TIN vs Terrain...Which ones to use....Looking for Insight from other 3D Analyst user

[marieducharme]

Hello Fellow 3D Analyst users

I am rather new to 3D analyst. I am building a 3D surface, from 3D lines. Ultimately, I will use it for base height for aerial imagery in ArcScene (once I am done building it, I will convert it to a raster to use for base heights- this seems to work better). I have created a TIN but it is rather data heavy, and takes forever to draw in both ArcMap and ArcScene. It does not cover a large area, but the line data is complex.

I have a top of the line new PC with an awesome graphic card, so I am pretty confident that the PC is not the problem, altought perhaps I should increase my virtual memory....

I am considering building a Terrain instead, but am unsure if this will solve my issues, and am not sure if I can build a terrain from line data. The help documents discuss using 3D points such as LiDAR, but not 3D lines.

Also, it seesm like building terrain is not as easy as 1,2,3.

I am hoping someone has some insight to share....Should I bother building a terrain instead? Is it possibel to build a terrain from lines, and are they easier  to deal with (ie do they draw faster than TINS)

I appreciate any feedback....

Deadlines approching, stress increasing with everytime ArcScene/ArcMap gets the "spins"

Marishka

[JeffreySwain]

First it seems as if you are on the right path with looking at the memory and video card.  Be sure that you have the most up to date driver for your video card and try to not run too many other processes while in ArcScene.  To check your system, I recommend this tool.  Also the Terrain process, is not that complicated, unless you want to delve past some of the defaults for the pyramids.  Yes Breaklines can be used to create the Terrain, although mass points derived from LAS points are the usual input, with breaklines to augment it. 

Also the Terrain once created will not display in ArcScene, but you should get better display in ArcMap.  The terrain's use of pyramids will improve the performance.