Creating a Topographic Surface

Used to create a surface from a scan or a group of scans or surfaces from polygons.

This function works in the XY plane, that is, it triangulates straight down. This means that if there are areas of undercut walls, these will not be modelled accurately (in this case, use Spherical Surface).

This option is used once scans have been registered (using Register Scans by Name, Matching Point Pairs or Translate or Rotate) and

filtered (using Polygon, Isolated Points, Topography and Intensity).

  1. On the Create ribbon tab navigate to the Surface group and select Topographic Surface.

  2. Trim boundary triangles eliminate long, incorrectly generated boundary triangles. A maximum length is specified, which prevents triangles greater than this being created.
Note:  This option is only applicable to boundary triangles; large voids in the centre of the data will still be modelled.

  1. Select an Output triangulation or surface type by clicking a radio from the following:

    • Single surface: Creates a single surface from the selected objects or scans.
    • Single surface per object: Creates a single surface for each selected object or scan.
    • Relimit to polygon: Constrains the model to a polygon, for example a pit boundary.
    • Split surface along edge constraints: Splits the surface into separate objects based on any lines or polygons highlighted in the project explorer when the surface is created.

  1. Ensure the scan data is highlighted in the project explorer.

  2. Click OK. The surface is saved in the surfaces container by default.

Note:  Once the surface has been created, it may require minor editing via Edit > Despike.

    The example below shows a topographic surface of a pit relimited to a polygon.