This Natural Regrade menu gives the user single-click access to the 3D GeoFluv Contour Viewer that displays, in 3D, the surface created from the contours of a GeoFluv™ design. Viewing the contours is more representative of how the landform will look after grading than the surface produced by the 3D GeoFluv Surface Viewer. The 3D GeoFluv Surface Viewer shows you the surface based on the GeoFluv™ design, before using Triangulate and Contour. This resulting surface tends to be angular and faceted, and it is also the surface used for volume calculations. The 3D GeoFluv Contour Viewer shows you the surface based on the GeoFluv™ design after using Triangulate and Contour, and therefore has more and smaller triangles, lending a smoother appearance to the 3D image.
Note that these commands use linework from particular layers in the drawing. This means that any editing the user makes to the linework in these layers will be reflected in the resulting 3D image.
The prerequisite to using the 3D GeoFluv Contour Viewer is that the contours must already exist. To create contours, the user can select the Triangulate and Contour option after clicking on the Draw Design Surface button on the Output tab of the Design GeoFluv Regrade command. Alternatively, the user can use the Draw GeoFluv Contours command on the Natural Regrade drop-down menu, which will create the contours based on the GeoFluv™ design that exists in particular layers in the drawing.
Clicking on the 3D GeoFluv Contour Viewer command first shows a dialog box asking the user to verify the layers in the drawing that the contours are in. There is also an option for saving the surface created from the contours into a TIN file, which can then be used with other tools in other Carlson Civil / Survey modules. Clicking on the OK button causes the contours in the selected layers to be "triangulated" into a solid surface, or TIN, and then opens the Carlson Software 3D Viewer with the GeoFluv™ design surface displayed.
The user has many options for viewing the image available in the View Control tab dialog box on the right side of the 3D Viewer screen. The 3D project view can be rotated on the x, y, and z axes using the sliding Rotation Axis controls to the right of the view. By left-clicking and dragging the slider control below the image, the user can clip off forward portions of the view. The viewer has the ability to add vertical exaggeration to aid inspection of lower-relief areas by left-clicking on the arrow to the right of the "Vert. scale" edit box and selecting a factor from the dropdown menu. The viewer can also change the position of the sun on the project to evaluate sunny and shady areas throughout the day, a very useful tool for identifying optimal areas for different plantings. The user can either left-click on the 'sun' (yellow box in the blue circle) and drag is across the 'sky' from the west (the blue circle is the sky) or move the slider buttons surrounding the blue circle. The 3D viewer has the ability to color the view by elevation layers by a toggle setting at the top of the dialog box. These views are helpful for construction to help workers visualize how the final project surface can be built in a series of lifts, for example by using GPS-guided truck dumping.
The toggle buttons on the dialog box below the blue and yellow 'sun and sky' indicator control:
Pan The user holds down the left-click button and moves the mouse across the drawing to pan the drawing in the 3D Viewer.
Rotation The 3D project view can be rotated on the x, y, and z axes by left-clicking the rotation toggle button and then holding down the left-click button while moving the mouse on the drawing.
Dynamic Zoom The user can zoom in and out of the 3D view by holding down the left-click button and moving the mouse up and down on the drawing.
Shading The user can toggle to fill with shading (color) between the TIN file's triangular edges to give the drawing a solid surface appearance.
Average Elevation The user can toggle to have an arrow appear on the drawing surface that indicates the average elevation at the point at which the arrow points.
Reset to Plan The user can left-click on this button to cancel all rotation settings and return to plan view.
The Carlson Software 3D Viewer's Advanced tab has options to block model objects, shade the view, export the view image, and save the view that are fully described in the General Commands/View Commands documentation.
The user can exit the 3D Viewer by left-clicking on the X at the upper right or the door at the bottom of the dialog box.
Pulldown Menu Location: Natural Regrade
Keyboard Command: gfViewC
Prerequisite: Design geofluv