Contents of terrains currently can't be viewed or edited. Features can be added and removed from a terrain but there is no viewable info on these elements. What elements is the terrain created from? What elements are used for triangulation?
Surveyors often have to create new terrains every time additional elements are surveyed or adjustments to data are made. They have no way to remove/replace elements from a terrain except to randomly select elements and hope they were in the terrain. This is very difficult for roadway and drainage designers as the existing terrain is constantly being redefined. If the contents of a terrain where visible/editable users could remove breaklines and replace them with new ones. Boundaries and points could be replaced as well. The terrains would never need to be redefined and all links/rules would hold.
| Civil Product Used | OpenSite Designer, OpenRoads Designer, OpenRail Designer, OpenBridge Designer |
Recommend creating Terrains from Graphical Filters. Is there a reason why Graphical Filters don't meet your need?
Graphical Filters work but there are major issues with graphical filters. I have posted a idea to fix this issue. Our surveyors are starting to use graphical filters more because the terrain acts more like a container as dtms did in the past. They don't have to delete the terrain and start over every time a change happens. But they still run into issues if some of the data in a file is outside the project limit or there is a gap in the survey . See below.
The problem with graphical filters is the fact the filter process the whole file content or all the reference file content. If I have two areas modeled or surveyed the filter combine them into one terrain. If there is a gap in the data the filter will ignore this. If graphical filters even recognized reference clip boundaries this would be a huge advancement. I used graphical filters in InRoads for years, it was my go to for creating dtms. But InRoads would only process elements displayed in the view or fence or selection set. This was a very powerful tool. I could use it for so many applications. Construction phasing, Temporary surfaces, Subgrade and Base Course surfaces, additional surveys to be merged into an overall dtm , models with gaps , etc....
When users model roadways with bridges the method of creating terrains with graphical filters in ORD causes major issues. Most designers run a corridor through the bridge area. If this is done the graphical filter will jump the gap of the bridge and combine both sides of the bridge which makes grading around abutments impossible. There is currently no way to fix this issue in ORD. If I was able to clip references or place a fence around the area I wanted to add to the terrain the problem would be solved. The only solution is to create corridors in separate files for each side of the bridge. But must users don't understand this and if this method is not used it is very difficult to used graphical filters after the fact.
To me there is a simple solution to this fix issue. Add the ability for graphical filters to recognize reference clips. Since most of us create terrains in separate files this would be an easy solution for users to adopt.