Latest Contributions by JakubSisak

@withershin - also wondering about it as this is the only way to do it legally. I think the service is quite expensive though. ... View more

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction! It is too bad Arc cannot complete this task as the 3-d modeling is very clean and easy to make conclusions! - So far the only models i can generate in rockworks are blocky and highly misleading! I (A summer student and the only geologist at the company atm) am exploring Iron skarn formations and the geology is complex! Good to know about Rockworks. I was considering it but have not heard very positite things. I suggested Geosoft but don't bother as it too  can't produce solids (formations) just data interpolated voxel which i am told is unasable as geologist create solids using interpretation and knowledge of geology.  I recomend Leapfrog Mining for 3D visualization. It's expensive but very powerful yet not very complicated. Our company has dished out $7G per license on 3 geosoft licences and the only thing i've see done with it were very simple sections. The other tool that we use, also expensive though, is Gemcom GEMS. I took the course and it has very powerful digitizing features. The idea is (most good geological packages do this similarely) do seperate your project are into sectional intervals then go through each section and digitize vertically oriented or inclined polygons using the drilholes and assays. You then define direction lines how these formations should be connected and the software generates the solid formation object.  The problem with GEMS as i see it (and all other geological software except for Leapfrog) is that it seems very difficult, almost impossible, to generate a usable output. (PDF, figure, plot) That's where ArcScene steps in.  You can export your solid 3D subsurface objects and visualize then easily in ArcScene. (With limitations - no labelling, etc. But you can export high resolution image and complete your work in Illustator or similar)  Below is an example of solids generated in GEMS and visualized in ArcScene along with GIS data (This type of geology CANNOT be created in ArcGIS):[ATTACH=CONFIG]8427[/ATTACH] ... View more

I am having a hard time finding a way plot and measure future drill holes. I want to drill in sub surface area 'x' however how can i get information on the bearing and dip of the drill hole needed to penetrate into area x? I also have access to rockworks. ArcScene is not the tool for drillhole planning. (Not without custom programming) I would go with Rockworks.  You could also try Gemcom, Geosoft, Datamine Studio ... View more

I run it on nVidia Quadro. But it will also work fine with a cheap integrated card; pretty much on any computer you can buy today.  RAM would probably be most important but since ArcGIS is a 32 bit application even that is not really that important.  Still, ArcGIS does run faster and is more responsive on my office workstation with top notch specs then my 3 year old laptop. But there is nothing I cannot run on the old laptop. Things are just sluggish.  ArcGIS 10 is a pig tough. much slower overall then previous versions. ... View more

Hello We would like to evaluate utility of 3D analyst for the application of 3D modelling of subsurface geology. Yask 3D Analyst is great for visualizing data that has already been created. 3D DXF exported from geology software, etc. Although one HUGE problem is that you cannot label anything in ArcScene. I only find it usefull for pretty images on a cover page of a brochure but this is NOT the tool for modelling subsurface geology.  Other factor to consider is that you cannot create geology cross sections.  Typically, when modelling subsurface geology, you would start with creating contact polygons on your sections then generating 3D mesh objects out of these slices.  ArcGIS does not even have any sort of 3D gridding/kriging/interpolation that would generate 3D objects/voxels from downhole data. Although that would not be a selling point for me; I am not a geologist but work with geologists on daily basis so I know that 3D gridding/interpolation is most of the time out of the question as there is a lot of manual professional interpretation involved when the contact polygons are created.  I've successfully generated some subsurface multipatch objects from boreholes but that is VERY labor intensive. No automation whatsoever; you have to manually isolate upper and lower level of you lithology data from your input points then create a TIN from the upper and the lower level points, then extrude between these two surfaces to produce the 3D multipatch object. Very, VERY time consuming. Not the way it should be done.  I've used a bunch of geology software packages (and currently use several) and those that let you create 3D subsurface geology all use a similar technique of drawing polygons on a series of sectional regularly spaced views then create 3D objects out of these polygons slices. (Basically connecting vertically oriented contours) The better tools allow you to snap to values on the drillholes or even digitize in 3D. But even with 3D digitizing the principal idea is still basically the same; connecting vertically oriented polygons into 3D objects. Additionally, in ArcGIS there is also not much support (Out-of-the-box) for converting drillhole data (collars, surveys, assays, lithology, etc.) to anything other then points. To generate tracers, you will need a 3d party tool or write your own with ArcObjects and .Net VB / C#.  (no survey azimuth, distance, dip data import, XYZ downhole surveys only to points) There is a Target (Geosoft) plugin ($2600) for ArcGIS that adds some useful functionality to ArcGIS but it's geared towards creating sections / drillhole management rather then subsurface modelling. I would not recommend it. Buggy, slow, not very polished. The full version of Target ($6500) is better, faster and does more but only 3D gridding to voxel, no serious subsurface modelling. Not bad for quick sections and digitizing on sectional views. (can export digitized polygons vertically oriented, does inclined sections) Geomcom GEMS ($9000 ?) is a great tool for all of the above including full 3D modelling and 3D digitizing with snapping environment and all but it really sucks on the output and plotting side of things. I mean sucks really bad. Can't really get anything other then a screen capture out of it on demand. Leapfrog Mining. ($10000 / year) I have just installed it so i can't comment but it is said to be the absolute best subsurface modelling tool. Of course the price of 10G per year is mind-blowing. Leapfrog also offers Leapfrog Hydrology which has amazing reviews and it has been recommended to me in the past.  I've seen what Leapfrog can do and it is jaw-dropping. But is is really dedicated to 3D, not much support in terms of cross sections, labeling, etc. Other tools to consider:  Datamine Studio - never tried it but am planning to evaluate in the least. I've seen some outputs and videos and it looks great for all management, sections and 3D modelling. Rockworks by Rockware - it's been recommended to me several times but I am having difficulty contacting them for a trial.  It seems a bit blurry as to what it can do but enough people use it. And lastly, after all this being said;  i will probably end up using ArcGIS to generate most of our cross sections. The geology software is very expensive and also very buggy. Personally I need to generate top notch sectional views rather then 3D models. I have all of our lithology in 3D already (GEMS, Leapfrog) and it looks fantastic but analysts want to see clearly labelled sections with values and lithology not 3D models. None of the tools I've tried has the capabilities ArcMap has in terms of layout features, labeling, etc. So, as a result I am in the process of writing some custom tools (ArcObjects, .Net Add-ins) that will allow me to "flip" the subsurface data to sectional orientation then digitize my lithology in ArcMap. ... View more

A borehole log (those we were using were generated with Gint) is basically a table of values.  Convert the log into a table that contains coordinates (X,Y) of the hole location, Surface Elevation, Depth (top of sample), Bottom (depth of sample), and other attributes you will need.  (You can probably write a VB procedure to streamline this part.) Convert this table into a 2D point feature class (XY Event layer -> Export to Feature Class) Create a UIButton and connect it with the attached VBA procedures. (Not tested in about 2 years. Hopefully I've included everything) You might need to add all the needed references to VBA. There is an exaggeration option as well. A message will pop up asking you if you which to exaggerate the vertical lines. I did it because i did not want the surface the be vertically exxagerated but wanted the holes to be. It basically creates 3D lines from coordinates starting at the top and subtracting the depth of the samples. It does not support inclination or deviation only because when I wrote it we only dealt with vertical BH, MW. My drillholes are now a lot more complicated (mining) so every one is deviated and inclined in various directions. I have not use the script in a long time as it does not fulfill my needs.  You can probably use any decent drillhole management software to handle your borehole logs as long as you have them in an excel/table format and they contain X,Y,Z values and depth of samples at minimum. This type of software also handles deviated and inclined holes so long you have the drillhole survey data. (azimuth, dip, etc.)  I've personally only used GEMS by Gemcom (very expensive), Target by Geosoft and Target for ArcGIS. The Target for ArcGIS is an ArcGIS Extension and it comes with a voxel grid functionality and 3D visualization capabilities but I use the standalone version because there were some limitations with the extension. The extension is about $2500 and the standalone version about $6000. I hear that Leapfrog Hydrology/Mining can also do this although it is meant mostly for 3D visualization (it's also very expensive but it is suppose to be the absolute best tool for rapid 3D visualization of subsurface geology / hydrology drillholes and wells. etc.  - not personally tested but have the license on my desk)  And of course you can export the results of any of the mentioned software into a format compatible with ArcGIS / ArcScene. ... View more

3D analyst is a good 3D viewer but when it comes to modelling subsurface geology and constructing logs and producing cross sections and such you might need to use 3rd party software. There is a Target for ArcGIS extension by Geosoft which does not require 3D Analyst but allows you to import, edit and visualize assay values, etc.  (Free trial, then about $5000)  It is still too simple for serious geology analysis though. I hear the standalone version is a bit more feature rich. ... View more

Can you confirm you are not using Maplex? Maplex is riddled with problems and will not place all labels even if the Never remove (allow overlap) option is checked. The only workaround is not to use Maplex and (as Donovan already suggested) check "Place overlapping labels". ... View more

Not much of an answer; I've run into this issue a few times. In fact I don't think i was ever able to import a VRML other that that created in ArcGIS.  I was able to import other files such as sketchup models successfully but I thing VRML is the only one that "on paper" can preserve spatial reference information. If you figure this out please post your solution. You could also try posting your question in the GIS Stack Exchange forums. ... View more

Awesome! Nice digging TheYak!  No more Z-fighting after priority order is set. BEFORE: [ATTACH=CONFIG]6674[/ATTACH] AFTER: [ATTACH=CONFIG]6675[/ATTACH] ... View more

I have some pylons draped on a dem. I want to connect powerlines among them, so I need elevations of all the pylons. If there is no dem, elevations are all zero. Use the interpolate shape tool to convert the polygons to 3D. The tool takes the surface and the features as input. Assuming you run version 10. The tool is called covert features to 3D in legacy versions. ... View more

I don't think i fully understand your problem. Can you please elaborate. You can drape imagery over DEM. ... View more

Have you compared the positional and elevation relationship between the 2 datasets? You could try exporting  both datasets to points then replace the points in the low resolution dataset with points from the high resolution one and run TopoToRaster to create a hydrologically correct raster. You should not have to need to use TIN unless you would like to manually correct the surface. (I find the TIN editing allow me to visually correct issues and then i can convert the TIN to Raster or to nodes then interpolate surface from nodes) If you are ultimately trying to create a detailed drainage network and catchments from LiDAR data then you might run into unexpected issues down the road.  Take a look at this post: http://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/9237/methodology-for-creating-accurate-drainage-networks-and-catchments-from-high-re/9577#9577 I am yet to successfully create a drainage model from high resolution LiDAR data.  I would be very interested to find out whether you were successful. ... View more

Maplex often does not place labels even when you "Never Remove". I have more success with the regular labeling engine. I've also given up on trying to make dynamic labeling most of the work for me. Maybe that works on very simplistic maps? I same my self a lot of time and trouble by creating annotations and placing them manually. Be ware, Maplex also does not export all unplaced annotations. ... View more