Introduction to InfraWorks 360 for Civil

Transcription

1 Eric Chappell Autodesk Aimed at Civil industry professional, this class will cover basic importing of data sources to make an existing model, followed by creation of roads, buildings, and city furniture with the myriad of tools available. Finally, we ll cover how to create renderings and fly-over videos for presentation. This class will cover basic InfraWorks 360. To learn about more advanced features and InfraWorks 360, check out InfraWorks: 360 Modules and Features. Learning Objectives At the end of this class, you will be able to: Create a new InfraWorks 360 model and populate it with freely available GIS data Create major design features such as buildings, roads, and coverages Add detail to your model using trees, city furniture, and other items Present your design to others About the Speaker Eric Chappell serves as Community Evangelist for InfraWorks 360 at Autodesk. He is a recognized expert in InfraWorks and has been writing and talking about it since its inception. He has over 20 years experience in the civil/survey field having served as field surveyor, designer, CAD manger, consultant, trainer, and many other roles relating to Civil 3D and InfraWorks. His most recognizable work is a series of essentials books for InfraWorks and Civil 3D published by Wiley\Sybex. He resides in central Virginia and when he s not talking to folks about InfraWorks he s spending time with his wife and four children, playing music, or enjoying the outdoors. You can reach Eric at eric.chappell@autodesk.com

2 Introduction I m sure you ve heard all the talk about InfraWorks 360, seen plenty of demos by now, and maybe you ve even downloaded the trial. What now? What can you do with InfraWorks 360 and how can you get started putting it to work doing the things you want it to do? That s what this course is all about. We ll talk about creating your first model, populating it with existing data, and then using the core InfraWorks 360 tools to create new design features. We ll also talk about how to prepare your creation so that it can be shared with others. Where to Get Data One area that InfraWorks 360 really shines in is its ability to consume lots of different types of data. This includes many of the common file formats you ll run into when combing the web or your company GIS library for data. If you don t have access to any specific GIS data, a good place to start is the USGS National Map Viewer. You ll find this page at From here you can find data for anywhere in the United States. It s not the best data available but it s a great way to get started. And if your project is outside the United States, just use your favorite search engine and look for <location name> GIS. 2

3 You can search the National Map Viewer by location and then pan and zoom using common navigation techniques. Once you ve located the area you would like to include in your model, there are a number of ways you can start the process of downloading your data. I prefer to click the Download icon and choose the bounding box option. Then you can simply draw a box around the area you want to model. After that, choose the data that you want and proceed through the checkout process (don t worry it s free, but they still call it a checkout process). 3

4 There are typically lots of data sources to pick from so read carefully. Also be sure to pick file types that InfraWorks 360 can read. IMG files are good for terrain, JP2 is good for aerial imagery, and SHP is good for vector data. For the class example, I picked the following: Elevation: USGS NED n45w094 1/3 arc-second x 1 degree IMG Orthoimagery: Mar m Color Orthoimagery - Minneapolis / St Paul, MN Transportation: USGS National Transportation Dataset (NTD) for Minnesota State or Territory Shapefile Your data will download as a series of zip files, possibly many of them depending on the size of the area you selected. Spend some time getting them unzipped and organized before attempting to access them from your InfraWorks model. Once you ve done that, you re ready to create your model and begin building your existing conditions. Create the Model To create a model from scratch you simply click New on InfraWorks Home. Then enter a name and choose a location for your model s SQLite file and its associated <Model>.files folder. You really don t need to worry about any of the other settings just yet. After you ve provided this information and dismissed the New Model dialog box, your new blank model will open. 4

5 Access Your Data The easiest way to connect your InfraWorks model to the source data you ve downloaded is to simply drag and drop the data files from Windows Explorer to your InfraWorks window. When you do this, the Data Source Configuration dialog box will open up and for most data, the coordinate system will be automatically recognized. In some case you ll need to provide the Type value. Once the coordinate system and Type are established, you can click Close & Refresh. For some data sources (like lakes and streams), you may need to choose the Drape option so that you don t create deep watery holes and channels in your model. For streams and rivers (linear water features, not shapes) you ll also need to provide a Buffer Width value or they won t show up. 5

6 Set Model Extent Often the area that your data covers will be much more than you need or want, and it can really slow down InfraWorks, depending on how good your hardware is. It s best to set your model extent as early as possible to get the best performance out of your model. To do it, you click Settings and Utilities and then Model Properties. Then uncheck Use Entire Model and use the Define Interactively control to define the model extent by bounding box or polygon. Don t forget to double-click that last point to let InfraWorks know that you re done. 6

7 Creating Roads If your proposed development has roads, that s a good place to start with building out the design aspects of your model. To create roads, click the Design icon on the InfraWorks Core toolbar, then click the Roads tool. Next, pick a style and just start clicking points in the model to create your road. When you get to the end, double-click to end the command. If you re not happy with the style, you can always drag and drop a new one from style palette, or create your own custom road style. When your road touches another road, InfraWorks 360 will automatically create an intersection. You can also easily edit your road graphically using gizmos, or using right-click menu commands. 7

8 Creating Buildings Buildings are another great way to build out your design model. If you have access to building models you can attach them as data sources. If not, you can draw buildings from scratch using the Buildings tool. Simply launch the tool and then click points to draw the footprint of the building. The building will extrude upward from that shape and the look of it will be controlled by a façade style. Buildings can be easily edited using gizmos and right-click menus. Coverages Coverages are great for simulating new grass (new construction) and paved areas. To create a coverage you simply launch the Coverages command and click a series of points in the model to create a shape. To begin, the coverage will be draped on the terrain but you can use the coverage as a grading tool by editing the individual vertex elevations or using the Shape Terrain command to create a flat surface at a given elevation. One setting that you ll find useful is the Smoothing Radius value which you can use to control the tie-in slopes between the edge of the coverage and the existing terrain. 8

9 Water Features There are two commands to create water features (called water areas) in your InfraWorks model. The tools are named Rivers and Water Areas. Rivers creates a linear water feature while Water Areas creates a closed shape. For Rivers, you ll need to provide a buffer width and perhaps bank width value to control the geometry of the water feature. These properties can be accessed by right-clicking and opening the Properties panel. Be sure to click the Update button or check the Auto Update box or you won t see the change. 9

10 Trees Trees and other vegetation are a great addition to your model to add detail and bring it to life. There are two commands associated with trees: Row of Trees and Stand of Trees. A row is linear, like a tree line between two properties while a stand is a closed shape, like a wooded area next to a building. You can edit individual trees by clicking one of them and you can edit the entire stand or row by double-clicking one of the trees. City Furniture You can add even more detail to your model using City Furniture. InfraWorks 360 comes with an extensive library of 3D models but you can also create your own City Furniture styles or simply attach your own models as data sources. 10

11 Pipelines & Pipe Connectors If you want to represent underground infrastructure in your model, you can do that too using pipelines and pipe connectors. The best approach is to first modify a pipeline style so that it has a negative value assigned for Height Offset (the default styles all have this set to 0). Then create your pipe connectors and finish up by drawing pipes from one connector to the next. Presenting Your Model Before doing anything to your model to prepare it for presentation, consider using the live model itself as your presentation tool. As you ve seen, InfraWorks is easy to navigate and it s easy to make changes. With the live model at hand, you ll be ready for just about any question and in many cases you can even try suggested changes on the fly. If you want something more polished or perhaps you need to share your model with someone who does not have access to the InfraWorks 360 software, there are a few options you can consider. Create Snapshot Create Snapshot is a great, quick tool to basically grab a screen capture of your model without the user interface. 11

12 Render Model Render Model is a little more sophisticated than Create Snapshot and gives you more control over the output You can adjust exposure settings as well as date & time and some others. The command executes a sequences of passes and you simply stop the process when the quality is acceptable. Storyboard Storyboards allow you to create an animation that moves your view perspective smoothly through the model (as in a flyover or drive-through). The functionality is designed to be easy to use and the simplest way to create your first storyboard is to use 12

13 a camera path animation. To do this, you open the Storyboards panel and add a camera path animation. Then zoom to a few key spots in the model and add a key frame for each one. Then adjust the speed of the key frames to control how quickly you transition from one to the other. After a bit of practice, you ll get a feel for how to space out your key frames and the amount of editing you need to do will be minimal. Once your storyboard is configured, you can play it from within the model or export it to a video 13

14 You can literally go from nothing to a flyover or drive-through video in 10 minutes or less. If you want to spend more time making your storyboard more sophisticated by including titles, captions, and more complex camera movements, you can do that too. Conclusion It truly is amazing what you can do in a relatively short time with InfraWorks 360. In less than an hour, you could start with nothing, build existing conditions, and then add basic elements to model your design ideas and intent. Of course if you want to spend more time adding detail, exploring multiple proposals, finding and importing more data sources, etc., you certainly can and it will only make your model better. Oh, and don t forget that everything you do is in stunning 3D and is ready to walk out the door with and head off to a customer meeting. If you want to take something more polished than the live model, you can do that too using the presentation tools that are available. The next time you need to share your design ideas with an audience, use InfraWorks 360 instead of a CAD-generated exhibit, 2D print, or some other static 2D presentation. You ll get your ideas across more efficiently and more impressively with a 3D InfraWorks model. 14