hands-on Course Format or Lecture Only Format

 

CommunityViz is advanced yet easy to use GIS software that is designed to help people visualize, analyze, and communicate about important land use decision.  The course was designed for users with little or no GIS experience. You will learn the essential basics needed to operate ArcView GIS and a typical planning model in CommunityViz. We will also explain when, why and how a planner, consultant, citizen volunteer, or staff member of an NGO would use GIS and decision support tools. Participants will also learn to use the popular land use sketch tool, and simple steps to export and view 3D scenes and models of planning areas using Google Earth. Throughout the US population is shifting with some areas experiencing rapid growth and others declining in population with needs for community revitalization. Communities can respond and shape their future, and decide how economic, environmental and social considerations can be addressed. CommunityViz is the ideal tool to assist in these decisions and facilitate understanding and visualization.  This course is taught by a certified CommunityViz trainer.

 
This course is taught in two formats, a hands-on course and a lecture only course.The content of both is identical, the difference is in the hands-on experience of the students.  In the hands-on format participants go through exercises individually using WebEx Training Center, accessing GIS lab computers at the University of Montana from their own home or office.  In the lecture format, the instructor demonstrates the software while the students watch. 


 

Urban Forest Green Infrastructure CommunityViz Application
 

1 hour Seminar

Cost: Free

Prerequisites: no GIS experience required

 

Geodata Services, Inc. was awarded a contract with Urban Forestry Division of the Missoula Parks and Recreation Department to develop a growth model and cost/benefit decision support tool for the urban forest in Missoula.  The model inputs the municipal tree inventory for the city by neighborhood and allows analysis of different budget alternatives.  Costs and benefits, measured in dollars, are based on alternative budgets for planting, pruning, maintenance and removal.  Based on a given annual budget and a pruning strategy, the growth over a century in 25 year time periods is calculated by neighborhood, and benefits such as energy savings, rainfall interception, pollution reduction and aesthetics are calculated.  Multiple scenarios can be compared to each other via maps, graphs, charts, reports and 3D visualization.  All participants will receive a complementary copy of the green infrastructure model application. (requires CommunityViz and ArcGIS to run)