Split-FX User's Manual: Software Version 2.1

Split-FX® User's Manual
Software Version 2.1
Developed By:
Split Engineering LLC

110 S. Church Avenue, Suite #8312
Tucson, Arizona, USA 85701
Phone: 520-327-3773
Fax: 520-326-7532
www.spliteng.com
Copyright © Split Engineering LLC 2011. All rights reserved.

Split-FX is the registered trademark of Split Engineering, LLC.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ................................................................................. 1
SPLIT-FX WORKING ENVIRONMENT ................................................................ 2

LICENSING ................................................................................................................. 2
USER INTERFACE ...................................................................................................... 2
REGION WINDOW ...................................................................................................... 3
STEREONET WINDOW .............................................................................................. 7
CONCEPTS .......................................................................................................... 9
MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENTS (used to create 2D and 3D input data):.................. 9
TYPES OF DATA INPUT: ............................................................................................ 9
PREVALENT TERMS IN SPLIT-FX: ............................................................................ 9
INITIATING A SPLIT-FX WORK SESSION ....................................................... 10

OPENING FILES AND/OR REGIONS........................................................................ 10
OPENING REGIONS ................................................................................................. 10
OPENING EXISTING FILES ...................................................................................... 11
ADDING FILES TO A REGION .................................................................................. 17
ADDING SETS TO A REGION .................................................................................. 18
SPLIT-FX TOOLS............................................................................................... 19
DATA FORMAT OPTIONS ........................................................................................ 19
EXPORTING DATA ................................................................................................... 20
PERFORMANCE TOOL ............................................................................................ 23
OPENGL DISPLAY FORMAT TOOL ......................................................................... 24
WORKING WITH POINT CLOUDS .................................................................... 26

POINT CLOUD PROPERTIES................................................................................... 26
POINT CLOUD VIEWING .......................................................................................... 27
Moving the Cloud ....................................................................................................................28
Changing the Cloud View ........................................................................................................28
Storing Views...........................................................................................................................29
Perspective Projection View ....................................................................................................30
POINT CLOUD EDITING ........................................................................................... 30
Selecting Objects ....................................................................................................................30
Object Selectability ..................................................................................................................31
Object Colors ...........................................................................................................................32
Object Visibility ........................................................................................................................34
Object Transparency ...............................................................................................................34
Inserting Objects .....................................................................................................................35
Deleting Selected Objects .......................................................................................................37
Undo and Redo Operations.....................................................................................................37
GEOREFERENCING A POINT CLOUD..................................................................... 37
Orient By Current View............................................................................................................37
Orient By Scanner Position .....................................................................................................38
Orient Current Selection ..........................................................................................................40
Orientation By One, Two or Three Markers ............................................................................41
CREATING A MESH .................................................................................................. 42
FINDING PATCHES .................................................................................................. 46
ADDING 3D FRACTURE TRACES ............................................................................ 49
CROSS SECTIONS ................................................................................................... 49
EXPORTING CROSS SECTION DATA ..................................................................... 55
POINT CLOUD MEASUREMENT TOOLS ................................................................. 55
EXPORTING CLOUD DATA ...................................................................................... 58
IMAGE DRAPING ...................................................................................................... 60
Assigning the draped image ....................................................................................................60
Adjusting the draped image’s location ....................................................................................62
SHOWING DRAPED 2D TRACES ON POINT CLOUDS ........................................... 65
CHANGE DETECTION .............................................................................................. 66
Aligning the clouds ..................................................................................................................66
Diagnostic Information .............................................................................................................67
Interpreting the Difference Cloud ............................................................................................68
WORKING WITH IMAGES ................................................................................. 72

IMAGE PROPERTIES ............................................................................................... 72
IMAGE VIEWING ....................................................................................................... 73
MOVING AN IMAGE .................................................................................................. 74
IMAGE EDITING ........................................................................................................ 75
Selecting Objects ....................................................................................................................75
Object Selectability ..................................................................................................................75
Object Visibility ........................................................................................................................76
Colors ......................................................................................................................................76
Inserting Objects .....................................................................................................................76
Modifying Objects ....................................................................................................................78
Setting a Region of Interest .....................................................................................................79
Cropping an image ..................................................................................................................79
IMAGE PROCESSING............................................................................................... 79
DELINEATING TRACES ............................................................................................ 81
TRACE SETS AND MODIFYING TRACE SETS ........................................................ 84
EXPORTING IMAGE DATA ....................................................................................... 89
WORKING WITH STEREONETS ....................................................................... 90

STEREONET PROPERTIES ..................................................................................... 91
Stereonet Style ........................................................................................................................92
Patch Display...........................................................................................................................93
Sets .........................................................................................................................................94
Stereonet Contouring ..............................................................................................................95
SETS ......................................................................................................................... 97
Inserting a Set .........................................................................................................................97
Editing a Set ............................................................................................................................98
STEREONET EDITING.............................................................................................. 99
Selecting Items ........................................................................................................................99
Adjusting the Stereonet View ..................................................................................................99
WORKING WITH TEXT FILES ......................................................................... 100
INDEX ............................................................................................................... 101

Introduction
®
Split-FX is a software tool for visualizing, exploring, and managing two and three dimensional rock
mass data acquired by laser scanning and digital imaging technologies for the purposes of
extracting and analyzing discontinuity data. Typically, such data contains a collection of 2D images
and/or 3D point clouds. This software tool allows you to load, manage, and analyze as many
corresponding clouds and/or images as needed.
Split-FX addresses the need for a more efficient method of collecting and determining rock mass
discontinuity information.
The benefits and advantages of this software tool include:
• Reduced field time and hand mapping.

• The ability to extract data from inaccessible areas.
• Rapid data processing.
• Development of a more comprehensive database of discontinuity information.
• Interactive stereonet display and statistical analysis.
• Concurrent or stand-alone 2D and 3D image analysis.
• Advanced surface modeling.
• Fully CAD compatible 3D surface models.
• Split Engineering support.
System Requirements
MINIMAL CONFIGURATION:
Processor: 500 MHz Pentium II

RAM: 256 MB
Video Card: OpenGL compatible
Operating System: Windows 2000, Windows 98, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7,
Windows Vista 64-bit, Windows 7 64-bit, Windows Server 2008 64-bit
Mouse: Three buttons
OPTIMAL CONFIGURATION:
Processor: 2+ GHz Pentium P4

RAM: 1+ GB
Video Card: OpenGL compatible with 64 MB memory
Operating System: Windows 2000 Pro, Windows XP, Windows 98, Windows Vista
Mouse: Three buttons
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Split-FX Working Environment
LICENSING
Split-FX runs under one of three different types of licenses:

• Fully licensed – requires a protection key (dongle) supplied by Split Engineering.
• Demo license – A limited time but fully functional license. The Academic license and the
Split-FX short-term rental licenses are Demo licenses that are activated for a specific time
limit.
• Viewer license – A read-only license that permits you to open and view existing Split-FX
projects, but you cannot make changes to the projects or save them
If you have not purchased a full licensed version of Split-FX, you will see the message box each
time you run the program. To request a limited time demo from Split Engineering, follow the
download link from the website at http://www.spliteng.com/split-fx, and follow the instructions on
that form to submit the Demo request code. When your demo expires you can still use Split-FX
under the Viewer license.
Running an unregistered copy of Split-FX
USER INTERFACE
When Split-FX is started the main window appears with a basic menu bar consisting of the following
options:
File: The standard menu containing Open, Close, Exit, and other file and program related
commands.
View: Used to access the Info Window and set the Tool Bar and Status Bar options.
Tools: Used to access Data Format tools and Performance Test.
Window: Used to organize the user interface.
Help: Accesses the Split-FX Help file.
The main window also contains a toolbar. The toolbar contains three active icons. The active icons
and their associated commands are:
Create a new region
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Open an existing file
Open the Help file.
Main Window View
REGION WINDOW
The region window appears when either a new or existing region is opened or when a point cloud,
image, or fracture file is opened. This window is used for organizing data hierarchically in a tree.
The tree appears along the left side of the window.
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Region Window and Tree
The tree is populated by adding image files, point cloud files, or sets to the region. Correspondingly
the main tree is subdivided into sub-trees called Images, Clouds, Sets and Text files.
Main Tree View With Sub-Trees
Each of the sub-trees is used to organize the three types of data that can be found in an FX region.
Individual images, point clouds, and sets are assigned to the sub-trees. A red asterisk ( ) is used
to indicate the active file and image and cloud files can be expanded to show additional information.
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Region Window with Expanded Tree
When an individual image or cloud is selected the menu bar expands. When an image is selected
the menu bar includes the following options:
Edit: Access to operations such as undo, redo, cut, copy, paste, select, and mouse mode
Region: Add existing files (images and clouds), new clouds, and new sets to the active
region or display a stereonet view
Image: Access visual display, image processing, and data analysis tools
Image Processing: Access additional image processing functions and filters
Insert: Options for manually adding traces and scaling the image
When a point cloud is selected the menu bar includes the following menus:
Point Cloud: Access options for visual display settings, filters, mesh creation, patch
finding, geo-referencing, and cloud properties.
Orientation: Tools for orienting the view of the cloud within the region space as well as for
orienting the cloud data according to a geographic coordinate system.
Insert: Access commands for inserting geometric objects into a cloud.
The toolbar also expands when individual images and clouds are selected.
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Image selection results in the appearance of the following tools on the toolbar:
Display delineated traces
Show scale
Make traces selectable
Make scales selectable
Measure distance
Measure area
Clear measurements
Display image color options command dialog
Toggle between mouse modes.
Selection of a point cloud adds the following tools to the toolbar:
Display points
Display patches
Display markers
Display lines
Display polygons
Display cross sections
Show draped image overlay
Show overlay traces
Show overlay reference image
Show draping pins
Display mesh
Display bounding box
Display coordinate axes
Display instrument (scanner) location
Make points selectable
Make patches selectable
Make markers selectable
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Make lines selectable
Make polygons selectable
Make cross sections selectable
Make draping pins selectable
Measure distance
Measure volume
Clear measurements
Display point cloud color options command dialog
Toggle between mouse modes.
STEREONET WINDOW
The stereonet window appears when a stereonet view is enabled within the active region. The
stereonet window displays a stereonet consisting of discontinuity measurements. The stereonet
can include data from none, one, or all clouds contained in a region.
When viewing a stereonet the menu bar includes the following options:
• Stereonet: Options for data selectability, inserting sets, defining stereonet and set properties
• Insert: Turns on the insert set option.
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Stereonet View
In stereonet view additional toolbar options include:
Insert new set
Make sets selectable
Make poles selectable.
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Concepts
MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENTS (used to create 2D and 3D input data):
o 2D Digital Camera – A digital device used to collect an image of a physical scene. The visual
information collected typically stored in tiff or jpeg form.
o 3D Laser Scanner – A device that is used to collect three dimensional geometric data. The
data is a collection of 3D coordinates and typically includes intensity or color information about
objects present in the 3D scene. The data set is referred to as a point cloud and can be stored
in a number of ways. Scanning is the process of using a laser scanner to collect 3D data.
TYPES OF DATA INPUT:
o Split-FX accepts two dimensional image files with .tiff and .jpeg extensions.
o Split-FX accepts three dimensional data files with .xyz extensions (ASCII point cloud form).
o Split-FX accepts a proprietary file format .fx for “fracture” files (a collection of point clouds,
images, and/or stereonets).
o Text files with .txt and .dat extensions can also be opened in Split-FX .
PREVALENT TERMS IN SPLIT-FX:
o Region: Split-FX uses a region to logically organize 2D image files, 3D image files, and/or
discontinuity set data.
o Point Cloud/Cloud: A set of 3D points. Each point represents an XYZ coordinate and has a
corresponding intensity value.
o Image: A 2D representation of a physical scene captured by a camera.
o Set: A collection of discontinuities or traces that have been grouped together based on analysis
of the statistical distribution of their orientations.
o Orientation: The position of an object in space relative to a geographic system.
o Mesh: A polygonal surface model of the point cloud data that consists of vertices, edges, and
faces that meet at shared edges.
o Patch: A plane representing a discontinuity surface.
o Trace: A two dimensional lineation of a three dimensional discontinuity surface that appears in
a 2D image.
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Initiating a Split-FX Work Session
OPENING FILES AND/OR REGIONS
In order to initiate work session in Split-FX, as image file, cloud file, fracture file, or new region must
be opened. To open a file or new region:
1. Select File on the menu bar

2. Select either New Region or Open from the drop down menu.
Beginning a Session in Split-FX
OPENING REGIONS
When a session is initiated by opening a new region, a region window appears. The region window
is empty and is given a default name of Fx1. The main window title bar indicates the addition of a
region window. When only one region is open, the tile bar reads Fx – Fx1. When multiple regions
are open, the title bar indicates which one is active.
Regions can be renamed by saving. Regions are saved as fracture files (.fx). To save a region for
the first time:
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2. Select Save Region As on the drop down menu
3. Navigate to where the file is to be located
4. Type a name for the file. Split-FX automatically assigns the .fx extension to this file.
5. Click Save.
Multiple Regions
OPENING EXISTING FILES
Split-FX supports the following file formats:
FX: The native Split-FX format, contains one region including images, point clouds, sets
and text data.
XYZ: An ASCII point cloud file containing a list of xyz coordinates and a corresponding
intensity value in a pre-defined format that define point cloud points.
Freeform ASCII – ASCII point cloud file containing the xyz coordinates of point cloud
points, plus optional intensity and/or color data.
FXC - Split-FX 3D Command file, contains instructions for drawing geometry primitives
such as points and lines.
JPG (JPEG): JPEG image.
TIF (TIFF): Image in Tagged Image File Format.
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Text Files – An ASCII file containing text, with a .txt or .dat extension.
PTS – 3D point information generated from Point Gray Research stereo camera software.
To open an existing file:
1. Select File from the menu bar

2. Select Open from the drop down menu
3. In the File Open dialog box select the folder that contains the file
4. Select the type of file to open
5. Select the file and click Open.
Opening Supported Files
When a data file (image, point cloud or text file) is opened, it is assigned to an empty region and a
region window containing the file is automatically opened. The region is given a default name that
corresponds to the file name. The left side of the region window consists of a tree indicating the
image and/or cloud files contained in the region. The
When a fracture file is opened the region appears and the tree lists the image, cloud, and set data
associated with the region. Again the region name corresponds with the fracture file name. A red
asterisk ( ) is used to indicate the active file and image and cloud files can be expanded to show
additional information.
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Region View after Opening a Point Cloud File
Region View after Opening a Fracture File
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OPENING ASCII POINT CLOUD FILES
The fields in ASCII point cloud files can be ordered in unpredictable ways so Split-FX includes a
tool for parsing point cloud data from text files in any order. To use the tool, select the Files of type
field to be Specify format of ASCII file as shown below.
It is assumed that each line in the file describes one point in the point cloud. If that is not the case
then you cannot read the file with this tool. In addition, the data for each point must include at least
the X, Y, and Z coordinates of the point. Intensity (or color) information about the points is optional.
When you select Open Split-FX will read the first few lines from the file and present them to you in
the top section of dialog box below. In most cases, Split-FX can determine how the fields in the file
are separated (e.g. by commas, tabs or something else) from the context of the data in the file. The
Fields are separated by: value shows you the separator. In the example below, Split-FX is using
and whitespace to tell where one field ends and the next begins. You can change the separator
value if Split-FX was not able to detect it correctly.
Some text files include one or more lines of non-point information at the top, such as column
headers or a description of the file contents. You can skip over these lines by checking the Skip the
first … lines option. For really large files that might exceed the capacity of your computer, you can
limit the number of points read from the file by checking the Read no more than … lines option and
filling in the appropriate maximum number of lines.
The bottom part of the dialog lists each field, showing the actual value of the field from the first line
of the file in the Sample column. The Content column is where you instruct Split-FX how to interpret
the data in that column. In the example below, the first two columns are simply ignored; the third
column is the X value of point cloud data, the fourth column is the Y value and the sixth column is
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the Z value. The fifth column is the intensity, and all other columns are ignored.
Split-FX’s interpretation of the fields in a text file
To change the content of a column, double-click on the field’s content column and the Define Field
dialog will appear, as shown below. Select one of the content items from the dropdown list:
• Ignored – the field will not be used
• X,Y, or Z – the field defines part of the location of the point
• Intensity – the field defines the grayscale intensity of the point
• Red, Green or Blue – the field defines color information about the point
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Redefine the content of a field
To ensure that no item of content (for example, the X value) is defined in more than one field, only
undefined content items appear in the dropdown list of available Content. In the example above,
the user is defining the content of the third field (currently assigned to X). Because the Y, Z, and
Intensity are already defined in other fields they do not appear in the list. If you wanted to move the
X value from the third field to the second field, in the example above, you would first change the
content of the third field from X to Ignored, and then change the content of the second field from
Ignored to X.
When the content type is one of Intensity, Red, Green or Blue, then you also have the option of
modifying the Intensity range of the content. This tells Split-FX what range of intensities to expect
from the field, which helps the software to automatically adjust the grayscale color of the imported
point cloud data.
Changing the intensity range
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ADDING FILES TO A REGION
There are two ways to add images and point clouds to a new or existing region. Any time a new
image or cloud is added to a region it shows up immediately within the hierarchy of the region tree.
Adding files can be initiated through the File menu:

2. Select Add to region from the drop down menu
3. In the File Open dialog box select the folder that contains the file to add
4. Select the type of file to add
Files can also be added to a region directly from the menu bar:
1. Select Region from the menu bar

2. Select Add existing file from the drop down menu
3. In the File Open dialog box select the folder that contains the file to add
4. Select the type of file to add
Adding Files to a Region
17
The Region menu on the menu bar also gives the options of adding a new point cloud or set. By
selecting Add new cloud a “blank” cloud is added to the tree. The cloud contains no data but can
be populated with geometric objects using the Insert menu or the toolbar options.
ADDING SETS TO A REGION
Sets are added to a region directly from the menu bar by:

2. Select Add new set from the drop down menu.
New sets are displayed immediately within the region tree. New sets are given default names by
Split-FX starting with “Set 0”. Default properties are also assigned by Split-FX.
Adding Sets to a Region
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Split-FX Tools
DATA FORMAT OPTIONS
The Data format options tools commands Split-FX how to display data when outputting data and
when object parameters/properties are shown in the info window, and can be used to instruct
Split-FX how to interpret data. The Data format options dialog is accessed by:
1. Select Tools on the menu bar

2. Select Data format options from the drop down menu.
Data Format Options Dialog
Point cloud data can be displayed as either x,y,z data or as northing, easting, and elevation data.
The dialog box can also be used to set the number of decimal points for which data can be shown
to.
3D angles can be displayed in a number of ways and, in applicable cases, can be defined as
azimuths or bearings. The angle options are:
Vector format (i, j, k)

Direction, dip
Dip, Direction
Strike, Dip
Dip, Strike
Direction, Zenith
Zenith, Direction
Direction, % Slope
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%Slope, Direction
Trend, Plunge
Plunge, Trend
Inclinations can be displayed as dips, zeniths, or as percentages of slope (i.e., a grade).
EXPORTING DATA
Data from point clouds, images, and cross sections can be exported into formatted ASCII output.
The output goes into a text window in Split-FX, and from there you can save or print the text data as
you would any other text file.
The documentation for each of the three exportable objects describes which kinds of data they can
export, so in this section we describe the aspects of exporting data that are common to all three
objects. For the examples we’ll use a point cloud, but the methods discussed here are the same for
an image and for a cross section.
Bring the item’s window to the forefront and from the menu select File | Export Cloud Data… (or
Export Image Data… or Export Section Data…). The Format Output dialog appears, as shown
here.
Exporting Data – The Format Output Dialog
The first tab on the dialog is Format Page. Here, under Exported Item, you select exactly one
exported item from the object. In this point cloud example, the exportable item Points is selected.
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Having selected an item under Exported Item, the properties of that type if item than can be
exported are listed under Item Properties. In the example above, under Item Properties we see
the five elements of a point than can be exported:
• FormattedLocationPoint
• Location.x
• Location.y
• Location.z
• Intensity
Select any of the Item Properties and press the Add>>> button to add the element to the Format
String. The Add>>> button inserts the selected property into the Format String at the cursor
location, or at the end of the string if the cursor is not currently blinking in the box. Each property
that gets added to the string is enclosed in [square brackets] and colored blue. Note that you are
free to manually edit the format string, including adding item properties within brackets, however it’s
much easier to use the Add>>> button and let the computer handle the formatting.
The Preview panel shows a few lines of example output, using actual values from the point cloud
(or image or cross section). There must be data in the point cloud that matches the Exported Item
or the preview will be blank.
In the example above, the user has added one property to the format string. Below, he has added a
second item, and manually entered additional text into the Format String box. You can type any
printable text into the Format String box, and to add a tab character or carriage return/line feed,
place the cursor in the format string and press the Add tab or Add CR/LF buttons.
A more complex Format String
Click the Add Column Header box to generate an automatic header above each column of data. In
the next example below, three item properties are displayed beneath a column header. Notice that
spacing is only approximate, as it’s difficult to predict the required width of each field.
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Using a Column Header
By default, all of the Exported Items in the object are written out. However you can limit the output
by selecting one or more of the items and checking the box Output Selection.
To add a title to the top of the exported data, select the Format Title tab as shown below. You can
type any printable text into the Title Format String box, and you can use the Add>>>, Add tab, and
Add CR/LF buttons as explained above. In the example below, the user has added three automatic
fields plus some of his own text.
Format Title Page
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An example of exported data is shown here.
Example of Exported Data Output
Split-FX will remember the previously used format of your exported data. If you have more than one
format, you may want to save them to the disk with the Load and Save buttons, available on both
tabs of the dialog. The Clear All button will reset the format.
PERFORMANCE TOOL
The performance tool executes a series of tests to determine optimum settings for data analysis.
On multi-processor computers this includes a test for the best way to utilize the multiple processors.
To execute the test, close any open region windows and select Tools | Performance Test from the
menu.
The performance test can take several minutes to execute, during which time Windows may say
that Split-FX is not responding. You can ignore this message. For the best results, close down all
other programs before running the test, and do not interact with the computer while the test is
running. When the test is completed select Yes to save the results. Split-FX is now optimized for
your specific computer.
Administrator Privileges Required
This test requires that the user account has administrator privileges. On Windows Vista, this means
when you execute Spilt-FX you need to Run as administrator. Typically, you can right-click on the
Split-FX icon and select Run as administrator from the popup menu.
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OPENGL DISPLAY FORMAT TOOL
This tool is used to fine tune the graphics hardware on your computer for the best display results. It
should only be used if you notice problems with the point cloud display in Split-FX. To execute the
tool, select Tools | OpenGL display formats from the menu.
OpenGL Display Format Tool
The tool displays a list of all possible pixel display formats on your graphics hardware. The columns
are explained below:
Index The display format’s identifier
Compatible Yes when the format is compatible with the current Windows display settings
and with the Split-FX display requirements
Bpp Bits per pixel
Depth Bits in the depth buffer. When the depth is 0, objects will not be drawn correctly in
Split-FX
Color Type Either RGBA or Indexed. RGBA is almost always the best option.
Acceleration One of ICD, MCD, or Software. Both ICD and MCD use hardware
acceleration on your graphics card, while Software is a generic display that does not use
hardware acceleration.
Buffer Single or Double. Split-FX requires double.
GDI Drawing Yes when the format supports interactive drawing on the 3D scene. Some
displays have trouble drawing polygon outlines, for example, when this setting in No.
OpenGL Yes when the format is OpenGL compatible. Split-FX requires Yes.
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Window Yes when the format can be used for drawing in windows. Split-FX requires Yes.
Bitmap Yes when the format can be used for drawing bitmaps.
The currently selected format is shown with an * asterisk. The standard format used by Split-FX is
shown in [brackets]. Unless you are experiencing drawing or display problems you should make the
standard format the selected format.
The three checkboxes let you filter the list of pixel formats. Check Show hardware accelerated to
display hardware accelerated formats. Check Show generic to display formats that are not
hardware accelerated. Check Show window-incompatible formats to display formats that cannot
be used with Split-FX.
When Should I Use This Tool?
If your point cloud display is slow or suffers from other rendering problems, often the problem can
be solved by switching to a non-hardware accelerated display format. Uncheck the Show
hardware accelerated box to filter out hardware-accelerated formats and pick one of the generic
formats. If there are many to pick from, select one with a Depth buffer of at least 24 bits, and one
that has GDI Drawing enabled, if possible.
If your display misbehaves while constructing lines or outlines, such as when inserting a polygon,
select a format that has GDI Drawing enabled. It is possible that you may have to use trial and error
to find a pixel format that gives the desired results at all times.
Administrator Privileges Required
This test requires that the user account has administrator privileges. On Windows Vista, this means
when you execute Spilt-FX you need to Run as administrator. Typically, you can right-click on the
Split-FX icon and select Run as administrator from the popup menu.
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Working with Point Clouds
Point clouds are viewed within regions. If a point cloud is the only data source present in a region
then only that cloud is selectable; when part of a region, along with images and sets, a cloud must
be selected in order to be viewed. Double-clicking on a cloud with the mouse displays the point
cloud in a region’s main window and activates the point cloud menu and tool bar.
POINT CLOUD PROPERTIES
By default the cloud’s name is the file name and the units of measurement are meters. These
properties can be edited right clicking on the cloud and selecting Cloud Properties or by:
1. Select Point Cloud on the menu bar.

2. Select Cloud Properties on the drop down menu.
3. Entering a Name for the cloud.
4. Selecting the Units of measurement represented by the cloud data (units supported
include meters, centimeters, millimeters, feet, and inches).
5. Add any additional Comments in the comment box.
Cloud Properties Dialog
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POINT CLOUD VIEWING
By default, when the cloud is selected it is viewed in plane view from the “top”. The “top” is defined
as looking down the z axis (-z axis) where z is the vertical axis of the xyz coordinate system. From
a geographic standpoint the Split-FX [x, y, z] coordinate system is equivalent to [North, East,
Elevation]. Any time a cloud is selected the view is returned to the –z axis orientation.
Initially all the points within the cloud are viewable as is the location of the instrument (i.e., laser
scanner) used to collect the 3D data. Additionally, objects that can be “added” to the cloud to make
viewing more informative are the coordinate axes and a bounding box. The coordinate axes give
an invariable indication of the orientation of the cloud view and the bounding box specifies the
perimeter inside which all individual xyz point measurements fall.
Start-Up View of a Cloud
27
Cloud View with Coordinate Axes and Bounding Box
Moving the Cloud

The mouse mode at start-up is Mouse Transforms (CTRL+T). Mouse Transforms enables the
mouse to zoom, pan, rotate, and move the point cloud within the window (when a three button
mouse is used). Dragging the mouse while holding down the left button moves the cloud vertically
and horizontally within the window. Dragging the mouse while holding down the right button rotates
the cloud around its vertical or horizontal axes. If the mouse has a wheel it can be used to pan and
zoom. Moving the wheel forward zooms in while moving the wheel backward pans out. The cursor
has the following form when in Mouse Transforms mode:
Mouse Cursor in Transforms Mode
Changing the Cloud View

In addition to using the mouse to change the view point of the cloud, there are several built-in hot
keys for switching to convenient and alternate views. There is also a command for storing selected
views deemed useful (and ones that may be difficult to reproduce exactly with the mouse).
The hot keys can be founding the drop down menu of the Orientation on the menu bar. They can
also be found by:
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1. Select Point Cloud on the menu bar
2. Select Orientation on the drop down menu.
The hot keys for switching to alternate views of the point cloud are shown in the Orientation menu.
Cloud View Options and Associated Hot Keys
Other view options in the Orientation menu include Reset, which transforms the cloud to the most
recent view, and Reverse, which transforms the view to the opposite of the current view.
Storing Views
Views that are found to be useful can be stored by using the Stored view command. The command
dialog is accessed by:
1. Select Orientation on the menu bar

2. Select Stored from the drop down menu.
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Stored View Orientations Dialog
To store the current view click Add Current. A small dialog box pops up asking for a view name.
Enter a name and click Enter. The view is then stored along with a list of parameters. The
parameters include:
Eye Position
Target
Up Vector
Zoom
To transform the cloud to a stored view, double click the name of the desired view in the list.
Perspective Projection View

Another useful cloud view is the perspective projection view. A perspective viewing projection has
a Eye Position at a finite distance from the projection plane and thus offers a more realistic view
since distant objects appear smaller. To switch to the perspective projection view left click on the
cloud and select Perspective projection or (to turn off the Perspective Projection view follow the
same procedure):
1. Select View from the menu bar

2. Select Perspective Projection.
POINT CLOUD EDITING
Basic cloud editing tools are available for selecting objects, deleting and inserting geometric
objects, and changing the visual display.
Selecting Objects
In order to select objects within the cloud using the mouse, the mouse must be in Mouse selects
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(CTRL+E) mode. Mouse selects mode can be turned on using the hot key, by using the tool bar
icons, or by:
1. Select Edit from the menu bar

2. Select Mouse selects from the drop down menu.
When in Mouse selects mode the cursor has the following form:
Cursor in Mouse Selects Mode
There are two methods for selecting objects when in Mouse selects mode: holding down the left
mouse button while dragging the mouse initiates a rectangular bounding box while clicking the left
mouse button once initiates a polygonal bounding tool. Line segments are added to the polygonal
shape by clicking on the left mouse button and the polygon is closed by clicking the right mouse
button.
Objects can also be selected using the Edit menu. All (selectable) objects can be selected using
Select All (CTRL+A) on the drop down Edit menu. In conjunction with Mouse select, Invert
Selection (CTRL+I) can be used to select all (selectable) objects not previously highlighted using
Mouse select.
Selections can be cleared using Clear Selection (CTRL+L) on the Edit drop down menu.
When objects are selected they are either highlighted by color or tagged with colored “selection
marks”. Points are highlighted by color while all other geometric objects are tagged with colored
rectangular marks.
Object Selectability
For objects to be selected, they must be “selectable”. Selectable objects include:
Points
Patches
Markers
Draping pins
Lines
Polygons
Cross sections
Each of these objects can be made selectable (or not) using their tool bar icons. A separate
Selectability dialog is also available. It is accessed by:

2. Select Selectability on the drop down menu
3. Click the check box to turn on/off an object’s selectability.
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Object Selectability Options
Object Colors
Object color can be changed by first selecting one or more geometric objects (markers, lines,
patches and polygons) and selecting the icons on the tool bar or by:
2. Select Colors… on the drop down menu
3. Click the check box to make an object visible or invisible.
4. Modify the color of selected objects at the option Set all selected items to this color
Object and window colors can be selected from a basic color bar or can be user defined. To
change the color settings of an item click on the button next to it. A color chart with basic colors and
custom coloring capabilities pops up. Select the desired color by clicking on a color or by entering
known RGB (Red, Green, and Blue) and Hue, Saturation, and Luminance values then click on OK.
A custom color can be saved by clicking on Add Custom Colors before clicking OK.
The Cloud Colors dialog also includes an option for defining the display settings of individual xyz
points. The color display settings of individual points are based on their intensity values. Point
cloud intensity color can be displayed using either standard grayscale or by using lookup tables
provided by Split-FX. Select the desired option by clicking on the corresponding circle. When
Lookup Table is selected, click on the button to bring up the File Open dialog. The File Open
dialog is used to set the path for locating lookup table (.lut) files.
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Cloud Colors Dialog
Color Bar and Custom Color Dialog
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Object Visibility
Objects can be made visible (and invisible) by selecting the icons on the tool bar or by:

2. Select Visibility on the drop down menu
Object Visibility Dialog
Object Transparency
Three kinds of point cloud object have optional transparency control:

• Polygons
• Patches
• Draping overlay reference surface
To modify transparency, select the menu option Point Cloud | Transparency… and you will see
the dialog shown below.
Transparency Dialog
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Transparent patches and polygons are drawn as solid outlines. While you can set transparency
independently for either patches or polygons, you cannot change the transparency of only selected
items. This means that if any patches transparent then all patches must be transparent, and the
same holds true for polygons.
The draping reference transparency can be adjusted to 16 levels of translucency, from totally
transparent to opaque. Making it translucent can help when aligning the draped image onto the
point cloud (see page Error! Bookmark not defined.).
Inserting Objects
Geometric objects that can be inserted into a cloud include:
Points
Patch
Markers (points tagged with a name for referencing)
Lines
Polygons
Traces
To insert an object into a cloud select Insert on the menu bar then select the object to be inserted
from the drop down menu.
Points, markers, and lines are inserted in a similar manner. The objects can be inserted either
using the mouse or by typing coordinates in a text box that refer to the point/marker location or the
end points of the line. When Insert at this location is selected, coordinates are typed into the text
box. The coordinate data must be entered in delimited form (i.e., comma, space, tab). After typing
in the coordinates click OK.
When the mouse is used to digitize one or more locations, points are projected onto the view
plane. After selecting the digitize mode, click OK in the dialog box. In digitize mode one or more
points/markers are inserted by clicking on the left mouse button in the desired locations. Clicking
the right button will terminate Insert. Line end-points are inserted in the same manner using the left
mouse button but Insert mode is terminated as soon as the second end-point is digitized with a left
click.
Markers and lines can be given names. The names are entered in Marker/Line Name text box at
the top of each dialog box.
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Inserting Points
Inserting Markers
Inserting Lines
Polygons can only be inserted using the mouse. Again, digitized points are placed in the view
plane by clicking the left mouse button. For polygons, type a name in the text box and then click
OK. Use the left mouse button to draw line segments. The polygon is closed by clicking the right
mouse button. Split-FX will automatically close the polygon.
Choosing Insert patches does not call up a dialog box. Patches are best-fit planes of point cloud
data (i.e., point measurements). To insert a patch the patch polygon must be inserted across an
area that, as represented by points, is fairly planar. Inserting patches is affected by Filter settings
used to clean up noisy points and patches. The Filter settings dialog can be found on the Point
Cloud drop down menu. As with polygons, patches are inserted using the left mouse button to
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draw line segments and the right mouse button to close the patch.
Inserting Polygons
Deleting Selected Objects

Selected objects can be deleted by pressing Delete on the keyboard, by selecting Cut (CTRL+X)
on the Edit drop down menu, or by selecting Delete on the Edit drop down menu.
Undo and Redo Operations

When an operation (i.e., delete, select, change view, etc.) is performed inadvertently the situation
can be rectified using Undo (CTRl+Z). If a process is to be repeated Redo (CTRL+Y) can be used.
Both of these commands can be accessed on the Edit drop down menu.
GEOREFERENCING A POINT CLOUD
Discontinuity orientation measurements (i.e., dip, dip direction, strike, etc.) are made relative to the
horizontal plane defined by North-East. In order to extract discontinuity measurements from a point
cloud the cloud must be, at a minimum, geographically aligned.
Split-FX contains various methods for georeferencing a point cloud either simply relative to
North-East or to a more specific geodetic system. The orientation options are accessed by one of
two ways:
1. Select Orientation on the menu bar (or Point Cloud Orientation)

2. Select Orient by current view, Orient by scanner position, Orient selection, One
marker, Two markers, Three markers.
Orient By Current View

To orient the cloud using the current view, assign the eye vector of the cloud to the instrument axis,
or the positive/negative x, y, or z axis using the drop down box. Next, assign the current up vector
to the instrument axis, or the positive/negative x, y, or z axis using the corresponding drop down
box and click OK.
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Orient by Current View
Orient By Scanner Position

If the scanner position in the field, during point cloud data collection, is known, it can be used to
orient the cloud. The scanner’s position is defined by the bearing or direction of its line of sight, its
inclination in the direction of the line of sight, and its inclination perpendicular to the line of sight.
Split-FX assumes the y axis corresponds to the line of sight of the scanner and that the y axis, by
default, is aligned with true North. Therefore, a true bearing of the scanner’s line of sight in the field
can be used to align the cloud relative to North. Likewise, its inclination can be used to align the
cloud relative to horizontal.
Orient by Scanner Location
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The bearing or direction of the scanner’s line-of-sight (y axis) is entered in the dialog box as a trend
(azimuth measured clockwise from North). The inclination of the scanner in the direction of its
line-of-sight is measured in a clockwise direction from horizontal, or as a plunge (no plunge is 0).
When the scanner is inclined “upwards” or has a negative plunge in the y direction, the scanner is
considered to be plunging backward and Back must be selected. The plunge of the x axis or the
horizontal axis perpendicular to the line-of-sight is entered accordingly. In this case an “upward” or
negative plunge requires that the Left button be selected.
An example of how the cloud is transformed in real space is shown below. The first view is of the
cloud prior to orientating; the second is after entering a 45 degree trend for the scanner’s
line-of-sight. Notice how the scanner’s line-of-sight has changed relative to the coordinate axes
(where y (N) is represented by green and x (E) is shown in red).
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Georeferencing a Point Cloud Using Scanner Position
Orient Current Selection

The cloud can be geo-referenced using any singular object (i.e., line, patch, point, polygon, or
marker). If an object has a known orientation or location, the object can be selected, and its known
location or orientation can be used to transform the cloud. When an objected is selected in order to
transform the cloud the following dialog appears:
Orient Selection Dialog
Clouds are geo-referenced using objects either by translating the centroid of the object to a known
location or rotating it using a known orientation. Typically, points and patches will be used to
translate the cloud (although polygons, lines, and patches can be used if their centroids are
known). When a point or patch is selected for orientation, enter the known centroid coordinates in
the text box next to Translate centroid to. The x, y, z coordinates must be space or comma
delimited. Lines, polygons, and patches can be used to rotate the cloud if their orientation is
40
known. When using a patch or polygon for rotation, enter the known orientation (i.e., dip
direction/dip) in the text box next to Rotate orientation to. Again, the direction/dip or strike/dip
values must be either space or comma delimited.
Spit-FX recognizes lines in point clouds as vectors (where the vector is in the “down” direction).
Polygons and patches are also be used for vector-based orientation. Split-FX uses the polygon’s
and patch’s normal for vector orientations.
Orientation By One, Two or Three Markers

Orientation by markers is for geo-referencing clouds using geodetic survey data. The most robust
of the transforms is the Three Marker orientation, which uses a 7 point transformation to accurately
align a cloud in a known coordinate system.
Orientation by one marker is equivalent to orient by selection when the selected object is a point or
marker. In this instance a single marker with a know coordinate is selected. The known coordinate
is entered (replacing the current coordinate) in the Orient by 1 Marker dialog (with x, y, z being
comma or space delimited).
Orient by One Marker
If two markers are selected for orientation the following dialog appears:
Orient by Two Markers
The known locations or coordinates of the two markers are entered in the text boxes (replacing the
current and displayed coordinates). After the known coordinates are entered and the OK button is
clicked, a transformation error calculation is made by Split-FX and the following dialog pops up:
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Transformation Error Calculation
In order to proceed with the two markers orientation select Yes. If the error is excessive, click the
No button.
When orienting by three markers is selected the following dialog box appears:
Orient by Three Markers
Replace the displayed coordinates with the known coordinates of the three markers (in space or
comma delimited form). Before the transformation is completed a message box will appear (see
above) indicating the amount of error associated with the transformation. If the error falls within
acceptable bounds click Yes to complete the three marker orientation.
CREATING A MESH
A mesh is a polygonal surface model generated using point cloud data. It is essentially
reconstruction of a surface geometry (consisting of lines and points) from densely sampled reality
(xyz points).
Before generating the polygonal model, the point cloud is “structured” and smoothed by imposing a
grid over the cloud (where the grid plane is perpendicular to the scanner’s line of sight). Cell
centers, calculated based on the depth values of the individual points bounded by the cell, are then
used to create the edges and faces of the triangular elements. This method of triangulation
generates an accurate surface model at a low computational cost but makes the mesh somewhat
sensitive to noise (extraneous points).
In order to ensure an accurate and representative surface model, the point cloud needs to be edited
before meshing commences. Extraneous points should be removed from the cloud. Extraneous
points include noise and points representing scanner returns from surfaces of no interest. The rock
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exposure/surface of interest can also be “cleaned” of points resulting from the presence of
vegetation and/or foreign objects. The figures on the following page indicate the breadth of editing
that should take place before attempting to create a mesh.
After editing the cloud, the meshing procedure is initiated by:

2. Select Create mesh on the drop down menu.
Unedited Point Cloud Not Suitable for Meshing
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Edited Point cloud Ready to be Meshed
The following dialog appears:
Mesh Parameters
The spacing of the grid cells controls the size of the cells, the number of points per cell, and the
resultant precision of the polygonal surface model. When a larger spacing is used more point
measurements are used to calculate the cell center and there is an obvious averaging effect that
can “wash out” the actual geometry of the surface.
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The point spacing statistics shown on the dialog are approximations, based on the rectangular area
being meshed and the average point density in that area. If the points are clumped, the statistics
will suffer loss of accuracy. You need at least 3 points per triangle, but to account for uneven
spacing a value of 12 to 16 points per triangle is a reasonable minimum.
After setting the spacing click OK. Split-FX then creates the mesh. The mesh will appear if the
Mesh is viewable (Point Cloud - Visibility or tool bar icon).
Creating a Mesh
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Mesh of the Above Point Cloud
FINDING PATCHES
Patches are planes fit to real discontinuity surfaces present in a cloud. Patches are found first by
grouping neighboring mesh triangles together based on the similarity of their normals, and then by
using least squares to fit a plane through the points bounded by the grouped triangles.
Since the mesh triangles are used for “region growing”, patch finding is sensitive to the mesh
spacing defined during the mesh creation process. Patches can also be sensitive to individual
cloud points since they are used for the least squares fit. Therefore, Split-FX employs
customizable Filters for the removal of noisy points and for the removal of noisy patches. The
filters are customized during the Find patches process.
Once a mesh is created, patches can be found. The patch finding process is initiated by:
1. Select Point Cloud from the menu bar

2. Select Find patches from the drop down menu.
The following dialog appears:
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Find Patches Dialog
If patches have been found previously they can either be deleted when a new patch finding process
is initiated or they can be kept in addition to any new patches found when the parameters are
changed. This is done by clicking on the check box next to Delete existing patches.
The Minimum patch size and Maximum neighbor angle parameters define the size of accepted
patches and the tolerance used to form them. Finding patches is a “region growing” process. The
normal of each individual mesh triangle is compared to its neighbors and if the (angular) difference
is less than that prescribed in the Maximum neighbor angle box, then the triangles are grouped
together. However if the number of triangles with similar normals is less than the given Minimum
patch size the group is thrown out.
When defining the Minimum patch size and the Maximum neighbor angle consideration should
be given to the mesh spacing, the overall resolution of the cloud data, and the actual physical
appearance of the rock exposure. Ten (10) is the default value for each parameter. To change the
default values enter the desired value in each box.
To enable the point and patch filters click on the check box next to either or both of Enable point
filter and Exclude noisy patches. To adjust the amount of filtering click on the slider with the left
mouse button and while continuing to hold the left mouse button down move the slider back and
forth to the desired position.
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Cloud Prior to Patch Finding
48
Patches (found using default parameters)
ADDING 3D FRACTURE TRACES
Fractures that are parallel with the line of sight of the scanner may not expose enough surface area
to be detected as a patch. In this case, you can manually add a line to the point cloud that depicts
the fracture’s exposed trace.
To add a fracture trace, select the menu option Insert | Trace. Before starting the tool, you will
generally you will want to set the point cloud points visible and orient the cloud so that the entire
fracture trace is visible and the line of sight is approximately parallel with the fracture (you are
looking edge-on the fracture). Digitize two or more points that follow the fracture trace across the
point cloud (click down/up on each point, to end hit Enter or right-click).
Split-FX will automatically modify the digitized line to follow the contour of the point cloud, and
calculate a best-fit plane that fits the points along the fracture trace. For best results, include as
much relief as possible in the trace’s digitized outline. A trace that follows a perfectly flat face will
have very little relief, and the quality of the best-fit fracture plane will be limited.
Trace orientations appear on the stereonet, and can be exported as point cloud Trace Plane
information. See the general instructions for exporting data on page 20.
CROSS SECTIONS
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Cross sections show all planar features in a point cloud, including:
• Mesh
• Polygons
• Patches
• Other cross sections
Adding a cross section

1. Orient the cloud as desired. The “up” direction on the cross-section will be pointing out of the
screen toward your eye.
2. Select the menu option ‘Insert | Cross section’
3. Optionally change the name and/or the plane-defining point. The location of the plane is almost
never an issue because the top and bottom of the cross-section are automatically adjusted to show
all data that intercepts the cross-section’s plane.
4. Digitize two or more points (click down/up on each point, to end hit Enter or right-click). The
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“looking” direction of the cross-section is always with the first digitized point on the left. The section
line is inserted into the data as shown here (section A-A’).
5. To view cross sections select ‘View | All cross sections’
To view a single cross section, select the cross section line, right-click over any point on the cross
section and. select ‘Show cross section…’ from the popup menu.
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Cross-section Features
(The descriptive text in white is not part of the cross-section window)
The elevation is a true elevation only when the cross-section is a vertical plane. Otherwise is an
arbitrary distance with zero at the bottom of the section.
Multi-segment cross sections show the looking direction and distance for each segment:
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(The descriptive text in white is not part of the cross-section window)
Cross sections honor the color and visibility settings of the point cloud that they belong to. To
change window or geometry colors or to toggle the visibility of anything shown on a cross section,
select the point cloud window and make the change to the point cloud.
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Print and print-preview of cross sections will automatically use ink-saver mode when the
background of the cross section is dark. In that situation the cross section colors are automatically
adjusted to minimize ink use and maintain high contrast of cross section features. To prevent this
from happening select a background color for the point cloud (which is also used for cross sections)
that is not very dark.
The selectability and visibility of cross sections on the point cloud can be controlled through either
the menu (‘Point Cloud | Selectability…’ and ‘Point Cloud | Visibility…’) or from the toolbar as
shown below. Note that the visibility controls whether the cross section lines are visible on the point
cloud, not whether the cross section windows are visible.
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EXPORTING CROSS SECTION DATA
To export cross section data, click on any cross section window and select File | Export Section
data… from the menu. See the general instructions for exporting data on page 20.
There is only one Exported Item in cross sections: the intercepts. The properties of an intercept
are its coordinate either in 3D space or in the 2D space of the cross section, where the origin (0, 0)
is the lower left corner of the section.
Exporting Cross Section Data
POINT CLOUD MEASUREMENT TOOLS
There are two measurement tools available for point clouds: a distance ruler for measuring linear
distance and a volume calculator for measuring 3 dimensional volume. The results of the tools are
reported in the same units that the point cloud is scaled in.
The results of the measurement tools are not saved along with the point cloud data. They are
temporary annotations placed on the point cloud and disappear when the cloud is closed, or by
clearing them with the menu or toolbar options shown below.
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Remove all measurement scales
Point Cloud Distance

Turn on the measure-distance tool through the menu or toolbar as shown below. Select two points
(click down and up on each point) and a ruler is drawn showing the distance between the two
points.
Turn on the distance measurement tool
To snap one or both of the endpoints to an existing point cloud feature, hold down the Alt key while
clicking to create the point. This will snap the point to the closest vertex of any marker, line or
polygon, or to the centroid of selected point cloud points (note that the selectability of an object
must be turned on for snap to find its vertices).
Because the distance measurement is in three dimensions, be aware that when using the snap
feature the endpoints of the distance ruler might be farther apart than you intended. To be sure, it is
a good idea to rotate the point cloud after inserting a ruler to make sure that the ends of the ruler are
where you meant for them to be.
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Distance measurement in place
Point Cloud Volume

Volumes are measured by drawing a polygonal area which is duplicated to form the top and bottom
of a polygonal volume. After drawing the polygon you can adjust the extents of the volume by
moving the top or bottom polygons toward and away from each other. The top and bottom can only
be moved along the vector.
Turn on the measure-volume tool through the menu or toolbar as shown below. Select three or
more points (click down and up on each point, to end hit Enter or right-click) and two polygons are
drawn showing the enclosed volume: a top and a bottom polygon. The first and last points do not
have to be in the same place because Split-FX will automatically complete the polygon after the
final point.
Turn on the volume measurement tool
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The two polygons are initially spaced an arbitrary distance apart to create the volume; to change
the volume you can move the polygons using the ever-present square grippers (shown green
below). Because the two polygons will initially appear on top of each other, you will need to rotate
the scene to see that there are actually two polygons.
Volume measurement in place
EXPORTING CLOUD DATA
To export point cloud data, click on the region window with the point cloud visible and select File |
Export Cloud data… from the menu. See the general instructions for exporting data on page 20.
The exported items and their properties are explained below.
Mesh Node – the vertices of the cloud’s mesh

Properties
Node Location– node coordinate either as a formatted triplet or as individual x, y,
and z elements
Mesh triangle – triangles that form the cloud’s mesh

Properties
Area– triangle area in cloud units
Normal – either as a formatted triplet or as individual x, y, and z elements
Centroid –either as a formatted triplet or as individual x, y, and z elements
Vertex – each of the three corner vertices, either as a formatted triplet or as
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individual x, y, and z elements
Strike, Dip, DipDirection, Zenith, PctSlope, Trend and Plunge – The
orientation components of the triangle.
Patches – calculated fracture patches in the cloud

Properties
Area – patch area in cloud units
Centroid – either as a formatted triplet or as individual x, y, and z elements
Vertices – formatted coordinate triplets of every vertex
Vertex Count – number of vertices in the patch
orientation components of the patch.
Trace Planes – fracture planes derived from 2D and 3D fracture traces

Properties
TraceRawLength – Straight-line length of the trace
TraceActualLength – Length of the trace after it has been conformed to the point
cloud
Markers – point cloud markers

Properties
Name – user assigned marker name
Location– marker location either as a formatted triplet or as individual x, y, and z
elements
Lines – point cloud lines

Properties
Name – user assigned line name
Direction– line’s 3D direction either as a formatted triplet or as individual i, j, and k
elements
Length – in point cloud units
End Points – the two endpoints, either as a formatted triplet or as individual x, y,
and z elements
Polygons – point cloud polygons

Properties
Name – user assigned polygon name
Area – patch area in cloud units
orientation components of the polygon.
Points – point cloud points (from a laser scanner)

Properties
Location– marker location either as a formatted triplet or as individual x, y, and z
elements
Intensity – the point’s grayscale intensity
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IMAGE DRAPING
With image draping, an image is applied as a decal onto a point cloud. The image will follow the
form of the point cloud as if it were a piece of cloth draped over it. When the image is a photograph
of the same object that’s in the point cloud, this creates a photorealistic view of the object.
To perform image draping you need to have at least one point cloud and one image in the same
Split-FX region, and the point cloud must include a mesh. The draped image will actually cover the
mesh, and not necessarily the entire point cloud.
Region with one image and one point cloud
Assigning the draped image
The image is draped onto the cloud in the direction of a draping vector, an imaginary line passing
through the point cloud. The draping vector can be defined in two different ways:
• The image’s orientation (if it has one)
• The current view orientation
The image’s orientation is an optional property of the image, so it may not have one. Even if the
image does have an orientation, you can still choose to define the draping vector by using the
current view orientation instead. The current view orientation uses the screen normal vector and
the screen up vector to align the image, as shown here.
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Orientation of a draped image using the current view
When using the current view orientation to drape the image, first rotate the point cloud into the
correct position so that the image will be draped in the correct orientation. While there are methods
to fine-tune the position of the image after it has been draped, it is critical to rotate the cloud into the
proper orientation at this step to minimize artifacts from stretching the image.
With the point cloud rotated correctly, select Point Cloud | Assign draped image… from the
menu, and then select the image from the Assign Draped Image dialog. In the example shown
here, the image has a user-defined orientation of 315.0, 35.0 NE so you would have the option of
using that vector for the draping vector, or for using the current view orientation for the draping
vector.
Assign the draped overlay image to a point cloud
Select the image to drape, and the orientation method
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Toggling draped image visibility
Once the image has been draped, you can view it using either of the options shown below. You
may need to turn off the visibility of points and mesh to see the draped image clearly, as these other
items can obscure the image.
Showing the draped image – two options
Adjusting the draped image’s location

The reference image
Adjustments to the draped image’s position on the point cloud are done with the reference image.
The reference image shows the image in front of the point cloud, undraped and rectangular in
shape (draping pins discussed below can alter the rectangular shape of the draped image). The
orientation of the reference image is always perpendicular to the draping vector. Use the methods
shown here to toggle the visibility of the reference image.
Showing the reference image – two options
The draping vector is specifically defined when the image is first draped, but the location of the
image on the point cloud is not likely to be correct until you have adjusted it. There are two methods
available for modifying the location of the image on the point cloud:
• Adjusting the reference image using grippers

• Draping pins
The first method allows you to resize and translate the image, but the image remains a rectangle of
evenly spaced pixels. You cannot use the first method once more than one draping pins have been
inserted. It is generally the best practice to use the first method to get the image as close to properly
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positioned as possible, because large adjustments from the draping pins can create unwanted
image artifacts.
Adjustments using the grippers

The four corner grippers are used to resize the image. The image’s aspect is preserved unless you
hold down the Alt key while resizing. The center gripper moves the entire image without affecting
its size or shape. It may be helpful during this step to make the reference image translucent (see
page 34).
Adjustment grippers on the reference image
Adjustments using draping pins

Because of small measurement errors and the many irregularities in camera lenses, it would be
nearly impossible to accurately position a rectangular image onto a point cloud. Draping pins allow
you to positively assign a pixel in the reference image to a point in the point cloud. This usually
means that the image has to be warped to accommodate the pin. Warping can introduce unwanted
artifacts, so it is best practice to get the image as correctly positioned as possible using the grippers
(see above) before using draping pins. Note that once one draping pin has been inserted, you can
no longer use the drippers to position the image (unless you delete all of the draping pins).
To insert a new draping pin, ensure that the reference image is visible (see above) and use the
menu to select Insert | Draping pin. The cursor will change to indicate that you’re in insert mode.
Locate a pixel on the reference surface, and click with the mouse to insert a new pin. Note: the
reference surface can be rotated into any orientation when inserting pins.
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One draping pin inserted
The new pin will appear on both the reference image and the point cloud (make sure that point
cloud Draping pins are visible). Adjustments are made by selecting the pin and moving it. If you
move the pin on the point cloud, the pin’s location in the image does not change, so you are
effectively dragging the image pixel to a new location on the point cloud. If you move the pin on the
image, it’s location on the point cloud does not change so you are modifying which of the image’s
pixel will appear at that point cloud location.
There is no limit to the number of draping pins that can be used. To minimize artifacts, fewer is
usually better.
Five draping pins
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SHOWING DRAPED 2D TRACES ON POINT CLOUDS
When an image is draped over a point cloud, if the image has any traces drawn on it, those traces
can be displayed in their calculated 3D orientation on the point cloud. The orientation is calculated
by collecting the points where the draped trace intercepts the point cloud, and arriving at a best fit
3D orientation of the plane that contains those points.
Select one of the visibility options shown here to toggle 2D trace visibility.
Showing draped 2D traces on the point cloud
The trace’s 3D surface is shown as an ellipse. You do not have to have the draped image visible in
the point cloud to see the traces.
3D representation of 2D trace
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CHANGE DETECTION
Change detection calculates the subtracted difference between two point clouds and produces a
difference cloud as output. Change detection can be performed only on regions that have at least
two point clouds. From the menu, select Region | Change detection….
Change detection
The change detection dialog appears as shown below. Select the two point clouds you want to
compare. The choice of which cloud will be Before and After affects just the sign (+/-) of the results.
Change detection options
Aligning the clouds
The two point clouds do not have to be registered or use the same coordinate system, however
they must be aligned before they can be subtracted (this step may be redundant if the scanner was
mounted at the exact same location when each point cloud was measured). Split-FX supports two
methods of alignment. For best results use both methods. When both methods are used, marker
alignment is performed first, followed by ICP alignment.
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Aligning with markers
Marker alignment uses markers that exist in both point clouds. The markers should be very close to
the same location in both clouds; using surveyed points is ideal. For best results use three markers
in each cloud, however you can also use just one or two markers in each cloud with less reliable
results. If you are also using ICP alignment, having three alignment markers in each cloud is
essential.
There are three important things to remember to do when inserting alignment markers into the point
clouds:
• Ensure that the option is checked for Use this marker for aligning point clouds
• Use the same name for matching markers
• The markers should be on the same feature in both clouds
A marker ready to be used for alignment
Using the example shown above, a marker with the name Marker 1 needs to exist in both point
clouds.
Aligning with ICP

The Iterative Closest Point algorithm is used to fine-tune the alignment of two clouds that are
already approximately aligned. It will only provide useful results if the two point clouds are
registered by some means, which could include using the alignment markers above or one of the
point-cloud orientation methods.
Diagnostic Information
The two point clouds have to be aligned before they can be subtracted (this step may be Checking
the Generate diagnostic information option results in two additional point clouds being produced as
output:
• Diagnostic Alignment Cloud – shows three color coded copies of the point cloud: the before
cloud in blue, the after cloud in red, and the aligned result in white.
• Diagnostic Pre-ICP Difference Cloud – the aligned result without ICP alignment
Diagnostic information is a little value to the user and should generally not be enabled.
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Interpreting the Difference Cloud
The instrument direction of the Before cloud determines the axis of subtraction. In the output
difference cloud, the Before cloud’s instrument direction is parallel to the Y-axis, so changes
between the two clouds are shown and positive and negative offsets along the Y-axis. If the two
input clouds are identical and there are not errors introduced in the alignment process, the output
cloud will be perfectly co-planar points in the XZ plane, all with their Y-coordinates equal to zero,
indicating zero difference between the two point clouds.
Under normal conditions, the difference cloud that results from a change detection operation will
appear primarily planar, and perpendicular to the Y-axis. Errors in alignment appear as evenly
distributed positive and negative noise, centered at y = 0. Changes between the two clouds appear
a conspicuous sections of positive or negative offsets.
Difference cloud with changes and moderate noise
Changing the difference cloud colors

Point clouds that are produced as output from change detection support an enhanced coloring
option that can be used to highlight areas of change in the difference clouds. As shown below, bring
up the point cloud colors dialog and select the Encoded grayscale or color option. Press the
Modify… button to change the color scheme.
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Difference cloud enhanced color option
By default, in the difference cloud, negative offsets are show in red and positive in blue, as shown
below. The numeric values +/- 1.3513 represent the Y-coordinate of the points, and in the case of
the default color scheme, only the center 95% of the points are used so outliers will not absorb all of
the dynamic range of the color spectrum.
Default difference cloud colors
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The triangles beneath the color bar represent color points, or points of a specified color, meaning
the color on the color bar at each triangle is defined by the triangle. The color between any two
triangles is interpolated.
To add a new color point, put the mouse on either of the end triangles, hold down the left mouse
button, and drag the triangle. This creates a new color point triangle and leaves the end triangle still
in place. The figure below shows the color dialog after dragging the left (red) triangle. Notice that
the color above the new triangle is the same as the triangle it was created from: red. The color
between the two left-most triangles is pure red, and the color between the rightmost two triangles is
smoothly interpolated from red to blue.
After adding one color point from the left
To change the color of a color point, press the browse button beside the color and select a new
color. Here is the example about after changing the center color point from red to green.
After changing the red to green
To create an abrupt change in color, select the Two color option for the color point. The color point
now has two colors: the Low color on the left and the High color one on the right.
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Using two colors at one color point
There is no limit to the number of color points that can be added. Sophisticated color and masking
spectra are possible. The example below shows a band-mask where the pixels near the center
(where Y = 0, or where there is little difference between the two clouds) are colored black.
Band-mask color scheme
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Working with Images
Images are viewed within regions. If an image is the only data source present in a region then only
that image is selectable; when part of a region, along with images and sets, an image must be
selected in order to be viewed. Double-clicking on an image with the mouse displays the image in
the region window and activates the image menu and tool bar.
IMAGE PROPERTIES
By default an image’s name is the file name. The name of the image can be edited by either right
clicking (in mouse selects mode) on the image and selecting Cloud Properties or by:
1. Select Image on the menu bar

2. Select Image Properties on the drop down menu
3. Entering a Name for the image.
Image Properties Dialog
Comments (i.e., field notes, description of rock exposure, etc.) can be added in the Comments
box.
The orientation is simply the (average) direction and dip of the rock surface in the image. If known,
it is entered in the Orientation box. Split-FX will accept a number of formats for the orientation but
a built-in angle calculator will subsequently display the orientation according to the format defined
using the Data Format Options tool (see Split-FX Tools).
The Camera correction angles are used to account for deviations in apparent rake angles and
actual rake angles. The Vertical correction angle is the difference between the plunge of the
normal of the camera plane and the plunge of the normal of the (average) surface plane of the rock
surface. The Horizontal correction angle is the difference between the trend of the normal of the
camera plane and the trend of the normal of the (average) surface plane of the rock surface. See
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the following figure for a visual definition:
Surface
δh
δv
df
df
Camera
Camera
Cross-Sectional Top View
Vertical and Horizontal Camera Correction Angles
When orientations of the rock surface and the camera’s plane of view are unknown, best-guess
estimates can be used for the vertical and horizontal corrections. When orientations are known,
compute the correction angles in the box and click OK.
Typical Image Properties
IMAGE VIEWING
When an image is selected it appears in full-scale in the region window. The status bar at the
bottom of the main window displays pixel coordinates (x, y). (0, 0) is positioned at the top left hand
corner of the image. Any time an image is selected in the tree the view is returned to full-scale.
The tree displays basic image information such as size (width and length in pixels), type (color,
grayscale, etc.) and aspect ratio.
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Image View
MOVING AN IMAGE
The mouse mode at start-up is Mouse Transforms (toggle on/off using CTRL+M). Mouse
Transforms enables the mouse to zoom, pan, and move the image within the window (when a three
button mouse is used). Dragging the mouse while holding down the left button moves the image
vertically and horizontally within the window. If the mouse has a wheel it can be used to pan and
zoom. Moving the wheel forward zooms in while moving the wheel backward pans out.
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IMAGE EDITING
Selecting Objects
In order to select objects within the image using the mouse, the mouse must be in Mouse selects
(toggle between mouse selects and mouse transforms using CTRL+M) mode. Mouse selects
mode can be turned on using the hot key, by using the tool bar icon, or by:
1. Select Edit from the menu bar

2. Select Mouse selects from the drop down menu.
To selects objects hold down the left mouse button while dragging the mouse. A rectangular
bounding box appears. Objects within the box are selected.
Objects can also be selected using the Edit menu. All (selectable) objects can be selected using
Select All (CTRL+A) on the drop down Edit menu. In conjunction with Mouse select, Invert
Selection (CTRL+I) can be used to select all (selectable) objects not previously highlighted using
Mouse select.
Selections can be cleared using Clear Selection (CTRL+L) on the Edit drop down menu.
When traces and scales are selected their end-points are tagged with colored rectangular
"selection marks”.
Object Selectability
For objects to be selected, they must be “selectable”. Selectable objects include:
Traces
Scales
Each of these objects can be made selectable (or not) using their tool bar icons. A separate
Selectability dialog is also available. It is accessed by:

2. Select Selectability on the drop down menu
3. Click the check box to turn on/off an object’s selectability.
Object Selectablity Dialog
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Object Visibility
Objects can be made visible (and invisible) by selecting the icons on the tool bar or by:

2. Select Visibility on the drop down menu
Object Visibility Dialog
Colors
The visual display settings of objects within the image, selection marks, and the region of interest
can be set by clicking on the Colors icon on the tool bar or by:

2. Select Colors on the drop down menu.
Colors can be selected from a basic color bar or can be user defined. To change the color settings
of an item click on the button next to it. A color chart with basic colors and custom coloring
capabilities pops up. Select the desired color by clicking on a color or by entering known RGB
(Red, Green, and Blue) and Hue, Saturation, and Luminance values then click on OK. A custom
color can be saved by clicking on Add Custom Colors before clicking OK.
Changing Image Object Colors
Inserting Objects
Objects that can be inserted into an image include:
Traces
Scales.
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To insert an object into an image select Insert on the menu bar then select the object to be inserted
from the drop down menu.
When either Insert Trace or Insert Scale is selected, the mouse cursor changes to the following:
Insert Object Cursor
To insert a Trace click the left mouse button at the desired starting point. Line segments are added
by clicking on the left mouse button. Clicking on the right mouse button ends the trace.
To insert a Scale click the mouse button at the desired starting point. Drag the mouse cursor to the
end-point of the scale and click the left mouse button; this ends the insert scale tool and calls up the
Image Scale dialog. The dialog can be used to define up to three scales. There are two options for
setting a scale: manually entering a scale or using an object in the image to calculate a scale.
When Calculate scale is chosen the previously mouse inserted scale is used to define the number
of pixels per a given length. The true length of the inserted scale is entered in the box and the
units of measurement are chosen in the drop down box. When OK is clicked the scale appears in
the image.
Inserted Scale with Known Length
To manually enter a scale, select the Manually enter scale button and enter the number of pixels
per unit of measurement. Use the drop down box to select the unit of measurement. A manually
entered scale appears as a circular “tag” within the image. This distinguishes it from a scale
calculated from an object that actually appears in the image. The location of the “tag” can be set by
entering column and row values corresponding to a pixel location.
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Manually Entered Scale and Associated “Tag”
Modifying Objects
Traces and scales can be modified. When a trace or scale is selected rectangular selection
markers appear at the end points of the trace or scale, at the end-points of the various line
segments that make up a trace, or in the middle of a manually defined scale’s “tag”.
To modify a trace or scale move the mouse over a selection marker. The mouse cursor’s
appearance changes to:
Mouse Cursor for Object Modification
When the cursor is moved to a trace’s selection marker, a click of the right mouse button brings up
the following menu:
Modifying a Trace
To delete a point select Delete. When Insert points is selected a point(s) is placed between the
selection marker and its nearest neighbor(s).
To modify a trace by moving a point, left click on a selection marker and drag it to the desired
position. The same operation can be performed on the end-points of a scale or on the location of a
manually defined scale.
A scale can be modified by right clicking on a selection marker and selecting the Modify scale box
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that appears. The Image Scale dialog discussed in the previous section then appears.
Setting a Region of Interest

Images will often times contain scenes/objects that are not of any interest. For more efficient trace
delineation these areas can be ignored during processing by defining a region of interest.
To set a region of interest:
1. Select Image from the menu bar

2. Select Set ROI from the drop down menu
or,
1. Select Image Processing on the menu bar

2. Select Set ROI from the drop down menu.
Using the mouse, left click on a corner of the area that is of interest and drag the bounding box to
the opposite corner to set the region of interest. A bounding box now appears in the image and
defines the region of interest for trace delineation.
To clear the region of interest:
1. Select Image from the menu bar

2. Select Clear ROI from the drop down menu
or,
1. Select Image Processing on the menu bar

2. Select Clear ROI from the drop down menu.
Cropping an image
After selecting a region of interest, select the menu item Image Processing | Crop to ROI.
IMAGE PROCESSING
When a grayscale image is active, several image processing operations are available for
enhancing trace delineation (in regards to overall image quality).
The image processing operators are found in the Image Processing menu. The following
operators are available:
Gaussian smooth
Sharpen
Median filter
Canny edge detect.
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The Gaussian smoothing operator is used to `blur' images and remove detail and noise. It is similar
to a mean filter, but it uses a kernel that represents the shape of a Gaussian (i.e., bell-shaped)
hump.
The Sharpen operator works by finding areas in an image with high contrast and drastic changes
(such as edges) and increases the brightness and contrast in those areas between neighboring
pixels.
The Median filter is used to reduce noise in an image by considering each pixel in the image in turn
and looking at its nearby neighbors to decide whether or not it is representative. If not the pixel
value is replaced with the median of its neighbors.
The Canny edge detect is used to find edges. It takes as input a grayscale region of interest and
produces as output a region of interest showing the positions of tracked intensity discontinuities.
The operations are all built-in to Split-FX and require no user input to run. The default window size
for the Gaussian smooth, Sharpen, and Median filter is 3 pixels by 3 pixels.
Grayscale Region of Interest
ROI after Gaussian Smoothing
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ROI after Sharpening
ROI after Median Filtering
ROI after Canny Edge Detection
DELINEATING TRACES
Fracture traces are delineated across an entire image or a region of interest. A fracture trace is a
two-dimensional lineation that appears on the (two-dimensional) image plane as a result of imaging
a three-dimensional discontinuity.
After setting a region of interest (or when using the entire image) the delineate traces function is
initiated by:

2. Select Delineate traces on the drop down menu.
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Delineate Traces in a ROI
Selecting Delineate traces brings up the Delineate Trace Settings dialog. The dialog is used to
define pre-processing and detection settings. By clicking on the check box next to Delete existing
traces, traces from a previous iteration(s) of delineation can be deleted automatically when a new
iteration commences. User defined parameters for pre-processing are:
Noise removal factor – Enter a number between 0 and 10 depending on the amount of
noise present in the image (note this can also dilute detail).
Edge enhancement factor – Enter a number between 0 and 10 depending on the amount
of contrast required to effectively detect edge pixels.
The user defined parameters for trace detection are:
Edge sensitivity factor: Enter a number between 0 or 100.

Minimum length: Enter any number greater than 1. This sets the (pixel) length of
delineated traces. Any traces with lengths less than the minimum are thrown out.
Linearity: Enter a number between 0 and 10 depending on the amount of trace linearity
required. A higher number will result in “straighter” but less continuous traces.
The following figure shows the Delineate Trace Settings dialog and the default parameter
settings.
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Default Settings for Delineating Traces
After all parameters are defined, press OK. Delineation commences and delineated traces appear
in the region of interest.
The delineation process is meant to be iterative and the user is given control over the
pre-processing, trace detection, and final editing stages of delineation. It is recommended that the
user take advantage of Split-FX’s rapid delineation process and perform multiple iterations of
delineation in order to extract as much useful data (i.e., traces) from an image as possible.
Once traces have been delineated they can be selected and edited according to the instructions
given in the previous sections.
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Delineated Traces
TRACE SETS AND MODIFYING TRACE SETS
After traces are delineated a histogram of the trace rake angles can be displayed. Rake angles are
measured clockwise from horizontal (and thus can be between 0° and 180°). The rake angles
displayed in the histogram are weighted according to trace length. The histogram is displayed by:

2. Select Modify trace sets on the drop down menu.
The following window appears:
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Trace Sets Histogram and Dialog
The trace sets histogram can be used to identify new (trace) sets and to assign trace sets to 3D
discontinuity sets when applicable (see Working with Sets and Stereonets). Trace sets can only
be assigned to 3D sets when the image properties (average dip and dip direction of imaged
surface) have been defined.
A new trace set is defined by clicking on the New button in the Trace Sets window. A red error bar
appears in the histogram.
Identifying a New Trace Set
The error bar, in conjunction with the histogram, is used to adjust the confidence interval of an
identified trace set. By holding the left mouse button down on the center tab of the error bar, the bar
can be dragged and dropped at the average or mean rake angle of a trace set. The confidence
interval is then adjusted by holding the left mouse button down on the minimum and maximum tabs
and sliding them to the desired values.
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Defining a Trace Set’s Mean Value and Confidence Interval
Once a trace set has been defined the span, mean, count (number of traces contained in the set),
roughness, and apparent Fischer K value are calculated.
Trace Set Quantities
If a trace set is believed to be associated with a 3D set (i.e., the discontinuities that define the 3D
set result in the lineations of the trace set that appear in the corresponding 2D image), then the
Modify button should be clicked in order to bring up the Trace Set Information dialog. The drop
down menu displays all available 3D sets. The 3D set that the trace set is believed to be a result of
should be selected. Once a trace set is assigned to a 3D set the actual Fischer K (K – Image) for
the trace set is calculated along with the Rake error and K error.
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Assigning a trace Set to a 3D Set
Trace Set Assigned to a 3D Set
IMAGE MEASUREMENT TOOLS
There are two measurement tools available for images: a distance ruler for measuring linear
distance and an area calculator for measuring polygonal area. Both have sub-pixel accuracy. If the
image is scaled then the results of the tools are reported in the same units used to scale the image,
otherwise they are reported in pixels.
The results of the measurement tools are not saved along with the image data. They are temporary
annotations placed on the image and disappear when the image is closed, or by clearing them with
the menu or toolbar options shown below.
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Remove all measurement scales
Image Distance
Turn on the measure-distance tool through the menu or toolbar as shown below. Select two points
(click down and up on each point) and a ruler is drawn showing the distance between the two
points.
Turn on the distance measurement tool
Distance scale in place
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Image Area
Turn on the measure-area tool through the menu or toolbar as shown below. Select three or more
points (click down and up on each point and hit Enter or right-click the mouse after the last point)
and a polygon is drawn showing the enclosed area. The first and last points do not have to be in the
same place because Split-FX will automatically complete the polygon after the last point.
Turn on the area measurement tool
Area scale in place
EXPORTING IMAGE DATA
To export image data, click on the region window with the image visible and select File | Export
Image data… from the menu. See the general instructions for exporting data on page 20.
The exported items and their properties are explained below.
Traces – user-drawn traces on the image

Properties
Vertices – formatted coordinate triplets of every vertex
Length – combined length of all segments in scaled image units
Rake angle – trace angle, measured clockwise from horizontal, between 0° and
180°.
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Working with Stereonets
The Stereonet view can be used to quickly plot the planes or poles of patches identified in the point
clouds contained within a region. Each region is associated with only one Stereonet view. To
display the Stereonet view for the first time:

2. Select Stereonet View from the drop down menu.
A new window appears and contains a stereographic projection with displayed poles, a title, a
legend, and a description of the stereographic projection (i.e., Upper or Lower hemisphere, equal
area or angle, etc.).
Stereonet View
The legend initially contains a list of all point clouds within the region. The default stereographic
projection is equal area, lower hemisphere, and contains the poles of all identified fracture planes
(patches).
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STEREONET PROPERTIES
The stereonet properties can be retrieved and edited by:
1. Select Stereonet from the menu bar

2. Select Properties from the drop down menu.
Right clicking the mouse anywhere in the stereonet window also makes the Stereonet properties
dialog available, as does Alt + Enter.
Stereonet Properties Dialog
The Stereonet Properties window contains three tab accessible menus: Stereonet Style, Plane
Orientations, and Sets. A left click on any tab displays the associated menu.
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Stereonet Style
The stereonet style menu (see Figure above) contains options for the type of stereographic
projection, the layout of the stereonet, and for editing the title and color of the stereonet view.
The available projections are:
Equal area (default)

Orthographic
Stereographic (Equal angle)
Each of the projections can also be displayed either as a lower hemisphere or upper hemisphere.
To select a desired projection click the appropriate button.
The presence and color of lines of latitude and longitude can be edited along with ticks and labels,
and the preferred label increment. Click the button next to the desired display options and enter the
label interval(s) in the text box(es). Clicking the grid lines color button brings up a customizable
color chart. Select the desired color for the grid lines and click OK to return to the Stereonet Style
menu.
The title of the stereonet can be edited using the text box at the bottom of the Stereonet Style menu.
The title display can be turned off by left clicking on the Title check box. The legend and projection
description displays can be toggled on or off in the same manner. The background color of the
stereonet view window and the background color of the stereographic projection can be edited by
clicking on the associated buttons. This brings up a customizable color chart. Select the desired
background colors and then click OK to return to the Stereonet Style menu.
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Patch Display
Patch Display Menu
The Patch Display menu is used to edit the display of (patch) fracture plane orientation
measurements.
A list of all sources of patches in the region is given in the upper left corner of the menu. Generally,
this list is composed of two items for each point cloud in the region: Patches and Traces, where
patches are the delineated patches derived from the point cloud and traces are derived from the
draped image overlay, if any, on the point cloud. By default, all planes from all point clouds are
plotted on the stereonet. To completely disable the plotting feature, click on the box next to Enable
planes. To turn off or on the plotting of planes from a singular point cloud, first select the item form
the list and then (un)check the box next to Display on the stereonet as.
Fracture planes can be plotted on the stereonet as either circles or poles. To select either circles or
poles use the drop down menu next to Display on the stereonet as.
When poles are plotted on the stereonet, their size and shape can be customized. In the Pole
Markers sub-menu, a drop down menu can be used to select the desired marker shape and a text
box is available to enter the preferred marker size. Alternatively, the size of pole markers can be a
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function of patch (fracture plane) area or patch roughness. To make marker size a function of
either patch area or patch roughness left click in the box next Size is a function of and use the
drop down menu to select either area or roughness. The scaling can be automatic or user defined.
Use the text boxes to define a manual scale.
Sets
The Sets menu allows the display of user defined sets (see following sections) to be edited.
User defined sets can be displayed on the stereonet as either a pole or great circle (where the pole
or circle represent the average orientation of fractures in the set). Click on the box next to Display
on stereonet as to turn the display of predefined sets on or off and use the drop down menu to
select either poles or circles.
The color of the set pole marker or circle can be changed using a customizable color chart that is
brought up by clicking on the button next to Color. The pole marker shape can be edited using the
drop down menu next to Marker style and the marker size can be customized by entering a value
in the text box.
Editing the Display of User Defined Sets
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Stereonet Contouring
To enable contours on the stereonet check the Enable contours box as shown below.
Stereonet Contouring options
Contour Calculation
Select the contour calculation method from the two options: 1% contours or Kamb contours. The
difference between the two is beyond the scope of this text, however the Kamb method is generally
preferred for smoother and more accurate contours.
Both calculation methods include these options:

• Contour interval – the spacing between contours
• Minimum contour – the lowest contour interval to draw
The Kamb method also includes these options:

• Sigma – The sigma value from Kamb contour calculations. Consult an appropriate
reference for a description.
• Smoothing – The method used to smooth the contour data.
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Contour Drawing
Regardless of the calculation method, you can select to draw the contours using either lines or solid
colors. The two images below show the same stereonet contours drawn as lines (left) and as solid
colors.
Contours drawn using lines and solid colors
When drawing contours with solid colors you can choose between several palettes to control how
the colors are distributed. The five built-in palettes are shown here:
Grayscale Green-blue Green-blue-red Blue-red Blue-green-red
The palette can be automatically scaled to span the full range of the data (recommended) or you
can chose the Scale the palette to this range option to specify some other range. You might choose
to specify a range if you wanted to highlight a certain part of the probability spectrum on the
stereonet.
Contour drawing can be an expensive operation in terms of computer resources, so Split-Fx

provides the option of drawing contours Fast and jaggy, Slow and smooth, or somewhere in
between as shown below.
Contour smoothness options
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SETS
Split-FX does not automatically determine sets. But a function is available that allows users to
define sets based on the stereographic projection of fracture planes. Once a set is defined,
Split-FX does determine the average orientation, Fisher K, angular standard deviation, the average
size of patches contained in the set, and the average r-squared value of patches in the set.
Inserting a Set
To insert, or define, a set:
1. Select Insert from the menu bar

2. Select Set from the drop down menu.
Sets can also be inserted by clicking on the Insert new set button on the Stereonet tool bar.
Insert New Set Button
After selecting Insert new set, the mouse cursor changes to a cross-hair. Drag the cross-hair to the
approximate average orientation of the new set and then click and hold down the left mouse button.
While holding down the left mouse button, drag the mouse; a circle appears. While continuing to
hold down the left mouse button drag bring the circle around the poles considered to be a part of the
new set. Let go of the left mouse button when the circle reaches the desired and approximate
extent of the set. A dialog box automatically pops up asking for new set information.
Set Information Dialog
In the text box at the top of the Set Information dialog box enter a name for the new set. Any
comments can be entered in the text box at the bottom of the dialog. By default the statistics for the
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set are automatically calculated using the planes contained within the boundaries of the circle
drawn on the stereonet. However, if set information has been obtained from another source (i.e.,
field mapping) user defined statistics can be entered by clicking the Use these statistics button. In
this instance the circle on the stereonet is defined by the user and not the fracture planes present in
the clouds or on the stereonet. After all set information is entered click OK. A circle now appears
on the stereonet. The circle is centered at the average orientation of the set.
Stereonet with User Defined Set (green circle)
The inserted set now appears in the legend.
Editing a Set
A user defined set can be edited by simply dragging the circle that defines the boundaries of the set
to the desired position. Select the set by clicking and dragging the left mouse button on the circle.
Two markers appear: one at the center of the circle and another along its boundary. By moving the
mouse onto the either marker and then clicking and holding the left mouse button, the center of the
circle or its extent can be dragged to the proper locations.
While the set is selected the set information is available by right clicking inside the set. The
following menu appears:
Select set properties to bring up the Set Information dialog.
98
STEREONET EDITING
Selecting Items
Poles/circles and user defined sets can be made selectable using the associated buttons on the
stereonet toolbar or by:
1. Select Stereonet from the menu bar

2. Select Selectability from the drop down menu
3. Click on the box next to Sets or Poles to turn on/off their selectability.
When poles are selected within the stereonet they are simultaneously selected within the clouds in
which they appear. To view the selected poles in their respective clouds either downsize the
stereonet view window or select the region from the Window drop down menu to return to the
region view.
Adjusting the Stereonet View
The stereonet view can be customized. On the tool bar click the mouse mode button, . The
stereonet, legend, description, and title each become enclosed by an adjustable border. The
stereonet, legend, description, and title can be sized by dragging the corners of their respective
borders and they can be dragged to any position within the window.
Customizing the Stereonet Window
99
Working with Text Files
Spilt-FX regions can include text files. These are simple ASCII text, meant to hold reference
information about the region. The content of the information is totally defined by the user and is
never used by Split-FX.
Example of a Split-FX text file
Text files can originate from an existing .txt or .dat file by adding them to the region with the menu
option Region | Add existing file…. Alternatively you can add a new, empty text file to the region
with the menu option Region | Add new text file.
To change the name of a text file, open the file in Split-FX and select Text | Properties… from the
menu and the properties dialog shown here will appear.
100
INDEX
A
Adding .................................................................................................................................... 17, 18
Files ........................................................................................................................................... 17
Sets ............................................................................................................................................ 18
Angle Calculator ............................................................................................................................ 2
B
Bounding Box .............................................................................................................................. 27
C
Changing ...................................................................................................................................... 28
Cloud View ................................................................................................................................ 28
Close ............................................................................................................................................... 2
Cloud ........................................................................................................................... 23, 25, 26, 28
Cloud Properties Dialogue ......................................................................................................... 26
Cloud View ............................................................................................................................. 27, 28
Changing................................................................................................................................... 28
Cloud View Options ..................................................................................................................... 28
Coordinate Axes .......................................................................................................................... 27
CTRL+T ............................................................................................................................. 23, 25, 28
D
Data Format .................................................................................................................................... 2
Data Input ....................................................................................................................................... 9
Types ........................................................................................................................................... 9
Discontinuities ............................................................................................................................... 9
Display ............................................................................................................................................ 3
stereonet ..................................................................................................................................... 3
E
Existing Files................................................................................................................................ 11
Opening..................................................................................................................................... 11
Exit .................................................................................................................................................. 2
F
Files ............................................................................................................................................... 17
Adding ....................................................................................................................................... 17
Files and/or Regions ................................................................................................................... 10
Opening..................................................................................................................................... 10
Fracture File ................................................................................................................................. 11
Opening..................................................................................................................................... 11
G
Geo-referencing ............................................................................................................................. 3
I
Image ............................................................................................................................................ 72
101
Info Window ................................................................................................................................... 2
L
Lineation ......................................................................................................................................... 9
M
Main Window View ........................................................................................................................ 2
Menu bar ....................................................................................................................................... 28
Orientation ................................................................................................................................ 28
Select Point Cloud ................................................................................................................... 28
Minimal Configuration ................................................................................................................... 1
Mouse Cursor................................................................................................................... 23, 25, 28
Mouse Transforms .......................................................................................................... 23, 25, 28
Multiple Regions .......................................................................................................................... 10
N
New Region .................................................................................................................................. 10
O
Opening .............................................................................................................................. 2, 10, 11
Existing Files ............................................................................................................................ 11
Files and/or Regions ................................................................................................................ 10
Fracture File.............................................................................................................................. 11
Point Cloud File ........................................................................................................................ 11
Regions ..................................................................................................................................... 10
Supported Files ........................................................................................................................ 11
Optimal Configuration ................................................................................................................... 1
Orientation menu ......................................................................................................................... 28
P
Patches ......................................................................................................................................... 93
Plane ............................................................................................................................................. 93
Plane Orientations ....................................................................................................................... 93
Point Cloud................................................................................................................... 3, 23, 25, 28
Point Cloud File ........................................................................................................................... 11
Opening..................................................................................................................................... 11
Point Cloud Properties ................................................................................................................ 26
Point Cloud Viewing .................................................................................................................... 27
Point Cloud/Cloud ......................................................................................................................... 9
R
Region menu ................................................................................................................................ 17
Region Window .............................................................................................................................. 3
Regions ....................................................................................................................... 10, 17, 18, 93
Opening..................................................................................................................................... 10
S
Select Add .................................................................................................................................... 17
Select Cloud Properties .............................................................................................................. 26
Select File ............................................................................................................................... 10, 17
Select Orientation ........................................................................................................................ 28
Select Point Cloud ................................................................................................................. 26, 28
Select Region ......................................................................................................................... 17, 18
Select Save Region As ................................................................................................................ 10
102
Selectability .................................................................................................................................... 7
Sets ................................................................................................................................... 2, 3, 9, 18
Adding ....................................................................................................................................... 18
Status Bar ....................................................................................................................................... 2
Stereonet .............................................................................................................................. 3, 7, 93
defining ....................................................................................................................................... 7
display ......................................................................................................................................... 3
viewing ........................................................................................................................................ 7
Stereonet View ......................................................................................................................... 7, 99
Stereonet Window ................................................................................................................... 7, 99
Stereonets .................................................................................................................................... 90
System Requirements ................................................................................................................... 1
T
Tool Bar .......................................................................................................................................... 2
Transforms Mode............................................................................................................. 23, 25, 28
Tree ................................................................................................................................................. 3
Types .............................................................................................................................................. 9
Data Input.................................................................................................................................... 9
U
User Interface ................................................................................................................................. 2
X
XYZ ............................................................................................................................................ 9, 27
103

Split-FX User's Manual: Software Version 2.1

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Split-FX® User's Manual

Software Version 2.1

Split Engineering LLC

Copyright © Split Engineering LLC 2011. All rights reserved.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ................................................................................. 1

SPLIT-FX WORKING ENVIRONMENT ................................................................ 2

INITIATING A SPLIT-FX WORK SESSION ....................................................... 10

WORKING WITH POINT CLOUDS .................................................................... 26

WORKING WITH IMAGES ................................................................................. 72

WORKING WITH STEREONETS ....................................................................... 90

WORKING WITH TEXT FILES ......................................................................... 100

INDEX ............................................................................................................... 101

The benefits and advantages of this software tool include:

• Reduced field time and hand mapping.

Processor: 500 MHz Pentium II

Processor: 2+ GHz Pentium P4

Split-FX runs under one of three different types of licenses:

Running an unregistered copy of Split-FX

Create a new region

Open the Help file.

Main Window View

Main Tree View With Sub-Trees

Display delineated traces

Make traces selectable

Make scales selectable

Display image color options command dialog

Toggle between mouse modes.

Selection of a point cloud adds the following tools to the toolbar:

Display cross sections

Show draped image overlay

Show overlay traces

Show overlay reference image

Show draping pins

Display bounding box

Display coordinate axes

Display instrument (scanner) location

Make points selectable

Make patches selectable

Make markers selectable

Make polygons selectable

Make cross sections selectable

Make draping pins selectable

Display point cloud color options command dialog

Toggle between mouse modes.

In stereonet view additional toolbar options include:

Insert new set

Make sets selectable

Make poles selectable.

TYPES OF DATA INPUT:

PREVALENT TERMS IN SPLIT-FX:

1. Select File on the menu bar

Beginning a Session in Split-FX

OPENING EXISTING FILES

Split-FX supports the following file formats:

To open an existing file:

1. Select File from the menu bar

Opening Supported Files

Region View after Opening a Fracture File

Split-FX’s interpretation of the fields in a text file

Changing the intensity range

1. Select File on the menu bar

1. Select Region from the menu bar

Adding Files to a Region