Constant errors in ArcGIS 10 - help!

[ReenderBuikema]

I've been trying to create a TIN of a river catchment using 0.5m lidar contours (file size is ~600mb) as part of my MSc project. However, whenever I try to create the TIN, Arcmap stops the process after about 10 minutes with the error "Output TIN: <empty>, for which no explination is provided, or simply stops working without an error message. I doubt it is the machines I am using, they have been modified for spatial analysis and far exceed a standard desktop computer.

Anyone have any ideas on what is causing this and how it is combated? I have tried converting from topo to raster (to make file size smaller), for which ArcMap stops the process after 5-10 minutes with similar errors, and noting that a map algorithm is incorrect.

I've read a little bit and it seems ArcGIS 10 has a few bugs, but this seems silly.

Any help would be appreciated

[JeffreySwain]

Depending on the size of the data, I would recommend using a Terrain since you are using Lidar.  Due to the size of the lidar data, TIN limits can be exceeded.  Use a Terrain, which can scale to create the digital elevation model.

http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisdesktop/10.0/help/index.html#//005v00000002000000.htm

Also please consider the type of TIN you are creating.  At 10, there are options to create two different types of TIN Storage. Perhaps adjusting the TIN created in the environment settings will allow the process to succeed. 

http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisdesktop/10.0/help/index.html#/Fundamentals_of_TIN_triangulation_in_A...

[ReenderBuikema]

Thanks for the info, looks helpful so will give it a go.

[JakubSisak]

that is an enormous number of vertices to triangulate a TIN from. (LiDAR 0.5m interval contours) i am not at all surprised it died. Unless you have simple contours with a larger interval avoid creating a TIN this way.  You will have better success creating the TIN from the source data. You can use terrain datasets if you are not planing to edit the TIN or run some analysis. Terrain Dataset functionality is approaching that of the TIN but it is not quite there yet. It's good for visulizing large amounts of data but personally i am struggling to find a real world application for terrain datasets. For "plan view" visualization and analysis i prefer raster and for 3D work TIN. ESRI is heading in the right direction with this though....

try using just a few contours to create a TIN then create another using the source data (raster or survey points). You will notice that when using contours the resulting TIN will have a large number of triangles while not any more accurate.

[ReenderBuikema]

So, are you saying that once I have made the terrain, I will be unable to do further conversions or analysis? It's a little bit of a round about method, but the only one that seems to work - I need to create a DEM from a raster, so I can then undertake hydrological analysis (flow accumulation, direction, stream order, high resolution morphological mapping, etc.). Each of these options only allows the use of a raster, so I would need to convert terrain to raster i suppose...

[JakubSisak]

Terrain is great for visualizing large datasets. For cartography, simple large 3D scenes and such.  You can generate contours from it and do some analysis you can do with a regular TIN. Only some of the TIN functionality (tools, volume calculations, clipping, etc, ect.) are currently available for terrains.
As for hydrological analysis with the Spatial Analyst Hydrology tools you mentioned you need a raster. ts  pretty straight forward procedure thereafter.  If you don't have access to the source DEM you can create the raster surface from the contours.

You can still convert TIN or Terrain to a raster but it's better to convert the contours to a raster directly.  The original LiDAR DEM would be the best data to use.

[JeffreySwain]

At ArcGIS 10, the terrain can be used in analysis depending on which one you select.  The TIN and Terrain Management Toolbox have some of the tools you can use on a Terrain. 

Prior to 10, the terrain could not be used as inputs, but with the release of 10 it all changed.