An additional license is required to access the 3D toolbar.

The 3D toolbar consists of a set of tools and modes such as shadow analysis, volume calculations, terrain profiles, line-of-sight, underground mode and more. 

The 3D tools and functionality have been built around software developed by Skyline Software Systems. For more information on the various tools and modes, please refer to the Skyline documentation.

North



Realign the map view to be North-facing.


This is particularly handy for returning to a default view after navigating in 3D mode and the point-of-view perspective has been greatly adjusted.

Fly Around



Click to enable a 360-degree loop around the centre of the map to gain a more enriched perspective of a feature or area. 


Click a second time to disable the fly around process.

Date/Time



Configure a date and a time of the day.


This can be used in conjunction with Shadow mode to view the shadows cast by features in the 3D model at a given date and time.

Clear All



Clear all modifications from the map window.


For example measurements, viewshed, volume calculations etc.

Query



Click a point or object on the 3D model to view the longitude, latitude, and elevation of that point.


When an object or layer is selected, general information about the object and attribute information, for example a street address, is displayed (if available).

Measure Distance



Create a distance measurement on the 3D model.


    • Click any point on the terrain to define the start point of the measurement
    • Click to set the second point and then again for each additional segment
    • Click the check-box or right-click to finish the measurement

Measure Area



Create an area measurement on the 3D model.


For area on terrain, click Horizontal Mode. For area on an arbitrary plane, click 3D Plane Mode.


    • Click any point on the terrain/plane to define the start point of the measurement
    • Click to set the second point and again for each additional point
    • Click the check-box or right-click to finish the measurement


If the region measured was entirely on the terrain, users can click Terrain Surface to calculate the surface area of the selected region taking into account terrain contours.

Volume



Analyse the volume of the terrain or model removed or added by drawn horizontal planes.


    • Click to add the first point of the horizontal plane polygon
    • Click again to add additional points of the polygon until you have marked the entire shape
    • Click the check-box or right-click to finish marking the polygon


Click Volume Analysis Properties to configure the volume calculation settings. Quality sets the precision of the volume analysis calculation.

3D Viewshed



The 3D viewshed calculates and marks all areas on the terrain and on 3D models and objects that are visible from a selected point on the terrain.


The defined viewshed is initially displayed in Preview mode. After setting viewshed parameters and repositioning the viewshed as necessary, a high quality viewshed can be calculated and displayed.


    • Click to define your viewpoint for the 3D viewshed
    • Click again to define your desired endpoint (defining the distance of sight)


The viewshed appears on the terrain as a sector of a circle, where the centre point is the viewpoint and the arc is the endpoint (marking the end of the distance of sight analysis).


Within the sector, areas that are visible from the viewpoint are coloured green, whereas areas that are not visible from the viewpoint are coloured red.


    • Click Viewshed Properties to set its properties
    • Click Move Horizontally or Move Vertically to reposition the viewshed


To calculate a high quality viewshed, click Calculate and the viewshed is re-displayed with a high degree of precision.


The intensity of the viewshed colours is increased to indicate that you are in Calculated mode, and the Calculate button appears dimmed. Note that users can recalculate at any point.


Note: If changes are made to a viewshed (e.g. properties are modified, or its position is adjusted), the viewshed switches back to Preview mode.

Terrain Profile



Display the terrain elevation profile along a defined path.


    • Click any point on the terrain to define the start point of the measurement
    • Click to set the second point and then again for each additional segment
    • Click Terrain Profile to calculate the terrain profile
    • When calculation is complete, a terrain profile graph is displayed, showing the terrain elevation profile


Users can turn on the information they want indicated on the graph such as waypoints, min/max altitude and max slope.

Contours



Display a contour map on the terrain.


Enabling this mode will overlay a contour map across the entire 3D model.

Slope



Display a slope map on the terrain.


Enabling this mode will overlay a slope map across the entire 3D model.

Shadow



Display the shadows created by terrain and 3D model objects.


The shadow is based on a calculation of the position of the sun at the selected hour and date and is used in conjunction with the Date/Time function.

Underground



Display the 3D model in underground mode. 


This is particularly handy for viewing underground assets for example.