What do you do if a survey crew takes a lot of isolated patches of topo areas. Think, maybe, for quadrants of urban intersection corners - with no shots (and no intent) to connect these "terrain islands".
Out of the box (fieldbook) it will want to create a single terrain from all the points. Max triangle length can help trim out bad triangles, but still remnants of nastiness.
Another example is widened exteriors in corridors.
Is there an easy/automated way to get individual terrains for each island which can then be added and managed in a Complex Terrain? Complex Terrains work nicely with a base terrain that surrounds all the islands...
Graphic filter with fences/selection sets for semi-automated creating of individual terrains is a semi-automatic solution. Is there better?
Asking for a group of friends...
-jeff
The best way would be for your surveyors to take the time to code them in as separate fieldbooks...
I'll be interested to see what the suggestions are. I've seen a few surveys like this, and I'd like to know if there are tips I can pass along to the survey companies to make my life easier.
MaryB
Power GeoPak 08.11.09.918Power InRoads 08.11.09.918OpenRoads Designer 2021 R2
Thanks, Mary! I'm interested in the responses as well. I am always reluctant to "offer suggestions" to field teams about changing their behavior in the field. I'm hoping there's an easy backoffice step.
I hadn't ever thought I needed a Create From Graphic filter against a Selection Set, but that seems like it would be easy and straightforward. Less straightforward, but maybe a better paper trail and updateability: a bunch of file fence to dgn and then Graphic Filter (each new file).
Maybe having each <island terrain>.dgn have the terrain and its graphics in it is okay (though I do like the ideal of terrian files only hold terrains....
I can agree with you that I would prefer topography linework in a drawing separate from the terrain. But if the area is relatively small and the result is significantly better, it might be worth it.
I also understand the reluctance to debate with the surveyors. I feel that the fact that we are the client for their services is often overlooked. When I do my design work, I have to give the client what they ask me for, in the format they want. Most of the survey departments I've worked with...don't see it that way. Great guys! but definitely set in their ways.
I can change my typing and mouse behavior comparatively easily. Motor skills and physical process is much tougher for me. Just TRY to teach me a dance step (oh, the humanity!). Putting additional decisions in an outdoor free-for-all environment or asking something that takes additional time per shot is a big ask with potential quality concerns. KISS. I used to think surveyors were the most stubborn, but now I argue that it's drainage guys. If you show a surveyor a better way, they are more likely to adopt it than a drainage designer ("Yep, that's better, but I'm still going to do it on my monster spreadsheet").