Latest Contributions by JeffreySwain

The thine plate spline interpolation technique is used in the Topo to Raster tool per the help, which should force the interpolation to match at the specific elevation points, but may be adjusted slightly during the iterations.  The iterations inherent in the tool are used to create a 'hydro-logically correct model.'  You can control the number of iterations it performs in the tool.  If you are looking for an additional look, I would consider Terrain/TIN generation to utilize the points and lines.  Generally I would make the points mass points and the contours soft breaklines, but if you are adamant that they must be maintained, then make the hard breaklines.  In practice this sometimes creates stair steps in the output but the values should match at the contour for your client. ... View more

When you say lidar model, what format is that data in?  I would recommend a raster or TIN/Terrain depending on the size of the data.  Or is the data in a LAS Dataset? ... View more

All you need to do is build the footprints.  Simply use the ID tool to see the pixel values of the white space in your mosaic dataset and then adjust the settings in the build footprints tool.  By default they are set to eliminate the 0 and 255 pixels. If your rasters have additional values then adjust the min or max values. You should not have to resample the rasters for this workflow. ... View more

Do you see the checkerboard pattern when zoomed out?  If so there is a permission issue or you have not built the overviews. The checkerboard pattern is there to indicate you have a reference in the mosaic dataset that cannot be accessed.  Pay attention to the path of the overviews and be sure that ArcGIS Server can access the overviews. ... View more

Ok so you are not looking for a classified polygon, you are looking for the outer extent.  I would recommend creating a mosaic dataset and then you will have one polygon per raster. With that description, you should be able to see the amount of work completed.  The polygons created are called footprints and should represent all the rasters delivered. You could look at the count of the rasters(footprints) but be sure you do not create overviews and accidentally count them. ... View more

It is a link to the blogs and if you have an account you will need to sign in and then access the link again.  Otherwise it will return you to the basic blog page.  To import the collada files, you will just need to import them normally with the Import 3d tool. Otherwise you can create an empty multipatch feature class in a geodatabase and then place them via the insert tool. ... View more

Depending on the original raster there are a few things that can be done.  I would recommend considering why you are converting it as it may not be necessary.  Some of the spatial analyst tools can be used in place of the polygon version of the file with zonal statistics.  If you really want to convert the raster still, then I would recommend using some of the generalization tools to clean up the edges and reduce the number of polygons. You may also consider the multivariate classification to further reduce the variability and create relatively homogenous zones prior to conversion.  Also consider the output format, feature classes are a must as they are not required to be under ~2 Gigs as shapefiles. The output from these conversions is usually rather large. ... View more

The natural question is can you serve any other raster types.  If you cannot publish them then you will not be able to publish the ECW.  Since the ECW requires a plugin and if you can publish the other types, then I would recommend contacting Erdas.  They would be the ones to contact, hence the lack of an answer.  If you cannot publish any raster, then I would recommend calling in and creating a Support Incident. ... View more

I would definitely use the projected coordinate system, preferably with the same units for the horizontal and vertical.  I would also recommend looking at the vertical exaggeration set for the scene.  I have seen what you are seeing, but it happened with a geographic coordinate system and it was extremely exaggerated. ... View more

The natural conversion of the LAS data would be to a multipoint file. With the Multipoint file, you could then create a terrain and compare the Terrain and TIN.  What might be preferable, but difficult to manage would be to convert the multipoint to a single part or individual points and then use the Add Surface Information tool.  This will add the z value of the of the TIN to the point.  From then you could compare the values.  I am not sure what you are looking to get out of this analysis.  Generally speaking, the las data should be certified to a certain vertical accuracy and is usually collected at a finer resolution than the TIN would have been.  You could probably see this with a simple visual comparison of the Terrain compared to the TIN. ... View more

You can import colladae files and other models into ArcScene for display.  You can also export the complex models as textured multipatches in a geodatabase. City Engine is a mass modeling software and the models created there and exported as a geodatabase or model can be utilized in ArcScene/ArcGlobe.  There are examples using 3d Analyst/ArcScene.  Also there are other examples of the use of both technologies like this one. ... View more

It appears that the output location in the geodatabase will not allow the .tif extension to be used.  You have to save it in a folder location. Glad you were able to figure it out. ... View more

I am not sure what software would produce a .dtm.  Please look at the supported raster formats and try to find a data format that is supported. ... View more

This appears to be an issue with the SDE version of a Mosaic Dataset.  It is reported in the bug report NIM084428.  It is still being worked on, as a workaround the recommendation is to use a file geodatabase. ... View more