Ongoing Development Provides Improved Interoperability, Enhanced Workflows, and Broader Reuse of Design Information

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Be Inspired: Infrastructure Best Practices Symposium and Awards -- Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for the infrastructure that sustains our world, at this invitation-only gathering of top users from around the globe, announced the October 2009 availability of MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 1). This newest version of MicroStation features innovative and flexible value-creative enhancements for infrastructure professionals highlighted by RealDWG library support and integrated 3D printing capabilities. SELECTseries updates for all Bentley products maintain forward and backward compatibility across the entire V8i lifecycle. They are scheduled independently for each Bentley product and are made available to Bentley SELECT subscribers for adoption at their own pace, to suit project schedules and align with project demands.

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Founder and CTO Keith Bentley commented, "Our new V8i (SELECTseries 1) offerings underscore our commitment to provide users with a recurring stream of enhancements. These include 3D printing support and audit tools, the ability to animate using our Luxology rendering engine, and Autodesk's RealDWG libraries."

By delivering Autodesk's RealDWG software within MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 1) and other Bentley products, Bentley provides its users the highest level of fidelity when reading or writing DWG formats including 2009. At the same time, Bentley fulfills the commitment it made in July of 2008, through its interoperability agreement with Autodesk, to improve architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) workflows by:

    --  Enabling broader reuse of information generated during the design,
        construction, and operation of buildings and infrastructure, and
    --  Enhancing the ability of project teams to choose among multiple software
        sources.

Further interoperability enhancements featured in MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 1) include object enabler support to display data from Autodesk's ARX applications, and new reference file support for ESRI SHP, as well as MIF, MID, and TAB file formats. In addition, MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 1) is able to produce i-models - the new "containers" for open infrastructure information exchange - and to aggregate comments registered against them in dynamic collaboration workflows. These capabilities will lead to expanded information reuse, improved process and workflow efficiency, and increased project quality.

MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 1) also extends existing core capabilities introduced in V8i including:

    --  Intrinsic geo-coordination (to synchronize and coordinate true and
        projected coordinate systems, so that all infrastructure designs are
        referenced and may be managed geographically) is further facilitated
        with the addition of ESRI SHP file referencing, and geospatial PDF is
        now supported, empowering users to leverage geo-intelligence and enrich
        project deliverables.
    --  Interactive dynamic views (which slices and filters 3D models) is
        extended and optimized to streamline the drawing production process by
        providing automated drawing composition.
    --  Intuitive design modeling (facilitated with tools that are easier to use
        and provide better feedback) has been enhanced by introducing explicit
        support for 3D printing, to automate creation of physical prototypes.
        Importantly, 3D-audit tools enable the designer to validate the
        integrity of the model, and the suitability to the medium, prior to
        printing, saving time and money.
    --  Interactive Luxology rendering engine (which produces highest-quality
        images in near real time) is further leveraged to distribute rendering
        on multiple computers, saving time and improving team efficiency. Also,
        professional-quality animation has been added to enhance project
        realism, and support is provided for up to 32 cores, with users
        benefiting from linear performance gains across each one.

All of this additional value created in MicroStationV8i (SELECTseries 1) helps users provide increasing project quality in sustaining infrastructure.

For additional information about MicroStationV8i (SELECTseries 1), visit www.bentley.com/MicroStation.

About the Be Inspired: Infrastructure Best Practices Symposium and Awards

The Be Inspired: Infrastructure Best Practices Symposium and Awards, taking place this week in Charlotte, N.C., is Bentley's premier thought-leadership and networking event for 2009. During this invitation-only symposium, the finalists of the 2009 Be Inspired Awards present the best practices behind the successful realization of their projects. In addition, all of the leading practitioners who have gathered for this event have an opportunity to participate in interactive roundtable discussions on the key issues driving the business and design of infrastructure. For additional information about the Be Inspired: Infrastructure Best Practices Symposium and Awards, visit www.bentley.com/BeInspired.

About Bentley Systems, Incorporated

Bentley is the global leader dedicated to providing architects, engineers, constructors, and owner-operators with comprehensive software solutions for sustaining infrastructure. Founded in 1984, Bentley has more than 2,700 colleagues and offices in more than 45 countries, achieved in 2008 the milestone of $500 million in revenues, and, since 1995, has invested more than $1 billion in research, development, and acquisitions.

For additional information about Bentley, visit www.bentley.com. To subscribe to an RSS feed of Bentley press releases, visit www.bentley.com/rss/news. To view a searchable collection of the year's top infrastructure projects from the annual Be Awards of Excellence (which this year becomes the Be Inspired Awards), visit www.bentley.com/yearininfrastructure. For information about Be Communities, a professional networking site that enables members of the infrastructure community to connect, communicate, and learn from each other, visit http://communities.bentley.com.

Bentley, the "B" Bentley logo, Be, SELECT, MicroStation, and Bentley SELECT are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiaries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

    Press Contact:
    Ron Kuhfeld
    +1 610 321 6493
    ron.kuhfeld@bentley.com

SOURCE Bentley Systems, Incorporated

Web site: http://www.bentley.com/