How to make one terrain model that covers 2 or more unconnected areas

RE: How to make one terrain model that covers 2 or more unconnected areas

Pete Otiv — Mon, 24 Oct 2022 09:08:31 GMT

Great! thanks for that.

RE: How to make one terrain model that covers 2 or more unconnected areas

Christopher Dalgleish — Mon, 17 Oct 2022 16:04:55 GMT

Hi Pete, thanks for the samples. The .XLSM attached works fine on the samples you shared, so should be able to scale up to suit. My initial suggestion of copying in the Surface node for each terrain into a single LandXML results in only one LandXML to import but multiple terrain models (which isn't what you want). In the .XLSM attached, populate the source path and click the orange button - that should combine multiple surfaces into one. The SourceData node is stripped out in the combined LandXML file, therefore ORD builds the terrain from the Definition only so it maintains the gaps across the terrain between input surfaces

communities.bentley.com/.../LandXML-utilities.xlsm

RE: How to make one terrain model that covers 2 or more unconnected areas

Pete Otiv — Mon, 17 Oct 2022 09:57:39 GMT

OK great, thanks, I have a few here. Hope it works to just drag and drop files in the chat box

communities.bentley.com/.../Terrain-Model-_2800_Element_2900_.xml communities.bentley.com/.../Terrain-Model-_2800_Element_2900_1.xml communities.bentley.com/.../Terrain-Model-_2800_Element_2900_2.xml

RE: How to make one terrain model that covers 2 or more unconnected areas

Christopher Dalgleish — Mon, 17 Oct 2022 09:31:46 GMT

No function in OpenRoads to combine LandXML's. They're ASCII files so you could combine in notepad by copying the 'Surface' node (and sub-nodes for Points and Faces) into another LandXML under the 'Surfaces' node. That's an iterative process. You could do it through VBA (in Excel) using a reference to MSXML - how quickly it would run would depend on the size of your terrains. If you have a couple of LandXML's available, I could put something together to test proof of concept?

RE: How to make one terrain model that covers 2 or more unconnected areas

Pete Otiv — Mon, 17 Oct 2022 09:24:06 GMT

yes, making several LandXML's is the best solution I found in openroads, making voids probably works but I have a lot of (over 100) unconnected ditches so its not feasable.

I'm interested how you would combine multiple Land XMLs into one? Is that a function in Openroads or copy pasting in Notepad?

RE: How to make one terrain model that covers 2 or more unconnected areas

Christopher Dalgleish — Mon, 17 Oct 2022 09:10:37 GMT

Might not be applicable to your specific case but if you wanted to join two disconnected terrain models you could create a dummy close element joining the two and defined as a void. It might get complicated depending how complex the edge conditions of your terrain models are.

If creating a complex terrain as suggested by others is too processor heavy, you could look at working with several LandXML exports of separate terrains and only update on demand? Lastly, you could also combine multiple LandXML's into a single LandXML and import as a single terrain model and it should honour the gaps between terrains.

RE: How to make one terrain model that covers 2 or more unconnected areas

Pete Otiv — Mon, 10 Oct 2022 07:08:05 GMT

I had a go and it didn't really work, plus it is way too complicated and processor heavy anyway. Thanks for the help but I think I'll be reinstalling SS2 until a better solution comes along.

RE: How to make one terrain model that covers 2 or more unconnected areas

PEvans — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 13:26:09 GMT

Have you considered creating a complex terrain model that incorporates all the small terrain models so you only have one terrain model? You may have to add interior boundaries to prevent proposed triangles in unwanted areas. An exterior boundary may also be needed to achieve the desired results.

hth.

pevans

RE: How to make one terrain model that covers 2 or more unconnected areas

Pete Otiv — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 08:15:46 GMT

Thanks for the answer, I'll just have to make a load of terrain models then.

RE: How to make one terrain model that covers 2 or more unconnected areas

caddcop — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 12:28:03 GMT

You can have multiple terrain models in a single DGN. In the past, you needed a DTM file for every separate surface. Now, if you have separate but related surfaces, they can all be stored in a single DGN file. But to prevent the connecting triangles, they must be separate terrain elements. This was sort of true in the days of DTM files.

You might be able to get it to not draw the long triangles, but one DTM could only have one exterior boundary and often, that was the only way to prevent other edge triangles from being formed.