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Vulcan Manual PDF
Vulcan Manual PDF
Introduction to Vulcan
Version 8
Copyright
© 2009 Maptek
Maptek, Vulcan, I-Site, and MineSuite are registered and unregistered trademarks of Maptek
Pty Ltd; Maptek Computación Chile Ltda; Maptek Computación Chile Ltda, Sucursal Perú;
Maptek S de RL de CV; Maptek Informática do Brasil Ltda and KRJA Systems, Inc. Registered
marks are registered in one or more of the following countries: Australia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico,
Peru and the USA.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this manual shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise - without written permission from Maptek™.
No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein.
Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this manual, the publisher and
author(s) assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for
damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.
info@maptek.com
www.maptek.com
Trademarks
Due to the nature of the material, some hardware and software products are mentioned by
name. The companies that manufacture the products claim many of these product names as
trademarks. It is not the intention of Maptek™ to claim these names or trademarks as their own.
Revision History
May 15, 2009 (8.0), United States, International version, technical update
March 2009 (8.0), Australia, technical update and layout change
January, 2008 (7.5), United States, Australia, technical update and layout change
March, 2006 (7.0), United States, technical update
July, 2005 (6.0), United States/United Kingdom, technical review
January, 2004 (5.0), United Kingdom, technical review
Contents
Getting Started 1
Installation, Setup and Licensing ............................................................................................................ 1
Hardware/System Requirements ...................................................................................................... 1
Computer Requirements for Microsoft Windows® XP/Vista ...................................................... 1
Checking your System Specifications Instructions ..................................................................... 1
Graphics Cards ................................................................................................................................. 2
Checking your Graphics Card: .................................................................................................... 2
Environment Variables ....................................................................................................................... 2
HOME .......................................................................................................................................... 3
TEMP and TMP ........................................................................................................................... 3
ENVIS_RESO ............................................................................................................................... 4
Installing Vulcan ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Corporate Standards ......................................................................................................................... 4
Creating a Corporate Standards Folder ...................................................................................... 5
Activating Corporate Standards .................................................................................................. 5
Changing the Default Specification File Location ....................................................................... 5
Service Packs .................................................................................................................................... 5
Licensing ........................................................................................................................................... 5
Floating Licence .......................................................................................................................... 7
Pack & Go (Borrow Licence) ........................................................................................................ 7
Data Structure ................................................................................................................................... 9
Design Database ......................................................................................................................... 9
Layers .......................................................................................................................................... 9
Objects ........................................................................................................................................ 9
Points ......................................................................................................................................... 10
Groups and Features ...................................................................................................................... 10
Scheme and Window Files .............................................................................................................. 10
Starting Vulcan ................................................................................................................................ 10
Dynamic Arrays ......................................................................................................................... 11
Software User Setup ....................................................................................................................... 11
Plotting Scale Units ................................................................................................................... 12
Project Details ........................................................................................................................... 13
Project Coordinate Extents ....................................................................................................... 14
User Interface 17
Vulcan Work Area ................................................................................................................................. 17
Menus, Windows and Toolbars ....................................................................................................... 17
Main Menu ................................................................................................................................. 18
Windows .................................................................................................................................... 18
Primary Window ........................................................................................................................ 19
Vulcan Explorer Window ........................................................................................................... 19
Report Window .......................................................................................................................... 19
Status Bar .................................................................................................................................. 20
Application Bar .......................................................................................................................... 20
Menu and Window Toolbars ........................................................................................................... 21
Parent and Child Toolbars ......................................................................................................... 21
Moving Toolbars ........................................................................................................................ 22
Customising Vulcan ........................................................................................................................ 23
Toolbars ..................................................................................................................................... 23
Keyboard Shortcuts ................................................................................................................... 25
Context Menus .......................................................................................................................... 25
Preferences ................................................................................................................................ 26
Colours ...................................................................................................................................... 27
Database Locks and Recovery ............................................................................................................. 28
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Introduction to Vulcan | Maptek Vulcan 8
Viewing Data 31
Viewing and Animating Data ................................................................................................................. 31
Loading and Removing Data ........................................................................................................... 31
Zooming, Panning and Rotating ..................................................................................................... 32
Zooming ..................................................................................................................................... 32
Zoom To Toolbar ....................................................................................................................... 33
Panning ...................................................................................................................................... 33
Rotating ..................................................................................................................................... 34
View Ports and Overview Window .................................................................................................. 35
Perspective View ............................................................................................................................. 36
Other Views ............................................................................................................................... 38
Visibility ........................................................................................................................................... 39
PRIMARY:Visibility Toolbar ....................................................................................................... 39
Create Section View .................................................................................................................. 40
Other Section View Notes ......................................................................................................... 42
Section View Properties ............................................................................................................ 43
CAD Introduction 77
Data Attributes ...................................................................................................................................... 77
Information ...................................................................................................................................... 77
Changing Attributes ........................................................................................................................ 77
Groups ....................................................................................................................................... 78
Features ..................................................................................................................................... 79
Setting up Features ................................................................................................................... 79
Using Features ........................................................................................................................... 82
iv Contents
Data Import and Export 85
Importing DXF Files ............................................................................................................................... 85
Exporting DXF Files .............................................................................................................................. 86
Importing ASCII Data Files .................................................................................................................... 87
Exporting ASCII Files ............................................................................................................................ 90
Importing Shape Files ........................................................................................................................... 90
Exporting Shape Files ........................................................................................................................... 92
Analysing Data 93
Data Information ................................................................................................................................... 93
Analyse Toolbar ............................................................................................................................... 93
Coordinate ................................................................................................................................. 93
Distance Between Points .......................................................................................................... 93
Distance Along Line ................................................................................................................... 93
Custom Cursor .......................................................................................................................... 94
Area ........................................................................................................................................... 94
Polygon Area ............................................................................................................................. 94
Labelling 97
Analyse Tools ........................................................................................................................................ 97
Menu Options .................................................................................................................................. 97
Point Labels ............................................................................................................................... 97
Point Labels to Text ................................................................................................................... 99
Object Label .............................................................................................................................. 99
Object Label to Text ................................................................................................................ 100
Databases 123
Drillhole Databases ............................................................................................................................. 123
Legends ......................................................................................................................................... 123
Labelling Drillholes ................................................................................................................... 126
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Introduction to Vulcan | Maptek Vulcan 8
vi Contents
Triangle Edit > Delete Crossing Triangles ............................................................................... 194
Volume Calculations ...................................................................................................................... 195
Solid Volumes .......................................................................................................................... 195
Surface Volumes ...................................................................................................................... 195
Plotting 221
Introduction to Plotting ....................................................................................................................... 221
Plot All Wizard ............................................................................................................................... 221
Using a Default Plot Template ................................................................................................. 222
Using a Plot Template ................................................................................................................... 225
WYSIWYG Plotting ........................................................................................................................ 225
Plot Utility ...................................................................................................................................... 226
Presentation 229
Screen Dumps .................................................................................................................................... 229
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Introduction to Vulcan | Maptek Vulcan 8
viii Contents
1 Getting Started
During the installation, remember to note any changes you make to your system and backup
your files before you edit or replace them. You may need administrator privileges to install
software or make any modifications to your computer.
Hardware/System Requirements
For computer intensive options such as block modelling, using large triangulations or
databases, the recommended requirements are vital.
Note:
Specifications listed Computer Requirements for Microsoft Windows® XP/Vista
may change in future
Vulcan releases. • A Pentium IV 2GHz
• 2 GB or more RAM
• 2GB total disk space
• Additional 10GB free disk space
• A 256 MB or more OpenGL compliant 3D video card (for example nVidia Geforce 4 MX)
with an appropriate OpenGL driver
• A 3-button generic mouse with wheel
• Screen resolution 1280 x 1024
• A CD-ROM drive
• Parallel/USB port for dongle/network connection for FLEXlm floating license server
• Microsoft XP Professional®, Microsoft Vista® 32-bit, or Microsoft Vista® 64-bit operating
system
• Microsoft Internet Explorer® 6 (or later)
Tutorial 1.1
Change your virtual memory maximum and size to 2000.
Graphics Cards
Vulcan supports OpenGL® compliant graphics cards such as nVidia® Geforce®, nVidia®
Quadro® or ATI Radeon™. For best performance, ensure the graphics card drivers are up to
date.
Tutorial 1.2
Check the type of graphics card installed on your computer.
Environment Variables
Environment variables are values that affect the way computer processes behave. There are two
types of environment variables:
Note:
You may need to Microsoft Windows® XP Instructions:
have administrator
privileges to create 1. Click the Start button.
or edit your 2. Open the Control Panel, and then double-click System. Alternatively, right-click on My
environment Computer and select Properties.
variables. 3. Click the Advanced tab and then click on the Environment Variables button.
2 1 Getting Started
Click to access the
System Properties
dialog box
• HOME
• TEMP
• TMP
• ENVIS_RESO
HOME
HOME stores files such as login.csh and startup.csh and directs Vulcan to where these
can be found. This variable is automatically set during installation (if not already set on your
computer) and it is recommended that you do not change the name of this directory.
Vulcan uses these directories to create and store temporary files. As other programs use these
folders, these environment variables may already be set on your computer. Both values should
be the same (paths with no spaces) and use C:\Temp. The values used must exist on the
computer. If not, you will need to create a new folder. If set incorrectly, an Error accessing file
list message will appear when attempting to load layers.
ENVIS_RESO
The ENVIS_RESO environment variable points to the location of the Resources folder1 for all
Vulcan system data files such as:
Sites with several Vulcan users will not be able to access custom templates, symbols and files
unless there is an external directory to the Vulcan tree for storing the Resources folder
(C:\Vulcan_resources). Copy all files from the etc\resources into a new folder. It is
important to set the ENVIS_RESO environment variable to read to the new folder.
If multiple accesses to Resources area is required, create a new folder on the network. For
example X:\Vulcan_resources. All computers accessing this folder must have the
ENVIS_RESO environment variable set to this folder.
Tutorial 1.3
Set your TEMP and TMP variables to a file path name (without spaces).
Installing Vulcan
For sites requiring a network licence (FLEXnet Publisher), a notification is sent with the
licencefile. Use the Install Network licence option to set up the server.
Prior to installation:
Corporate Standards
For companies with multiple sites, corporate standards are used to maintain company wide
standards for Vulcan specification files. In other words, multiple copies of the same
specification file are not required. For example, files such as .gcv files (Grade Control), RES
files (Advanced Reserves) and .scd files (colours and legends) can be used several times.
4 1 Getting Started
Corporate standards does not prevent users from accessing their personal specification files.
By default, it will direct users to the corporate standard files first and then allow them to browse
elsewhere.
If a central Resources folder (mapped with a ENVIS_RESO variable) already exists, create a new
folder in the same area for the corporate standards (specification files) to be stored.
To protect company specification files from being overwritten, set the corporate standards
folder to read-only.
If corporate standards is turned off during installation, you can use it later by creating a variable
to turn it on. More information is available under System Administration : Environment
Variables in the Vulcan Help.
The default working directory is set to the corporate standards folder for several menu options
that can be turned off. Press the corporate standards button at the bottom of applicable dialog
boxes, however this will revert back the next time Vulcan is used. If the corporate standards
variable has not been set, this button will not appear.
• Corporate Standards Enabled - Files contained within the corporate standards folder.
• Home Directory Enabled - Files contained within the current working directory.
Service Packs
Vulcan service packs are released when fixes for known issues (hotfixes) and critical updates
are made.
Primary contacts at each mine site are notified when a new service pack is available for
download from www.maptek.com or ftp sites ftp.maptek.com and ftp.maptek.co.uk.
Double-click the .exe file to install.
Licensing
You must have a licence file to run Vulcan or to modify features (Geology or Survey features).
Installing Vulcan 5
Introduction to Vulcan | Maptek Vulcan 8
To activate your licence file, click the Licence Administrator button on the Vulcan start dialog
box.
If you are using a node-locked licence, browse to the location of your licence file (lac) and
select Licence Type.
To be able to use a configuration with your dongle, the line must say Nodelocked.
Shows if the
dongle is
Click to valid and if it
confirm that a is being read
licence properly
configuration
can be used
successfully Shows the configuration is being used by which user.
6 1 Getting Started
Floating Licence
When you use a floating licence ensure the server name (machineries) matches the dongle
location (FLEXnet Publisher).
To display licence information click the Refresh button. The Licence Type is displayed as
floating. The Total and In use Column display the number of licences available for each
configuration and the number of licences in use.
Click Repair Dongle for recharging pre-paid dongles or if a dongle is not being read properly.
Use Borrow Licence to use (“check out”) a floating licence.
Tutorial 1.4
Ensure the Licence Administrator can see your licence.
By using Borrow Licence you can check a licence out from a server, disconnect a machine
from a network and use a Vulcan licence independent of a network (without a dongle).
When a floating licence is in use (“checked out”), features and configurations stored on the
server will also be borrowed. When a feature is in use, information is stored on the local
machine allowing the licence to be used even when disconnected from the network.
A borrowed licence set with a time limit that protects against loss or theft of the licence.
New licences have borrow provisions set, however, to verify the licence has borrow privileges,
first check with your network administrator.
If you do not have borrowing privileges, contact Maptek and one will be provided to you at no
charge. The licence name will be similar to company_location_float.lic.
Open the lmtools executable in the FLEXnet Publisher folder and click Help > About. The
version should be 10.1 or later.
If you can not find the FLEXnet Publisher folder, or you do not have a current version, install it
from the Vulcan Installation CD.
Installing Vulcan 7
Introduction to Vulcan | Maptek Vulcan 8
To activate a borrow session your computer must be connected to the network running the
floating licence. To check your computer is connected to a network:
File/Server column
3. Click the Refresh button to show the features under the floating licence.
4. Click Borrow licence.
5. On the Borrow licence tab, set a date and time to return the licence.
If the time period exceeds the borrow limit, you will be notified that you are attempting to
borrow for a longer period than is allowed.
6. Click Start Borrowing.
8 1 Getting Started
7. Click OK.
• The Licence Administrator window will display showing available features.
• If the features do not appear, ensure that the server is selected and click Refresh.
8. Select a feature to borrow and click OK.
9. Start Envisage.
10. Exit Vulcan completely to finalise the borrowing setup.
You must start Vulcan while connected to the server before the licence can be borrowed.
If you exceed the time limit for a borrowed licence, the server automatically recognises that the
licence has timed out and the feature will be disabled on your computer.
When you have returned a licence, you will be operating again under the floating licence on the
network.
Data Structure
The most commonly used data in Vulcan are CAD data and triangulations. CAD data (such as
lines and polygons) are stored in a database (dgd.isis) and triangulations are stored as
separate files with the extension .00t.
Design Database
Layers
Objects
Sequential point entries make objects. For example:
• A line (sequential group of connected points).
• A polygon (closed line).
• A group of unconnected points.
Installing Vulcan 9
Introduction to Vulcan | Maptek Vulcan 8
Points
CAD data at the lowest level is made up of points consisting of X, Y, Z coordinates.
Features are created by defining a feature set, which is a group of properties stored in a file.
Objects that share a feature set will share the properties defined within the feature set. The
feature file uses the naming convention <project code>< identifier>.ftd.
The Window file holds information about windows that are created and stored in the current
working directory. The convenience of creating your own windows may not be necessary,
however, creating windows with different properties (from the default window) can be useful.
The Window file uses the naming convention <project code>.wnd.
Vulcan provides methods to group data within and across layers, using point and object
attributes, such as the group and feature fields.
Starting Vulcan
When Vulcan is started, a work area must be selected.
1. Start Vulcan.
2. Double-click on Browse.
Browse to the location of your data. Select a folder to open.
3. Click OK.
• The folder will appear in the work area box. Any directories that are opened will
remain in the work area until manually deleted.
• To delete a directory, right-click on the folder and select Remove from History or
Remove all to delete the entire list.
• The work area history is stored in a file called .vlauchpref, which is located
under C:\Documents and Settings\User Name.
10 1 Getting Started
Click to
browse files
or folders.
Tutorial 1.5
Browse to the start data folder.
On the right-hand side of the dialog box are the application buttons which include:
Dynamic Arrays
Use the Vulcan Dynamic Arrays Configuration dialog box (under Settings or in Envisage
under Tools > Dynamic Memory Settings) to modify size Envisage arrays. This is so large
objects, grids and triangulations can be manipulated in Vulcan. Restart Vulcan for any changes
to take effect.
If the Envisage Memory Availability bar decreases to a small amount, other options may not
have enough memory available to run. Leave Default values until a higher setting is required.
Installing Vulcan 11
Introduction to Vulcan | Maptek Vulcan 8
Tutorial 1.6
Select the DEFAULT_1024 layout and set the plotter scale units to Imperial.
In Vulcan there are several layouts each with a different resolution size, however, it is advisable
to select default_1024. The three different layouts are:
The layout can be changed using the Tools > Layout > Import and are stored in
C:\ProgramFiles\Vulcan\etc\defaults.
12 1 Getting Started
To change the layout and Plotting Scale Units, delete the Vulcan.prefs files in
C:\Documents and Settings\User Name. However, deleting these files will delete the
user preferences.
Tutorial 1.7
Select the DEFAULT_1024 layout and set the plotter scale units to Imperial.
Project Details
A project file (.dg1) must be selected each time Envisage is started. This file contains the
project code, coordinate information for the project and the units to be used.
Installing Vulcan 13
Introduction to Vulcan | Maptek Vulcan 8
A code added to secondary files and an abbreviation for the company name.
Maximum of four characters can be used.
Leave as default
• Coordinate extents – Minimum and maximum easting, northing and RL values for the
project. This defines the size of the Primary window in Envisage.
• Vertical exaggeration – Exaggeration value applied to the project Z values.
• Project Display grid – Specifies how the rotation axes are labelled in Envisage.
• Coordinate unit – Required coordinate units for the project.
14 1 Getting Started
Tutorial 1.8
Create a new .dg1 file using the information provided below:
15
2 User Interface
Explorer window Status bar Report window Windows toolbar Application bar
Main Menu
The main menu is the horizontal bar that resides below the title bar. Options displayed in the
drop-down lists vary for each Vulcan licence.
Many menu commands use keyboard shortcuts (where the first letter is underlined) that can be
used instead of your mouse. For example [ALT+F] will open the File menu.
More keyboard shortcuts can be found under Envisage 3D Editor : Introduction : Keyboard
Controls in the Vulcan Help.
Windows
18 2 User Interface
Primary Window
The Primary window is the default 3D design window as defined by the coordinate extents in
your .dg1 file. By default, the Primary window is confined to the client area of the work area.
The Vulcan Explorer window is used to browse virtual folders for data stored in the Vulcan work
area. All files in the current working directory are divided between the folders; however, any
orphan files will be stored in the Other folder.
The Vulcan Explorer window enables files and layers to be loaded to and removed from the
Primary window.
The tabs at the bottom of the Vulcan Explorer window provide other views into the system:
• Data – Displays files in the Vulcan work area. Files and layers that are loaded into Vulcan
Envisage are highlighted in this view.
• Resources - Displays files in the Vulcan Resources area, which is defined by the
Environment variable ENVIS_RESO. These files include drafting.dgd, symbols.dgd
and lines.dgd.
• Vulcan Envisage - Displays only the files in use (loaded on-screen). Even though loaded
files and layers are highlighted in the data tab, the Vulcan Envisage tab is useful to display
a concise list of data currently in use.
Report Window
The Report window displays text information that is generated from the application in use.
When objects are analysed for statistics such as distances and coordinates, or if calculating
reserves, the results are generated in the Report window.
Close contents
Print contents
Save contents
Clear contents
Other tabs can sometimes appear when other applications are running, such as Grid Calc or the
Block Model Utility. The text based results can be copied and pasted into other applications.
Highlight the text, right-click and select Copy from the context menu.
Status Bar
• Prompt – Displays the prompts relating to the current menu option being used.
• Coordinates – Displays the coordinates of the mouse pointer location on-screen.
• Function – Displays the current option’s menu tag.
• Design Database – Displays the currently open design database.
Application Bar
The visible icons on the Application bar correspond to Vulcan Envisage, Explorer window,
Report window and Vulcan help.
They can be closed by clicking the X at the top of each and reopened from the Window menu.
The T Shell option will open a new shell window, where commands and scripts can be
executed.
20 2 User Interface
Menu and Window Toolbars
A toolbar is a bar containing graphic buttons or other controls providing fast access to
commands.
• Menu toolbars are located top-left of the screen and correspond with menu commands.
• Window toolbars are located at the bottom and to the right of the screen. Window
toolbars are linked to the window they are associated with, in this case the Primary
window. These options can not be found in any of the menus.
When using a command, the current option must be completed or cancelled before another
option can be selected. However, options from the window toolbars can be used in conjunction
with options from the menu toolbars. For example, if you are drawing a line, you are able to
select the window toolbar options of rotate and pan, without cancelling out of the option.
To see a list of other available toolbars right-click in a space alongside an existing toolbar. The
list will vary at different points of the work area. Another way to view toolbars is to choose Tools
> Toolbar Visibility. Note that the toolbars at the bottom of the list beginning with [PRIMARY:]
are window toolbars
.
Toolbars can also be classified as parent toolbars and child toolbars. Child toolbars are hidden
within the parent toolbar. For example, on the Graphics toolbar several icons have an arrow
symbol in the bottom right hand corner. This indicates that a child toolbar exists under this icon.
Right-click on the arrow to display the child toolbar or click, hold and drag the child toolbar into
the Primary window. Once the child toolbar is closed it will be hidden under the parent toolbar.
Child
toolbar
Several icons have three points in the bottom right-hand corner. Right-click the icon to display a
properties dialog box, which provides additional options used in conjunction with the icon.
Moving Toolbars
Minimising a toolbar:
1. Click the blue arrow above the toolbars to minimise the entire row.
2. Click again to maximise the toolbars.
Floating a toolbar:
1. Position your mouse pointer over the double lines at the start of the toolbar.
2. Double-click or hold your left button on the double lines and drag the toolbar to the
desired location.
Docking a toolbar:
1. Position your mouse pointer over the title bar at the top of the toolbar window.
2. Click and hold the left mouse button.
3. Drag the toolbar to the desired docking space, a preview rectangle will appear to show
you where the toolbar is going to dock. Or double-click on the title bar on the toolbar
window and it will be docked in its last dock position.
Tutorial 2.1
22 2 User Interface
Click once to minimise and
twice to float toolbar.
Customising Vulcan
The Tools menu contains options for customising your work area. For instance, you can create
customised toolbars, allocate keyboard shortcuts, import and export user layouts. Preferences
can be set to control display options, such as colour, position of dialog boxes and appearance
of the background.
Toolbars
There are two types of toolbars used in Vulcan - menu toolbars and window toolbars. For
frequently used commands, it is ideal to customise a toolbar containing these options.
1. Choose Tools > Customise. The work area Customise dialog box will display.
2. Select [*] New Toolbar (right pane) on the Toolbars tab.
3. From the Vulcan Menus (left panel) click and drag the commands in the [*] New Toolbar
folder. The Untitled Toolbar can be expanded by clicking the + symbol. Note that there
is now also an option to add a [*] New SubMenu. Menu commands can be added to the
Untitled Toolbar as required and renamed by right-clicking on the title.
Right-
click and
select
Rename
to name
your new
toolbar.
The [*] New SubMenu and [*] New Toolbar at the bottom of the right dialog box are always
present by default, and can not be deleted.
4. Click OK to display the new toolbar as a floating toolbar. If a menu command has a
shortcut icon associated with it, then the icon will display in the toolbar in place of the
menu command name.
5. Save the new toolbar by typing the name in the Save Workbench Customisations
dialog box.
6. Tick Set as Default to automatically load the toolbar next time Vulcan is started. The
.vwc file is saved in the current project folder (or other nominated directory using the
Browse button) under the naming convention <customise file name>.vwc.
7. Save the position of your custom toolbar in the work area using Tools > Layout > Save.
To make efficient use of the work area, menu command items can be shown as submenus in the
toolbar. This ensures that the menu commands display in a vertical listing, however an
additional mouse click is required to access them.
24 2 User Interface
Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts allow you to quickly execute menu commands. Similar to customising
toolbars, keyboard shortcuts can be customised to execute commonly used commands.
Context Menus
Context menus are popup menus that display when you right-click on an object or blank space
in Vulcan.
• Line
• Polygon
• Triangulation
• Underlay
• Drillhole
• Points
Preferences
Use Tools > Preferences to modify the appearance of the work area and set defaults.
• Setting Default Rotate Mode (under Tools > Preferences > Graphics > Input).
• Reverse wheel zoom direction (under Tools > Preferences > Graphics > Input).
• Text Defaults (Tools > Preferences > Defaults > 2D Text and 3D Text).
• Remote Directories (under Tools > Preferences > Workbench > Vulcan Explorer).
26 2 User Interface
Figure 2-16: Preferences dialog box
Colours
The Preferences dialog box under Colours allows you to modify the existing colour table or
use the colour button on the Status toolbar to edit colour tables.
Select File > Colour Table > Colours to edit the current colour palette.
1. Select a colour from the colour table, which will display in the colour box to the right.
2. Use the sliders to change the colour. The colour in the display is updated dynamically.
3. Click Replace.
1. On the Auto tab, select a range of colours to edit. To do this, click on the first colour in
the range and then click on the second colour.
2. Select an option from the Auto Edit list.
3. Click Apply.
4. Click OK to update the current colour table.
The table is saved to the Colour scheme file (<proj>.scd) located within your current working
directory. If this file does not exist, it will be created.
Changes made to existing design data are performed on a copy of the data contained in the
work file (.wrk). The data is updated in the design database after each save.
Lost CAD data can be recovered by reloading a previous version of the work file.
28 2 User Interface
Green Lock
A green lock indicates a .dgd is open.
Orange Lock
Indicates system failure or corrupted design database.
WARNING
If everyone on a Recovering a design database after a system failure:
server crashes at the
same time, everyone 1. Restart Vulcan Envisage but do not remove any lock files.
will be able to If you have added a default design database to your project file (.dg1) and this was the
recover their data so file that was open when you exited Envisage, a message will be displayed informing you
long as the recovery that the file is locked. Click OK to accept this message.
steps are followed by 2. Locate the design database that was being used at the time of the system failure in the
one person at a time. Windows Explorer. An orange lock will be displayed beside the database name.
If everyone attempts
3. Right-click on the lock and select the Recover option. This creates a recover.dgd
to recover at the
where the potentially lost data is stored. When recovered, a message will display
same time, data will
informing you that the database has been recovered successfully.
be permanently lost.
4. Right-click on the database you just unlocked and select Open from the displayed
context menu. You should now see a green lock on the .dgd.
5. Select File > Load Recovered Layers to load the lost design data.
6. Select File > Save to save the design database.
Red Lock
Indicates the .dgd is currently in use by another user.
Tutorial 2.2
Ensure you have a green lock on a .dgd.
Pages in the Help menu that are frequently referenced can be added as favourites by selecting
Add on the Favourites tab
Tutorial 2.3
30 2 User Interface
3 Viewing Data
• Double-click on a file.
• Drag and drop a file into the Primary window.
• Right-click on a file and select Load.
• To load multiple files use [SHIFT] (for multiple, consecutive files) and [CTRL] (for multiple,
non-consecutive files) to select, right-click and select Load.
• Click the Open button on the Standard toolbar.
Open icon
Tutorial 3.1
Practise loading and removing the TR_TQ1 layer.
Zooming
• Using the middle mouse wheel. For example, to zoom into the northeast corner, move
your pointer to that corner and scroll using the mouse wheel.
• Using the Zoom icon. Select a zooming area by clicking once in the bottom left hand
corner of the zoom area. Clicking a second time for the upper right hand corner of the
zoom area.
Zoom icon
32 3 Viewing Data
Zoom Factor field
• When viewing data in a neutral situation, it is possible to zoom in or out using the middle
mouse button and the right mouse button simultaneously. A circle (overlay) will
temporarily appear on-screen; dragging the cursor towards the circle will zoom out and
moving away from the circle centre will zoom in.
• When in virtual sphere rotate mode, the [S] key from the keyboard may be used to
activate zoom in/out.
• If the Zoom toolbar is loaded in the work area, use either the plus or minus keys to zoom
in and out. These toolbar icons use a zooming factor of 1.25 and 0.8 respectively.
Zoom To Toolbar
The Zoom Data Extents icon will set the zoom value to allow all graphics to be displayed in the
Primary window.
If zooming to a specific object(s) is desired, highlight the object(s) and select the Zoom
Highlighted icon under the zoom data extents child toolbar. To zoom to the active layer select
the Zoom Current Layer icon under the zoom data extents fly out toolbar. Click Reset View on
the graphics toolbar to return the Primary window to plan view.
Zoom Highlighted
Zoom Current Layer
Panning
• Clicking on the Pan icon. Once active, use the left mouse button to click a From point
and click a To point to pan in the graphics window
.
Pan icon
• Alternatively, for those with a 3-button mouse, the middle and left mouse buttons can be
held down simultaneously and the cursor moved to pan across the data.
• Right-click to cancel out of panning mode.
• Hitting the [P] key on the keyboard will activate the panning icon.
• Panning can also be accomplished by zooming in and out with the middle mouse wheel
and moving the location of the cursor.
• The arrow keys on the keyboard may be used to pan up, down, right and left.
Rotating
There are four different rotate modes that can be used by holding down the Virtual Sphere
Rotation icon on the Graphics toolbar.
• Ortho Sphere Rotation - Rotates about the three principal axes (X, Y and Z) by using a
different mouse button for each axis. This mode can also rotate around vertical [V], in the
plane of the screen [W], and perpendicular to the screen [U] by using the respective keys.
• Virtual Sphere Rotation - Very similar to Z-Up however, the Z axis is not fixed. Left-click
and drag the mouse to rotate.
• Z-Up Rotation - The Z axis is always up. Left-click and drag the mouse to rotate. This
mode also ensures that the horizon remains horizontal when viewing topographical data.
• Ortho Rotation - This is a combination of Virtual Sphere and Ortho Sphere modes. The
axes are displayed in different colours. As you move the mouse over the sphere you will
notice that the cursor changes from a hand to the Ortho Sphere Rotation icon. The hand
cursor indicates that Virtual Sphere Rotation will be used, whereas the rotate ortho cursor
indicates that ortho rotation will be used.
If the cursor is moved rapidly before the mouse is released, the graphics will continue to rotate.
Furthermore, the speed of the rotation then depends on the relative cursor speed before release
for example, the force of the throw. Left-click once to stop the rotation or press the [F] key. If
using Z-Up or Virtual Sphere, click [SHIFT+V] to display a virtual sphere on-screen.
34 3 Viewing Data
Tutorial 3.2
Try all four rotate modes and select the most comfortable option.
Tip!
The speed of rotation Each user can specify a default rotate mode via Tools > Preferences on the Input tab.
is controlled by the
distance the cursor
is away from the Input tab Default rotate modes
centre of rotation. To
decrease the rotation
speed, move the
cursor away from the
centre of rotation
and describe a wide
arc. To speed up the
rotation, move the
cursor in a tight
circle around the
centre point.
Tutorial 3.3
Set your favourite rotate mode as the default
To exit rotation mode press [ENTER] or [ESC] or simultaneously click all three mouse buttons.
Further rotations in the current session (fourth icon on the Graphics toolbar) will remember the
rotation centre until such time as another centre is specified.
The Overview window floats on top of the work area but may be resized, moved or docked.
Overview window
This window also has its own toolbar for zooming, panning and rotating as well as buttons
controlling visibility, solid shading, translucency and textures of triangulations. It is also
equipped with a modified Digitise toolbar.
Tutorial 3.4
Load an Overview Window and zoom in/out in the main window. Ensure you see the blue
lines change in the Overview Window as you zoom.
Perspective View
Perspective View switches to a mode where the data displays in an isometric perspective. This
is ideal for visualisation of topographic models. Perspective mode may be toggled on and off by
clicking the Perspective View icon or by pressing the [V] key.
Perspective View
Using Zoom in Perspective View mode, will behave differently from zooming in normal view.
When zooming in perspective mode, three boxes are displayed to help you visualise the
zooming process. All objects inside the smallest box will still be visible after the zoom. All
objects outside the largest box will not be visible after the zoom. Objects between these two
boxes may be visible, but it depends upon the depth of the zoom.
36 3 Viewing Data
Figure 3-13: Perspective View mode
In the above example, the data closest to the viewer appears to be distorted by the perspective.
In actuality, all tunnels are of the same cross-sectional size. Perspective View mode is a
visualisation tool only and is not recommended for normal digitising work.
Tutorial 3.5
Turn Perspective View on. Try zooming, panning, or rotating and pick out differences
between being in regular view and Perspective View.
Tip!
When you use Other Views
Perspective View,
open an Overview The on-screen view can be changed in several ways using the View menu.
window to display a
perspective pyramid. The most common tools are:
The apex of the
pyramid is the • View > Change View > Set View - Enables you to select a centre of the screen (Axis
viewing point and position) and specify the rotations around the X, Y, and Z axes.
the pyramid itself
• View > Change View > Vertical Exaggeration - Enables you to enter a vertical
defines the depth of
exaggeration. This exaggeration will have an effect until the Reset View icon is used, and
view. Data not within
then will be re-set to an exaggeration of one.
the pyramid overlay
will not be visible in
the Primary window. Reset View
• View > Windows > Fit Layer - Will generate a new, temporary window for the
coordinates of a nominated layer.. This is useful if the data is located in a different
coordinate system or far away from the standard coordinate system.
38 3 Viewing Data
Visibility
Vulcan has two visibility toolbars, Visibility and PRIMARY:Visibilty. The Visibility toolbar
is located under View > Visibility and can be used with the current window. The
PRIMARY:Visibilty toolbar is associated with its parent window and can not be used with
other windows.
A parent
window
PRIMARY:
Visibility
PRIMARY:Visibility Toolbar
• Click the Make Objects Visible icon (or press [SHIFT+V]) to turn shadowed or invisible
objects visible.
• Click the Make Objects Shadowed icon (or press [SHIFT+S]) to make visible or invisible
objects shadowed.
• Click the Make Objects Shadowed icon to make all invisible objects shadowed. The
visible objects are displayed normally.
• Click the Make Objects Invisible icon to make visible or shadowed objects invisible.
To make a layer in which the object resides visible, shadowed or invisible, press and hold the
[SHIFT] key while selecting the object. However, you can not snap to an object that is
shadowed or invisible. Right-click to exit all commands.
Click the Make Triangulations Translucent icon to make opaque triangulations translucent.
A translucent triangulation can be reverted to opaque by pressing the Make Triangulations
Solid icon. Right-click to exit.
Select View > Create Section (or press the Create Section View icon on the Standard toolbar)
to limit what is viewed on-screen to a defined section and thickness. However, this option does
not unfold a section based on a multi-segment line. To unfold a section, the drilling section
options should be used in the Geology menu.
40 3 Viewing Data
Figure 3-22: Create Section dialog box
The Create Section dialog box is broken down into four areas:
• Primary Section Shadows - Used to show the next and last sections as shadows in user
selected colours.
• Clipping Planes - Sets up section thickness, step size and grid spacing.
• Select Plane By - Used to define the section plane using, a line segment, 2 points, 3
points, a Guided centre line, an Easting, a Northing, or a Level. If 2 or 3 points are
used, standard snap modes can be used to define these points.
The coordinates of the current screen plane are displayed in the dynamic display in the status
line. Beware as these coordinates only update when the screen plane is put in focus by left-
clicking on-screen. To exit section view, left-click the Toggle Sliced View icon on the Graphics
toolbar.
Tutorial 3.6
• Create a section view with a clipping width of 25 on either side of the section.
• Make your step size 50.
• Select the plane by 2 points and click anywhere along the topo triangulation.
If multiple non-primary sections have been created, all section slices will be displayed at once.
This is intentional so you are able to view block models sliced in different orientations at the
same time. In the example shown below, the dynamic block model has been sliced in both a
vertical and horizontal orientation.
Where multiple non-primary sections have been created, the clipping width of each individual
section is influenced by the others. A fail-safe way to have the current section obey the clipping
criteria (on the Slice toolbar), is to set all of the non-current sections to No Clipping.
42 3 Viewing Data
Section View Properties
Right-click the Toggle Sliced View icon from the Graphics toolbar to open the Slice toolbar.
This dialog box is used to change the slice width and or step size, and also performs several
important functions related to viewing in slice mode
Tip!
The colour of this • The Clip Translucent Solids icon allows the clipping of translucent triangulations. By
grid plane display default, this function is On. The section plane underlay is similar in appearance to 2D
and optionally, the coordinate gridlines; it can, however, be displayed in non-orthogonal planes. Refer to the
coordinate example (below) where the slicing plane (red) is on an oblique section.
annotation, is set in
the Create Section
dialog box using the
Display colour
palette.
• Use the Clip drop-down list to change the view of the section by altering the clipping.
Typically, a slice is clipped by width in which case the data is clipped by the distance
specified in the Front and Back widths. If a slice is clipped using Forward then all the
data forward of (and on) the slice at the plane is visible. If No Clipping is selected, then
the Front and Back slice width is ignored as if the slice width had been set to an infinite
width. In the example below, Forwards clipping has been used.
The section plane is displayed in red; the coordinate grid is displayed in blue as a contrast.
Polygons are displayed at the section plane where the coloured triangulations intersect the
section. The colour of these intersection profiles is set in the Tools > Preferences > Graphics >
Colours preference for label colour.
Tutorial 3.7
Move up and down through the sections and become familiar with getting in and out of
section view. These tools will be used again after drillholes are created.
44 3 Viewing Data
4 Creating Design Data
This menu is for the initial creation of CAD objects, not to edit them.
The Design toolbar can be turned on/off under Tools > Toolbar Visibility.
Textured
Polygon
New 2D 2D
Layer Line Spline Ellipse Arrow Text Feature
• Before digitising, a layer must be allocated (created) into the current design that will be
saved. After the layer is created, objects in the Vulcan Envisage 3D window can be
digitised.
• Points are created by indicating their X,Y and Z location in 3D space using the mouse
cursor. Line segments can be created between these digitised points. These lines can be
connected to create polygons.
• Rectangular polygons can be created using Design > Create > Rectangle. Select a
bottom left and a top right corner to define the rectangle. Curves can also be
automatically created using the spline, arc and ellipse commands.
• Any CAD data that is closed, such as polygons and circles, can be filled with a pattern. To
add a pattern right-click on the object, select properties and choose a pattern.
• When creating polygons, it is not necessary to digitise the closing segment as this will be
created using the shortest distance between the first and last points digitised.
• When digitising, if a mistake is made use the backspace key to undo the last digitised
point. If however, right-click has been used to cancel out of the menu option, the point
edit menus should be used to move/delete the points.
• Undo/redo functionality can be used to undo an entire object rather than just a point.
Tutorial 4.1
1. Ensure that a design database is open (otherwise, no layers can be created or edited).
2. Select Design > Create > Layer and enter DESIGN for the name and a description.
3. Create five points anywhere on your screen using Design > Create > Point.
4. Create a line anywhere on your screen using Design > Create > Line. Create a
polygon through Design > Create > Polygon.
When creating a layer avoid the use of ‘special’ characters such as !,@,#,$,%,^,&,or *.
The layer name is limited to 40 characters. The description is limited to 80 characters.
Underscore ‘_’ is a valid character.
Tutorial 4.2
6. On the Circular Arc dialog box, select the Centre and Radius option (used to allow
the centre and radius of the curve to be selected in the Envisage window).
7. Choose an Arc length step size of 20. A circle or arc is defined by a series of small
line segments. The Arc length step size defines the length of these line segments.
8. Click OK.
9. In Envisage, digitise a centre point and a radius point and select Accept.
You can choose to label objects by adding arrows and text for 2D display (for labelling in plan
view) or 3D arrow and text (for labelling in multiple planes). Use Design > Create > Arrow 2D or
Design > Create > Arrow 3D to create arrows in 2D or 3D.
Symbols can also be chosen for use in the design and stored in the symbol database
symbols.dgd.sis. Vulcan contains a symbol database found in the Vulcan Explorer window
under the Resources tab. This database contains some standard symbols for oil and gas wells.
Custom (user-defined) symbols can also be created. Symbols from this database can readily be
added to a design layer using the Design > Create > Symbol option. In addition to points, lines,
polygons, and curves, the Design > Create menu can be used to create arrows, text and
symbols.
Custom Symbols are created using the menu File > Symbols > New, which are digitised using
the standard Vulcan CAD tools.
Features present an additional way to characterise an object. The object is assigned a feature
attribute. More on this functionality is discussed in a subsequent chapter.
Snap Modes
The Snap Mode buttons are located on the Digitise window toolbar.
Snap Snap
To To Track Section of Existing Line
Indicate Points Grids Bearing input Cancel Current Operation
Toggle Dynamic
Volume, right-click
for properties
Snap To Key In Create line at given angle
Objects Point
Enter Zoom Factor
Data
Smart Snap, right-click for properties
Figure 4-4: Digitise toolbar
Indicate
Indicate (or Free snap mode) requires no snapping to digitise while in this mode.
Points are created on the default Z elevation (status bar) at the X and Y point on mouse
indication. If the screen is rotated, the point (at mouse) located may not be the point you are
trying to draw. Ensure this mode is only used in plan view or in section view. If a gradient is set
(status toolbar) the first point will assume the default Z value and the remaining points will follow
the defined gradient. In all cases (rotated and plan views) hold down the [SHIFT] key to digitise
a point with the same Z level as the last edited/selected point.
The additional snap modes include Snap to Objects, Snap to Points and Snap to Grid. When
executed, you can snap to graphical entities based on the snap mode.
Snap to Objects
Use Snap to Objects to snap to any graphical object (point or line). The X,Y and Z coordinates
are interpolated from the line segment on which the object is snapped.
Snap to Points
Use Snap to Points to snap to points or intersections. When a position is indicated on-screen,
snapping occurs to the closest existing point. The X, Y and Z coordinates for the new points are
the existing point.
Before creating a point, hold the [SHIFT] key to show where Vulcan will ‘snap to’. The best way
to guarantee Vulcan snapping to the correct point is to click on a line segment, closest to the
desired point. Clicking on the actual point is not as precise as clicking along the line segment.
Snap to Grid
Snap to Grid requires that a 2D mapping grid is loaded on-screen. When executed, input is
snapped onto the closest point beneath the cursor on the grid plane.
Digitise Tools
Vulcan has three main tools to aid in the digitising process: Key In Point Data, Bearing Input
and Create Line At Given Angle. These features can be controlled by the buttons in the
Digitise toolbar (shown below).
Bearing Input
Both options have a button in the Keyboard Input dialog box shown on the following page.
1. On the Keyboard Input dialog box click the Get Point button.
2. Click on any point on-screen.
X, Y and Z windows will be immediately populated with the point coordinates.
1. Open a layer.
2. Select Design > Create and create an object, for instance a line, arc or rectangle.
3. Click the Create Point button to enter relative as well as absolute coordinates.
• Select the All Relative check box for relative coordinates.
• To mix and match values type the letter r before the coordinate entry to convert that
value into relative.
• For example Z dialog box entry r100 will be interpreted as 100 units bigger than the
previous Z value; r-100 will be treated as 100 units less than the previous value.
• If you use the r symbol to convert coordinates into relative ones, make sure to turn
off the All Relative option.
Tutorial 4.4
Use Key In Point Data to create the shape shown below in a new layer named
CAD_INPUTS.
Tip!
When a point, line or Bearing Input
polygon is created,
Vulcan remembers Use Bearing Input to create new points at specified angles and distance from the last designed
the coordinates of point in digitising when in mode (point, line and polygon).
the last created or
selected point when You can create a new point using:
you use relative
values they are • Distance and angle - Use to create a point at a given angle and to a specified distance.
calculated from the • Angle - Use to create a point at a given angle.
last point entered or
• Distance - Use to create a point at a specified distance and direction.
selected in Vulcan.
.
Tip!
Bearing values can
be converted in Tutorial 4.5
Vulcan using the
toggle buttons in the Use Bearing Input and Keyboard Input dialog boxes to create the shape shown below (in
Bearing Input dialog red) in a new layer named CAD_INPUTS.
box.
There are four methods for creating a new point with Angle Input:
• At specified screen angle - Use to create a point at a given angle and to a specified line
segment. If no line is specified, the angle will be drawn at the specified azimuth.
• Perpendicular to given line, on screen - Use to create a point perpendicular to the
specified line segment in the plane of viewing.
• Parallel to given line, on screen - Use to create a point parallel to the specified line
segment in the plane of viewing.
• Parallel to given line, in 3D - Use to create a point parallel to the specified line segment
in actual 3D space.
Angles may be entered in percent (%), decimal degrees (dd), degrees.minutes.seconds (dms) or
in gradients. If the input point is to be at a specified screen angle, then the Angle field must be
filled out. A specific distance may be entered into the Distance field once the Enter distance
box has been checked.
The specified distance can be either positive or negative. A positive distance is defined by
looking at the point order of the reference line. Walking from point one to point two, to the right
is positive, to the left is negative.
Before the Angle Input toolbar can be used a reference line must be selected. If no reference
line has been selected, a default reference line with zero azimuth will be used. To select a
reference line, click the Get Line button and select the desired line segment. Once a line
segment has been selected as a reference line, both the origin and direction of the line are
stored in memory for as long as the current session of Vulcan is open.
Options At specified screen angle, Parallel to given line on screen and Parallel to given line
in 3D will create a new point in the same direction as the reference segment. The option
Perpendicular to given line on screen will create a new point 90 degrees to the right of the
original direction of the reference segment.
Note:
If using the At The Angle Input option will only work if you are in a menu option that prompts for a point
specified screen coordinate (for example, Design > Create > Point).
angle option and a
line segment is not Tutorial 4.6
specified, Vulcan
may measure the Use Bearing Input, Angle Input and Keyboard Input dialog boxes to draw the shape
desired angle from shown below (in purple) in layer CAD_INPUTS.
the last digitised
point rather than
from north.
Tutorial 4.7
Use this option to trace portions of objects without clicking on each point in the existing
polygon for tracing contours, pit and orebody outlines. If the track section is tracing the line or
polygon the wrong way, hold down the space bar and move the mouse to trace the opposite
way. In order to use the track section option, a menu option must be active, such as drawing a
line, or polygon. In the picture below, a line is being drawn (in green) and then a contour line is
traced (in black).
Tutorial 4.8
Text
Using Fonts
There are two types of text in Vulcan, 2D text and 3D text. 2D text is always oriented in plan
view. 3D text however, can be in any user defined plane.
Text 53
Introduction to Vulcan | Maptek Vulcan 8
Text fonts are stored in Resources1 as .font files if missing, the text will not appear.
Furthermore, if the environment variables TEMP and TMP are not set up correctly, the text drop-
down lists will be blank. 2D and 3D text defaults can be set in Tools > Preferences.
.
Tutorial 4.9
Select Tools > Preference and turn off text defaults for both 2D and 3D text.
2D Text
There are several different 2D fonts.
• Fixed Fonts - Remains the same size on-screen. Fixed fonts are always horizontal and
legible, no matter how the screen is rotated (or zoomed) and are ideal for drillhole
labelling or on-screen labelling. Do not use for plotting as it is difficult to determine the
text size on the actual plot.
Creating 2D text:
Tutorial 4.10
Text 55
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3D Text
Unlike 2D text, all 3D text is grouped into one group. Available fonts are listed; they are similar to
the vector fonts of 2D text. 3D text is a particular size at a particular scale, and therefore
becomes larger and smaller with zooming.
Text 57
5 Editing Design Data
Editing Tools
Vulcan data is structured into various levels in decreasing order:
• Layer
• Objects
• Points
These menus have been separated from the first three menus because they apply to a specific
class of object, for example a polygon, or they perform similar tasks such as inserting points.
Layer Edits
The Design > Layer Edit menu has commands for layer editing.
Command Definition
Copy Copies information from one layer to another. You must allocate a layer
and then select the CAD data. All information in the layer will be greyed
out when selected.
Transfer Transfers data from one layer to another. The destination layer can be
created on the fly or can already exist.
Unify Unites any number of loaded objects from any layer to form one object
into a new or existing layer. The merged objects in the layer will replace
the objects that were chosen for the unification (objects will be removed
from the layers). If planning to use the independent objects later, then
create a copy of the original design data.
Editing Tools 59
Introduction to Vulcan | Maptek Vulcan 8
Command Definition
Make Current Use to set the current drawing layer. The layer name selected will appear
in the layer window of the status bar. Alternatively, use the toolbar to
select the current layer to draw in.
Multi Object Filters duplicate objects from layers. Matching objects can be recogn-
Filter ised using any combination of point or object attributes, such as point,
or object name or point sequence. The duplicated objects can be
deleted, or all unique objects can be placed into a new layer.
Tip!
All options in Vulcan Changing a layer name:
will prompt in the
lower left hand 1. Load the layer.
corner (as well as the 2. Select Design > Layer Edit > Name.
top of the screen) for 3. When prompted, select an object in the layer.
selections and
4. In the Layer Name and Description dialog box enter a layer name and description.
actions. Follow these
prompts when 5. Click OK.
figuring out a new 6. You can select another object or right-click to exit the command.
menu option. 7. Select File > Save to update the Explorer window.
Tutorial 5.1
Transfer the boundary polygon from the REFERENCE_POINT layer into a layer named
BOUNDARY.
Object Edits
The Design > Object Edit option and associated tools allow you to perform edits to objects
loaded in Vulcan Envisage.
Command Definition
Delete By Poly Deletes points outside and inside selected polygons. Lines of the
trimmed objects may not be flush with the selected polygon.
Command Definition
Clip by Poly Deletes points outside and inside selected polygons and relimits them
to the edge of the polygon. Trimmed object lines will be flush with the
selected polygon.
Trim Cuts and trims lines to a nominated object so that they are flush with
the object. This is similar to the AutoCAD trim function.
Split Splits an object in a variety of ways based upon the method selected in
the dialog box (such as by point, or segment).
Intersection Split Splits a line into two or more separate objects at the points of intersec-
tion between the original line and another line. This option will assume
that the data is in plan view. However, neither of the lines needs to have
a constant Z level. The difference between the Intersection Split option
and the Split option is that the latter only allows you to split a line into
used strings.
Paste Takes a whole string (entire object) and inserts it into another string. For
comparison, the Join Lines option allows only two strings to be joined
end to end.
Join Point Select points within an object to join. The joined points will form a sep-
arate object.
Coalesce Combines objects into one without modifying point information of the
strings. Two contour lines, for example, that are coalescing will become
one object, but remain two separate colours.
Editing Tools 61
Introduction to Vulcan | Maptek Vulcan 8
Command Definition
Sort Connect points along point number with respect to the X or Y-axis.
Consistent Makes point order within each selected object either consistently
clockwise or counterclockwise.
Point Name Sets or clears point names for all points within an object.
Connection Connects or disconnects points. Disconnected points will not have line
segments between them.
Grid Snap (The display grid must be turned on for this option to work.) Use to
snap each point on an object to the closest point on the grid. When
snapping text objects, the text will be moved to the closest point on the
grid plane, beneath the cursor and the angle of the text set to the clos-
est 90° quadrant of the grid.
Command Definition
W Tag Changes the W tag value for all points on an object to the value entered
into the dialog box.
Delete End Point Deletes the last point on the object; the last point is determined by the
point sequence. Deleting the end point of a polygon will maintain the
closed polygon but will change its shape.
Explode Splits an object so that each individual line segment and point
becomes an individual object.
Several examples of how the Object Edit functions work are shown below. The options are
easy to understand by following the prompts and reading the associated dialog boxes.
Registering an object:
Rotate the display to view the changes. The polygon should now be directly on the
triangulation.
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Introduction to Vulcan | Maptek Vulcan 8
1. Load GRADE_LINE layer and rotate the layer into full view.
2. Right-click on the object and select Label > Point Sequence.
3. We will use Design > Object Edit > Grade to apply different types of grades to each of
the upper objects in the layer.
6. When prompted to select object, choose the line on the upper left.
7. Pick point 1 as the start point and point 2 as the end point.
8. The Gradient dialog box will be displayed. Use a gradient of 20 for this exercise. We will
not apply a constant length to the grade.
9. Click OK.
10. You will be prompted to Retain or Reject the graded object. Select to Retain the grade.
You can continue selecting objects for editing. Pick the upper middle line.
11. Pick point 2 as the start point and point 3 as the end point.
12. Enter a gradient of 20 again.
13. A Confirm menu will be displayed. Select Move points following the end point, which
assigns new X, Y and Z coordinates to all points following the end point, in such a way
that the gradients following the end point are not changed.
14. Select to Retain the grade.
15. Pick the upper right line.
16. Pick point 2 as the start point and point 3 as the end point.
17. Enter a gradient of 20.
18. The Confirm menu will be displayed. Select the Do not move following points option.
5. Apply a 2D Filter with a Minimum deviation from the line of 0.1. The filtered line will be
displayed in grey, and you will be prompted to Retain or Reject the filter.
6. Zoom in close enough to view the filtered points. If the new object is acceptable, select
Retain filter. Output from the filtering process will be displayed in the Report window.
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Note:
If you have an object
with X, Y, Z values Tutorial 5.2
such as shells, select
the 3D Filter option. Register the polygon in the BOUNDARY layer to the topo triangulation as shown below.
This option will allow
you to specify the
deviation from the
line and will filter X,
Y, Z values, whereas
the 2D Filter will not
change the Z value.
If you are filtering
topographic lines,
this option will not
affect the Z values as
each object has only
one unique Z value.
Tutorial 5.3
Load the 50_METER_LINES layer on-screen. Use any of the options in the Object Edit
menus to cut the lines back so that they exist only within the boundary polygon as shown in
the following figure.
Command Definition
Grid Snap Snaps a point in an object to the nearest intersection of grid lines.
W Tag Sets a fourth parameter for a specific point, with the other three param-
eters being X, Y and Z.
Weight Point Weights point values (X, Y and Z, and W) by the distance from a refer-
Values ence point, another point value in the same coordinate, or a constant
value.
Symbol Edits the size and position of point symbols displayed on-screen.
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Command Definition
Link Creates new strings by linking existing strings within a user defined dis-
tance of one another. The original strings remain unchanged.
Best Fit Creates a line of best fit between points using the least squares
method. The string will be replaced by the line of best fit; if your points
are not connected, then the points will be replaced by the start and end
points of the best fit line.
Move By Moves a point to a specified distance along a line. This line is the line
Distance joining the point that you want to move and a reference point, which
does not need to exist prior to this operation.
Move By Point Moves a point to the right angle intersection of an extrapolated line
(defined by a reference point and the point to be moved) and a line pro-
jected from a nominated point. While the screen does not have to be in
plan view when using the operation, it needs to be in plan view when
the geometry (right angle intersection) is performed.
Move By Line Moves a point to the intersection of a line (defined by a reference point
and the point you want to move) and an existing line. While the screen
does not have to be in plan view when using the operation, it does need
to be in plan view when the geometry is performed.
Note:
When selecting Moving a point(s) to a new location:
points along the line
of an object, it is 1. Select Design > Point Edit > Move.
best to select along 2. When prompted, select an object.
the line near the The object will appear highlighted once selected.
point, not on the
3. When prompted, select the point to move.
point, to ensure that
the desired point is The selected point will be highlighted and as you move the mouse pointer around, a
accurately selected. rubber band line will extend from the point to your mouse pointer.
All snap modes can be used when moving points. If indicate is on, then the Z elevation of the
point that is moved will change to the default Z elevation. Holding down the shift key while
moving a point in indicate mode will allow it to keep its original Z value. Options in Tool >
Preferences on the Input dialog box allow the user to change how Z elevations of points are
handled.
.
Tutorial 5.4
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Point Insert
The Design > Point Insert option and associated tools allow you to insert points into various
types of objects (lines, polygons).
Command Definition
Replace String Selects a start point and end point of the replace and allows the user to
digitise where the new points should go, thus replacing a piece of the
string.
Insert at Inserts a point at the intersection of two selected objects. The point is
Intersection inserted into the first object selected.
Multi-Insert at Inserts points on various objects where they intersect a single separate
Intersection object.
Insert At Inserts a point at a distance specified in the dialog box. If the point is
Distance not an end point, select This way or Another way.
Interpolate Inserts points into a single line segment (between any two points)
based on distance between points or number of equal parts.
Apply Curve Inserts points to create a smooth curve based on nominated radius.
Intersection With Inserts points into selected objects where they intersect a triangulation
Triangulation (surface or solid). The triangulation does not need to be loaded on-
screen but can be browsed for within the menu option.
Replacing a string:
5. Click on where the new points should go beginning at the S (start) and working toward
the F (Finish).
6. Right-click once all the points have been inserted.
7. Right-click to exit the command.
You will be prompted to Interpolate or Do not interpolate. This will change the Z values
of your digitised points.
8. From the Replace String menu, select either Retain, Reject or Cancel.
9. Right-click to exit the command.
Tutorial 5.5
Original
Modified
3. Using various CAD tools you have learned, draw a polygon as outlined below with
reference to the boundary polygon. This will serve as the base of our warehouse.
Ensure this polygon is in layer WAREHOUSE.
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4. Register this polygon onto the topo triangulation. Use a lowest point registration so
that the base of the polygon stays flat.
Moving Data
The Move toolbar contains various tools to change the position of objects. The toolbar can be
turned on under Tools > Toolbar Visibility, making sure the check box for Move is selected.
The Move toolbar is also a subtoolbar on the Modify toolbar.
Move subtoolbar
The most common moving command is Translate (Design > Transformation > Translate). It is
used to specify a start point (reference point) for the movement and then the translation point
(destination). The selected objects are then moved the distance and direction between the
reference point and destination point. Since moving of the object(s) is based solely on distance
and direction of the reference point and destination point, they can be specified anywhere on-
screen, not necessarily snapping to the data.
.
Tutorial 5.6
Create a copy of the WAREHOUSE polygon ten metres directly above it. In a rotate view, it
should look as shown below.
Drag
Use Design > Object Edit > Drag to select the design object that needs to be moved. The
object is dragged by left-clicking and holding the mouse button as it is moved to the desired
position. When the object has been moved, the user will be required to confirm the Move, or to
generate a Copy of the object to this location.
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Tip!
You can also drag 2D Another useful command to move objects can be accessed by right-clicking on the loaded
text objects and design object. The context menu contains an option that is also called Move. You will see the
choose to either movement of the object on-screen and left-clicking once places the object in the desired
Move or make a location.
Copy of the text to
the new location. Other commands in the Move toolbar are briefly described below:
Command Definition
Design > Point Edit Moves a point to a position that is defined by the intersection of two
> Move to existing lines.
Intersection
Design > Object Edit Snaps all points in an object onto the closest point on the grid
> Grid Snap plane, beneath the cursor. Text objects can also be grid-snapped.
To snap objects, a grid must be displayed on-screen.
Design > Object Edit Registers an object onto a grid mesh or triangulated surface. This
> Register means that the string follows the general shape of the surface.
Design > Point Edit Moves a point a specified distance along a line.
> Move by Distance
Design > Point Edit Moves a point to the right angle intersection of an extrapolated line
> Move by Point (the line joining the reference point and the point to be moved) and a
line projected from a nominated point.
Design > Point Edit Moves a point to the intersection of a line (defined by the point to
> Move by Line move and a reference point) and an existing line segment.
Design > Enables you to use a matrix to move an object. It can be specified
Transformation > as part of this option. However, Design > Transformation > Calcu-
Matrix late can be used to create a matrix (either 2D or 3D) from a set of
original and transformed points.
Design > Object Edit Applies a gradient to a nominated string or part of a string.
> Grade
Tutorial 5.7
Create a line for the top of the warehouse roof as shown below. The line should divide the
roof into two equal parts.
Tutorial 5.8
Change the Z elevation of this roof line to be three metres higher than the upper polygon.
Editing Tools 75
6 CAD Introduction
Data Attributes
In addition to having a hierarchy for .dgd, layers, and objects, each object has other associated
properties to classify or group information and simplify data selection with the Select By menu.
The following properties are associated with each object.
Information
To get information on the properties listed above for any object on-screen, use the information
icon located on the Status toolbar.
Information icon
The layer and object names appear first on their respective lines; information in parentheses ( )
provides the layer and object descriptions.
Changing Attributes
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Groups
Groups are created by selecting objects and setting their group property to a common value.
Objects may be selected within single or multiple layers. By taking advantage of the group
property you can work on a number of otherwise un-related objects simultaneously.
Select Design > Attribute Edit > Group by Attribute to group different objects by their
graphical attributes such as colour, line type, pattern or object value. Specify attributes by
which to display objects in the Group by Attribute dialog box.
The following selection boxes (Colour, Line Type, Pattern, and Value) allow you to specify the
selection criteria. Use the information icon to check that the grouping worked correctly.
78 6 CAD Introduction
Tutorial 6.1
Features
A feature is a predetermined set of attributes, such as colour, line type or pattern. A feature
must first be set up before it can be applied to data.
Setting up Features
Feature objects are created by using the Design > Feature Edit > Create menu option. Multiple
features can be created (up to 512) and are stored in a <project prefix>.ftd file in the
current working folder.
Note:
When specifying a The attributes, which are set for a feature, can be set as follows:
feature name, the
word ‘SYMBOL’ can
not be used. Table 2: Attributes for features
Attribute Definition
Prompt For when a feature is being used for values. The text entered to
describe the feature in the dialog box will appear in the prompt
when using a feature. For example, the name ‘Surveyor Name’ is
the prompt for Object Name, however, the pop up dialog box will
say Surveyor Name.
Force Automatically forces this property with the feature entered into the
dialog box.
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The following dialog box shows the various properties that can be set for a feature.
80 6 CAD Introduction
• Direction of strings – Forces the string to be clockwise or counterclockwise even if
digitised the opposite way.
• Object Value
• X, Y, Z and W values.
• Point Names
• Digitising Modes – For digitising points on-screen.
Tutorial 6.2
Set up two features, one for toe lines and one for crest lines using the following guidelines.
Toes Crest
Layer Name Prompt for survey number/date Prompt for survey number / date
Object Name Prompt for Surveyor name Prompt for Surveyor name
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Using Features
After features have been set up, they can be applied to existing data or to new objects. Features
can not be assigned to text objects or symbols. To apply a feature to existing data, select
Design > Attribute Edit > Feature.
Tutorial 6.3
Load the TOES_AND_CRESTS layer. Assign the Toe feature to the toe strings, and the Crest
feature to the crest strings.
If creating new data, select Design > Create > Feature. Select the feature and then digitise
points on-screen. Based on the set up in the feature, a polygon, line, or points will be drawn on-
screen with properties as specified in the feature.
Tutorial 6.4
Create a new layer named SURVEY and using the features created, draw a toe and a crest
line.
Features can automatically be applied when importing data from .csv files.
In Vulcan you can change the visibility settings of feature objects. Objects that share a common
feature can be made visible, invisible or shadowed. The Primary window visibility toolbar
contains the feature visibility icons:
• Visible by Feature
• Shadow by Feature
• Invisible by Feature
The Design Visibility icon will prompt with the Select By menu and this enables groups or layers
to sort visibility. Alternatively, the feature visibility settings can be found under View > Visibility.
Design Visibility
82 6 CAD Introduction
Figure 6-9: Select By menu
Command Definition
Group and Layer Selects all objects within a specific group and layer.
Feature and Layer Selects objects with a specific features within specified layers.
Tutorial 6.5
Practise using the visibility settings using both features and groups.
Data Attributes 83
7 Data Import and Export
There are various ways of transferring data in and out of Vulcan. Direct import and export
options for other software packages such as AutoCAD®, Datamine®, Micromine® and
Surpac® are located in File > Import and File > Export.
4. Click OK. The Import DXF dialog box is displayed which has tabs for Import, Transform,
Filter, Text, Arcs, Inserts, Shapes, Extrusion, and Buffering.
3. Click OK. The Export to DXF Selection dialog box will display.
Press to add
files
Press to
remove files
The file name of the output file can be specified, and then the data will need to be selected off
the screen. Design data (CAD layers), grids, or triangulations can be exported.
3. Click OK. The ASCII Data Read Selection dialog box will display.
Two main types of data dispositions can be used when importing, Formatted and Character
separated. Characters separated are used for .csv files, as they are comma separated values.
When importing a number of files in the same format, the specification is saved without entering
data into the dialog box each time. For the first import, a specification file will not yet exist. At
the end of the import, there will be the option to save the specifications.
Tip!
To import .csv files Several aspects of the ASCII files must be defined:
that contain point
data import into a • Field separating character – Type a character separator. For a .csv file, enter a
layer in Envisage, comma.
use the option File > • Point Data Fields – Enter the field numbers (or column numbers) for X, Y and Z fields (or
Import > ASCII. Do W and Name fields if they exist in the ASCII file).
not use the option
• Point Connection – Specify whether the data should be loaded as point or strings.
File > Import > CSV
as this imports .csv
The second tab, Object Records, specifies the parameters by which Vulcan connects objects
files into an Isis
on import and specifies information for objects.
database.
• New Object Specification – Connects points of the same code into the same object, by
making a new object every time this code changes. If this code is in field 5. Select
Change of field and type 5.
• Object Data Fields – Specify where to apply data too an object.
• Object Point Data – If the records contain point data, tick Object record, which also
contains the point data box. If the first point is missing from objects, or single point
objects can not be imported, it may be because this option has not been selected.
• Implied decimal places – Assumes that there are decimals, even if there are not, since
some software products remove them when exporting to ASCII.
• Comment lines start with character(s) – If there are comment lines in the ASCII file,
indicate the character that they start with, for these lines to be ignored on the import of
the file, for example, *.
Tip!
If the program has Click Finish and Save the import specifications for use with other files of the same format.
not been exited, the These specifications are saved to a file named asciiread.spc under Resources. Depending
fields will be whether the ENVIS_RESO environment variable has been set, the location of the Resources tab
populated with the may vary. By default it is C:\Program Files\Vulcan_v800\etc\resources.
data from the last
import, even if the Tutorial 7.1
newly saved Import the roads.csv file into a layer named ROADS.
specification file is
not used.
Features can be used while importing an ASCII file saving time, as the properties of the
imported data will not need to be modified after import. In addition, features are specified on the
Object Records dialog box. Type the column number that defines the feature.
This will create either a .csv file or a .asc file with the nominated columns. Features such as X,
Y and Z coordinates point name, object and name can be exported. After the dialog box is filled
out, the data to export will need to be selected from the screen.
Tutorial 7.2
Create a .csv file of the boundary polygon. Include X, Y and Z and point number in the file.
3. Click OK. The Import Shape File dialog box will display.
4. Navigate to the file containing the shape file.
The shape file to be imported must have a main file (.shp), an index file, (.shx) and a
database table (.dbf). Each of these files will contain the same prefix. While these files
will reside in the same file folder, only import the shape file (.shp) that needs to be
imported.
5. Click OK.
Every ESRI shape file contains attribute information for the objects that can vary from the
individual object ID to large sets of data describing that object. A limited amount of shape file
attributes may be imported under the Optional character... and Optional numeric database...
fields. Use these fields to type information such as object name, group, feature, description, Z
value and W value from the database (shape files).
To save each of the objects in shape files with their respective layer names, select Layer (Save
By menu).
Data Information
Tools under the Analyse menus are used for obtaining information such as area and labels.
Analyse Toolbar
The Analyse toolbar (or Analyse > Details) is used to gather details of an object such,
coordinates of a point, distance between points, and distance along a line. More information is
found under Envisage : Toolbars : Analyse in the Vulcan Help.
Coordinate
Use Coordinate to report the northing, easting and elevation of a point. A point can be an
existing point, selected using the snap to points button on the Digitise toolbar, a point on a line
picked with the snap to objects button, or a point digitised in space. The coordinates will be
displayed in the Report window.
The Distance Between Points option measures the linear distance between two designated
points, which not only is the distance reported, but also the difference in level, the bearing and
the gradient of the line between the two points. The total length reported will always be greater
than the plan length should the two points be on different levels.
The Distance Along Line option determines the total length of the line segments between the
nominated start and end points. It gives a 2D and 3D distance measured along the path of the
line segments. A quick way of determining or positioning an object at a specified location
distance and position is to use a custom cursor.
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Custom Cursor
To access a custom cursor, the custom cursor icon must be active (Graphics toolbar). Right-
click the icon to modify the properties.
The scaled cursor will change accordingly when zooming in or out. However, the fixed cursor
will not dynamically scale up or down but will remain the specified size.The specified size for the
cursor is from edge to edge of the cursor. For example, if Circle is checked as the Scaled
Cursor, then the specified size is the diameter of the circle.
Area
Use Area to define the section to be measured by drawing a polygon around the objects of
interest. The viewed layers must be in plan view, otherwise the user defined area will not
represent the area that is being measured. If the layers are in orthogonal view, the snap to point
or snap to object curser options can be used. Right-click to close the polygon and exit the
command. The output will be displayed in the Report window.
Polygon Area
Use Polygon Area to measure the planar areas of selected polygons and use those areas to
compute volumes. This option also includes the ability to calculate the area of ‘doughnut’
polygons (polygons within polygons). The calculated volumes and areas are shown in the
Vulcan Envisage Report window.
When selected, the Object Area dialog box will display where the area and volume units can be
specified. Furthermore, the thickness can be specified if a volume is desired.
Tutorial 8.1
Find the surface area (in square metres) of asphalt needed to pave the roads located in the
ROADS layer.
94 8 Analysing Data
Table 1: Other Analyse Options
Command Definition
Strike/Dip Provides Vulcan with three points and strike with dip will be calcu-
lated for the plane containing those three points.
Possible uses:
List objects Provides a list of all objects selected either by name, layer, feature
or group, or combination of those. Useful tool to see a list of
objects for example, in layers.
Find objects Highlights objects on-screen (or sends a report to the Microsoft®
Excel spreadsheet) based on the specified condition. For example,
if one object is named ‘LINE_TEST’ then the condition LIKE
‘LINE_TEST’ will highlight this specific object. Search objects
using attributes, such as layer name, description, value, coordi-
nate, linestyle, number of points, and point types.
Angle/Distance Reports the length and angle of the shortest line, which can be
used to connect two objects (their selected segments). If the
objects are not in the same plane, this option can also be used.
The box for Projecting onto a 3D plane must be active.
Tutorial 8.2
Data Information 95
9 Labelling
Analyse Tools
There are several options for labelling data on-screen located in the Analyse > Label menus.
The Analyse options are broken down into five sections:
• Point Labels
• Point Labels to Text
• Object Labels
• Object Labels to Text
Menu Options
Point Labels
Point Labels are fixed font type meaning they remain the same size on-screen regardless of the
current zoom and will always appear ‘face on’ regardless of the screen orientation. The Point
Label to Text option described later in this section allows you to have multiple labels and to
control the properties of those labels.
The Point Label option only allows one set of labels to be displayed at any given time.
Command Definition
Name Point names can be assigned using Name (Design > Point Edit) or
Point Name (Design > Object Edit).
Z Value Displays the points Z (RL) value. Z values, which are assigned
through the Status toolbar when the object was initially created,
can be edited using Z Value (Design > Object Edit). The resulting
labels can contain up to six decimal places, which is derived from
the Miscellaneous section in Tools > Preferences.
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Command Definition
W Tag Labels the points with their W tag value. W tag values, which are
assigned through the Status toolbar when the object was initially
created, can be edited using W Tag (Design > Object Edit), the W
Tag (Design > Point Edit) or Assign W Tag (Design > Attribute
Edit). The resulting labels can contain up to six decimal places,
which is derived from the Miscellaneous section in Tools > Pref-
erences.
Points Displays all of the points contained within the chosen object. The
point settings within the Graphics section (Tools > Preferences)
are used to control the size and appearance of the point markers.
Sequence Used to label the points with their sequence number, for instance
the order of digitising. Knowing the order of digitising, or the loca-
tion of the first and last points, may be necessary when, for exam-
ple, appending objects. Choosing to display the sequence number
will require you to specify whether to label all points within the cho-
sen object, or only the first and last points.
You can label points through the Vulcan Envisage context menu. To label the points using the
context menu, right-click on an object and select the appropriate labelling method.
98 9 Labelling
Figure 9-4: Applying labels through the Vulcan Envisage context menu
The Analyse > Label > Point Label to Text option allows you to place point labels within an
Vulcan Envisage layer, converting them into text objects and therefore making them printable.
Placing the labels into a layer will also allow you to retain the labels on-screen while displaying
other labels. The converted labels can also be saved with other design data.
The colour properties allow you to choose and use the colour value already assigned to the
object or specify a new colour. The Attributes option is displayed when numerical labels are
selected. When multiple label options are chosen, the Display Style properties will be available
to choose how to define different labels. Use the Font Settings tab to control the font type,
size, scale and drafting angle or to place a box around the text.
Object Label
Use Object Label to display the object labels for a chosen object. When prompted, select
Name, Value, Group, Feature, or Gradient. The position of the label can be specified as left, right
or centre. Labels will be displayed as Fixed Fonts. For example, the fonts stay the same size
on-screen regardless of the zoom factor. To change the font size use the Object Label to Text
option.
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Use Object Label to Text to place object labels within an Vulcan Envisage layer and convert
them into text objects (printable). The converted labels can also be saved with other design
data. Keep labels on-screen while displaying other labels by placing them into a layer (Design >
Text Edit).
Tutorial 9.1
1. Label the start point of the boundary polygon with X and Y coordinates.
2. Save the labels to a layer named REFERENCE_POINT_LABEL.
3. Label the gradient of the RAMP layer.
100 9 Labelling
10 Creating a Database
Database Overview
Isis and Vulcan recognise three different database styles:
• Header style
• ODBC style
ODBC databases make it possible for the Vulcan software to read information from a external
database such as Microsoft® Access or acQuire™.
A database design is a single file (<name>.dsf)that describes and enforces the structure of
the database. The design is used to specify how many tables the database is made up of and
the names of those tables and stores how many fields are contained within each table.
To import raw data files and create a database, there must be a design corresponding to the
data to be imported. In addition, each file imported into the database is its own table, with the
fields being the columns in each data file. The database is created when the raw data files
(typically in ASCII/CSV format) are imported within Isis (or Vulcan Envisage) using the design as
the template that controls the structure of the database.
Each database file must have a corresponding index file to be accessed and used. Normally, the
index file is created automatically, though it can be re-created by compressing and rebuilding
the database. Creating the design, editing the database, and viewing the database are all
performed in Isis and Vulcan Envisage is used to display information graphically on-screen.
DSF Creation
To create a .dsf file, Isis must be opened. When Isis is opened the Open Database dialog box
will first display. If you do not need to open a database, click Cancel.
To open/close databases and .dsf files, select the File menu in Isis. To create a new design
select File > New Design. This file will be located in the local working directory.
DSF file names are limited to three characters in length and the general naming convention is
shown below for different types of databases.
Tutorial 10.1
Open Isis and create a new headered .dsf named DHD. The Design properties dialog box
will display.
Use design properties to add a description of the .dsf, a database type (Attributes button)
and data source.
The two types of databases are Drilling and Blockout. If Drilling is selected then a Desurvey
Style must be specified, which defines how a curve is applied to curved drillholes.
The data source will automatically be filled out with Isis. In other words, this will be a standard
Vulcan database into which data will be imported through .csv files.
Other options are for connecting external databases (Microsoft® Access) using an ODBC link.
Tutorial 10.2
• Enter a description.
• Select a Drilling type database.
• Select a Tangent Desurvey Style.
• Ensure the data source is Isis.
The .dsf set up will need to be similar to the data which you want to import. It is a good idea to
familiarise yourself with the current data as well as thinking about what calculated fields may be
necessary at a later point in time. Note which field is the key field. In other words, it is similar
between all of the tables.
Tutorial 10.3
Open the five .csv files provided (collar, assay, survey, geology, and structure) to get an
idea of the tables and fields to include in the design.
For each .csv file a table will be made in Isis. To insert a table into the .dsf use Table > Insert
or Table > Append commands. Insert will place a new table to the left of the current table,
whereas Append will place it to the right. The first table in the .dsf must contain the Key Field.
Tutorial 10.4
Create five tables and name them collar, survey, assay, geo and struct, with collar being
the left most table.
Each table will contain fields that correspond with data in the .csv files. For example, a collar
table generally has a HoleID field, an Easting, Northing, and an Elevation field. Certain fields
contain critical information so the Vulcan software can display them properly. These fields are
defined using Synonyms.
Each table has a drop-down list box in the Table Properties portion of the dialog box where
Synonyms can be specified. Depending on what is selected here, the individual field drop-down
list boxes will be populated accordingly.
Tip!
Not every field needs Each field in the table has several columns that describe the properties.
a Synonym. In a
drillhole database, • Name of the field.
however Synonyms • Description of the field.
must be defined for
• Type - Data type including Text, Double for large numbers or with decimal places, single
the collar information
for smaller numbers or Integer value.
(Hole ID, Easting,
Northing and • Length - Maximum length of the field.
Elevation). • Synonyms - Setting field Synonyms is an important and necessary step since the field
Synonyms must also names that you specify are not necessarily the field names that Vulcan recognises.
be defined for
downhole survey There are four data types available for use in Isis: text, integer, single and double.
information. The
remaining Synonyms • Text - Alphanumeric value (for example ROCK = GRANITE).
are optional. • Integer - Numeric value with no decimals (for example ROCK = 1). Because Integer
values are actually stored as Text in an Isis database, you will save space in the database
by storing a number with no decimals as a single precision variable.
• Single - Numeric value < 7 significant figures (for example DEPTH = 123.567).
• Double - Numeric value > 7 significant figures (for example XCOORD = 12345.6789).
Tutorial 10.5
Enter the information for the Collar table as shown below.
Enter the information for the remaining tables to correspond with the .csv files.
Key Fields
Key fields must be defined to tell the database which field is similar between each table. To
define a key field, right-click in the gray area to the left of the field name and select Primary Key.
Note that the Primary Key must be defined on the first or left-most table.
Tutorial 10.6
Define HOLEID as the Primary Key.
Once all information has been entered and a Primary Key has been defined, the .dsf will need
to be saved using File > Save.
Tutorial 10.7
Save the .dsf and exit out of Isis.
The final stage in creating the database involves importing the data using the database design
as a template. The importing process can be performed in either Vulcan Envisage, or Isis. Both
methods will be covered in this section.
Figure 10-5: CVS Load - Data Files and Database dialog box
Note:
The index file always The database is comprised of the actual database file, and the database index file
has the same (<project_code><ODI>.<dsn>.isix).
naming convention
as the database file,
with the exception Tutorial 10.8
that the file
extension suffix ends Complete the CVS Load - Data Files and Database dialog (File > Import, select CSV, then
with the character X. Databases). Name the database thordrill.dhd.isis.
The next dialog box allows for connecting the design table name to the .csv file name.
Field Connections match up database fields to columns in the .csv files. This must be done
for each table before proceeding. The first Field Connections dialog box will look slightly
different than the others.
All subsequent dialog boxes will have an Index field on this table drop-down list where the key
field must be selected. For example, HoleID is similar among all tables.
Tutorial 10.9
Complete the Field Connections dialog box for each table in the design.
If you choose Save the specifications, after supplying a suitable name, you can avoid having
to set the table and field connections each time you import .csv files into the same design. The
specification file will automatically make the connections when the specifications are selected
by nominating the Use existing specifications on the CSV Load - Data Files and Database
dialog box. The specification is saved in a file named csv_specs in the \csv_load_specs
folder of the Vulcan Resources area.
Click Finish to start the importing process. During the import process, a progress bar is
displayed showing the status of the importing. Any errors in the data file (overlapping intervals)
are reported in the Report window.
Any errors should always be investigated and corrected before using the database in other
parts of Vulcan. Always examine the Report window to determine if there are any errors in the
data files.
Tutorial 10.10
Finish importing the files and ensure there are no errors. If there are errors, fix the errors in
the .csv files and re-import the data.
The database design and name must be specified, similarly to the Vulcan Envisage database
naming. The filename is an equivalent of the ODI and again the database will be named
<project_code><Filename (ODI)>.<dsn>.Isis.
The fields in the data file must follow the exact sequence of the fields in the data files. If a field is
not found at the position expected by the design, then Isis will import the incorrect field
contents into the field expected by the design. Therefore, importing within Isis is only ideal if the
design and data file table and field contents, and positions, match each other exactly.
The Save icon allows you to save the import specifications created to an Isis Import Ascii
specification file. The naming convention of this file is <name>.iia. This file is stored in your
working folder, and can be used to quickly import data files using the design, without having to
manually make the data file connections at a later stage.
Folder icon
Save icon
The .iia file is used by clicking on the Folder icon and selecting the required .iia file from
the displayed list of files. During the import process, a progress bar is displayed showing the
status and remaining time of the import.
A confirmation message is displayed showing the total number of objects (drillholes) in the new
database.
Tutorial 10.11
Vulcan can link to most standard database packages via an ODBC link. This allows information
to be viewed straight from Microsoft® Access, acQuire™ or Oracle®. The initial ODBC link
setup is a standard windows option. A link must be set within the .dsf after which, data import
is not necessary, as the database is automatically created through the link.
ODBC Databases can be viewed in the Vulcan Explorer window under User Databases. When
set up, they are accessed in the same way as a standard header database.
Add button
6. On the Create New Data Source dialog box, select Driver do Microsoft Access Driver
(*mdb).
7. Click Finish.
8. On the ODBC Microsoft Access Setup dialog box, add a name in the Data Source
Name field.
9. Add a Description.
10. Click Select and Browse to the correct .mdb file. The maximum allowed name length of
the Data Source Name is eight characters.
Select button
Tutorial 10.12
Set up a ODBC link to the thordrillholes.mdb MS Access database located in the
Introduction to Vulcan training data set.
1. Open Isis.
2. Select File > New Design.
3. In the Design Properties click the Configure button.
4. In the Data Source Setup, select ODBC from the Source drop-down list box.
5. Point to the connection created in Administrative Tools/ Data Sources (ODBC). If a user
name and password is set up for the database it must be entered. If not, leave blank.
Once the initial ODBC source has been set up, the source for each table, and then each field
must be set up. The table source is set via the Configure button in the table properties.
The individual field sources are set by clicking on the Browse button in the source column for
each field. Depending on which ODBC Table was selected in the Table properties, the drop-
down list box will be populated with fields existing on that table.
AcQuire™
The acQuire interface in Vulcan creates a link to an acQuire database containing drillhole or
composite data. This link is saved as a file in the working directory with a file name <project
prefix><link name>.acq.isis. There is no need for a .dsf file in the creation of an
acQuire link. Once the link is in place the interface performs exactly like the original acQuire
dialog boxes for selecting which data to display.
6. Click Finish.
7. Name your data source and give it a description. The server to connect to should be the
name of the computer.
Figure 10-24: Create a New Data Source to SQL Server dialog box
8. Click Next.
9. Select option Connect to SQL Server to obtain default settings for the additional
configuration options.
15. The ODBC Microsoft SQL Server Set up dialog box will display the settings for the
newly created link. To verify the connection click Test Data Source.
16. Verify that the ‘TESTS COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY!’ and click OK.
Tutorial 10.13
Set up a SQL link to the database provided.
When the ODBC link is set up, set up the Vulcan portion of the link.
1. Open Isis.
2. Select File > acQuire.
3. Name your new acQuire database link.
4. Click OK.
5. Select from the list the SQL Server connection created earlier and click Connect.
The following tutorial shows how to load drillholes using several of these acQuire dialog boxes.
Tutorial 10.14
1. From the Select Holes tab, load the Collar_BH data set under Alchemy.
2. Check the use box for the desired fields.
3. Click preview to view the selected drillholes.
4. Click the Filter button to limit the drillholes by a specific field.
Tutorial 10.15
Use the Abbreviations dialog box to change the name of the Vulcan field the data will be
imported into. By default, the Vulcan field name is a shortened version of an acQuire field name.
Field names are limited to six characters and can not have the same name on the same table.
Tutorial 10.16
DSR file settings are the same for acQuire as for other Isis files. The most common style is
tangent. Click OK.
Creation of the link to an acQuire database is now complete and the Isis database
thorlink1.acq.isis will now function just like any other Vulcan database.
1. Open Isis.
2. Select File > Open Database.
• Databases can also be opened from the Vulcan Explorer window. When a database
is open, you can switch between Vulcan Envisage and Isis by using the toggle
buttons in the lower right hand corner of the screen.
• Select File > Close or File > Quit Isis to close the database.
Tip!
The ODBC Link The Isis Library Database option is only used if working with the older library-style databases.
option is only used if Use Open as read-only to open the database in read-only mode, which will prevent any
you work with ODBC changes being made to the database.
link databases.
The Ensure project prefix option is ticked by default, and ensures the project code is
appended to the front of the database name. Selecting a HoleID from the drop-down list box
will populate the tables with the information for the particular hole.
Tutorial 11.1
Open the headered database created in Chapter 1 in Isis. Ensure everything looks correct
and that each table has been populated with information.
Tip!
Double-clicking on The Vulcan Explorer window comprises of several virtual folders in which various Vulcan data
the name of the files are stored. The User Database folder at the bottom of the folders tree contains all user-
database will open defined Isis databases. This folder can contain up to three subfolders (Headered, Library,
it as well. ODBC) representing the different database styles in use. The actual database files are shown as
containers within these subfolders.
• The Objects subfolder contains a listing of every drillhole record in the database.
• The Design subfolder lists every table in the database.
Right-click on any table or field under the Design subfolder to open the context menu. If Edit is
selected, the database will open in Isis. If you select View, the database is also opened in Isis,
but in read-only mode.
You can right-click on the actual drillhole database to open a context menu.
• Notebooks
• Multiple Windows
Notebooks
Notebooks is the default view that displays databases as a single window with the various
database tables shown as tabs. Each tab is a window made up of rows and columns. The
columns correspond to the database fields, and the rows correspond to the field data entries.
In the top left corner of the window, there is a drop-down list box, in which every database
record (drillhole) is listed. The contents of the rows and columns in each table tab vary,
depending on which record (drillhole) is selected.
The contents of the tables are viewed by selecting the table tab. To view the table contents for
different database records, use the drop-down list box to select the required drillhole. A drillhole
can also be selected by “blanking” (deleting the contents) the drop-down list box, typing the
drillhole name exactly, and then pressing the [ENTER] key.
Tip!
Drillhole names are Right-click on any row number in a table to open the context menu used to edit contents of the
case sensitive. row. Furthermore, right-clicking on any column name in a table will open a different context
Drillholes named window used for sorting the data.
AB1, ab1; Ab1 and
aB1 are all treated as
unique drillholes.
Avoid using spaces
or special characters
(%, $, | etc.) in
drillhole names.
The multiple windows view allows several tables to be viewed in separate windows. To change
between views use Edit > Preferences and select the multiple windows view. The view will only
be applied when the database is reopened.
To close the database choose File > Close and reopen using any of the methods mentioned in
the previous section.
Tutorial 11.2
Open the database in a multiple windows view.
Initially, a database will open in a single window. This window acts as an index table to the
database and lists the tables contained within the database. The drop-down list box in the top
left corner of the index table lists all the database records (drillholes) for the database.
Tip!
The Window menu Double-click on a table name to open a separate window with information for the chosen table.
allows you to A window may be opened for each table. Each window can be resized or positioned as required
rearrange the table using the standard Microsoft Windows® resizing and positioning techniques.
windows using the
Cascade, Tile
Horizontally or Tile
Vertically methods.
Tutorial 11.3
Select the view you prefer and set it as your default.
Drillhole Databases
Use the Geology menu to query Drillhole databases in Vulcan Envisage. The Drilling option
allows you to display drilling data in several ways, however, a colour legend must be created.
Legends
Note:
Data can be copied Legend options are found under Analyse > Legend Edit. Note that the legend must match the
and pasted between database table and field names exactly; if incorrect the drillholes will either be loaded as the
columns. wrong colour or they will not load at all.
Furthermore, if a row
has been pre-made When using the Analyse > Legend Edit > Legend Editor, a list of schemes will appear. The two
and data is entered schemes applicable to drillholes are DRILL and SCALE.
in the To column, it
will automatically A drill legend scheme is used for the standard colour scheme for colouring drillhole traces while
appear in the From a scale legend scheme uses the drill scheme and allows you to make intervals thicker (discs).
column on the next
row. When creating a drill scheme legend, the following options need to be considered:
For example, given the intervals shown below, using a GELT would mean greater than or equal
to 0 and less than 1 would be green, and greater than or equal to 1 and less than 2, would be
orange.
Table 1: Intervals
0 1 Green
1 2 Orange
Colours can be selected manually or a range of colours can be selected by right-clicking in the
Colour column and selecting Colour Range from the context menu.
Tutorial 12.1
Create a drillhole legend to display the gold values in the database. Use the following
intervals listed in Table 2: (see below).
Alpha legends are case sensitive; meaning an A in the database must be an A in the legend, not
lowercase.
-99 0
0 0.5
0.5 1
1 1.5
1.5 2
2 3
3 4
4 5
5 999
124 12 Databases
Note:
The legend name 2. Select Geology > Drilling > Load Drillholes. The data can be loaded in a variety of ways
and line style as shown in Figure 12-3.
thickness must be
specified.
• Name - Loads all holes or a subset based on drillhole names (wildcards may be
used).
• Section - Loads all holes within a specified distance from a pre-existing (displayed)
section line.
• Polygon - Loads all drilling within the boundaries of a pre-existing (displayed)
polygon.
• Selection File - Loads all drillholes matching the names contained in a Vulcan
selection file.
• Extent - Loads all holes within specified minimum and maximum X, Y, and Z
coordinates.
• Triangulation - Loads all drillholes that intersect a specified triangulation.
• Filter - Loads subsets of drillholes by using a selection filter set up under Geology
> Drilling > Selection Filter.
Drillholes that display as all one colour indicates a problem within the legend database fields.
Tutorial 12.2
Load the drillholes using the legend created in Tutorial 6.1. Ensure that the drillholes are
curved and that they are multi-coloured.
Labelling Drillholes
Add labels using Geology > Drilling > Label On or Multi Label On. Note
that the Label On option only labels a single field and the labels are
displayed in the centre of an interval. With Multi Label On, several labels
may be displayed as well as the properties (colour, size) of the labels. The
Label On option first prompts you for which drillhole to label using the
standard selection criteria. For one single drillhole, choose Object.
To label all drillholes, select Layer and then click on any drillhole. Confirm
layer DIG$DRILL, as this is the temporary layer drillholes are loaded into.
When prompted, select which field to label on the selected drillholes.
For more labelling options, use Geology > Drilling > Multi Label On.
Label colour and decimal places can be controlled on the dialog box, as
well as drawing a tick mark for the start and end of the intervals. Multi
Label allows multiple labels to be displayed, on both the left and right
hand side of the trace.
Use Geology > Drilling > Multi Label Properties to change the font
properties of the labels.
Tutorial 12.3
Label the gold grade values on-screen using the Label On.
126 12 Databases
Tutorial 12.4
To display discs around portions of drillholes, create a scale legend using Analyse > Legend
Edit > Legend Editor. The width of the discs can be manually entered or taken from a column in
the database. The Field Type (Alpha or Numeric), will populate the drop-down list box in the
next dialog box. Ensure the Field Type should match the drill legend type associated with this
scale.
Select the drill legend to link with the scale legend. Only alpha/numeric legends will be
displayed in the drop-down list box, depending on how the previous dialog box was filled out.
The disc width entered will be the diameter in feet or metres of the disc.
Tutorial 12.5
1. Create a scale legend associated with the Gold Drill legend which was created in
previous steps.
2. Use the disc widths in Table 3:.
Tutorial 12.6
Create a legend to display the different rock types shown in Figure 12-6.
128 12 Databases
Figure 12-6: Colour Ranges dialog box
Tutorial 12.7
Create a scale legend to easily identify the TQ1 lithological unit.
To display only collar points without the drillhole trace, check the Display drillhole location only
option on the Load Drillholes dialog box (Geology > Drilling > Load Drillhole). Displaying
drillhole collars does not require a legend.
Tutorial 12.8
Load only the drillhole collar points and save these points to a layer named
DRILLHOLE_COLLARS.
Modifying/Editing Databases
A database structure is controlled by the header information contained in the database, which in
turn is determined by the database design. You can not modify the structure of a database
without modifying the appropriate database design.
Changes to a database structure include any alterations to the original database structure, that
include adding or deleting tables and/or fields, renaming tables and/or fields, changing field
character types, lengths and decimal places, changing table and field descriptions and
changing table and field Synonyms.
When you open a database header in Isis, the same dialog box and view as when you open a
design of a database is displayed. It is ideal to edit both the design and header of a database in
order to maintain consistency between the database and its associated design. It is
recommended to edit the design of the database and then edit the header of the database.
Tutorial 13.1
Make the changes outlined below (see Editing the design of a database).
1. Open Isis.
2. Select File > Open Design.
3. Select the Headered template (.dsf) option, click Browse select your file.
4. Click OK.
5. On the ASSAY table, rename the AU name field to AUG.
6. Under the Decimals column, type 3 for the AUG field.
7. Add an additional field to the ASSAY table called DOLLAR.
8. Select File > Save.
Tip!
When changing the Editing the header of a database:
name of a field, you
will also need to In order to edit an existing database, the header of the database must be opened.
modify the legend in
order to be able to 1. Select File > Open Design.
display the drillholes 2. Select Header of Headered template (.isis) and click Browse to select your file.
on-screen. 3. Click OK.
Note:
Only header-style Saving new changes to a database:
databases have
database headers 1. Select File > Save.
that can be edited. If A warning displays that modifying the header may make the databases unintelligible.
the database is 2. Click OK.
linked using ODBC,
only the design
(.dsf) needs to be
changed.
Furthermore,
changes in the
Header of a
database must be
made to the design.
If this is not the case,
then the database Figure 13-3: Save Headered Database Design dialog box
will not contain the
correct information.
Tutorial 13.2
Make the same changes to the header as you did to the design in Tutorial 13.1.
In many instances it is necessary to manually edit existing field values in a column. To make
changes in a database it must be open. With the database open, select the hole to edit and type
a value in the correct cell.
Tutorial 13.3
Change the AU ASSAY value for the second sample interval of hole L11 to .5. Save your
changes.
If only a collar location is specified with no downhole information, the drillhole will not be
displayed on-screen in Vulcan Envisage.
Tutorial 13.4
1. Insert a drillhole with the following properties into the drillhole database:
• HoleID: H99
• Easting: 78260
• Northing: 4650
• Elevation: 180
• Depth: 100
2. Save the changes to the database.
Display the drillholes on-screen in Vulcan Envisage ensuring your new hole is displayed
properly.
Text
Tip!
Alphanumeric Text is used to locate specific database entries. You can search for both numeric and
characters are alphanumeric characters.
treated as case
sensitive. Searching • Find What - For locating exact entries or wildcard characters.
for U8 is different • Look in - Use the drop-down list box to select the table to search. If a specific table is
from searching for selected, an additional drop-down is displayed. Use this list to nominate the field to
u8. search. You can also select to search every field in every table of the database. In this
case, the additional drop list is not displayed.
• More>> - Advanced features for reversing the direction of the search, wrap the search to
the start of the database once it reaches the end, force exact record matching using
character case, and to use wildcards.
If an entry that meets the parameters located, that field is highlighted. To continue the search,
click Find Next again. Click Cancel to exit the Find dialog box. Use [CTRL+G] from your
keyboard to keep on searching (using the last parameters), which will continue to locate and
highlight fields if they meet the search criteria.
Equation
Equation is used to locate database entries that meet certain conditions or criteria. Both
numeric and alphanumeric characters can be used in conditional searches. You can apply one
or more conditions to a search on a single nominated table. The table is selected from the Table
drop-down list box, and the condition or conditions are typed in the Condition field.
Occasionally you may want to create new fields by performing a calculation between existing
fields in a database. Examples include converting an imperial unit to a metric unit, or calculating
metal equivalent grades. Calculations can only be performed between fields in the same table.
In Isis, use Utilities > Field Calculation. A field must exist in the database to which the result of
the calculations can be written. If you specify a field which already contains data, then this data
will be overwritten by the results of the calculation. Include extra blank fields in a table when
your database is first created, in case you want to perform a calculation later. If a database is
already created, the database structure allows you to append additional fields as you need
them.
The Field Calculations dialog box is comprised of rows and columns, and divided into several
sections. One row generally means one equation.
Which drillhole?
Which table? Which conditions? Which field for the result? Which calculation?
• Key patterns - Use to apply the subsequent equations to all drillholes or only selected
drillholes in the database.
Standard wildcard characters can be used:
• An asterisk (*) means that all drillholes will be considered in subsequent equations.
• AB* - Only drillholes starting with AB will be considered in subsequent equations.
• AB? - Only drillholes AB1 through to AB9 (maximum three characters) will be
considered in subsequent equations.
• AB1 - Only drillhole AB1 will be considered in subsequent equations.
• Table - In the drop-down list box nominate the table in which the fields for the calculation
reside. Calculations can only be performed between fields in the same table.
• Condition - Specifies field conditions in calculations. Conditions are useful when a field
does not have a legitimate value for use in the calculation (for example dividing by a field
whose value is zero). The specific set of operators that can be used in field calculation
dialog box are shown in Table 1:. Both alphanumeric (enclosed in double quotes) and
numeric characters can be used in conditions.
For more information, visit Isis : Utilities : Field Calculations under Database Management in
the Vulcan Help. .
<, >, <=, >=, Comparison operators, all of which work with strings. The <> are not
<> equals.
For example, 4<3? ”Four is less than three” : “Four is larger than
three” would return “Four is larger than three”.
XOR Only one of the conditions must be true for example, EAST>78327
XOR NORTH>4730 include records that have either, but not both, an
Easting less than 78327 and a Northing greater than 4730.
NOT Everything that is not included by the condition for example, NOT
EAST>78327 include records that have an Easting less than to equal
to 78327.
NOT LIKE Everything that doesn’t follow the pattern for example HOLEID NOT
LIKE “7” include records that do not start with a 7.
Multiple conditions can also be applied to several fields in the same table. Consider the
following extract from an ASSAY table for a fictional drillhole database:
ROCK PB CU AU
To perform a calculation where ROCK is equal to MS1, PB greater than or equal to 3.1, CU greater
than 4.5 and AU less than 6.5, then the condition would be specified as ROCK == “MS1” AND
PB >= 3.1 AND CU >4.5 AND AU<6.5.
• Field - Use to nominate fields in a table for results of the calculation to be stored.
• Equation - Use to specify the resultant or calculation when the condition has been
evaluated as true. Equations can be a constant value or character, or they can be simple
or complex calculations. The calculations can be an interaction between the values or
characters in two existing separate fields, or they can be the interaction between an
existing field value, and a constant. Equations can also incorporate alphanumeric
characters.
For example, you could calculate a new field called CAT (for category), in which you set a
grade category for different ASSAY values.
To populate the CAT field with the terms GOOD, MEDIOCRE or POOR, depending on the
contents of VALUE, the Field Calculation dialog box will need to consist of three lines,
one for each condition and calculation.
Applying equations:
Towards the bottom left corner of the dialog box are two options, whether used to control
several equations should be applied to the same table, or whether all equations should be
applied to the same table.
The Field Calculation dialog box also allows you to save a field calculation to a field calculation
file, or to load an existing field calculation file. The naming convention for a field calculation file
is <name>.fcl. The file resides in your working folder.
Click OK to evaluate and execute the field calculation. The run-time of a field calculation
depends entirely on the complexity and number of calculations to be performed, and the size of
the database being queried. Once the field calculation has been completed, the results are
written to the database and can be saved using File > Save.
If gold grade is less than .3, the dollar column should be populated with a -500. If the gold grade
is greater than or equal to .3 – the dollar column should be populated with gold grade * length of
interval * 50 * 50 * density *gold price (where 50 is the width and depth of the drillholes
influence).
Database Validation
The Validate option creates a specification file of data typed into the Database Validation
dialog box so you can run the same checks on multiple databases. The specification file has an
extension of.dbv and is stored in the current working directory. A specification file name and
database must be selected before continuing.
Select 2D check if you want to limit your search to the northing and easting coordinates only.
To specify the exact database field used for the collar location, select Override database
Synonyms to enable manual selection of the easting, northing and level information in case the
data is different from the previous selection.
Downhole Checks
• Total Depth - Checks the depth from the collar table and the Geology table are the same.
You can specify the table and the field to be checked.
• Overlapping Intervals - Checks for occurrences where the top or bottom of a horizon
(from the depth record) crosses into another horizon.
• Increasing and Decreasing - Checks that the nominated tables and fields increase or
decrease as specified.
• Unique Values - Checks that no identical values are found within the nominated
individual tables and fields.
• Sequence - Checks that all data contained within the nominated tables and fields are
listed in an order that matches a specified sequence.
• Derived Value - Checks that a derived value is correct in a nominated field.
• Minimum and Maximum Values - Checks that all values within the nominated tables
and fields fall within the specified range.
• Translations - Checks that all values have translations.
• Case Of - Checks all values within the nominated tables and fields match the given list.
• Mandatory - Checks that there are values within the nominated tables and fields.
• Expression - Checks that all values within the nominated tables and fields match an
expression. The expression can be a number, letter, space or character.
Report
Use Report to designate where the error report will reside and in what format (.csv or
standard) it will output. Select Viewing > View report in > Excel to open the error report in an
Excel window. If no errors are encountered then there will be a window stating such.
If Viewing > View report in > Text editor is selected, there will be no message if there is an
error, only a file created in the designated directory.
The Specifications file allows naming of the report. The report will have the extension .dbv. If no
errors were found a Validation Passed message will be displayed.
Tutorial 13.5
Use the Validate option to ensure the integrity of your data by following these steps:
1. In the Database Validation dialog box menu, select Unique Collar Locations.
2. Select Check for unique collar locations to ensure that you have unique easting,
northing and collar RL.
3. In the Database Validation dialog box menu, select Downhole Checks >
Overlapping Intervals.
4. Select Check for overlapping intervals to check for places where the top or bottom
of a horizon (from the depth record) crosses into another horizon.
5. In the Database Validation dialog box menu, select Individual Field Checks > Case
Of to check the geology of your database.
6. Select Report and designate a name for the report (the report generated will have the
extension of .dbv) in the Report file field.
7. In the Database Validation dialog box menu, select Report.
8. Tick View report in and choose Excel. This will start the error report if errors are
encountered.
9. In the Database Validation dialog box menu, select Save and Run and choose the
appropriate report from the Specifications file drop-down list box.
10. Click Save and then click Run.
11. Use the error report to handle discrepancies in the database.
You can export all or part of a database to an ASCII format file (or files). For example, exporting
database records (drillholes) to a new database for estimation if the core recovery field in a table
in the database meets a certain value. Isis allows you to export databases to two ASCII formats:
The Utilities > Export > Database option exports a database to ASCII format. The entire
database will be exported. It is not possible to export only certain records from the database.
The resultant file name is <name>.dbl and by default is saved to the working folder.
Export file is constructed from the existing Isis database name and can be altered if required.
The remaining options in the dialog box allow you to add a space between each field written to
the .dbl file, and to suppress decimal points in floating point numbers. The latter is required
by external programs that can not handle floating point precision in numeric fields. The .dbl file
has a specific format.
Tip!
Exporting an Isis Using the Isis Utilities > Export > Tables Option
database in .dbl
format is a quick Use Utilities > Export > Tables to export a database to one or more standard ASCII format
method of creating a files. The number of files depends entirely on the database structure, and the export parameters
backup of the specified.
database, since it
can easily be The entire database or parts can be exported as either:
imported back into a • Character separated value (.csv) format, in which commas or other characters are
database using specified as the delimiting characters.
Utilities > Import >
• Delimited format (formatted), in which a space or number of spaces is used to arrange
Database.
the data into columns.
Any file extension can be specified with either format. Resultant files are saved to the current
working folder, with the naming convention <name>.<extension>. Isis will always attempt to
construct a name from the database name, and the extension from the type of export format
you are using. These can be renamed at a later stage if required.
• Tables to export - Relates to which tables of the database you wish to export.
• Export style - Relates to the ASCII format of the resulting files.
• Field names - Optional, determines whether the field names of the database are also
written to the exported files.
Use a single table or a condition to choose the information to export. If Condition is selected,
the define button will give a Conditions dialog box.
• Matching records - Exports only records from the table referenced in the dialog box. In
the above example, only a single table (the COLLAR table) would be exported, and it
would contain only those drillholes whose BHID started with the letter D.
• Whole object - Exports all the tables from the database. In the above example, all four
tables (COLLAR, SURVEY, GEOL and ASSAY) would be exported, and would only
contain entries for those drillholes whose BHID started with the letter D.
The disk icon allows you to save the conditions to a specification file. The naming convention of
this file is <name>.tbe and it is stored in your working folder.
Tutorial 13.6
1. Export the LK* holes to files. This will overwrite any original .cvs files (for example
collar.csv, assay.csv).
2. Open the collar.csv file.
3. Ensure only LK holes exist.
An existing database may be updated with new drilling information. The new information must
be in the same format as the existing database, meaning a .csv file must exist for each table in
the database.
Figure 13-17: CSV Load - Data Files and Database dialog box
Tutorial 13.7
1. Open the collar.csv file in Microsoft® Excel. Change the name of the LK*
drillholes to TK* using the search and replace option.
2. Make similar changes in the SURVEY, ASSAY, GEO, and struct.csv files. Import
these newly named drillholes into your database using the CSV Update option.
Saved specifications are stored in the Resources area. All users can use the same specs if their
environment variable named ENVIS_RESO points to the same area.
The Database Record Definition dialog box interprets how Vulcan Envisage treats various
tables in Isis for checking and modelling.
For each table (in the database), the From and To intervals must be defined. The Sampleid
column should contain the geological Horizons/seams. This in mainly used with stratified
deposit type data sets such as coal.
The information entered into the Database Record Definitions dialog box is stored under
<prefix>.gute_spec.
Tutorial 14.1
Complete the Database Record Definition dialog box for all tables except COLLAR and
SURVEY.
Horizon Lists
Next, set up the Horizon List which will define the seams and lithology names in a database by
descending order. This can be manually created or built automatically. For the automatic
function to work, it is essential to complete the Database Record Definition dialog box
correctly.
Tip!
To create a legend • Horizon List - The dialog box should now list all of the Horizons. In addition, if different
with all Horizons, cases were used to enter data into the database (re and RE) both entries will display and
copy and paste the will be treated as two different seams by Vulcan. If both entries refer to the same seam,
Horizons into an go back into the database and correct the upper and lower case issues.
appropriate dialog • Splits List - This option starts a new dialog box in the splitting relationships of coal
box in the Analyse > seams. Seams with no splits will be listed under Child Split column; seams with splitting
Legend Edit > should be listed with the smallest degree of splitting in the left column and work to the
Create menu. right in increasing value, finishing with the parent seam listing.
Checking Holes
At this point, it is a good idea to check the drillholes to verify that there are no overlaps or
crossing intervals.
Tip!
For a standard To remove highlighted marks select Geology > Drilling Utilities > Clear Located.
metals type
database, only the
report overlapping
intervals option will
be used.
Locating Holes
Often it is necessary to locate holes on-screen that meet a set of criteria like lithology or grade.
Specify a table, field, and condition to locate. For example, to find a particular geologic unit:
1. Select the Table with geology and select the Character field.
2. Enter the name of the unit. If it is a numeric variable, then it will be found in the numeric
drop-down list box and a minimum/maximum value can be specified.
There are three options toward the end of the dialog box.
• Dependent - All conditions must be true for any one interval of the hole (for example
between 0-10ft, AU gt .5 and CU gt 2).
• Independent - All conditions must be true at some point in any one hole (for example
between 0-10 ft, AU gt .5 and between 10-20 ft, CU gt 2).
• Any Condition - Either condition can be satisfied by any part of a hole.
Tutorial 14.2
Locate the holes with the lithology where at least one gold value within the TQ1 lithology has
a gold value greater than .3.
Tip!
When searching for Set Visibility of Located Holes
character type
values, remember a8 Located holes can be used to make them or non-located holes invisible (Geology > Drilling
is different than A8. Utilities > Set Visibility of Located). Located holes can be named visible/invisible as can non-
This dialog box is located holes. If multiple locate IDs have been used, only use Last located invisible or All
case sensitive and located invisible.
looks for the case in
the database.
Located holes can be extracted to a database or .csv files by using Geology > Drilling
Utilities > Extract Located to DB or .csv. If extracting to a database a name will need to be
entered and if extracting to .csv files the files will be automatically named <Table
Name>.csv.
To remove located hole marks off the screen select Geology > Drilling Utilities > Clear
located. This clears only the locate square and leaves the drillhole on-screen.
Tutorial 14.3
Dump the holes located in the previous tutorial into a new database named
thorhg.dhd.isis.
Mapfile Overview
Mapfiles are text files that represent drillhole data in a spatial X,Y, Z format, as opposed to the
relative depth from collar representation found in a drillhole database. They are similar to a
straight composite database. Mapfiles are typically used in stratigraphic modelling, as they can
easily record top and bottom intercepts of a seam and the quality values therein. A mapfile
consists of two parts; a header and a body.
The header defines the columns that exist in the mapfile, while the body contains the data
broken into columns. Mapfiles can vary in size and data composition. An easy way to display
them is using the Geology > Drilling > Mapfile option, where they will load to the screen much
like a simple survey file.
Click OK once you have completed this dialog box, and on the subsequent dialog box choose
which variable from the mapfile to be loaded (typically a SR (structure roof) or SF (structure
floor) variable). The point data should load into Vulcan Envisage.
Introduction to Triangulations
Triangulations are highly accurate mathematical representations of data in three dimensions. A
triangulation model is a series of 3D coordinate points and the linkages between them, which
form a series of triangulated planes that define a surface or enclose a volume.
Triangulations are stored as individual files and can be copied, renamed and deleted through
Vulcan Explorer. Triangulations in Vulcan are saved with the file extension .00t.
Tip!
Avoid using spaces Two terms are used in Vulcan to categorise triangulations, surface and solid.
in triangulation
names. Vulcan will • Surface triangulation models are 3D representations of the data. They are referred to as
remove any spaces open because the triangulation has a distinct edge, and does not encompass a volume.
used when naming a • A solid triangulation model is a closed 3D representation of the data. The closed model
triangulation; has no distinct edge and must encompass a volume.
however if renamed
• The final option for loading triangulations is Load by Location (Model > Triangle Utility).
in Vulcan Explorer
This menu option allows for narrowing down triangulation pick lists, first wireframe a
with spaces, those
standard wildcard listing and then by typing the selection criteria.
spaces are retained
and may cause
Triangulation models honour all of the data points from which they are created. Unless
options not to work
smoothed, they do not interpolate intermediate points. If data is sparse the resulting
correctly.
triangulation will be coarse, and where data is dense the resultant triangulation will be detailed.
This allows for the creation of any complex shape, including topography or digital terrain
models (DTM), fault surfaces, pit shells, and ore body models.
The versatility of the triangulation structure allows it to be used for many purposes. An
understanding of its underlying concept is important when applying it to particular geological or
mining situations.
Advantages of Triangulations
Triangulations accurately represent any surface or solid shape, which results in more accurate
volumes than possible when using the more traditional polygonal or end-area type volumetric
methods. This is true for both solids and for volumes between surfaces, such as cut-and-fill
volumes. Triangulations enable the modelling of a very broad range of cultural structures or
natural shapes such as:
• Topography
• Mine excavations
• Geological surfaces
• Ore bodies
• Underground development
• Underground stopes
• Arbitrary attribute models
• Groundwater levels
The 3D nature of triangulations coupled with Vulcan’s powerful graphical tools enable high
quality visualisation that can rapidly convey the concepts of a geological model or engineering
design. The wide range of utilities provided for modelling triangulations enables triangulation
models to be very powerful display and analysis tools.
Disadvantages of Triangulations
The complex nature of (some) triangulations requires that considerable care needs to be taken
during their construction. Work procedures should be established to streamline these
processes. Processing time is directly proportional to the number of data points being
considered.
Sometimes the triangulation algorithms create shapes that do not match the perceived shape
that should occur based upon prevailing experience and the data at hand. Some options within
Vulcan Envisage attempt to correct these problems but they do not satisfy all cases. Several
manual techniques, for example tie strings, are available to solve this. Triangulation modelling
methods may not be ideal for modelling sparse data. Large flat, triangles give a surface a coarse
Loading Triangulations
The different options in Vulcan for loading triangulations into the Vulcan Envisage window
include:
If selecting triangulations from a list, the following dialog box will appear.
This dialog box is an extension of the common open dialog that you may have seen in other
programs. It allows users to build up a list of triangulations to be loaded. Selections are made
from the list of triangulations displayed on the left side of the dialog box. The arrow buttons in
the centre are used to move selected triangulations between the selection list and the
triangulation list.
Unloading Triangulations
To remove a triangulation, right-click on the triangulation itself or the file in the Vulcan Explorer
window and select Remove. The Remove by Name and Remove by Location options found
in the Triangle Utility options in the Model menu, work the same as the loading options.
Tutorial 15.1
When triangulations are created, the triangulation properties dialog box displays, which is where
colour and other attributes are set. The attributes of a triangulation can be changed at any time
by going to Model > Triangle Utility > Attributes or by right-clicking on the triangulation and
selecting Properties.
The triangulation properties dialog box has two tabs; Shading and Advanced. Both tabs
control the appearance of the triangulation. On the Shading tab, there are two options for solid
shading; Solid shade triangulation or Draw as wireframe.
There are three options for solid shaded triangulations. Selecting Draw wireframe mesh over
surface is useful for simple visualisation of complicated triangulations as this option will draw
the individual triangles that are used to build the triangulation. The option Ensure triangulation
is not striped is used to remove strange lighting effects caused when overlaying images onto
surfaces. The last option is to apply Smooth shading, which is purely a visual effect and does
not change the true surface of the triangulation. Smoothing does not affect the surface area or
volume of a triangulation.
Figure 15-7: Smooth shading with surface definition angle set to 180.
The Surface definition angle refers to the angle required between the triangle normals for the
surface to be considered continuous. If an angle is less than this value, then the triangles are
considered to be on different surfaces. For example, if the angle between your bench and batter
is 70°, then select an angle less than 70° to ensure that the bench and batter appear as different
surfaces in the model. If you set this angle to 0°, then all of the triangles are considered to be on
different surfaces.
If you set the angle to 180°, then all of the triangles are considered to be on one surface, and the
colours will blend over the whole model.
When the Use load time shading check box is ticked, the lighting calculations used to shade
the triangulation are performed at load time, using the current light direction and a two-sided
lighting model. This means that the shading will not change until the triangulation is reloaded,
even if the direction of the light is changed later.
Two options are available when choosing to display the triangulation as a wireframe. The first
option, Fill triangles with pattern, allows you to specify a pattern to apply to a wireframe
mesh. The Display simple contours option is a simple way to designate a contour interval and
display contour lines for any given triangulation.
With some graphics cards this option may cause the display to load significantly faster than
allowing changes in the light direction to dynamically change the shading of the triangulation.
However, this option may make the display slightly slower.
There are two different ways to colour a triangulation. The option in the lower left hand corner of
the triangulation properties dialog box allows you to specify any RGB (Red Green Blue index)
colour and is not restricted to one of the 32 colours in the user’s colour index. On the right hand
side, you can select a colour from the palette. After selecting the option for the preferred
colouring option, right-click on the box below the chosen option to display a colour palette.
The default colour scheme option is Spectrum, which is a simple rainbow colour scheme
stretched across the range of the triangulation along the specified axis. The Equalise range
option ensures the entire spectrum is used across the entire range of the axis. Alternative axis
colouring options are accessed using the Modify button, including Interpolate colours between
two RGB values, or using a Vulcan colour scheme (see the section on the Analyse > Legend
Edit menu for details).
The Texture Mapping option allows the triangulations to be draped with a texture, for example
an image of an aerial photograph or a satellite image. An example of the use of textures is in pit
or face mapping, where a digital image of the rock face can be draped onto a pit or stope
design.
To use this feature select the Texture resource option and pick the image file from the list.
Before loading an image, it must be registered with the triangulation. Select the option Blend
texture with triangulation colour to ‘blend’ the solid shaded triangulation colour with the image
file to see both lighting and texture effects.
The last option for triangulation properties is Translucency, which is used to set a triangulation
from 0 (not translucent) to 100 (completely translucent).
Tutorial 15.2
Creating a Surface
In the previous section we learned how a surface model could be loaded and its attributes
changed to provide the best viewing criteria. We will now go back a step and look at how this
triangulation was created. Surface triangulation models may be created using any object data,
for example points, lines or polygons.
Select Model > Triangle Surface > Create. The Triangulation dialog box will display.
Data Tab
The Data tab controls how the data is projected and where it is located after it is created. The
most common method for creating horizontal and sub-horizontal surface triangulation models,
is by using the Triangulate data in plan view option. For triangulations in other orientations,
use Triangulate data projected against a plane or Triangulate data projected against a
sphere.
The option Alternative elevation value will replace the Z coordinates with a W tag (creating a
model for contouring by W tag). Enabling this option will allow you to specify an offset for the W
value. Use Breaklines to set a tolerance for controlling the maximum distance a triangulation
node can be from a breakline, before the breakline modifies adjacent triangles. The breakline
tolerance stops the formation of long narrow triangles (crossing triangles) and breaking
inconsistencies.
Boundary Tab
The Boundary tab allows the use of polygons to limit the data to triangulate. If Use boundary
polygon to limit triangulation is not checked, all selected data will be used in the triangulation.
However, if using a boundary, select Triangulation of data inside boundary polygon so only
data inside the polygon is triangulated.
• Use boundary polygon as part of triangulation data - Includes the data points from the
polygon. It is common to use a polygon that forms part of a data set as the bounding
polygon (for example an outermost contour).
• Exclude boundary polygon from data - Excludes data points forming the polygon. The
polygon simply controls which data points are triangulated, for instance inside or outside.
The resultant triangulation goes to the nearest data points to the polygon.
• Relimit triangulation with boundary polygon - The data points forming the polygon are
not used, but the polygon is used to clip the triangulation.
Trending Tab
The Trending tab allows you to apply overall geological trend to the surface and build it in to the
triangulation model. The trend represents a best-fit mathematical model, which estimates the
surface shape between the data points. The mathematical method used is a regression method
that gives the best fit. In the same manner a line of best fit can be determined from a scatter
diagram; you can add an extra variable (for example easting or northing) and compute a 3D
surface of best fit. The fitted surface represents the regional trend present in the data. This trend
surface will pass through the data as a surface of best fit.
• Apply polynomial trending - Applies a regional variation to the surface. A trend order
that relates to the complexity of the trend surface must be specified. It is not
recommended to go above three.
Order Surface
1 Plane surface
• Return only trend model results - Produces the trend surface as the triangulation and
does not add back the raw data. This is useful for future reproduction of the model using
the trending results.
• Use bounding constraint points - Controls the trending. When trend surfaces are
normally built, the trend outside the area of the data (surface strings, points) will generally
oscillate wildly into infinity. This is usually fine as it is away from the area of interest, for
example inside the data. However sometimes it produces poor results at the edges of the
data which can corrupt the original data. Ticking this option will prevent this from
happening.
• Apply ellipsoidal trending - Applies local variations to the surface by direction. Bearing,
plunge, dip, major radius, semi-major radius and minor radius need to be specified.
Spurs Tab
The Spurs tab allows you to Generate spur strings and save them to a new or existing layer.
Spurs are flat spots that can occur where the surrounding data points all have the same Z value.
In the case of contours, triangles can not always be created between adjacent contours due to
the geometry of nearby points. This can cause discrepancies with actual surfaces. Flat spots
are overcome by employing spur strings in the valleys and along the ridges of the contours.
Use Incorporate spurs in triangulation so the spurs are used as part of the data in the
triangulation. Saving the spurs to a layer allows the triangulation to be regenerated with the
same spur strings. If the layer name is left blank, the spur strings will be created as an underlay.
Do not use the spur creation options if triangulating a pit design as crest/bench definition may
be lost. The triangulation would not be a good reflection/interpretation of the pit design strings.
Arbitrary levels can be applied to flat spur strings (to prevent mesa or tabletop type features).
Occasionally unpredictable or undesired shapes can occur in saddles or when using the ‘flat’
spur string generation. In these cases, it may be more appropriate to use spot heights to control
the triangulation.
Condition Tab
The Condition tab allows you to perform some limitations on triangulations. The option Prevent
the formation of flat triangles where possible will distort triangles that have all vertices on the
same contour. Trim the edge triangles will restrict the size of triangles around the edge of a
triangulation based on the specified minimum angle, minimum area and maximum edge length.
Once all the specifications in the Triangulation dialog box are set, click OK. If a boundary
polygon is to be used, the first prompt will be to select the boundary polygon. If the wrong
polygon is selected, choose Pick and select the correct polygon. After the correct polygon has
been selected and confirmed, a selection criteria dialog box will appear. Use the best option to
select the data to be included as part of the triangulation.
As the data is selected, it will grey out. Once all data is selected, right-click to exit the command
and then Confirm Triangulate. When your surface triangulation has been created, a
triangulation model name dialog box will appear. You can set properties for the triangulation
now, or return to change any attribute.
When defining a name for your triangulation, remember not to uses spaces or special
characters. Vulcan will automatically add the file extension .00t.
Tutorial 16.1
Two Polygons
The Two Polygons option allows the surface triangulation to be re-limited to be within a
bounding polygon (identical to the options under the Create menus) or to be created within
internal and external boundaries. The boundary polygon is used as part of the triangulation. An
example of this is to triangulate between contours, effectively creating doughnut shapes.
Grid Mesh
The Grid Mesh option is used to create a simple grid over an existing triangulated surface
between extents determined interactively by a ‘rubber band’.
Relimiting Surfaces
There are two relimiting options Relimit by Polygon and Relimit by Solid.
Relimit by Polygon creates a new triangulation from an existing triangulation surface and one
or more nominated polygons. This is useful when removing the topography within a pit crest
string. Relimit by Polygon allows you to either keep or delete, what is inside the polygon. The
Relimit by Polygon option only works in plan view. Use the Relimit option under the Model >
Triangle Utility menu for 3D relimiting. The Relimit by Solid option creates a new surface
triangulation by relimiting an existing triangulated surface against a selected solid triangulation.
Tutorial 16.2
Use Surface Area to display the total surface area of triangles for a selected triangulation in
square feet, square yards or square metres. The Volume option is used to calculate the volumes
between two triangulated surfaces with overlapping areas and uses the relative vertical
positions of the two surfaces.
Surface volumes are often referred to as ‘cut and fill’ volumes, as the areas of overlap of the
triangulations define positive and negative volumes, depending on the order in which the
surfaces were selected. A cut value is calculated for areas where the lower triangulation has a
lower Z value, otherwise a fill volume is calculated.
The Volume option can create a report file, or the results will appear on-screen and in the
Vulcan Envisage tab of the Report window. When generating a report, the user must specify the
file extension (for example .txt, .csv, .asc). In addition, the Polygons Volume option
calculates the volume between two triangulated surfaces within a set of polygons. This option is
similar to the Volume option, except it limits the area between the two surfaces by one or more
polygons.
Tutorial 16.3
Command Definition
Vertex Z Edit Modifies the Z value of an individual triangle node. Once the
desired triangulation is selected, the option will prompt for the
desired Z value. The current Z value for the node is displayed when
the Triangle Vertex Value dialog box appears.
Add Vertex Inserts a vertex into a triangulation. The triangles created by add-
ing a point inside an existing triangulation will automatically be
added to the triangulation.This option can not be used to add new
points outside the triangulation boundary.
Insert Triangle and Similar to the vertex edit options, add or remove extra triangles
Delete Triangle from existing triangulations. Using Insert Triangle, you can create
new triangles outside the boundary of the original triangulation. In
the Delete Triangle option, there are several different techniques
for choosing which triangles to delete. If deleting individual trian-
gles, the option works best with Snap to object is active. Delete
by polygon deletes either triangles insider or outside a polygon. If
using Delete by line, all triangles that intersect with the line will be
deleted.
When using Insert Triangle, use Snap to point to ensure the vertex of the new triangle matches
with vertices of existing triangles. If vertices do not match, the resulting triangulation will fail one
or more validation checks.
Image Registration
The Image Registration options under the Model menu allow images to be draped onto
triangulations. Most commonly these are aerial photos that are draped onto surface
triangulations, but there are many other uses for registering images to triangulations.
Under the Image Registration menu, the first option is to Create or Open an .ireg file
containing the specifications of the registration. Once an .ireg file is selected or a new .ireg
file name specified, the Image Registration Properties dialog box will appear. First an image
file must be specified. The most common file extension for images are JPEG (.jpg or .jpeg)
and tagged image file format (.tif or .tiff). Vulcan will also accept CompuServe Gif (.gif)
files and ER Mapped ECW images (.ecw).
The Use automatically generated triangulation option creates an underlay that will cover the
extent of the mapping. This option works best if only two or three control points are used. The
Use loaded triangulation is most common and allows the user to specify an existing
triangulation to overlay the image.
The check box for Sharp pixel boundaries makes pixels larger instead of smoothed under
strong magnification. Options to specify colours for image window points, world window points,
and highlight points will be covered later in this section. Select specify Image width if one
control point is used. The image width specified is used for draping an image.
Once you click OK on the Image Registration Properties dialog box, a new Image
Registration window will open. It may help to tile the windows vertically (Window > Tile
Vertically).
The next step is to add control points that match points on the image (image coordinate) to the
real world coordinates. Use Model > Image Registration > Add Point. Vulcan will first prompt
for the image coordinate, then for the real world coordinate. Right-click to exit the command.
Modelling Techniques
A solid triangulation model is a closed 3D representation of data. Therefore the model has no
distinct edges and must encompass a volume. Of several different solid modelling techniques,
the two most common are creating solid models, using Polygons and Boolean operations.
Solid triangulations are commonly used to represent geological features and structures in 3D.
They are also used for underground mine development planning.
The main purpose for building solid triangulations, besides building a 3D model, is as a
prerequisite for building block models. Block models will use the solid triangulations to flag ore
zones, boundaries or development.
Vulcan has several tools for creating solid triangulation models. They can be found in the Model
> Triangle Solid menu.
Create
Use Create to build continuous solid triangulations from strings or polygons representing a
solid body, such as an ore body, dump, or stope. The option takes the perimeters or strings
selected from the Vulcan Envisage screen and builds triangulations between them.
To ensure valid and accurate solids are created, ensure the following:
• All strings are in the same direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise).
• No duplicate points exist.
• No overturns (bowties) exist.
Note:
Closed polygons are Select Model > Triangle Solid > Create. The Create 3D Solid dialog box will display.
not required;
however the non-
closed portion will
not be triangulated.
Command Definition
Build single solid or Creates one continuous solid unlike Break solid, which creates
Break solid by strings separate triangulations between each string. Under Build single
solid triangulation, there is an option to append resulting triangu-
lations to an existing triangulation.
Construct first end Checking these options creates walls on either the first and/or last
plate and Construct polygon, thus creating a closed solid triangulation. Without these
last end plate options checked, the 3D solid appears as a tunnel. These should
not be checked if using Break solid by strings, unless there is no
intent to append the solids into one.
Command Definition
Use automatic sec- Creates a triangulation from a section view rather than in 3D. A
tion increment section width and step size must be specified to correlate the dis-
tance between the polygons. Once a polygon is selected for trian-
gulation, Vulcan will increment through the sections.
Use crossing triangu- Should be checked to ensure the triangulation will pass validity
lations/trifurcation tests after it is completed. Vulcan will prompt when it detects a
check crossing triangulation, however, even with the option turned on,
some triangulations may still fail these checks.
Prompt to close open Prompts when open strings are selected, to close selected strings.
strings Open strings may affect the volume of the final triangulation.
Solid shaded surface Displays new triangulations as solid shaded surfaces and not as
wireframe meshes or translucent. It is recommended to keep this
option checked.
Show triangles on Displays the actual triangulation lines as well as the solid shading.
shaded surface This option only works if Solid shaded surfaces option is selected.
The 3D Picking menu controls how to select strings for the triangulation.
Command Definition
Partial Use this option when only part of a string or polygon is to be used
and for creating splits in triangulations.
Line Interactively creates a line, which Vulcan will use to continue the
triangulation. Lines, whether digitised interactively or beforehand,
are used to pinch-off solid triangulations.
Multiple Specifies an object using the standard criteria selection. For exam-
ple Select by layer. Vulcan will connect all the polygons in the
selected layer into a valid solid triangulation.
If all polygons (for the solid triangulation) are picked, or more advanced options are required,
right-click once or select Cancel to switch to the 3D Create menu. Be careful not to right-click
too many times; as this may cancel the function and require you to begin again.
Command Definition
Reverse Reverses the direction of the last selected string and then re-trian-
gulates between the last two strings, stopping strings being digi-
tised in different directions.
Split Stops the progression of the triangulation and allows you to select
a new start string. Caution should be used if the Construct End
Plates options are turned on, so that the last string is not in the
middle of the solid.
Undo Removes the last section of the triangulation. Do not use any other
Undo shortcut options when in Create Solid. Use the Undo within
the Create Solid menus.
Command Definition
Continue Returns the Create Solid option to Vulcan Envisage to allow you to
continue selecting strings to triangulate. Use the Continue option
and one right-click to return to the 3D Picking menu.
Tutorial 17.1
Tutorial 17.2
4. Select Model > Triangle Solid > Create. Beginning at the top where there is one
polygon and working down, pick your strings until you come to the last single
polygon. Vulcan will prompt you to pick the next string to triangulate.
5. Right-click twice and select Split. This will clear the memory of the last string.
6. When prompted, pick a start string to triangulate.
7. Pick half of the last individual polygon. To pick half a string, right-click once and
select Partial. Partial mode lets you pick part of a string to triangulate.
8. Click two points and then select This part or Other part.
9. To pick the entire polygon, switch to Complete mode. Right-click once and select
Complete.
If at any point something goes wrong, do not right-click and cancel out or you will have to
start over. There is an undo option on the second dialog box when you right-click. Use
this to undo your last step only.
11. Continue down to the end of the leg.
12. Select Split and then Partial. Return to the single polygon and select the same two
points as chosen previously.
End Plates
Use End Plates to close a solid triangulation by creating End Plates on a solid, or creating any
flat surface triangulation with a polygon.
When prompted, select a string from the end plate, also selecting the polygons for the End
Plates. Multiple polygons can be selected to create multiple End Plates, though each polygon
must be clicked individually on-screen. Vulcan will then prompt you to save the triangulation.
Save using a new name so not to overwrite existing triangulations.
Tutorial 17.3
Use End Plates to close the Pant_Leg triangulation.
Tri Polygons
WARNING
No topological cor- The Tri Polygons option is similar to End Plate, however you can select multiple polygons
rections are per- using the Select by menu. Tri Polygons is useful for imported data (.dxf files) as other software
formed. For packages sometimes represent a solid as a group of polygons. In addition, this option converts
example, if the poly- polygon data into triangulations.
gons do not meet
properly or have tri-
furcations, then this Tutorial 17.4
will be reflected in
the resulting triangu- 1. Load layer TRI_POLYGONS_TQ2.
lation. 2. Create a triangulation from this data using the Tri Polygons option.
Primitives
Primitives apply shape to any object, which can be then saved as an attribute of the line or as a
triangulation. Primitives are useful when repeatedly using complex 3D designs where the shape
is the same. Instead of re-designing the object each time, it can be designated as a primitive
and applied to an object. Generally, primitives are applied to centrelines. For example, when
designing a decline you could create a centreline and then apply an arc-shaped primitive.
Primitives can be saved as attributes of objects or triangulation.
Before applying primitives, preferences (Model > Preferences > Create/Edit Primitives, Save
Options tab) must be specified.
There are several predefined primitives of common shapes (Predefined Primitives tab) that can
be applied at any size and alignment. The alignment option determines where on the selected
object the primitive will be located. For example, if the chosen object is a centreline and Top is
ticked then the centreline will run along the top of the primitive.
Click the Select Objects button, choose an object and then apply a primitive shape. You can
create your own primitives of any shape and size. User defined primitives are stored in a
Primitives specification file (<proj>.pgd) in the current working folder.
Tutorial 17.5
Several CAD tools within the Primitives dialog box can be used to design a new shape. If these
tools are not sufficient, a Map Object button allows selection of an object from the screen in
Vulcan Envisage. The object must already be drawn in Vulcan Envisage before typing the
Primitives menu option. Any of the standard CAD tools may be used, and the shape should be
drawn in plan view.
The red point on-screen is the alignment point. When applying a primitive to a line, this point will
be aligned on the object selected.
Always ensure the CAD data is correct and clean (for example centrelines do not overlap) and
follows correct naming conventions before creating triangulations. The user defined primitives
can be applied by using the Select Objects button, to select the data from the screen. Another
way of applying primitive shapes is to use the Original Primitives dialog box. Rectangles or
circles can be selected and sized. User defined primitives can also be applied.
A useful toolbar for working with primitives is the Primitives toolbar; select Tools > Toolbar
Visibility and tick Primitives.
Remove
Primitive
Create/Edit Primitives Triangulate Primitive
• Model > Primitives > Create/Edit Primitives or Design > Attribute Edit > Create/Edit
Primitives – Opens the Primitives dialog box.
• Design > Attribute Edit > Primitive Visibility – Hides or shows primitives. This is only
used for primitives saved as attributes and not for triangulations. Standard visibility tools
should be used for triangulations.
• Design > Attribute Edit > Remove Primitive – Deletes a primitive attribute. This is only
used for primitives saved as attributes, not for triangulations. Standard delete options
should be used for triangulations.
• Toggle Primitives – Unlike the Primitive Visibility icon, which requires you to specify
whether a nominated primitive is to be shown or hidden, the Toggle Primitive icon
reverses the visibility setting of a chosen primitive.
• Model > Primitives > Triangulate Primitive – If a primitive has been applied to an object
and only saved as an attribute, it can be turned into a triangulation by using this option.
Tutorial 17.7
Tutorial 17.8
Tutorial 17.9
Using any triangulation method, create a solid triangulation of the warehouse building.
Boolean
The Boolean option takes two triangulations, splits them into pieces and builds a third
triangulation. This is useful for creating solid triangulations of items such as pits, roads and
dumps.
Two triangulations must be loaded on-screen prior to selecting the menu options. In addition,
the triangulations must fully intersect in order for Boolean to work. For instances, if they are
touching, but not intersecting, or they have points at exactly the same points, Boolean will not
work.
Moving one of the triangulations by a small amount can fix this problem.
Once triangulations have been selected, a bold line shows the intersection of the triangulations
(see below).
Using the Boolean option, various triangulations could be created. The image above shows a
new pit topography with the pit taken out.
Once two triangulations have been selected and split, Boolean options are available.
Command Definitions
Exclude Removes the selected piece from the triangulation. Pieces may
need to be excluded to create the desired triangulation.
Invert Makes the visible pieces invisible. Choose the pieces to exclude
and the pieces to keep, and then select Invert.
Tutorial 17.10
Shelling Solids
Once a solid is created, it can be cut into pieces using the Model > Triangle Solid > Shells
option. This will leave the original triangulation intact, and create new triangulations based on
parameters input to the dialog box.
• Tri save directory – Chooses a subfolder where created triangulations are saved.
• Shell Base Name – New triangulations will be labelled with this name in addition to the
shell name identifier. An underscore ‘_’ is automatically placed between the base name
and the shell name identifier.
• Shell Name Identifier – Part of the new triangulation name is according to the
coordinates (if shelling in the Z direction, Z elevation will be part of name), distance from a
level or sequence.
If Create all shells is selected on the previous dialog box, the reference plane can be anywhere
and all the shells will still be created. If only a few shells are being created, they will be created
from the reference plane. The new triangulations and the original will be displayed on-screen. If
the colours look strange, remove the original solid, as sometimes it is difficult to see the new
shells with the original still loaded.
.
Tutorial 17.11
Editing/Fixing Solids
Triangulations are the foundation on which many of the Vulcan utilities are built. Using poorly
constructed triangulations will result in errors. The process of validating and improving the
quality of solid triangulations is outlined below.
Checking Triangulations
Use Model > Triangle Solid > Check to validate the stability of triangulations.
Unless a triangulation passes all of the appropriate validity tests, any operation on that
triangulation is not guaranteed to be correct. This is particularly the case in grade estimation
where volume and grade calculations are undertaken. A triangulation that passes the validation
tests, but fails the stability tests, will still provide accurate results. However, limitations in the
precision of some algorithms may produce errors when the triangulations contain small
triangles. If a triangulation fails the stability checks and you create new triangulations from it,
they are more likely to have errors.
• Closure – Tests for openings (holes). If the closure test fails, then a boundary string is
produced.
• Consistency – Tests for triangle edges shared between more than two triangles. If the
consistency test fails, then an inconsistent string is produced. This may occur where
internal walls have been produced after Boolean operation, appending and poor data.
• Self Intersection – Tests for self-crossing triangles. If the self-intersection test fails, then
the outline of every triangle that intersects another triangle will be displayed.
You can save the strings produced from each test into an underlay or layer. To save a string to a
layer, a layer name must be specified. To create a new layer type the new layer name. It is a
good idea to change the colour of the layer to contrast with the colour of the triangulation being
checked, and also to apply a thick line style to make it stand out.
• Small Surface Area – Tests for triangles that have a small surface area. If the small
surface area test fails, then the outline of every triangle that has an area less than or equal
to the specified tolerance area, will be displayed in the chosen colour.
• Small Angles – Tests for triangles that contain a small internal angle. If the small angle
test fails, then the outline of every triangle that contains an internal angle, less than or
equal to the specified tolerance will be displayed.
• Coincident Points – Tests for coincident points. If the test fails, then points that are
within the specified tolerance are highlighted. The tolerance value is the maximum
distance between two points that are considered to be coincident.
Start with the Minimum Area and Angle values obtained from the triangle analysis (Triangle
Edit > Analyse Triangles) and increment the tolerance values until all of the problems have
been detected.
Nearly all triangulations that fail a validity check do so because of problems associated with the
raw data (design data or other triangulations). In most cases it is quicker and simpler to correct
the raw data rather than attempt to correct the resultant triangulation. Fixing the data also
prevents the problem from occurring again, when the same data is used to create a new
triangulation.
Tutorial 17.12
Check the topo triangulation and Pant_Leg triangulation to ensure they are valid.
Close Solid
The easiest way to fix closure problems is with Triangle Solid > Close Solid, which allows you
to automatically close all the holes in a solid. This is effective in simple situations, although if a
triangulation has multiple open areas the option may not always work correctly. The
triangulation must be loaded on-screen before selecting the menu option. Select the
triangulation and you will be prompted to retain or remove flaps (where three triangles share a
common edge or internal walls). The triangulation will then be closed and the Triangulation
Name dialog box will be displayed.
Tutorial 17.13
Re-create the Pant_Leg solid triangulation. Use the Close Solid command to make a valid
solid triangulation.
Tip!
Always name the Split
newly closed
triangulation with a The Split option takes a triangulation that contains many disjointed sections and splits them.
new name. If there The user can then choose, through various methods, which pieces are wanted to create a new
are multiple triangulation. The image on the following page is a perfect example of when to use the Split
openings in the command. A solid has been created through the use of Boolean and a few small pieces have
triangulation, the been left floating; Split will eliminate these.
Closed Solid option
may give undesired
results.
Tutorial 17.14
1. Load the split_pit.00t on-screen. Remove the outlying pieces and save.
Cut
The Cut option allows you to cut a triangulation in two by interactively digitising a cut line. This
is useful if there are small problem areas around the edges as they can be removed to fix the
triangulation. Cut can also be used to break up large triangulations into smaller pieces.
Triangulations can be cut at angles; if the dialog box below is left blank, it will automatically cut
at 90 degrees.
The cut line can then be digitised. Always exaggerate the ends of the line, as shown on the
following page, to ensure there will be a clean cut. In the incorrect line shown on the following
page, if the line were continued it would intersect the triangulation again, which can cause
errors.
Tutorial 17.15
1. Load a triangulation.
2. Locate the problem area and remove it (cut).
This option will remove crossing triangles and fix the triangulation (correcting the self
intersection validity test when checking triangulations). If any triangles are removed, information
is provided on how many triangles and points were in the original triangulation, the output
triangulation, and how many triangles and points were removed. The triangulation can be saved
as a new triangulation or the input triangulation can be updated.
Note:
It is good practice to It may be necessary to close the solid after fixing consistency and crossing problems. Always
Save as new run a check of the resultant triangulation before moving on to volume or grade calculations.
triangulation, as
sometimes the Other options are:
Delete Crossing
Triangle function Table 5: Triangle Editing Options
can produce
unwanted results. By Menu Command Definition
saving as a new
triangulation, the Model > Triangle Solid > Deletes triangles from a solid or surface triangulation model.
original triangulation Triangle Delete
remains as a backup.
Model > Triangle Edit > Clips a triangulation by either one or a series of polygons. Trian-
Clip by Polygon gles are deleted depending on whether they are totally inside or
totally outside the selected polygon(s).
Model > Triangle Edit > Inserts a vertex into a triangulation. Triangles (facets) connecting
Add Vertex the new vertex to the triangulation will be added automatically.
Generally used for solid triangulations.
Model > Triangle Edit > Removes a vertex from a triangulation, resulting in all connecting
Delete Vertex triangles being deleted (termed a ‘patch’) and a hole being cre-
ated. The hole can be filled or left open.
Model > Triangle Utility > Relimits a triangulated surface to inside or outside boundaries
Relimit that are represented as polygons.
Model > Triangle Utility > Creates a new triangulation by merging two loaded triangula-
Merge tions. The new triangulation can be the intersection, union or dif-
ference of the two triangulations.
Model > Triangle Utility > Uses a collection of surface triangulations to split a nominated
Multi Boolean triangulation.
Model > Triangle Surface Views and modifies the Z value of individual triangle nodes of a
> Vertex Z-Edit displayed triangulation.
Model > Triangle Surface Inserts a vertex into a triangulation. The triangles created by
> Add Vertex adding a point inside an existing triangle will automatically be
added to the triangulation. Generally used for surface triangula-
tions.
Model > Triangle Surface Removes a vertex from a triangulation. The triangles containing
> Delete Vertex the vertex being deleted will automatically be removed from the
triangulation. Generally used for surface triangulations.
Model > Triangle Surface Adds triangles to an existing triangulation. New triangles are
> Insert Triangle defined by indicating either existing design points and/or trian-
gulation vertex points.
Model > Triangle Surface Deletes individual triangles from a displayed triangulation.
> Delete Triangle
Generally these four steps will fix most triangulations. If there are still errors try:
• Model > Triangle Edit > Delete Crossing Triangles (for crossing triangles)
• Model > Triangle Edit > Snap Vertices (for consistency issues)
Volume Calculations
Volumes of triangulations can be calculated in Vulcan for solid triangulations or between two
surface triangulations.
Solid Volumes
The menu option Model > Triangle Solid > Volume can also be accessed by right-clicking on a
triangulation on-screen. If multiple triangulations are highlighted on-screen, the volume option is
not available. A dialog box allows the picking of triangulations individually from the screen or
picking by name from a Windows browser. If volumes are needed for multiple triangulations, use
the Solids by name option.
Tutorial 17.16
Surface Volumes
The option Model > Triangle Surface > Volume will generate volumes between two surfaces.
Both must be loaded on-screen prior to starting the menu option. Vulcan will prompt to select
the original and new triangulations. The cut and fill volumes will then be displayed. The order of
triangulation selection is vital, as the cut and fill volumes will be reversed if triangulations are
chosen in the opposite order.
Tutorial 17.17
What is the volume of fill necessary to build the road (created in a previous tutorial)?
Tip!
When referencing a If the project name does not point to the required grid, then the name must be specified in full.
grid, only the
distinguishing Grids can generally be divided into two types, structure grids and quality grids. Structure grids
components of that represent the surface of a seam or geological contact in space, whereas quality grids represent
grid name need to be a quality value at a particular X and Y location where the Z value represents the quality variable
specified. The value. Examples of structure grids include topography, roof and floor grids, while quality grids
default project name may include ash, sulphur, density or thickness grids.
and grid file identifier
are assumed if these Common grid file extensions are:
portions are omitted
from the grid name. • sr – structure roof
• sf – structure floor
• tk – thickness
• st – structure thickness
• pt - parting thickness
• tp - topography
Note:
While a grid model
may represent a
surface, it is not
necessarily planar.
Refer to the following
figures.
A unique function of grids is that they can be mathematically manipulated. For example grids
can be added and subtracted to derive new grids. For this reason, grids can not represent
structures where more than one Z value exists for a particular X and Y location. Examples of
structures that can not be modelled by grids, include reverse faults and recumbent folds.
Loaded grids in Vulcan Envisage are dependent on the file extensions that have been
nominated in the Tools > Preferences menu under Vulcan Explorer > File Types > Grids.
To remove, right-click on the grid and select Remove or select Model > Grid Mesh Surfaces >
Remove By Name. Alternatively, click the Remove Underlay icon from the Standard toolbar.
The grid named thorgrid.tpg has been provided in the data set. This grid was created
from the design layer CONTOURS in thordesign.dgd.isis and is an example of an
interpolated grid.
Use the rotation tools to see how the grid conforms to the CONTOURS layer.
Creating Grids
The two primary methods for creating grids in Vulcan are found under Model > Grid Mesh
Surfaces and under Grid Calc.
Use the modelling methods under Grid Mesh Surfaces to create grids directly from displayed
coordinate data, or use simple interpolation and smoothing algorithms applied to mapfiles,
generated from a design or geological database. Use Grid Calc to create simple grids. Grid Calc
has the added ability to create and manipulate grids using sophisticated modelling algorithms,
making it a powerful tool.
When creating a grid, keep it less then 300,000 cells, as exceeding this can make viewing the
grid cumbersome. The grid extents must be divisible by the grid cell size. Grid extents are often
multiples of 100 and so it is ideal to set the grid cell size to numbers divisible by 100.
Use Model > Grid Mesh Surfaces > Create Simple to create simple grid models from
displayed coordinate data such as points, lines and polygons. A minimum of three data points
are required to create a model.
Tutorial 18.2
Below is an example of how a grid would be displayed if only the X Mesh or Y Mesh check
box was selected.
7. Select the Preserve strings options. The Preserve strings and Points only options
determine how points are connected during triangulation. Using the Preserve strings
option prohibits the triangle facets from crossing digitised strings. The Points only
option connects points regardless of digitised strings. See the following figure:
8. Select Regularise grid area to grid size. This option ensures that the maximum and
minimum coordinates of the grid are multiples of the mesh size.
9. Click OK.
10. When prompted, indicate the model origin point. Define the extents to model by
choosing the bottom left and top right corners. Make sure the extents include all of
the contour lines.
11. Select Layer on the Select By menu.
12. Choose the CONTOURS layer.
13. Select Cancel on the Select By menu.
14. Select Model on the Confirm menu.
15. Name the triangulation thortopo.00t.
16. Click OK.
A triangulation and a grid model of the topo lines appear in the Vulcan Envisage window.
Interpolated Grids
Use Model > Grid Mesh Surfaces > Vulcan Grid Model to create grids. The main difference
between this option and Create Simple, is that the Vulcan Grid Model option uses interpolation
and smoothing algorithms. In addition, the Vulcan Grid Model option uses mapfiles to create
grids. If a mapfile does not already exist, it must be created from a design or geological
database.
The parameters of the grid (such as size and modelling method) are stored in a specification file.
The grids created from this specification have the standard grid file name format.
1. Load a triangulation.
2. Select Model > Triangle Surface > Grid Mesh.
Editing Grids
Grid Masking
Each grid occupies the full rectangular area defined in the grid creation process, but the whole
grid may not be visible. In addition to each node having a Z value, it also has a mask value,
which can be set to 1 or 0. If it is set to 0, the node is invisible. If it is set to 1 the node is visible.
This is useful if the grid does not exist over the whole rectangular area (for example data does
not cover the whole area, or there is uncertainty about what happens geologically beyond some
extent).
Mask values can be set using the menu Model > Grid Mesh Surfaces > Mask. This menu uses
Vulcan Envisage polygons to mask grids. Masks can be modified or replaced readily using the
menus Model > Grid Mesh Surfaces > Unmask and Model > Grid Mesh Surfaces > Mask.
Z values are not affected by masking. Grids can be masked and unmasked and the Z values will
be unchanged. The following figure shows an unmasked grid where the polygon represents a
mask limit.
After masking with the polygon, only the nodes that lie within the polygon are visible.
Contouring
The Model > Grid Mesh Surfaces > Contour option allows grids to be contoured.
• Normal contouring results in each contour being displayed in 3D at its elevation value.
• Fixed Contour Level results in each contour being displayed at the selected Z value.
• Drape with surface model specifies the chosen model in the surface field draped over it.
For example, an ash grid can be draped over structure roof contours to reveal any
relationship between ash and seam level.
• Intersection results in an intersection line being displayed between the contoured
model, and the model specified in the Surface field.
Four options are available for the contour colours. The default colour scheme and the
alternative colour scheme use intervals and colour legends. The manually entered colour allows
intervals and colours to be selected manually. The selected colour sequence allows a range of
colours to be selected.
.
Tutorial 18.3
1. Open a design database and load the grid created in Tutorial 18.2 by double-clicking
on thortopo.tpg.
2. Select Model > Grid Mesh Surfaces > Contour.
3. Under Grid mesh model to be contoured, select topo.tp.
4. Select Normal and type the colourscheme.
5. Click OK.
6. On the Colour Ranges dialog box choose appropriate From, To and Interval values.
Suggested values are 0.0, 600, and 25.
7. Click OK.
8. Click Cancel when the Contour dialog box reappears.
9. The contour strings are now displayed as an underlay. Use the rotate function to see
how the design strings follow the grid.
10. Select File > Underlays > Remove to remove the contour strings by selecting the
contour lines.
11. Select Model > Grid Mesh Surfaces > Contour to save the design strings as a layer.
In addition to the previously selected options select Save design strings and type a
layer name.
Colouring
The default method for colouring a grid is to make it all one colour. This can make it difficult to
distinguish trends in the grid model unless the model is rotated. Colouring a grid is achieved
using the Model > Grid Mesh Surface > Drape menu. Colouring the grid based on Z values
(either of the grid itself or from another grid) allows trends to be identified more easily.
When colouring grids, it is usually best to set up a Colour Legend using Analyse > Legend
Edit > Create. Legends give the user control of grid colouring by allowing the specification of
intervals and colours for each.
Node Editing
Grid node values are generated through mathematical interpolation and extrapolation. This
process does not always produce the desired values, and it may be necessary to alter the node
Z values. Grid nodes can be edited on an individual basis or by using a polygon to alter all
nodes inside/outside the polygon.
To alter grid nodes individually use the Model > Grid Mesh Surfaces > Node Edit menu. The
Model > Grid Mesh Surfaces > Set Value option can be used to edit multiple nodes inside/
outside a given polygon. The Model > Grid Mesh Surfaces > Patch option can be used to
copy values from an existing grid into a second grid. To use this option the grids must have the
same cell size and extent.
Tutorial 18.5
1. Open a design database and load the grid created in Tutorial 19.2.
2. Right-click on thortopo.tpg and select Load.
3. Select Design > Create > Layer to create a new layer.
4. Select Design > Create > Polygon to draw a polygon around a portion of the grid.
7. Select Relative to node and Enter grid mesh value of 50. Clear Clip grid mesh to
current window and click OK.
8. Select Save. The nodes inside the polygon have been shifted to a value 50 feet above
their original value.
Creating a Mapfile
Use Model > Grid Mesh Surfaces > Create Mapfile to generate either a mapfile or a database
that can be used for grade estimation. This option requires quality grids such as Moisture and
Ash in addition to a Structure surface model grid. Selecting Model > Grid Mesh Surfaces >
Create Mapfile generates the following dialog box.
In addition to structure surface models, various quality models can be selected. These models
must exist in order to be selected and can then be combined in either a database file or a
mapfile.
Exporting Grids
Grids can be exported into other formats including triangulations and points. The Model > Grid
Mesh Surfaces > To Object option converts grid mesh data that is bounded by a polygon, into
a series of points. The Model > Grid Mesh Surfaces > Triangulate option creates a
triangulation from a loaded grid model. Only the visible nodes are exported to the triangulation.
Tutorial 18.6
6. Select Model > Grid Mesh Surfaces > To Object. Choose the layer the polygon is
drawn in and click OK.
7. When promoted, select the boundary polygon and then the grid mesh surface.
8. The nodes bounded by the polygon have been converted into point objects. To view
the points remove the grid by right-clicking on thortopo.tpg and selecting
Remove.
Grids can be the basis for powerful modelling options, especially in the application of Grid Calc,
Vulcan’s Grid Calculator Utility. The Grid Calc module offers significantly more complex
modelling and manipulation abilities than the Grid Mesh Surfaces menu.
One of the key features of Grid Calc is the ability to perform arithmetic to build new grid models.
Grid Calc can also be driven using macros that allow command sequences to be recorded and
played back. Grid Calc also operates as a separate entity from the other modules within Vulcan
Envisage. It uses a memory buffer to store and manipulate data. The menu options in the Grid
Calc module must be used to control data within the memory buffer.
Most of the modelling commands within Grid Calc require that grids be the same size and
extent. To ensure this, a specification file must be produced. Specification files are created
using the menu Grid Calc > Edit Modelling Defaults > Create Grid Specifications. Once
created, the specification file should be saved through the Grid Calc > Edit Modelling Defaults
> Save Grid Specifications menu. Additionally, Grid Calc automatically creates polygons to
mask grids when it is operating. These Grid Calc polygons should be stored in a design
database.
.
Tutorial 18.7
1. Select File > New and create a design database named GRIDS.
2. Select Grid Calc > Edit Modelling Defaults > Create Grid Specifications. If this is
the first time the Grid Calc module has been opened in the current session of Vulcan
the Access Specs dialog box will display.
3. Select Close Current Spec.
4. Click OK.
5. Name the model area all.
6. Select OK. The Grid Area Specs dialog box will display.
7. Fill in the coordinates for the grid extents as shown. The grid extents must be divisible
by the grid cell size.
8. Click OK.
9. Select Grid Calc > Edit Modelling Defaults > Save Grid Specifications.
Loading Data
Grid Calc operates as a separate entity from the other Vulcan Envisage modules data and must
be loaded specifically into the Grid Calc module. Data is loaded into Grid Calc using the menus
Grid Calc > Data and the Grid Calc > Grids. Design data, triangulations, mapfiles, and grids
can all be loaded into Grid Calc.
Tutorial 18.8
Displaying Data
Select Grid Calc > Display to display data that has been loaded. Triangulations, design data,
and grids can all be displayed using this menu. The Grid Calc > Display > Remove Underlay
option is used to remove data from the display.
When working in Grid Calc it is desirable to automatically display the data and grid models
without having to pick an icon or select a menu. Select Grid Calc > Display > Preferences to
set the preferences. Using Grid Calc > Edit Modelling Defaults > Save Grid Specifications
will save the selected preferences so they do not need to be reset with each new session of
Grid Calc.
Modelling Data
Use Grid Calc > Model > Grid Model to model data (loaded using Grid Calc > Data).
Numerous modelling methods can be used, including triangulation, inverse distance, and
kriging. In addition, user defined modelling methods can be applied.
Select Grid Calc > Grids > Save Grid to save new models.
Tutorial 18.10
The grid should appear in the Grids folder in the Vulcan Explorer.
Grid Arithmetic
Grids can be manipulated using powerful grid arithmetic accessed through the Grid Calc >
Grids > Load/Calculate Grid menu. Arithmetic can be performed using simple arithmetical
operators (+,-,*,/) or a number of more complex functions.
Contouring
Use Grid Calc > Contour and Limit Generation > Contour to contour grid models. The
contour lines generated using this menu are closed and can be used for masking grids and as
reserve limit lines.
Tutorial 18.12
The thorgrids.dgd.isis now contains layers CONTOUR 100 through CONTOUR 700.
These layers can be loaded and viewed in Vulcan Envisage.
Macros
Macros augment Grid Calc by allowing a series of command sequences to be recorded and
played back.
While using the Grid Calc module all of the commands that are used are saved in a macro called
replay.gdc_cmnd. This file is automatically generated and is stored in the Vulcan working
directory. It is overwritten with each new session of Grid Calc. To prevent the commands in the
replay.gdc_cmnd macro from being overwritten, the macro can be saved with a new name
using the Grid Calc > Macros > Save Macro command. Macros can be replayed using the
Grid Calc > Macros > Invoke Macro command.
.TRI Folders
Vulcan recognises .00t files as triangulations and places them into the Triangulations folder
(Explorer window). To arrange triangulations in subfolders inside of the main project folder, the
subfolder name must end in .tri. This will direct Vulcan where to look for triangulation files.
Note:
This subfolder also Subfolders inside the .tri subfolder do not need the .tri extension in order for Vulcan to
appears under the recognise triangulation files; however it is good practice to continue the .tri extension in case
Triangulations folder the subfolder is copied or moved in the future. If a .tri folder is created in the Vulcan Explorer
in Explorer window. while Vulcan is open, the subfolder will not automatically be detected until Vulcan is restarted.
To create the .tri folder, right-click the Triangulation folder in the Vulcan Explorer and select
Create Directory. This way the .tri folder will show up automatically without restarting.
Remote Directories
Tutorial 19.1
Remote directories are different than .tri folders in that the folder does not need to be in the
working directory and is set up for .dgds, grids, triangulations, and more. Remote directories
are useful to access data in another working folder from your computer, or to access data in
another folder located on a network.
1. Select Tools > Preferences. You can browse to the data and data types needed.
2. In the Remote Directory column, left-click in the blank cell. The down-pointing arrow is
for a drop-down list box option and the three-dot button is for a browse option.
• The Browse button will enable you to find any folder on the local computer or on
the network to use as a remote directory.
• The Display Name is used if a unique name to this remote directory is required. For
example, if the remote directory is
C:\NETWORK\Vulcan\MASTER\ENGINEERING, a consistent display name may
be Master_Engineering. If a display name is not used, Vulcan will apply the full
file path name as the name in the Vulcan Explorer.
The various check boxes will determine if Vulcan files will be listed in the Vulcan Explorer. The
options are:
• Triangulations
• Grids (stratigraphic modelling)
• Dgds
• User Databases (Isis databases for drillholes, composite points)
• Screen Files (saved screens)
• Block Models
• Lava Scripts
Multiple remote directories can be added following the same process in subsequent rows.
When finished adding the required directories, close the dialog box. The Vulcan Explorer
subfolders have been created in the appropriate sections corresponding with the check boxes
for the remote directories.
DGD Files
DGD files can be accessed just like any other .dgd in the work area. They can be locked for
editing or opened with layers loaded on-screen in the current directory.
• To open a .dgd for editing, double-click on the file or right-click and select Open. A
green lock will appear on the newly opened .dgd.
• To load layers from a closed Remote .dgd, click on the plus symbol to expand the
layers. Double-click on the layer to load.
When prompted, either Accept the selection, open as a read-only file, close and try again or
Cancel the operation entirely.
• Yes - Creates a layer in your working .dgd as a duplicate of the layer in the remote .dgd.
• As read-only - Loads the layer and objects and can be edited as normal. However, the
objects and any edits will not be saved when the layer is removed from the screen.
• No - Applies when there is more than one layer being brought over from the closed .dgd.
If you have picked an incorrect layer, selecting No will skip the layer in question and the
process will continue for subsequent layers.
• Cancel - Cancels the entire operation.
The check box to Remember My Selection for This Operation is useful when loading multiple
layers. Pick one of the Load options and Vulcan will apply the selection to all layers loading –
otherwise you will need to click to confirm every time.
User Databases and Block Models should be directly accessible. However, if the set of colour
schemes in the .scd file differs from the set in the remote directory, the drillholes and block
model blocks may colour than if the remote directory was directly accessed. Furthermore, some
colour may not be available from one to the other.
These will load as normal, unless the screen file calls for data that does not exist in the user
folder. Likewise, if a Lava script calls an external function that is on a file path different than that
specified by the remote directory, it may malfunction.
To create multiple user directories on a network, file management and administration privileges
may be necessary.
Each user subfolder contains all of the data they will need to perform their tasks. When setting
these folders for the first time, the data in each folder must be uniform and identical to what is in
the master folder.
There are several files that should be copied from the master folders to the user folders:
The gdc_glob and gdc_spec files (if applicable, usually only for stratigraphic deposits).
Blocking a user:
To block a surveyor accessing the Engineering folder, set the Security parameters to read-
only so data the engineers are working with can not be changed.
Once the folders are set up, each user’s Vulcan workspace requires configuration to access the
master data.
All the folders will appear in the Vulcan Explorer that correspond with the check boxed items
selected from the Remote Directory. For example, a folder will appear in this Design Databases
When the master folder has been set up as a remote directory, that folder should appear in your
Vulcan Explorer under each of the files that were selected. You may then use files in the master
folder and copy layers from design databases in this folder in the same way you copy them from
one design database to another.
Data from the master .dgd should be brought into the working .dgd for editing, and saved
back to the master .dgd when it is done. No data should be edited directly in the master .dgd.
When users are working in their respective .dgd and folder, they can expand any remote
directory .dgd and access the data.
Do not switch the active .dgd to one in the remote directory. The active directory is signified by
a green lock – make sure the green lock stays on the working .dgd for the individual user, not
on the master .dgd.
There are two methods for posting or saving data to a master folder. The first option is to select
the master folder from the Vulcan start up and save data directly to the folder. The second is
Save Layer To, which is accessed under the File menu.
The Save Layer To option is most often used when the master folder is accessed using a
remote directory and allows you to save loaded layers into a design database (headered) other
than the open database. The database may be in any directory.
Saving a layer:
1. Select File > Save Layer To. The Open Data Area dialog box will display.
• Use environment variable - Use for environment variables that point to the data
area. Type the environment variable. Make sure to add a forward slash (/) to the end
of the environment name.
• Use absolute/relative path - Select this option to specify the path (relative or full)
to the data area.
• Filter by project code - Tick this box if you want to list all of the design databases
that have the same project code as your project file (.dg1).
• Load when starting Vulcan - Tick this box if you want to force Envisage to start
with the chosen design file. It is also possible to specify a design file to open when
Envisage starts by editing the project file.
2. Click OK.
3. A list is then produced of all the design database files found within the specified data
area. An arrow will be used to indicate the currently open design database.
4. Left-click on the required design database and click OK. Once selected, the chosen
design database is opened and a list of all the layers stored within it is displayed.
5. Left-click on the required layer and click OK.
• You use the Pattern field, the Apply Pattern button, and wildcards (* multi-
character and ? single character) to highlight the layers that begin or end with
certain characters.
• If you wanted to highlight all layers that begin with ‘S’, then type ‘S*’ into the pattern
field and click the Apply Pattern button. Once selected, all matching layers are
highlighted.
• After the desired layer has been chosen, you may be required to confirm that you
wish to overwrite its contents.
When using master folders, you will need to set the environment variable LOCAL_WORKFILE to
any value and this will override the default that the work file has created in the same folder as
the design database file.
Introduction to Plotting
In this section, you will learn how to use the Plot All Wizard, which will enable you to plot
anything that is displayed on-screen.
There are multiple ways of presenting data electronically. Screen dumps captures still images.
For interactive images, you can produce an Audio Video Interleaved (AVI) file representing a
video clip of the Vulcan Envisage window. In addition, a 3D interactive NGRAIN model can be
used to export from Vulcan into another format, such as Microsoft® Office products or Printer
Data File (.pdf).
Tip!
When naming a plot The next screen will prompt you for the drafting template or drafting sheet to use, and give you
file, use caution. the option to Render WYSIWYG1.
Vulcan always
remembers your last
plot filename and will
use it by default. Be
sure to change the
plot filename,
otherwise any
previous plot with
that filename will be
overwritten. You will
not be given a
warning before
overwriting a file.
Figure 21-2: Envisage Plot All wizard dialog box - second screen
• Use Default Template - A dynamic template for basic plotting needs that will work for
any paper plot size in either landscape or portrait. If the default template does not meet
the requirements for plotting needs, a drafting sheet should be used.
• Use Drafting Sheet - Picks a drafting sheet from a drafting sheet database
(drafting.dgd.isis in the Resources folder). Vulcan provides several drafting sheets
that can be used for creating a new or customised drafting sheet.
• Use Render WYSIWYG to plot underlays (triangulations, block model slices). This option
takes a screen shot of your plot area, which can by modified to specify a resolution in
.dpi (dots per inch).
If the default template is used, the Envisage Plot All wizard dialog box will display. If the
required sheet size is not available, a custom size may be specified. You can also specify a
printer to use, which is only to determine the margins set for that printer. It is not recommended
that these margins be changed here in Vulcan, rather if they need to be changed, do so in the
settings for your printer in Windows.
Lastly, the orientation of the plot is selected as landscape or portrait. If using a title block with
the default template, or using a drafting sheet with field’s set up, the Title block dialog box will
appear allowing you to fill in the title block fields.
222 21 Plotting
Figure 21-3: Envisage Plot All wizard dialog box - third screen
The following table contains a list of supported plotting variables that Vulcan allows in the Field
Value column. Use caution when typing the variables as they must appear exactly as they are
here (case sensitive).
%SCALE% Date
The next dialog box allows you to control whether or not grids are plotted. There are two main
options; Plot Grid Annotation or Draw Dynamic Grid. Use Plot Grid Annotation to specify a
grid colour and spacing. These grids may be displayed as crosses or lines. If there is a grid
currently displayed on the screen that should be included in the plot. Use Draw Dynamic Grid
and the current grid will plot with the selected colour. If no grid is required, select No Plot Grid
Annotation.
Figure 21-4: Envisage Plot All wizard dialog box - fourth screen
The next dialog box allows you to specify the scale of the plot.
Figure 21-5: Envisage Plot All wizard dialog box - fifth screen
There are two options for setting the scale, Allow dynamic scale adjustment or Manual scale
adjustment. Manual adjustment allows you to key in a scale (example 1:1200). When using
dynamic scale adjustment, an origin must be specified by selecting Digitise Origin and then
selecting the origin in Vulcan Envisage.
A box will appear in the Vulcan Envisage window illustrating the extents of the plot based on the
specified scale. With dynamic adjustment, the size of the box can by changed by selecting
Adjust Extents, then clicking and holding any corner and dragging it to adjust the size. The
Adjust Extents tool can also be used to move the box by clicking and holding any edge of the
box and moving it to the desired location.
224 21 Plotting
Figure 21-6: Plotting extents box
• Check Remember extents settings button so the current extents and scale settings for
each plot created in the current Vulcan Envisage session are retained.
• Check the Preview plot file button to show the resultant plot in the Plot Utility. The Finish
button will generate the plot.
Information can be entered based on the prompt. All other dialog boxes will be the same as with
using a default template.
WYSIWYG Plotting
To plot triangulations, the WYSIWYG option needs to be active. This option works with both
user defined templates and with the default plot template. All other dialog boxes will be the
same, regardless of whether the WYSIWYG check box is active or not.
Tip!
For WYSIWYG plots, If Vulcan crashes when creating a WYSIWYG Plot, go to Tools > Preferences and on the Video
the image resolution Capture dialog box, check the box that says Use software rendering for single frame and
should be between WYSIWYG capturing. This changes how the graphics card and drivers are used when creating
100 and 300. the image and can fix issues that occur with graphics cards and drivers.
Resolutions greater
than 300 will create Tutorial 21.1
large plot files and
the results may not Creating a simple plot using the Plot All Wizard:
be any better than
1. Load layer CONTOURS and triangulation TQ1.
they would at 300
.dpi. 2. Reset the view to plan view.
Plot Utility
The Plot Utility is a separate program in Vulcan and can be open concurrently with Vulcan
Envisage. To switch between them, select the appropriate icon on the Application bar in the
lower right hand corner of the Vulcan window. To open Plot Utility, either double-click on any
plot file or click on the Vulcan Start button the lower right-hand corner of the Vulcan window
and select Plotting Utility.
226 21 Plotting
Figure 21-9: Plotting Utility
Plot Utility has its own specialised toolbars. The first is the Plot Utility Application toolbar, which
includes options to plot, printer setup, plot file properties, page drag mode, zoom box mode,
and zoom in/out mode.
Use the Printer Controls to choose or edit paper size and the plotter used to print out the plot
file.
This plotter can also be changed by using the printer icon or (File > Page Setup). When you
open a plot file in Plot Utility, a white sheet of paper will display to represent the selected sheet
size.
Use the Page Drag Mode icon on the Plot Utility Application toolbar to drag the sheet around
the screen. If the plot file is too large for the page size, the printer, page size, and orientation of
the paper will need to be changed. Only what fits onto the white paper is printed. Ensure there is
ample room for margins as well.
Once the layout of the plot is set up, the plot can be sent to the printer using File > Print. If the
plot was larger than the paper in the plot utility, use the Fit to page check box on the print
dialog box. This will make the plot larger or smaller so that it fills the entire page. Note that this
will change the scale and if a scale bar is present on the map, it will become invalid.
Tutorial 21.2
1. Create an 11”X17” plot showing the boundary polygon, and warehouse polygons.
2. Name the plot Facilities1.vpgz.
228 21 Plotting
22 Presentation
Screen Dumps
The Screen Dump option is available from the Screen Dump toolbar, which is accessible by left-
clicking on the Screen Dump icon.
Once the option is active, the following child toolbar will be displayed.
Tip!
In general .png or Figure 22-2: Screen Dump toolbar
.jpg are the most
common formats.
The screen capture will only capture data within the 3D Envisage window. Data can be captured
in the following outputs:
The name of the screen dump and output format can by changed by selecting the drop-down
list.
Images can also be saved in different resolutions as indicated in the drop-down list box.
Resolutions at Screen and higher, are preferred where the screen captures are used for printing
at large scales, such as posters.
1024 x 768 is the resolution of many projectors, so viewing in an image viewer at full screen on
such devices will give good results, as the image is mapped per pixel. When using smaller
resolutions, a blue box will appear to show you the extent of the screen dump. Smaller
resolutions are suitable for input for reports. Make sure to reset your resolution back to screen
when finished, otherwise the blue box will remain on screen even though the Screen Dump
option is closed.
To save the screen dump, click the disk icon on the toolbar, and the file will be saved to the
current Vulcan working directory. To copy the contents of the screen dump to the Windows
clipboard use the copy to clipboard icon.
230 22 Presentation
The screen dump can then be pasted into other software, such as Microsoft ® Word (see
below).
Tutorial 22.1
1. Load contours.00t and drillholes (Geology > Drilling > Load Drillholes) using
your assay legend.
2. Rotate your view in order to see both the drillholes and topography.
3. Open the Screen Dump child toolbar by left-clicking on the Screen Dump icon and
create an image called drill.jpg.
4. Select a resolution of 320 x 280 and click Save.
5. Open your working directory and double-click on drill.jpg to view the screen
dump.
Remember to reset your resolution back to screen when you are finished.
AVI Video
This option allows you to capture the image currently loaded in your Vulcan Envisage window
along with any movement applied to it.
1. Select the AVI format from the Save As drop-down list, as well as the desired resolution.
A new AVI file name can also be entered manually.
2. Click the Save Screen Dump icon to begin recording.
3. Click the Enable recording AVI icon to start recording.
• The Enable recording AVI mode allows you to capture frames each time the view
changes.
• Clicking the [D] key adds single frames to the file.
• When using the continuous recording mode, pause the recording by deselecting the
Enable recording AVI icon.
4. Deselect the Enable recording AVI and then the Save Screen Dump icon to stop
recording. The file will be closed, which must be done before you can view the file
externally.
The speed at which the object(s) moves during the recording process is not the playback speed
(playback is much faster).
Tutorial 22.2
1. Load contours.00t and drillholes (Geology > Drilling > Load Drillholes) using
your assay legend.
2. Left-click the Screen Dump icon and open the Screen Dump toolbar.
3. Create a new audio video named drill.avi.
4. Set the screen resolution and click the Save Screen Dump icon.
5. Select a rotate mode and free rotate the data.
6. Click the Enable recording AVI icon.
7. Deselect the Enable recording AVI icon and load tq1.00t and click the icon again.
8. Zoom in on the tq1 ore body while in free rotate mode.
9. Deselect the Enable recording AVI and the Save Screen Dump icon to stop
recording.
Audio video files can become large very quickly so use caution when creating files.
NGrain
This format allows users to view and rotate 3D data in space without having a Vulcan licence or
Vulcan software. The Export to NGrain option is found under the File menu in the Import
Export submenu.
232 22 Presentation
Design data, Triangulations, and Grids to NGRAIN
If exporting design data, the following dialog box will display prompting for selecting desired
data from the loaded layers. If exporting triangulations or grids, Vulcan will prompt for which
triangulations or grids to export. If only one grid or triangulation is loaded, Vulcan will
automatically select the loaded triangulation or grid.
When all desired design data is selected, right-click or select Cancel. When all triangulations
and/or grids are selected, right-click to Cancel. This will return you to the NGrain Export menu.
If no further data is to be exported, right-click or select Cancel. The Convert to NGrain dialog
box will then appear.
Type the name of the file that will store the exported data. The file will be saved within your
current working directory under the Other folder. The resolution can either be manually entered
or specified using the slider bar.
Once Block Models are selected from the NGrain Export dialog box, the Convert to NGrain
dialog box is displayed.
1. Enter the name of the block model that you want to export. Use the Browse button if
you want to select a block model file from a different location.
2. Enter the grade variable that you wish to export.
3. Enter the colour legend that will be used to colour the chosen grade variable.
4. Click OK.
The Block Selection dialog box allows either all of the blocks or just specific blocks to be
selected and exported. If you choose to select specific blocks, type one or more of the following
criteria:
Command Definition
Bounding Box Restricts blocks by a box. The bounding box is defined in Interac-
tive or Coordinate mode.
Cut and Fill Surfaces Restricts blocks to those that fall within two intersecting surfaces.
Use Block Centres Uses the full cell evaluation method. If this check box is not ticked,
then the proportional cell evaluation method will be used.
Click OK and the NGrain Export dialog box is then re-displayed. You can either choose to
export additional data or right-click again to display the Convert to NGrain dialog box.
The first step in using an NGrain model is to download a viewer from the internet.
Once installed, you will need to make sure that you can run Macros and enable ActiveX controls
within Microsoft® Word. The following is an NGrain model inside a Word document.
234 22 Presentation
Figure 22-10: Exported NGRAIN model
The NGrain viewer will appear in the start menu under NGrain. It can be used to view and
manipulate NGrain models at any time. To insert NGrain models into Microsoft® Office
documents follow the instructions under ‘Adding Viewer to Documents’.
In order for others to view NGrain in documents you create, they will need to download and
install the NGrain viewer as well. Once installed, they will be able to view and manipulate NGrain
models by simply opening the document.
Tutorial 22.3
Export the contours triangulation to NGrain and insert it into a Word document.
237
Introduction to Vulcan | Maptek Vulcan 8
I Point Edits, 67
Point Insert, 70
Image Registration, 169
Point Label to Text, 97
Import Shape File, 90
Point Labels, 97
Importing ASCII Data Files, 87
Point Labels to Text, 99
Importing DXF Files, 85
Polygon Area, 94
Indicate, 48
Interpolated Grids, 201
R
K Relimiting Surfaces, 165
Remote Directories, 215
Key In Point Data, 48
Render WYSIWYG, 222
Report, 139
L Requirements, 1
Rotating, 34
Last located invisible, 149
Lava script, 216
Loading and Removing Data, 31 S
Loading and Removing Grids, 198
Save and Run, 139
Loading Triangulations, 155
Section View Properties, 43
Locating Holes, 148
Service packs, 5
Set View, 38
M Set Visibility of Located, 149
Slice Backwards, 43
main menu, 18 Slice Forward, 43
Managing Grids, 199 Small Angles, 191
Mapfile Overview, 150 Small Surface Area, 191
Master Data, 218 Smooth shading, 157
Menus, windows, and toolbars Snap to Grid, 48
main menu Snap to Objects, 48
windows, 17 Snap to Points, 48
Minimum Area and Angle, 191 Solid shade triangulation, 156
Modelling Data, 211 Solid Volumes, 195
Move Slicing Plane, 43 Split, 192
Moving Data, 72 Spurs Tab, 163
Strike/Dip, 95
Surface definition angle, 158
N Surface Triangulation Manipulation, 168
No Clipping, 44
Node Editing, 205
T
TEMP and TMP, 3
O Texture Mapping, 160
Object Area, 94 Texture resource, 160
Object Edits, 60 Toggle Sliced View, 43
Object Label, 99 Track Section of Existing Line, 52
Object Label to Text, 100 Trending Tab, 163
Ortho Rotation, 34 Triangulation Modelling, 153
Ortho Sphere Rotation, 34 Tutorial, 1, 2, 4, 7, 11, 12, 13, 15
Other Views, 38 Two Polygons, 165
Own windows, 18
U
P Unique Collar Location, 139
Panning, 33 Unloading Triangulations, 155
Parallel to given line in 3D, 51 Updating an Existing Database, 143
Parallel to given line on screen, 51 Use Default Template, 222
Perpendicular to given line on screen, 51 Use Drafting Sheet, 222
Perspective View, 36 Use load time shading, 158
Plot Utility, 226 Utilities > Export > Tables, 142
Plotting, 221
238 Index
V
Vertical Exaggeration, 38
View Ports and Overview Window, 35
Viewing and Animating Data, 31
Virtual Sphere Rotation, 34
Visibility, 39
Volume Calculations, 195
W
windows, 18
Work area, 17
Z
Zoom To Toolbar, 33
Zooming, 32
Z-Up Rotation, 34
239
Introduction to Vulcan | Maptek Vulcan 8
240 Index