Atoll

Wireless Network Engineering Software

3D Viewer
User Manual

Version 1.2

AD085
3D Viewer 1.2 User Manual
Release: AD085 (March 2019)
© Copyright 1997-2019 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.
Published by:
Forsk
7 rue des Briquetiers
31700 Blagnac, France
Tel: +33 562 747 210
Fax: +33 562 747 211
www.forsk.com
The software described in this document is provided under a licence agreement. The software may only be used or copied under the terms and
conditions of the licence agreement. No part of the contents of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means
without written permission from the publisher.
The product or brand names mentioned in this document are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective registering parties.
Third party services that are not part of Atoll are governed by the terms and conditions of their respective providers, which are subject to change
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The publisher has taken care in the preparation of this document, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no
responsibility for errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of the
use of the information contained herein.
AD085 3D Viewer 1.2 User Manual

1 3D Viewer Add-in for Atoll

The 3D Viewer add-in allows you to display a 3-dimensional representation of your network layout and coverage
predictions.
The 3D Viewer displays the following elements:
 Sites
 Transmitters
 Coverage plots
 Terrain elevation
 Online maps
 3D building and vegetation vectors
The 3D Viewer add-in is compatible with Atoll 64-bit version 3.3 and later.
The 3D Viewer requires a 3D graphics card that supports OpenGL 3.3 or later.
The 3D Viewer is compatible with Remote Desktop and Citrix sessions as long as the server supports the required
version of OpenGL. However, problems might occur with some specific configurations.

 If you experience any compatibility issues with the 3D Viewer, contact your Atoll
administrator or the Forsk support team and provide full details about your
hardware and software configuration.

2 Installing the 3D Viewer Add-in

You can install the 3D Viewer add-in by using the setup program.
To install the add-in:
1. Run the 3D Viewer setup program. The setup wizard appears.
2. Click Next. The Select Destination Location page appears.
3. Select an installation folder for the application. It is not necessary to install the application in the Atoll
installation folder.
4. Click Next. The Ready to Install page appears.
5. Click Install to start the installation. The Installing page appears showing the installation progress.
6. Once the installation is complete, click Finish to exit the setup.

Once installed, the 3D Viewer ( ) button is available in the Atoll toolbar.

To uninstall the application, open Uninstall a program from the Windows Control Panel, locate the 3D Viewer, add-
in and click Uninstall.

3 Configuring the 3D Viewer Add-in

An initialisation file is used to configure the 3D Viewer add-in.
By default, the tool uses the file named "Atoll3DViewerAddin.ini" that is placed in the installation directory of the 3D
Viewer tool.
The [Options] section contains the following options:

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3D Viewer 1.2 User Manual

Option Description

HeightField = <field name> Specifies the name of the field from the vector data files that is used
to define vector heights. By default, the 3D Viewer looks for a field
named AGL

SiteSize = <metres> Specifies the diameter in metres of the 3D marker that represents
sites.

TransmitterSize = <metres> Specifies the radius in metres of the 3D polygon that represents
transmitter segments.

SmallCellPower = <dBm> Specifies the power threshold in dBm below which a cell is
considered a small cell. Small cells are rendered using half the
radius defined in TransmitterSize.

AntiAliasingSamples = 0|2|4|8 Specifies the number of software anti-aliasing samples. A higher

value increases visual quality but decreases performance.

Verbose = 0|1 Specifies whether to enable detailed output in the Events viewer.

4 Preparing Atoll to Use the 3D Viewer

To render a 3D view of your network, the 3D Viewer requires that your Atoll document contains the following
geographic data:
 Digital Terrain Model: DTM data is required to render the terrain elevation surface. If no DTM data is available
in your document then the terrain is rendered as a flat surface.
 Online Maps: Select and configure Online Maps in the Geo explorer to apply the map texture to the ground
layer. For more information on configuring online maps, such as OpenStreetMaps or Bing, see the Atoll User
Manual.
 Buildings and Vegetation: Building and vegetation vector data must be located in specific folders named
Buildings and Vegetation. A Foliage folder must be contained in the Vegetation folder.
Only geographic data that is selected in the Geo explorer is rendered in the 3D Viewer, except for DTM data, which
is always used to render the terrain elevation.

 The 3D Viewer does not support geo data that is embedded in the Atoll document.
DTM and vector files must be linked externally. For more information about
managing geo data, see the Atoll User Manual.

To set up the folders for buildings and vegetation vector layers:

1. In the Geo explorer, right-click a blank area, select New Folder for Vectors and Images, and name the folder
Buildings.
2. Right-click a blank area and select New Folder for Vectors and Images, and name the folder Vegetation.
3. Right-click the Vegetation folder and select New Folder for Vectors and Images, and name the folder Foliage.
The Foliage folder must be contained in the Vegetation folder.
4. Click File > Import to import the vector data into Atoll.
5. Select the vector data file and click OK. The Import Vector dialog box opens.
In the Import Vector dialog, under Import to, select the Buildings or Foliage folder. Do not select Embed in document.

 Only common coordinate systems are currently supported. If you are using a
coordinate system that is not supported by GDAL (Geospatial Data Abstraction
Library), contact the Forsk support team.

6. Click OK to import the vector data. Repeat from step 5 as necessary.

4 © 2019 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

AD085 3D Viewer 1.2 User Manual

For more information on importing vector data, see the Atoll User Manual.

5 Using the 3D Viewer

The 3D Viewer renders a view of your network in the 3D Viewer window, which is separate from Atoll. You can keep
on working in Atoll with the 3D Viewer window open. However, any changes that you make in Atoll are not
automatically updated in the 3D Viewer. To refresh the view in the 3D Viewer, you must close and reopen the 3D
Viewer window.
The 3D Viewer renders the portion of your map that is specified by the Geographic Export Zone. If no Geographic
Export Zone is selected, an error message is displayed.

 It is strongly recommended to connect display devices to your computer before

using the 3D Viewer.

Figure 1: : 3D Viewer window

To open the 3D Viewer.

1. In Atoll, create and select a geographic export zone. For more information on creating zones, see the Atoll User
Manual.
2. In the Geo explorer, select the layers from the following folders that you want to render in the 3D view:
 Buildings
 Vegetation
 Online Maps
3. In the Network explorer, select any predictions that you want to render in the 3D view. For "by transmitter"
predictions, you can also select individual transmitters or transmitter groups.
Sites and transmitters are always displayed.
4. In the toolbar, click 3D Viewer ( ). The 3D Viewer window opens.
5. Use the following controls to navigate inside the 3D Viewer window:
 To zoom in and out, use the mouse scroll wheel.
 To change the viewing angle, press the middle mouse button (or scroll wheel) and move the mouse.

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3D Viewer 1.2 User Manual

 To scroll around the map, press the left mouse button and move the mouse.
6. To refresh the 3D Viewer window, click 3D Viewer ( ) again in the Atoll toolbar.

6 © 2019 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

AD085 3D Viewer 1.2 User Manual

© 2019 Forsk. All Rights Reserved. 7

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AD085 www.forsk.com March 2019