OpenRoads Designer 2025 is now available on Software Downloads. The OpenRoads Designer 2025 release offers improved engineering and geometry capabilities, enhanced annotation tools to increase productivity, and efficiency-enhancing capabilities, including artificial intelligence (AI) to reduce manual tasks.
Engineering Enhancements and Improved Geometry Capabilities
With input from our users, we have made significant improvements to the geometry engine that allow you to modify geometry elements while preserving their core identity. This means that all the rules and references connected to the element will remain intact, giving you the confidence to make changes quickly and accurately. Other geometry improvements include:
· Equal spaced points – This updated tool set has been completely reimagined and now allows you to customize each point with unique properties and rules, providing greater flexibility and control over the creation of equal-spaced points.
· Parametric geometry points – This enhancement supports the use of 2D and 3D parametric cells within civil geometry points, allowing for dynamic and intelligent design components that can be easily modified.
· Named Groups for Points – We’ve added the ability to put points into named groups for easier reporting, annotation, and management. This simplifies organization and allows for group edits.
· Constraint Visibility for Geometry Points – With this enhancement, when geometry points are created, the constraints used are shown in the properties, making them more visible and easier to edit.
· Simplified Interval Naming – We’ve simplified geometry naming so that the given name is maintained when intervals are created.
· More powerful Geometry Redefine and Geometry Replacer – These tools now work with both horizontal and vertical geometry. These enhanced tools make redefining and replacing geometry easier than ever. Design intent and rules are automatically preserved when possible and updated when necessary to define the desired new geometry.
These improvements provide enhanced capabilities and greater ease of use for geometry tools.
Increase Productivity with Annotation Tools
OpenRoads Designer 2025 includes annotation tools that can increase productivity, such as:
· Text frames and leaders for bulk annotation
· Additional text frame options, such as underline, double and single bracket, and parenthesis
· White space management for geometry points, survey points, and drainage nodes annotation in plan and profile views
· The ability to automatically create annotations as points are placed
The enhancements to the annotation tools expand annotation options, provide flexibility in placement and adjustments, and offer automation to increase clarity, avoid clutter, and save time.
Efficiency-Enhancing Capabilities
We also expanded capabilities to make it easier to perform common tasks, including:
· The ability to import GEOPAK parcels and survey chains as standard geometry objects, simplifying data migration from GEOPAK
· The ability to import 12daz survey data with attribution for Australian and New Zealand users
· Support for named Vertical Coordinate System (datum) to accurately support project geographic coordinate systems
· Support for OGC API feature connection service (Esri ArcGISTM or OGC WFS), ensuring compatibility with evolving geospatial data services
· A new Cell Fixed Size property in the Element templates dialog box to help keep cell size of point features displayed from Esri GIS data constant, visible, and appropriately sized
· Updated Multiple Profile Tracking and Analysis tool to read formatting from the Design File Settings of the active dgn file to ensure consistent formatting and appearance of profile data
· Updated IFC Export tool from technology preview to general availability, providing a reliable and fully supported tool for exporting models in IFC format, improving interoperability with other BIM software
Enhanced Terrain Visualization
As part of the OpenRoads Designer 2025 launch, we are discontinuing Bing Maps for Enterprise and replacing it with Google Maps. This will provide access to higher-resolution and more up-to-date geospatial content, enhancing the accuracy and realism of project context. This allows for the addition of Google 3D integration, enabling immersive high-resolution 3D maps of populated areas to help you better understand the surroundings of the project area and make better informed decisions. High-quality 3D tile formats are also supported for 3D visualizations, enabling the streaming of massive geospatial datasets, including reality meshes and photorealistic data from sources like Google for detailed and interactive 3D visualizations within the design environment.
Time-Saving Artificial Intelligence
We are introducing AI technology as a tech preview with the Label Organizer. Currently, as drawings become more complex and cluttered, designers have to manually reposition labels in order to prevent overlapping and enhance readability. With the new Label Organizer, AI technology analyzes the drawing, finding the instances of overlap or conflicting data, and repositions the annotations, saving drafters and designers from time-consuming manual adjustments and improving the readability, clarity, and aesthetics of drawings.
Increasing Excellence
As we strive to build unrivaled confidence and trust with OpenRoads Designer, we have increased the stability of the product, resolving and repairing documented bugs (learn more in the ReadMe file). We have also introduced dgn file health audits. With this technology, the health of your dgn files is continually monitored and a dialog box pops up when a situation arises, providing guidance for remedying the issue. This will help maintain file integrity and identify potential issues early, reducing the risk of data loss or corruption.
Get Started with OpenRoads Designer 2025
OpenRoads Designer 2025 is now available on Software Downloads.