Buggy Site Model

[Phileas]

Hey guys

 

I have a site model I imported from a 3D DWG from a site survey. However, it seems to be a bit buggy: Whenever I switch it's appearance to a 3D Mesh in the OIP, I get this:

 

 

As you can see on the duplicate on the right, when I put it into extruded 3D elevation line mode, it looks fine. However, the highlight of the selected site model still look as if it was an extrude reaching far down:

 

Any Idea what is happening? It's not that big of a problem, the only annoying this is that I always end up "Inside" the model when I switch from a 2D to a 3D view, and first have to zoom out. That is annoying.

Edited April 26, 2019 by Phileas

[CipesDesign]

Usually when this occurs there is some data WAY below the rest of the model. IE: one little piece of 3d Polygon with an incorrect Z value. Go into a side view and zoom all the way out (fit to objects) and you can usually find the culprit. Then Edit Site Model to correct (or remove) the offender.

[Phileas]

@CipesDesign That was my first guess as well.

 

However, I can't find the problem, there's nothing down there! All layers and classes are showing, I checked the source data of the existing and the created model, there's nothing!

 

Any other ideas'?

[Benson Shaw]

45 minutes ago, Phileas said:

Any other ideas'?

 

1.  There is one or more 3d loci, but it/they are hidden because the vwx pref> Display tab> Display 3d Loci is set to Only in Wire Frame, or Never.  Switch drawing to Wire Frame, or switch pref as needed and look for them as above.

 

2. The Site Model min elevation is set to some crazy low value or the model itself is raised to a crazy z value (even if the source data is not), or the layer elevation is way below bottom of site model,  some site modifier or modifier source object (a pad or texture bed source?) or other component has z value way below. Or some other z value strangeness.  Might be a way to move the site model or the layer or other to a more reasonable value.

 

3. Make a new, test site model from new versions of source data and modifiers.  Examine all source objects and vertices for wonky z values. Go a few objects at a time and see if one step causes repeat of the problem.

 

Just some guesses. Good luck!  Post back when you find a solution.

 

-B

Edited April 29, 2019 by Benson Shaw
better idea

[Phileas]

@Benson Shaw Thanks for your ideas.

 

Checked your points:

• 3D loci display settings were set to "always show", and no loci were found underneath the model.
• Site model min elevation is set to 62000cm (roughly)
• model itself lays at that elevation as well
• Site modifiers all have the correct elevation
• layer elevation (relative to ground) is 0. Maybe that's the problem?
• duplicating the buggy site model and rebuilding the duplicate from source data showed that the source data consisted of 2 types of objets: 2D Points on the screen plane, and 3D Polygons following the shape of the terrain. Setting the working plane os the 2D points to "Site Model" showed these points were located far beneath the model. Thinking I found the problem, I happily deleted the points and kept only the 3D polys, but the model created by the 3D polys still had the same problem, despite no source data was left beneath the model.

 

Any ideas on how to approach this ?

Edited April 29, 2019 by Phileas

[Phileas]

and even better:

 

rebuilding the model from source data, deleting all source data and exiting creates an unselectable object that highlights when you go over it with a box select, and has the same problem than my original site model.

[CipesDesign]

My continued 2¢: Often the data received from survey files is incorrect, sometimes due to something as simple as sloppy drafting. So to ensure I have good data, before I create a Site Model I follow this procedure: 1) Find all of the topographic lines (either 2d or 3d). Usually they will be be in two discreet Classes, "contours major and contours minor", or something like that. 2) Select only those lines and Copy and Paste in Place into a new clean Design Layer. 3) Manually check each and every contour line for a) continuity; b) elevation (Z value) if 3d; c) also make sure there are no "self-intersecting" polygons. d) check, by deleting (then undoing) that there are no coincident duplicates. This can take a while. Sometimes it's faster to Copy and Paste in Place one at a time. 4) If necessary, Convert 2d Polys to 3d Contours. 5) Once you have a clean set of 3d Polys, select them all and Create Site Model. 

 

If you are (or desire to be) working from 3d Loci the process is different, but the goal is the same. You need to verify the source data. Since I don't usually work from 3d Loci I will leave it to others to chime in with specifics.

 

There are probably other things that can go wrong here, but those are the basics.

 

Sometimes I actually go to the trouble of tracing each and every poly, then use those to create the Site Model.

 

Hope that helps.