ERDAS IMAGINE 2012 is looking really good.

This release is going to be hot. What’s going to be in it?

The upgraded Spatial Modeler is more than an upgrade. This is more than an update of Model Maker that sits on top of the Spatial Modeler Language. All the Modeler Maker capabilities that Esri copied to create Model Builder are there, plus the things customers have demanded.

• Faster file to file processing
• On-the-fly raster processing (lessons learned from ER Mapper) 
• On-the-fly vector processing (lessons learned from GeoMedia) 
• Replacement of Model Maker User Interface 
• Python Scripting 

But this is the beginning. Spatial Modeler is being designed with 64-bit processing as well as sharing tools with GeoMedia in mind. The architecture has been designed in a manner that will allow features and functions to be added in service packs.

The Python Scripting is very powerful. Customers will be able to connect other software applications with Spatial Modeler as part of their data processing work-flows. ERDAS IMAGINE's Spatial Modeler can act as a agnostic geoprocessing hub.

There is more….

• Point Cloud (LAS, MrSID) visualization in 2D and 3D, profiles, measuring, point editing, RGB encoding… I am working with Steve du Plessis to put together a Webinar on point clouds.
• 16-bit ECW, and ECW is faster… not just a little faster, but must faster and scalable.
• Better and faster support for JPEG2000 data. 
• LPS is fully Ribbonized.
• New Segmentation algorithm that customers are saying  is the best they have seen to date. 
• Improved ER Mapper Algorithm capabilities. 
• GeoMedia Vector and GRID capabilities. The GeoMedia Buffer in Spatial Modeler is real time. You can test your buffer processes in a trial and error method in the viewer and then write to file (if you want to). 
• Faster edge detection in MosaicPro.
• New real-time spectral indices tool. 
• Radar analyst work-flow tools in the ribbon, including ship tracking capabilities. 

There are a lot of moving pieces, and there are more items coming that cannot listed at this time. I have to wait a little longer on some.

Last year at Hexagon 2011 I discussed that the wall between raster and vector was coming down. It is more than that, mush more.... raster, vector, point clouds, imagery, photogrammetry, radargrammetry, and more all in one software.

I am again working on a research love of mine, change detection. We have the algorithms and processing performance we need to make high resolution change detection work for the whole geospatial community, not just the expert. This is expected post 2012. Exciting times are here.