[GIS] Looking for free program, similar to 3D Analyst, to visualize tree stands in 3D

Question

I want to make a 3D stand visualization of trees in a specific area. I need something similar in functionality to ArcGIS 3D Analyst, but I don't have a license for that plugin anymore.

The only alternative I have found is the Stand Visualization System from the USDA Forest Service, which works quite well, but has no GIS functionality.

I want to visualize the height and clustering of geographically referenced trees. There have to be different models for the tree species (spruce, beech, … ).

EDIT:
For all people searching for more tools
-> here is another posting on gis.stack

Answer 1

I think in the end i will stay with the USGS Envison system. Their stand visualization system in fact has a geographical component, but prior to the visualization you have to format your data locations corresponding to your plot size.

• First create a tbl file with the following parameter (From the Tbl2svs help)

    The following example shows a stand table that lists individual
      trees and down logs using the optional parameters:

      ;sp dbh ht  crn crown stat plt crn exp   X     Y   mark fell  end
      ;           rat rad        cls cls                 stat angle dia
      DF  28  152 .41 19.6   1    0  0   1.0  26.4  57.9  0    0    0.0
      RA  14   72 .58  9.6   1    0  0   1.0  98.1 121.5  0    0    0.0
      DF  42   53 .00  0.0   0    0  0   1.0 174.8  21.4  0   72   28.0
      DF  78  197 .39 26.4   1    0  0   1.0 142.4 171.9  0    0    0.0
      RC  62  162 .71 17.5   1    0  0   1.0  48.2 157.1  0    0    0.0

• Then run the tbl2svs converter tool with your generated table as input.
• Then display your trees with the WinSVS tool
• This works for simple plots. If you want to display whole landscapes take a look at the Envision programm mentioned above, where you can load in your SVS-files and also display objects from SHP files with a height attribute.

I'll write a r-script to accomplish this task for me step by step.

This works for me right now, but i'm really eager to see some similar applications using the VTP software or the mentioned grass-gis addon. Feel free to use this thread to display similar workflows.