Visualisation for Landowner Query Pt2

This post follows on from something I was working on at the end of last year and I decided to create a video showing the workflow and final results.

http://youtu.be/_Z8XygN-6xo

The first five and half minutes of the video explain a bit about what was required for the visualisation and demonstrate the workflow to get from Civil 3D to Autodesk Infrastructure Modeller (AIM). The final results from the AIM model start at 5min 40 sec for those who want to skip...

If you would like more info on how to export from C3D to AIM then read the following posts:

http://civilintentions.blogspot.ie/2013/02/civil-3d-to-aim.html

http://civilintentions.blogspot.ie/2013/02/civil-3d-to-aim-part-2-its-all-in-code.html

Civil 3D to AIM part 2 - It's all in the (Code Set) Style

In the last post we looked at taking the topo survey and areas of interest from C3D into Autodesk Infratsructure Modeller (AIM). In this post we will look at taking the proposed design (C3D corridors) out to AIM.

While you can export surfaces to LandXML from C3D and import into AIM this does not work well for corridor (proposed) surfaces. The reason is that AIM treats LandXML surfaces as Terrain and will drape your aerial imagery onto them - in effect you will end up with a surface that takes on the shape of your proposed design but has the existing aerial imagery draped onto it as below:

The most efficient method of exporting your proposed design from C3D to AIM is to use the IMX file format. As usual there is a couple of things to look out for. The main thing I have learned is that setting a render material to elements of the corridor in C3D first through the corridor code set style will make life a lot easier when you import in AIM.

First we need to identify what elements of the corridor to attach materials to. Hover over the links in your corridor (these are the corridor lines running perpendicular to the baseline) and you will see in the tooltip what the link code is:

Do this for each of the links in your corridor and note the link code being used by each. There will be a different link between each of the corridor featurelines, see below:

Next select your corridor, go to Corridor Properties on the ribbon and on the Codes tab edit the code set style being used (or create a new one).

We need to make sure that the codes set style contains all of the codes being used in the corridor. In the code set style dialog box click on Import Codes...

...navigate to your assembly in the drawing and drag a selection box around it. This will bring in all the codes used in the assembly to your code set style for editing.

Back in the code set style dialog under the links section assign a render material to each of the link codes used in your corridor. Be careful here as the top code will be used by all links so assigning a material to that will be used for all links. It is better to assign separate materials to the codes such as Daylight_Cut, Daylight_Fill, Ditch etc.

Once you have done this select the corridor in your drawing and choose object viewer on the ribbon, set the view style to Realistic. How the corridor looks in realistic view will give a good indication of how it will look in AIM. If there appears to be any part of the corridor that does not have a material assigned then check your link codes and assigned materials before exporting to AIM.

Now in C3D you are ready to export. On the Output tab of the Ribbon click Export IMX:

You can connect direct to this file in AIM. It will bring in Roads and Surface as two separate connections under data sources. As in the previous post right click on each connection separately and select configure and make sure that the coordinates are set correct. Do not drape these connections as we want to use the design level information. The corridor should now appear in AIM using the materials assigned in C3D:

Looking South from T1

 T2 and Compound with T1 in background

T8

Civil 3D to AIM

The following couple of workflows demonstrate taking your design from Civil 3D to Autodesk Infrastructure Modeller (AIM) for visualisation. Next post will cover taking proposed design (corridors) from C3D out to Autodesk Infrastructure Modeller (AIM) for visualisation.

The first thing to be aware of is what format you export your data out of Civil 3D for use in AIM.

Existing Topo:

The best way to get your existing ground surface out of Civil 3D is to export it as a LandXML file and then connect to this in AIM. You can do this a number of ways - right click on your surface in the Toolspace and select Export to LandXML or access the command from thee Output tab of the ribbon - see below:

When you connect to this in AIM it will automatically treat it as terrain. Once connected to in AIM right click on the connection and select Configure to make sure the coordinates are set or you may not see anything in your model. Any aerial imagery will automatically be draped onto this surface.

Areas of Interest:

For any areas of interest on your site that you want to highlight in the AIM model the best format to export them out of Civil 3D is the SDF format. For example in the project (Windfarm site) I am working on there is a CAD drawing which contains all of the site constraints in AutoCAD format. you can isolate CAD objects for each type of constraint and export them as separate SDF files. You can then connect to and control the display of each of these constraints separately in your AIM model. This allows you greater flexibility in controlling the display of the constraints in your AIM model rather than importing them as a CAD drawing underlay or all at once.

One of the constraints in my CAD drawing highlights areas along the proposed internal roads where there is a high risk of peat instability. I want to be able to highlight these in my visualisation.

These are represented by closed polylines in the drawing. In Civil 3D select one of closed polylines, right click and select similar then right click again and Isolate Objects. Once isolated type MAPEXPORT, choose SDF as files of type and give the file a name. In the dialog box that appears choose 'Select Manually' and select the isolated objects from the drawing.

In AIM connect to this file as below:

After connecting to the file, right click on the connection in AIM and select configure. On the Common tab set the 'Type' as Coverage Areas, Set the style.

On the Geo Location tab set the coordinate zone. On the Source tab set the draping options to Drape (since they were just 2D polylines originally they have no level information) tick the box to convert to closed polygons also. Click close and refresh and you should see your areas draped on the 3D model as below:

In my model the red highlights areas along proposed routes where there is high risk of peat instability, blue represents areas of peat greater than 3m in depth and magenta are areas of blanket bog.

Sight Distance Check Results

This issue came up back in December but I have had an unusually busy January so haven't had time to post about it. All credit to James Curran at Donegal County Council for identifying the solution to the problem...

The sight distance check in Civil 3D allows you to check the sight distance at intervals along a corridor. You can specify the eye height, target height, minimum sight distance required and also the interval at which to check. The results can be output to report format and will give you the following information at each chainage interval:

• the actual sight distance achieved
• the minimum sight distance required
• whether the minimum sight distance was violated
• the location of the obstruction point

Below are the the reports from three checks using the same settings along a corridor but checking for different minimum sight distance. The first check was for 60m and it passes, reporting back that there is no violation and we get 60m sight lines at all locations.

Next we checked for 120m. This time we get a violation at a number of chainages. Looking at chainage 1440m we see that the actual sight distance is reported as 49.268m. This doesn't seem to be correct given the previous results.

Next we checked for 160m and got a different actual sight distance (89.956m) value for the same chainage.Again this doesn't seem to make sense given the other results.

So what is happening here? The issue appears to be what the software calculates as the actual sight distance. Taking a not to scale AutoCAD drawing provides an explanation of the results. First the 60m check.

We can see there is no violation - everything ok here.

Next the 120m check.

Here we can see the sight line in red. The actual sight distance as measured by Civil 3D is from the target point to the intersection of the sight line and the ground profile. However the actual sight distance  would be tangential to the ground profile as below in blue and would give a longer actual sight distance value.

Technically the software is correct in how it is calculating but I think calling it 'actual sight distance' is misleading or at the least there should be a better explanation within the command of how and what it is calculating. Maybe it should also give distance at tangent and call it available sight distance.

With what it is calculating at present for the actual sight distance you would need to run the command for increasing or decreasing increments of minimum sight distance and check the report each time to see when you get a violation to properly identify your actual sight distance.

Creating a 3D Ground Model from AutoCAD Data

If you have a topo survey in AutoCAD format only then the following video demonstrates a workflow for creating a ground model from that data in Civil 3D.

It is best to tidy up your drawing first and hide or remove any AutoCAD objects that you will not be using to define the ground model. This may include any objects with zero elevation (lines, text, blocks etc), or any other objects that you don't want to include. Performing this step first will make the Civil 3D part much easier...

Watch on highest quality for best results...

http://youtu.be/etGKbD_W86c

Windfarm Visuals from AIM

Have been busy using Infrastructure Modeller for visualisation... this one is for a windfarm in Northern Ireland...

Here's the rendered image...

Here are some snapshots of the model in AIM without rendering...

Visualisation for Landowner Query

I have been using Autodesk Infrastructure Modeller (AIM) to create visuals for part of a proposed road realignment.

As part of the works a hill on the existing road will be flattened out to improve visibility  There will be two landowners whose access will be directly affected by the works. On one side of the  road a retaining wall will be required and this landowner was having difficulty understanding how the new access and retaining wall will impact on their property.

The design was already completed in Civil 3D so I was working from a completed design back to get a visualisation in AIM (whereas the software is primarily a conceptual design/visualisation tool and you would normally use it before finalizing the design).

Here are some of the before and after visuals...

Looking North - Before

Looking North - After

Looking South - Before

Looking South - After

Landowners Proposed Entrance View

Looking North at Retaining Wall

Looking South at Retaining Wall

The visuals aren't photo-realistic but they don't need to be either. (The inclusion of the sun isn't realistic either given that it is in Donegal). The landowner can clearly see the impact of the new road layout on their property. The effort involved to create the above was small enough to make it feasible for a landowner query - it took about a day. If you are proficient with Civil 3D then you should pick this up quite quickly....