New Features in Surfer Beta

There are several new features in the latest release of Surfer Beta! The top new features are listed below. Full help topics for these new features can be found in the help contained in the Surfer Beta application. A more complete list of the new features can be found on the Surfer Beta Version History page.

To download Surfer Beta today, follow the instructions at this link: What is Surfer Beta and how can I participate? 

 

-Top Features in Surfer Beta's Latest Release-

3D Drillhole Visualization

We’ve made the visualization in the 3D view more robust and user friendly than ever before, to save you time and headaches.

Create, Edit and Export Contact Points from 3D Drillhole Data

Drillhole data provides invaluable information about the subsurface, and the 3D drillhole layer in Surfer gives you that data in a colorful and easily-understandable graphical format. But let’s go a step further! Once you have drillhole data imported and viewable in the 3D view, let’s create contact points (aka ‘picks’) from the data, so we can create surfaces between them!

Maybe you want to see stratigraphy layers, or periods of time, or mineralization layers. You can now create contact points within your drillholes, based on either keywords (e.g. lithology names) or a query of the data (e.g. SWV or CPT data). Once you have the contact points created, you can edit them if the default location isn’t quite right – you know your data best! And once the points are finalized, export them to a data file. From there, you can grid the data and add them to your map to see the surfaces from your drillhole data! Visualizing subsurface layers is just getting easier!

Define points of contact based on upper/lower keywords or using a query! Export those contact points to a data file for gridding, and view the surface in the 3D view.

Rename Layers

Organize your contents! The 3D View now allows you to rename your layers. This is particularly useful when creating multiple image and contour slices through your 3D grid. You no longer have to guess which layer in the Contents window is the one you want or spend time clicking on each one – rename them to be uniquely identifiable so you can select the one you want the first time!

Rename2.png

Rename layers in the Contents window in the 3D View, so you can easily identify which layer is which!

 

Multiple Light Sources

Add up to four light sources to illuminate your model! You don’t have to decide to showcase either surfaces or drillholes, not you can do both! Not only can you create additional light sources, you can choose between point or directional lights. Shine the light on a particular point in the model (by XYZ coordinates), or shine if from a particular direction (by azimuth and altitude). 3D models can be clear and lit, so you can see the entirety of the model, regardless of the model contents, tilt or rotation.

Lighting1.png Lighting2.png
Add up to 4 different lights sources, to transform dark visualizations (before, left) into brightly light models (after, right).

 

Legends with Unique Values Base Symbology

Unique values base symbology is a powerful way to apply drawing properties (e.g. fill, line and symbol properties) to base layer objects based on certain attributes. It visually clarifies your base layers to give you the most information from your maps. The legends for this symbology is now even better. Give the unique values a name, if the selected attribute wasn’t clear enough. Polygon samples now show the sample with the line properties around the fill properties. Adjust the size of the line and symbol samples. And best of all, only show the properties that are actually applied in the map, all in one column. It has never been this easy to get the legends to look so good.

LegendUniqueValues.png

Utilize the new features for legends showing Unique Values symbology, so your legend is clear and concise!

 

 

Updated March, 2025

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