IMAGINiT Civil Solutions Blog

Reality Capture Use Case: Ehresmann Engineering

Capturing the real world in digital format sounds great, but knowing the right type of capturing technology to use and then turning the raw data into models can be tricky. 

Ehresmann Engineering provides consulting and steel fabrication services to meet the specific needs of communications organizations. Their main offering is creating and inspecting cell phone towers. Sending climbers up the towers to visually inspect all the towers was time consuming, so they began using UAVs, but found they still had areas that required visual inspection. 

By comparing UAVs with aerial photogrammetry to high definition laser scanning, Ehresmann Engineering found which was best suited to what they needed to accomplish. IMAGINiT worked with them to compare the technologies and provide workflow assistance. Find out how Ehresmann Engineering is doing now.

Are you considering reality capture? Whether you need to do the scanning or work with the point cloud data, our reality capture professionals can help.

Infraworks 360 and Map 3D information sharing

Jeff Morris | Sr. Applications Expert

By now it is quite clear that Infraworks 360 is an ideal tool for preliminary and conceptual design. It has a strong partnership with Civil 3D, which can import the preliminary design to further design development. These two programs are known as “the Dynamic Duo” for a good reason.

While the “Dynamic Duo” together are very powerful, there is another very interesting and useful function Infraworks 360 can perform, which is to visualize GIS data.

If the Model Builder (within Infraworks 360) is not being used to create the initial model in Infraworks, one has to connect to a variety of data “manually”, via the Data Sources Palette. One can connect to a variety of GIS Data Sources, such as SHP, SDF and SQLite. One can also connect to direct or on-line data sources by designating the connection type and supplying the proper service and login credentials. Also note that one can “manually” connect to Bing Maps.

   

The actual configuration of the database and mapping its fields to Infraworks attributes is beyond this range of a blog post, however the important takeaway is knowing that any such GIS data field can be used for tool tips, attributes within palettes, stylizing, etc.

With this ability to connect to GIS data sources, Infraworks can become an interesting tool to display and showcase a variety of GIS databases.  With the unique graphic capabilities of Infraworks and the creative use of proposals tools, powerful and compelling data can be easily utilized.

It is important to remember that while Infraworks is an excellent data aggregator, visual, preliminary design tool, it is not intended to be used as an editing tool. Even though one can change the location of the objects and modify the attributes on its palette, these values may not be reflected in the original GIS database, since the original field mapping to Infraworks attributes is usually one-way. In addition, other standard attributes within Infraworks, such as Creation Date and Termination Date, are usually not part of the original GIS database.

Therefore it is recommended that Infraworks is regarded as a GIS display tool, not an editing tool. AutoCAD Map 3D is a recommended editing tool and can connect to the same GIS Data sources as Infraworks, and changes made within the Map 3D environment can (if configured properly) go directly into the connected GIS Data Source.

    

With this kind of approach, Infraworks and Map 3D together can be as much as a “Dynamic Duo” as the much more touted Infraworks and Civil 3D “partnership”, and it gives Infraworks another interesting use, incorporating GIS data to provide visually stunning and data-rich presentations.

Revit (Structure) & Infraworks 360

Jeff Morris | Sr. Applications Expert

Infraworks 360 can create some very detailed bridges. When importing the IMX file into Civil 3D, the bridge comes in as AutoCAD 3D solids, which is great for modeling. However it is not ideal for design development or detailed design, since there is no intelligence transferred from Infraworks, merely 3D solids.

In previous releases, there was a rather elegant Bridge Modeler extension available for both Civil 3D and Revit Structure that allowed for a bridge design to flow between these two platforms. But even this did not use the bridge specs in Infraworks but had to be manually recreated.

It is too soon to know if this Bridge Modeler will be available for the new 2017 platform, however the extension hasn’t been updated in functionality for many releases.

To export an Infraworks bridge model directly to Revit, simply select the bridge, right-click to edit it and once in edit mode, another right-click will give the option to “Send to Revit”. From there, the program does the rest, and while it does take some time, what it does is quite impressive:

• It converts all bridge components to Inventor Models, then proceeds to create Revit Elements from these parts.
• The bridge girders get converted to Revit Structural Framing Families along with Analytical Beams.
• All other components get converted to Generic Models.
• The Project Base Point in Revit gets updated with the proper Northing and Easting from the Infraworks model, therefore georeferencing the Revit model (although the Survey Base Point remains at 0,0 – which is understandable since no reference point can be given).
• The Revit model opens up in Revit with predefined views and levels. The file name is the same as the bridge name from Infraworks, therefore it is it recommended to give the bridge a name which easily identifies it prior to sending it to Revit.

However there are some things left to be desired, such as:

• Rebar can only be added to the Structural Framing, not Generic Models.
• The process generates many levels (my test had 28 levels which didn’t seem to reference anything.)
• Some more setup has to occur in Revit by assigning levels near the Bridge Deck, the Footings and in between.
• Since these are generic models, it is not easy to modify them with any type of precision. One has to edit each individual family component.
• There are no links back to the Infraworks model, so if the Bridge gets modified in Infraworks, one has to redo all the work done to update. Furthermore, since it automatically launches Revit, it overwrites the original file without warning, and all the work done on the original file are lost. (Therefore it is recommended one renames (save as) the Revit file when it first opens up to avoid losing any work).
• If any changes are made in the Revit model (albeit difficult to do), one would have to import the Revit file into Infraworks as a Revit model, not an intelligent Infraworks Bridge model with all its components.

 

It is possible to export this Revit model as a “Building Site” for Civil 3D, however there would be no advantages to this file format over the simple 3D masses Infraworks creates when imported directly into Civil 3D, and the effort of generating such a “Building Site” outweighs its usefulness.

Still it is quite an impressive exchange, especially considering it is the first iteration. One can only hope that (unlike the Bridge Modeler), this feature will continue to evolve to address some of the limitations.

Raster and Vector Overlays in Infraworks 360

Jeff Morris | Sr. Applications Expert

Infraworks 360 allows for a plethora of external files to be incorporated into its model. We will be exploring the Raster and Vector Overlay options.

The “AutoCAD DWG as 2D Overlay” is very similar to the Vector Overlay. The Vector Overlay inserts f2d files compared to dwg files from AutoCAD. Please note the icons next to the description – the Raster and Vector Overlay are local services, whereas the AutoCAD 2D Overlay is a cloud based service, resulting in the following alert.

Scale

The digital size of raster images is determined by the pixel resolution. The digital size of vector files is determined by the sheet size and the scale assigned through viewports. So therefore there is no reliable algorithm to determine how to scale these files to represent full, real-world scale.

One needs to configure the data sources when inserted. I usually go straight for the Interactive Placing to get a glimpse of the scale, then return to the Data Source Configuration window (accessible through the Data Sources panel) and roughly scale it to a better size. Then I interactively place it again to get it in the approximate location and Close and Refresh the Data Source.

 

Positioning

Through the 3D Gizmo, one can move the Overlay by click and dragging on the Red Square at the base of the Gizmo. From there, through the right-click menu, one can fine tune the positioning through the Place by Reference Points. This is similar to a 3-point Rubbersheeting. One is prompted for the first target point within the overlay by double-clicking on it, then selecting the destination location in the model, again by double-clicking. One does this three times. The first one moves and anchors the overlay the other two will scale and rotate the overlay.

 

Visibility and Locking

1. Through the Model Explorer Panel, notice there is a separate area for overlay (Bubble #1), where both the Vector and Raster overlays are listed.
2. The lightbulb icon (Bubble #2) controls the visibility of the overlay.
3. The padlock icon (Bubble #3) lock or unlocks the overlay.
4. The arrows (Bubble #4) control the display order of the overlay.