December |
December 22, 2005
Vista FX2 imports Visio® Diagrams
Another technology first. Now all Vista FX2 and SmartRoads users can import Visio diagrams directly. The Visio® diagrams will appear instantly, in vector format on the Vista FX2 diagramming canvas, to scale! This important feature is available to all agencies upgrading from Visio® to Vista FX2 and SmartRoads
December 21, 2005
Damage Specific (high quality) models in 2D and 3D
Vista FX2 users can now apply crush to all vehicle models using the 6 crush point method, as well as the graphical method that has always been available in Vista diagramming tools. And FX2 now allows users to set the precise time point in the animation when the damage appears. However, Vista FX2 users equipped with SMAC simulation will now enjoy seeing the damage appear at the collision time, as calculated by the SMAC calculation!! This is a huge first in the collision technology world!
December 19, 2005
New Pedestrian Models for Vista FX2
We have included new improved animated pedestrian models that are fully animated all you have to do is give the model an animation path on which the model will walk, run, jog crawl,.... on. All the models are animated with all the subanimation moving according to the overall model speed.
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December 14, 2005
Virginia State Patrol adopts SmartRoads
Virginia State Patrol adopts SmartRoads for all collision reporting. VSP has purchased an agency wide license to provide the SmartRoads diagramming solution for all 1400 officers along with the electronic state report from Visual Statement. Smart choice by VSP!!
December 2, 2005
Canberra (AUS) fights rising death toll...
With death toll rising in Australia's Capital Territory (ACT) crash investigators turn to Visual Statement Software as a state wide crash diagramming solution in a bid to better understand high accident / death statistics.
Due to the high quality of the reconstructed diagrams and animations, officials hope to understand the problem and prevent fatalities in the future. Canberra police believe that thanks to the recent training session held in Canberra, officers will be able to use the full potential of the software, decreasing the death toll on Canberra's roads.
Full Article:
Too many crosses to bear on roads
Canberra Times, Sat. 12 Nov 2005
December 1, 2005
NBC2 Investigates: Speeding in school zones
...using RealMotion 3D
Kyle Clark from Naples, FL creates an animation for NBC displaying the effect of speed on pedestrian accidents, using Vista fx2 with RealMotion 3D. Three crashes showing the effects of a pedestrian being struck by a vehicle at speeds of 30, 40, and 50 miles per hour and displayed them at various angles.
RealMotion 3D enabled him to display the various scenarios accurately in a captivating animation.
Watch The News clip now on:
Speeding in School Zones (NBC2) |
November |
November 14, 2005
NEW RESOURCE !!!
 Search for suspect Vehicles using Crime Scene Measurements
Find Vehicle details (Make, Model) using the Vehicle Spec Database with your measurements from an accident or crime scene.
Find vehicle by either:
• Wheelbase,
• Front Track width,
• Rear Track width ...
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November 2, 2005 
Buon Giorno Italia
Visual Statement arrives in Italy!
Ivan Macella becomes the exclusive Italian distributor of Visual Statement Software Solutions, proving the international success of Visual Statement software.
We are very excited about this partnership, and are looking forward for future expansion in the european market. |
October |
October 12, 2005
Kara CO. joins Visual Statement
as our latest partners, to offer hardware-software packages, of Total Stations and Vista fx Software.
October 7, 2005
Rick Dowsett the Crash team Coordinator is putting on 2 classes at the Richmond Virginia Training Academy
Oct. 17th- 19th and then the 19th-21st. 2005
See Training Schedule
October 4, 2005
Bellingham Washington and New Westminster BC drop Mapscenes for Vista fx2!
Why? In the last 2 years over 50 agencies have elected to drop Mapscenes for Vista fx for crash and crime scene diagramming.
The primary reason has been ease of use.
Customers have told us that Mapscenes Pro is cumbersome to operate and lacks intuitivity.
They also tell us that diagrams took hours to complete in Mapscenes. Supervisors tell us that many of their officers completely stopped using Mapscenes because it was too difficult to learn.
If your agency is using Mapscenes and experiencing the same problems, please call in for a live demonstration of Vista fx2. Relief is just a phone call away! 1.888.828.0383
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October 7, 2005
NEW Demo movies available for Vista fx2
Have a look at our comprehensive library of Demo/Training Movies available online.
see List of Movies
October 3, 2005
Vista fx 2 RELEASED and shipping!
Finally the world's most advanced diagramming and reconstruction software is available to YOU!
Visual Statement has been working hard to improve their Vista fx Suites, and in the process has left every competitor behind. Amazing new features improved functionality make Vista fx 2 without a doubt the standard for every professional.
See what's new in fx2
Order your copy today
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September |
September 26, 2005
Visual Statement announces it's first Diagramming contest !
RealMotion 3D or SMAC Simulation to be won!
Contest Closes: Nov 1st. 2005
September 21, 2005 
National Geographic Press Release!
The National Geographic, in a recent press release, has revealed details of a new documentary presenting scientific forensics in the investigation of the tragic death of James Dean. With the aid of Mike Kennedy, CEO of Visual Statement, the investigation reveals a high-tech forensic analysis that sheds new light on what occurred at the moment of impact.
The documentary,
Crash Science: James Dean's Death
premieres Thursday, September 29, 2005 at 9pm ET/PT.
Watch our amazing software help solve a 50 year old mystery!
 Read Press Release
September 21, 2005
Crash Files Issue 3 OUT NOW!
Read the latest issue of Visual Statement's popular magazine.
Crash Files Issue 3.pdf
September 20, 2005 
Visual Statement arrives in Turkey!
Visual Statement is pleased to announce the appointment of Mustafa Mutlu as the exclusive distributor of Visual Statement software products in the country of Turkey. Mr. Mutlu is assisting Visual Statement in the Turkish translation, and the in country marketing.
We are very excited about this partnership.
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September 12-14, 2005
Mike Kennedy trains 15 special investigators at CESVI, Argentina.
September 9, 2005
Mike Kennedy addresses the APEBA and ACRA associations with a presentation to 250 investigators regarding fraud avoidance technology and crash reconstruction technology.
September 5-7, 2005
Visual Statement brings 3D to Argentina!
Mike Kennedy, CEO, travels to Argentina with Gina Villalobos to train 27 new users over 3 days September 5-7
September 1, 2005
Visual Statement welcomes Australian Federal Police
to the Vista fx family.
Melbourne, Australia. The State of Victoria, Australia, Traffic Reporting System team has chosen SmartRoads from Visual Statement Inc. to be the collision scene diagramming tool for the entire state. All Victoria State police officers, in all agencies, will use SmartRoads to complete their diagrams when completing the State Collision Reports. Visual Statement is proud to be a part of their success! |
August |
August 31, 2005
Marking the 50th anniversary of James  Dean’s death, National Geographic is presenting a documentary focused on the September 30, 1955 fatal crash.
With the participation of Visual Statement Inc., a complete animated recreation of the crash was created using our state-of-the-art software.
Watch our diagramming/reconstruction software in action in this eye-opening documentary!
Airs: 29th September 2005
9PM (ET) on National Geographic |
August 8, 2005
Missouri joins the rapidly growing list of State Patrols that have adopted Vista fx as their standard diagramming tool.
Missouri state police follow suit with NJ, MA, NM, DE (and others) in using the world’s ONLY full reconstruction software package that combines diagramming with collision equations (Visual Analyst), 3D Animation, and photo rectification (Hawkeye). Missouri’s 12 Fatal Team members will deploy the software in their day to day activities |
July |
July 29, 2005
Massachusetts State Police select Vista fx for their team of Fatal Accident Investigators.
Massachusetts state police choose Visual Statement software for their Fatal Accident Team. They are receiving professional training from the Visual Statement crew on Sept 26th for the entire Vista fx suite including the MA state report, photo rectification (Hawkeye), and 3D animation software (RealMotion 3D). Their 22 Fatal Accident Team members will be trained in use of the world’s ONLY full reconstruction software package that combines diagramming with collision equations, animation, and photo rectification. Visual Statement was selected as the vendor after a thorough evaluation of diagramming packages was completed by a team member. Vista fx was the only program that offered the high end system necessary for a professional team of this nature.
They join New Jersey, Virginia, New Mexico, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Delaware as users of the most comprehensive diagramming program on the market.
July 28, 2005
Modesto PD, CA chooses Vista fx over Mapscenes!
... based on a team sale and convincing demonstrations by Visual Statement personnel, Mike Greenfield, Aaron Weiss and Lyle Storey. Modesto confirmed their commitment to Vista fx by hosting a training course on September 13-16, 2005.
July 24-28, 2005
2005 Southeast Collision Reconstruction Conference N. Charleston, South Carolina Visual Statement in attendance.
Mike Greenfield and Lyle Storey attended the 2005 Southeast Collision Reconstruction Conference in N. Charleston SC for the first time. Good old southern hospitality mixed well with demonstrations and the launch of the new Vista fx2.
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July 27, 2005
Bullet Shot Trajectories are now animated and play with sound
Crime Scene reconstructionists will wonder how they were ever able to live without this amazing new feature. Draw lines as gunshot trajectories, add muzzle velocities, start times, and watch the guns shoot in the 3D scene with precision timing complete with sound. Very high tech and useful for multi-weapon gunfights!
July 22, 2005
3D Human Model includes Bullet Trajectories that will revolutionize Crime Scene reconstruction.
Finally, a way to completely edit a anatomically accurate 3D human model. Also includes trajectory tool to draw gunshot trajectory based on wound location which can then be extended in your scene to determine trajectory origin.
July 19, 2005
Visual Statement develops animated skid-marks, traffic lites and animated fire for Vista fx2.
Now new for the RealMotion 3D component, these new features add a new degree of realism to your animation.
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June |
June 27, 2005
"Plowing new Ground" in TN Wildlife Res. Agency extremely successful training for diagramming / animation on the unique Marine side. |
June 6, 2005
Visual Statement Goes to Vegas and Comes up Aces!!!
Visual Statement Inc. attended the Vegas conference (ARC-CSI Crash Conference) and brought a new product to display. At this conference, the world’s first photo rectification program (Hawkeye) that is integrated into a diagramming software package was released. Hawkeye and the new Vista fx interface was well received and will be released with a newer version of Vista fx (fx2) in Sept' 05. Mike Greenfield, Aaron Weiss and Lyle Storey rolled the dice on this successful event. |
May |
May 23, 2005
Military Crash Investigators Learn Vista fx!
Mike Greenfield, the Training Director of Visual Statement Inc. attended Fort Lewis, Washington and trained US Military Police crash investigators as well as crash reconstructionists from Vancouver, Washington and Clark County, Washington. Here is what they said about the training:
The class was great, Mike G. was fantastic and easy to understand, and had great teaching tips. Although I have been aware of most of the tools covered in the class, I have not been using them in the most efficient manner and one thing I don't think anyone really thinks about when we are doing these diagrams is the amount of work and concentration it takes to complete a good detailed drawing. Sometimes I feel like I am getting a fried brain from just working on getting the programs to do what I want them to do. Visual Statement alleviates a lot of that extra stress already and with the training it's reduced it even more. Just today my partner, Alex was checking past reports and as I looked at the diagrams created for the past reports I realize how far we have come and after the class how much further we can go. The past diagrams of over a couple of years ago seem almost primitive compared to what we are now capable of producing although they were CAD drawings. Recently, a very special case came to us requiring a full fledged animation covering an extended area. Without the 3D animation program I think our investigation would be very limited. It added a new dimension to our presentation and the biggest obstacle as always is the prosecutors willing to accept something new without believing that it is "voodoo".
It was also nice to talk to a person who has been doing what I have been doing and is where I would like to be when I retire. Mike Greenfield made a lot of the observations about the program that I had already made and that was the user-friendly format, the free and automatic upgrades and the free, excellent tech support. You guys are really customer service oriented and I can not rave enough about you, the company and the programs.
Particularly important for the government agencies is the "hidden cost" factors we face every time we make any kind of purchase - that is, what options or additions are not included. So how much more do we have to buy and how much more will it cost to get them to make it run like the demos did? It always seems that the advertised product is the top end and the base level is so far from it that by time we try and justify the purchase we have talked ourselves out of the purchase because of prohibitive cost factors. I have never found this to be the case with Visual Statement. |
The bottom line cost for the best product has always been very up front yet there is the option of purchasing the system in sections or modules. None of the modules are dependent on having the others present to operate the system. It is like Mike Kennedy truly wanted to provide the reconstruction field with a cost effective and affordable product that everyone could have and that making the extra money using the normal sales tactics was never a part of his agenda. From a government agency point of view, such an attitude was greatly appreciated.
I am really excited about the upcoming upgrades that Mike Greenfield talked about. Hawkeye (although not used yet) has a very simple concept for its use and I just have not had the time nor circumstances to use it. With the new upgrade features I am sure that I can use it at anytime and now even go back to upgrade cases that I may not have used it on in the past simply because of its new capabilities. This, along with the others that are coming can only make life easier.
Thanks to Visual Statement and Mike Kennedy for an excellent product and support services,
Sincerely,
Doug Harada
Reconstructionist Traffic Homicide Unit
Clark County Sheriff's Office
Vancouver, WA
May 3, 2005 
Scottsdale PD Completes Reconstruction and 3D Animation with Vista fx While being Trained!
Scottsdale PD crash team members said before Vista fx, the same reconstruction would have taken a week, but was done with Vista fx in hours. This included a momentum speed analysis and real time 3D animation.
Scottsdale Pd with members of the Phoenix Pd attending. During the class, Scottsdale went out to an overnight fatal crash. Sean Twitchel and Wes Brown shot the scene with a Nikon DTM-522 Total station. Upon arrival at the class the next morning, which was the 3rd day of a 4 day class, they downloaded the total station file into Vista fx. By the time of the first break, they had used the Vista Crash momentum tool to calculate speeds of the vehicles involved and created a full animation of the crash. This proved to be an excellent training exercise for the entire class. |
April |
April 12, 2005
Puerto Vallarta April 4 - April 8, 2005 Advanced Collision Diagramming and Animation
Spanish speaking crash/crime investigators from all over Mexico joined Visual Statement trainers in Puerto Vallarta for 5 days. We started training at 7 am and were on the beach by 3 pm. |
April 11 , 2005
128 Mississippi Agencies Go Live with ReportBeam!
State of Mississippi awarded the State wide contract to VS Visual Statement Inc in July 2004. The system was up and running live by December and is now holding over 30,000 collision reports. All MS reports are now submitted to the ReportBeam system and the number of agencies going live is increasing every week.
Find out how Reportbeam is working with Mississippi to help create safer communities.
www.reportbeam.com |
February |
February 25, 2005
 Mike Greenfield, former homicide detective from Phoenix PD, joins the VS team as lead trainer and director of our Forensic Mapping Division. Mike brings 27 years of field experience to Visual Statement and expertise in total station measuring techniques. For the past 8 years, Mike has been teaching forensic mapping and various software packages to many law enforcement agencies.
Past Training and Experience:
Former Homicide Detective and Fatal Traffic Collision investigator, Phoenix PD. Member and past President of SATAI (Southwestern Association of Technical Accident Investigators) and member of PSFM (Professional Society of Forensic Mapping). Lecturer at seminars for the Arizona Governor's Office Of Highway Safety, and City Of Phoenix Municipal Court Judges. Taught Forensic mapping techniques using Laser, Infra-red, and GPS total stations to Police agencies throughout the US. Staff instructor at the University of California at Riverside. Has testified in AZ Superior Court in both civil and criminal cases as an expert in accident reconstruction.
Visual Statement has kept Mike busy training since he joined in December.
Read what our students tell us about his courses |
February 04, 2005
Virginia State Patrol adopts Vista fx for all crash teams! Mike Kennedy and Mike Greenfield trained 15 of Virginia's top crash team personnel on Vista fx - with RealMotion 3D animation. In 5 days of training the class learned how to do the direct download from their Nikon NPL 350 total stations, create court ready 2D drawings, 3D drawings and 3D animations. They also learned the Vista Crash momentum tool, the Visual Analyst calculation program and the Interview Pro statement taking program - all of which are included in the Vista fx Pro Recon package. Also included is the Virginia State Collision Report, which allows their team to create the scene diagram in Vista fx and insert into the box in the electronic report. Local news teams filmed the students creating 3D animations on the last day of the training highlighting this police agency as one of the most technically advanced crash investigation teams in North America.
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