a better dtm

[ray isaacs]

this is becoming my annual wish: a substantially improved dtm tool.

in working with other modeling software, i continue to believe that vw has the best concept for a terrain modeler. but, for the last few years its development has been neglected. maybe now with the core modeling and visualization improvements of 2014 implemented, vw will give needed attention to the dtm.

as i right this my computer is hung because of the dtm, and this is an all to common experience. while a good concept, the current dtm continues to be painfully slow, clumsy, non-intuitive, not accurate enough, and seems to become easily corrupted.

please give this valuable tool the attention it deserves.

ray

[Ozzie]

Totally agree

[Kizza]

Count me in.

[Miguel Barrera]

I wonder if this has anything to do with the OS or the data being processed. I have done dtm with 10K + points and have never crashed VW or been that slow as it typically takes less than a minute.

I create a dtm exclusively with 3D points from a survey file and 3D polygons for vertical boundaries such as curbs or walls. The only hiccups I have ever experienced are when the data contains duplicate points and the dtm does not complete until I remove the bad data.

[PVA - Admin]

Could you provide some specific examples of pain points using it currently? I know overall it does need a good bit of attention, but for these sort of requests I need to place specific task requests.

(I completely understand that "Make it not clunky" is a perfectly reasonable request for some of the tools and commands, but wishlist items will be addressed MUCH faster the more specific they are.)

[CipesDesign]

Hi Jim, my single biggest bummer with site models is the dreaded "overlapping" modifiers alert. As has been suggested by others, it would very helpful if the offending overlaps were highlighted for the user. As I think of other items I will add them. Thanks!

[ray isaacs]

yes, jim, i realize my request is very broad; and that is intentional. over the last few years the featured " improvements" to the dtm have been basically inconsequential, while year after year we struggle with the same problems. i simply want vw to make the dtm a priority. for those who work in larger scale environments, challenging sites, and/or complex land design terrain modeling is fundamental. while i am by choice a daily user of the vw dtm, i need it to be a lot better than it is.

i have sent vss tech support many, many documents with specific terrain modeling/rendering problems, including two last week (not including the separate shp file issue). in the last year+ you and michael have responded to some of those--and i appreciate that-- usually with a suggested work around or telling me that the file was sent to the engineers. however, many issues seem to persist. (i say "seem" because i haven't worked with 2014 long enough to experience everything yet.

in addition many specifics have been discussed in detail on this forum, including peter's request above. other discussions have included vertices counts and complexity, roads tool, and so on.

i will continue to do this, and am sure others will as well. but, we need to know that actions on the vw engineering side are being taken.

once again, thanks for your attention.

ray

[PVA - Admin]

i will continue to do this, im sure others will as well. but, we need to know that actions on the vw engineering side are being taken.

Please do!

I know there has been a huge amount of confusion, frustration and outright loss when it comes to feedback about wishlist requests and bugsubmits. Unfortunately I can't feasibly go back and find everything that may have been lost (I am going back and finding many, but I am sure I will miss more) but I will do my best to get everything submitted from now on into the proper channels and I am currently working to get a more automated/detailed feedback system regarding these sorts of user requests that will allow you to see the results of your work.

Edited October 4, 2013 by JimW

[Kizza]

Here's a couple:

Site model Graphics in section

Another Related Thread

Furthermore, producing clean, quick site model sections would be much easier if we had the ability to create an elevation or section showing the building with the viewing depth controls as we have now but with separate view depth control for the site - the aim to achieve a solid thick line for the ground line with an earth hatch without seeing any of the site beyond - without having to resort to creating unnecessary classes.

Also, the ability to save graphic presets for site would be nice.

Edited October 4, 2013 by Kizza

[ray isaacs]

jim, your work is appreciated.