Guide

Measure and compare

Each task starts from a finished run open in the workspace. The status line under the scene always says what the active tool expects next.

Measurements are in the survey’s own coordinate system and units. The Inspector states both above the figures, and says when the run declares no coordinate system.

Measure a distance

Choose Distance. Open Measure in the tool strip and choose Distance, or press M.
Click the first point, then the second. Click on the cloud. A point is placed on the nearest cloud point, so the click needs to be on or near the cloud. If there is none near the pointer, nothing is placed and the status line says so.
Keep clicking to make a longer line. Each click adds a leg. Backspace removes the last point.
Finish. Press Enter or choose Finish in the Inspector. Click again to start a new measurement.

The Inspector shows the horizontal distance along the grid, the slope distance, the height difference from first to last point and, for each leg, the gradient. A gradient is not defined when two points are one above the other, and the Inspector says so.

Measure an area

Choose Area. Open Measure and choose Area.
Click the corners. Click the first, second and third corner, and as many more as the outline needs. Corners are placed in plan, so a click always lands.
Close the area. Press Enter. Backspace removes the last corner.

The Inspector gives the plan area, the perimeter and the surface area. If the outline crosses itself, the area is not defined and the Inspector says so instead of showing a number.

Measure a height

Choose Height. Open Measure and choose Height.
Click the lower point, then the upper point. Both clicks need a cloud point near the pointer.

The Inspector gives the height difference, second minus first, the horizontal distance between the points, the slope distance and the gradient.

Edit or copy a measurement

Move a vertex by typing. The Inspector lists the vertices with their coordinates. Change a value and press Enter. Esc puts the old value back.
Add a vertex by typing. Enter the easting, northing and height in the new-vertex row and choose Add.
Snap a vertex. The snap button on a row moves the vertex to the nearest cloud point.
Reorder or remove. A row has buttons to move it up or down and to remove it.
Copy. Copy puts the figures and the vertices on the clipboard as CSV text.
Clear. Clear removes the measurement.

Create cross-sections along a line

Sections are cuts across a line you draw, at regular intervals. Each set is made as a job on the run and is metered, as the Usage page shows.

Choose Section. Choose Section in the tool strip, or press S.
Click along the cloud. The first click sets the start of the line, the second sets its end and every further click extends it. The start is the zero of the chainage.
Adjust the line. Drag a vertex to move it. Select a vertex in the Inspector to type its easting and northing, insert a vertex after it or remove it. Alt and click inserts a vertex on the line. You can also add a vertex by typing its coordinates under add by coordinates. Reverse swaps which end is the start. Frame puts the camera on the line.
Set interval, width and thickness. These are in the survey’s own units. Interval is the spacing of the sections. Width is how far each section reaches, side to side of the line, in total. Thickness is how thick each section’s slab of points is, measured along the line. The panel shows the allowed range under each box.
Choose extra files if you want them. Under Additional deliverables you can ask for a CAD drawing (DXF), GIS ground lines (Shapefile), a printable section report (PDF) or station images (PNG). The station points, the station tables and the ground profile are always included.
Choose Create sections. Before you do, the panel shows the length of the line, which way the chainage runs, how many sections it will make and roughly how big a job that is. An interval as long as the line gives a section across each end and none between.

The set appears in the Sections tab of the bottom dock, under the cloud, with its progress. When it finishes its files are listed there to download. A set that fails says why and can be tried again with Retry.

A single section along the drawn line is not offered. The along-the-line result is the longitudinal ground profile, which every set made in the console includes.

Look at a section before you order it

With a line of at least two vertices, the Section panel has a quick section. Choose show to see a station under the scene. Step along the line with the previous and next buttons or the [ and ] keys. Clip to section limits the scene to that station’s slab. Nothing is ordered or metered by this.

Read a profile

When a set of sections has finished, choose Open profile on its row. The profile opens under the scene.

The chart shows one station’s cross-section at a time, with offset across the line, height up, and points coloured by class. You can switch to the long ground profile along the whole line.
Drag to pan. Scroll or use the magnifiers to zoom. Press a point to read its offset, height and class.
The vertical exaggeration buttons stretch heights for reading. The stretch is written on the chart. Nothing you download is stretched.
Step along the line with the arrows beside the station list or the [ and ] keys. The view comes with you.
The station you are on is outlined on the cloud. The button that shows it in the scene puts the camera on it. Clicking the cloud inside a station moves the chart to that spot.
Very dense stations are drawn thinned, and the panel says by how much. The counts and every download are the whole station.
Keys on the sheet lists every shortcut, and each one is also a button.

Measure a volume

A volume is cut and fill inside a polygon, against a reference. It reads the whole run, so it is metered with the run’s own points.

Choose Volume. Open Measure and choose Volume.
Click the corners of a polygon. The panel says when the polygon needs more corners. Corners are placed in plan. Alt and click inserts a corner. Select a corner to remove it with Delete. F frames the polygon.
Choose what to measure against. The panel offers these references.
- Height: one height, typed or picked off the cloud.
- Surface: a surface another finished run of yours made, such as its terrain model. Choose the run, then the surface.
- Ground: the cloud’s own ground, interpolated under whatever stands on it. A stockpile classified as ground measures about zero, so use a height or a surface for one.
Choose the surface measured. Top is the highest point in each cell, leaving out noise, wires and towers. Ground is the lowest ground point in each cell. The cell size is in the survey’s own units and has a default.
Choose Measure volume. The job runs and its result is listed under Outputs, Volumes.

The result shows cut, fill and net, the plan area, the cells it was measured on, and anything that makes the figures less certain. Above the reference counts as fill and below it as cut. Read as design surface swaps the two words for a design, and never the numbers. Show on cloud paints the difference over the polygon, with cut in red and fill in blue, and Hide from cloud takes it off.

Compare two runs

A comparison measures the height difference between this run and an earlier run of the same site, inside one polygon. Before anything is charged, the two runs are checked for the same horizontal reference, unit and vertical datum, for classified ground, and for how much of the polygon both cover. A comparison that fails a check is refused and costs nothing.

Draw the area. Draw a polygon with the Volume tool, as above. The comparison form picks it up.
Open Compare. Choose More, then Compare with another version. The Compare tab opens under the cloud; its form is headed Compare with an earlier run.
Choose the earlier run. Pick one of your finished runs from the list.
Use the polygon. Choose Use as the area to compare. You may also draw a second polygon over ground that did not change, such as a road or a roof, and choose Use as the stable area. Its difference is reported as the stable-area residual, which gives a measured level of detection.
Choose the surface. Ground compares this run’s ground with the earlier run’s terrain model, for terrain change. Top surface compares the tops, so vegetation and structures are part of it.
Set the optional boxes, then choose Check and compare. You may state a level of detection, set how much of the polygon both runs must cover, and give the comparison a label. If a check fails, the form lists every check and its result.

The result is this run minus the earlier run where both cover the same ground. Higher now counts as fill and lower as cut. The figures are cut, fill and net, the plan area and the cells with both runs. The result can be shown on the cloud like a volume. If its files pass their retention date, the figures stay as the record.