Raster Manager is the name of the module which allows you to open or attach raster files in MicroStation. It is best known for its non-destructive editing capabilities, meaning that most of its functions will only modify the DGN's raster attachment while leaving the original raster data intact. Other useful functionalities include:
Starting with MicroStation V8i, there are two ways to visualize the content of your multipage raster files in MicroStation:
Starting with MicroStation V8i, you can reproject rasters just like any other referenced DGN onto a master DGN with a Geo Coordinate System definition. Please consult the MicroStation Help for more information under the Managing References and Raster Images > Modifying Raster File Attachments > Reprojecting Images topic.
It is possible to use Raster Manager to open up images stored on the ProjectWise Publishing Server. Information about the Raster Manager Image Server menu can be found under the MicroStation Help > Menus > Raster Manager > Image Server Settings dialog topic. You will find more information on the ProjectWise Publishing Server at the following link: http://www.bentley.com/en-US/Products/ProjectWise+Integration+Server/Services-Modules.htm
When handling display priority of rasters in a model, we first have to determine whether we are in a 2D DGN, a 3D DGN or a DWG file. Although they have a few things in common, raster display priorities are handled differently in 2D and 3D space.
In a 2D DGN/model:
The rasters all are stored in the same XY plane, also known as the Top view in 3D terms, therefore their display priority is managed relative to the other raster attachments and to the vectors found in the same model. In the Raster Manager dialog box, the raster attachment can be stored on the Background plane, the Design plane, or the Foreground plane. Rasters stored on the Background plane will redisplay behind the vectors in the model. Rasters stored on the Design plane will honor MicroStation's Display Priority values (from -500 to +500) and can be displayed in front or at the back of existing vectors in the model. Rasters stored on the Foreground plane will redisplay in front of the vectors in the model.
The rasters all are stored in the same XY plane, also known as the Top view in 3D terms, therefore their display priority is managed relative to the other raster attachments and to the vectors found in the same model. In the Raster Manager dialog box, the raster attachment can be stored on the Background plane, the Design plane, or the Foreground plane.
Rasters stored on the Background plane will redisplay behind the vectors in the model.
Rasters stored on the Design plane will honor MicroStation's Display Priority values (from -500 to +500) and can be displayed in front or at the back of existing vectors in the model.
Rasters stored on the Foreground plane will redisplay in front of the vectors in the model.
In a 3D DGN/model:
Rasters can be placed in any direction of the 3D space, just like vectors (top, bottom, left, right, front, back, isometric...). Therefore their position in the 3D design cube will honor the same display rules that apply to vectors: their relative 3D position to the other elements in the model will be respected and they will comply with the definition of the View Volume, Active Depth and Perspective Projections just like for any other equivalent filled vector element. Now if you would like your 3D drawing to adopt a 2D display scenario, it is possible to revert to a legacy display mode by using the MicroStation Settings > Display Styles > Wireframe render mode and set the Use File Order for Display toggle ON.
Rasters can be placed in any direction of the 3D space, just like vectors (top, bottom, left, right, front, back, isometric...). Therefore their position in the 3D design cube will honor the same display rules that apply to vectors: their relative 3D position to the other elements in the model will be respected and they will comply with the definition of the View Volume, Active Depth and Perspective Projections just like for any other equivalent filled vector element.
Now if you would like your 3D drawing to adopt a 2D display scenario, it is possible to revert to a legacy display mode by using the MicroStation Settings > Display Styles > Wireframe render mode and set the Use File Order for Display toggle ON.
Bring Element to Front
Since rasters are also being handled like standard vector elements, it is possible to modify their display priority relative to other elements using the MS Edit - Bring to Front menu. This will place the raster in front of all other vector or raster elements.
When using raster's default positioning in a DGN, there are three possibilities:
It is important to note that when rasters do not contain georeference info in their headers (e.g. JPG, BMP, etc.) and are not assigned a worldfile or HGR file for positioning, batch converting them to a georeferenced format like Geotiff will not allow assigning them a georeferenced location, even though the JPG or BMP could be attached at a precise location in your DGN.
For a raster's georeference to follow through, it either needs to be accompanied by a worldfile or HGR file when you batch convert it, or you can save it using the Raster Manager Save As command. You can either save it to an output georeferenced file (like Geotiff) or to a non-georeferenced file with worldfile (like BMP + BPW).
XWMS files are special XML - like structured text files which send queries to WMS servers. These are internal to Bentley and allow attaching the map layer query results as Raster Manager attachments. There are restrictions on these attachments : they are read-only and cannot be moved, scaled, rotated... like other raster formats. But they will maintain their location info and map layer data integrity. For more info please see the MicroStation Help document under Menus > File Menu > Raster Manager > WMS Map Editor dialog topic.
ECWP attachments are the result of URL queries sent to servers containing ECW rasters, known as ECWP Image Servers. For additional info please see the MicroStation Help document under Menus > File Menu > Raster Manager dialog > File > Attach > ECWP Image Server.
Raster Manager can now georeference PDF files containing location header information. For more info on how to create GeoPDFs in MicroStation, see the MicroStation Help document under the Working with Complete Designs > Printer Driver Configuration Files > PDF Printer Driver > Enable Georeferencing topic.
Some DEM and DTM raster formats can now be attached by Raster Manager, but they will only be properly displayed once Bentley Descartes is loaded. The formats that fall into this category are USGS DEM ASCII [*.dem] and USGS SDTS DEM [*catd, *.ddf].
Adobe PDF [*.pdf] Apple PICT [*.pct, *.pict]Esri BIL [*.bil]Type 29 [*.c29, *.t29]Type 30 [*.c30]Type 31 [*.c31]CALS Type 1 CCITT4 [*.cal]CIT Type 24 [*.cit]Type 2 COT [*.cot]Type 10 [*.crl, *.tpe, *.lsr]Compuserve GIF [*.gif]Digital Terrain Elevation Data [*.dt0, *.dt1, *.dt2]USGS Digital Ortho Quad [*.doq]ERMapper Compressed Wavelets[*.ecw]Erdas IMG [*.img]FLI Animation format [*.fli, *.flc]GEOTIFF [*.tif, *.tiff]Bentley HMR [*.hmr]Img (24bit) [*.a]Img [*.p]Ingr. TIFF [*.tif, *.tiff]Internet TIFF [*.itiff]Internet TIFF64 File Format [*.itiff64]JPEG (JFIF) [*.jpg, *.jpeg, *.jfif]JPEG 2000 [*.jp2, *.j2k] Anatech LRD [*.lrd]Ingr. MPF [*.mpf]MrSID [*.sid]National Imagery Transmission Format [*.ntf, *.nsf]PCX [*.pcx]Portable Network Graphics [*.png]Ingr. Type 27 [*.rgb]Ingr. Type 28 [*.rgb]RLC [*.rlc]Ingr. Type 9 [*.rle] SPOT CAP Image [*.fil]Sun Raster [*.rs, *.ras]TG4 [*.tg4]TIFF [*.tif]Targa [*.tga]Landsat TM FastL7A [*.fst]USGS NDF [*.h1]Wireless BitMap [*.wbmp]Web Map Server File Format [*.xwms]Windows BMP [*.bmp]
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