Terrain analysis is done to collect and interpret the topographic features of bare terrain surfaces and, in most cases, link terrain properties to the natural or man-made environment. It usually employs elevation data, usually in conjunction with other geospatial information such as slope and direction, to describe the landscape, for basic visualization, modeling, or to support decision making.
With just a click on a button, Plex-Earth 5 offers this functionality for designers or topographers to perform such analysis and gain more insight on a terrain.
This tutorial will show the steps on how to conduct a terrain analysis.
To start with, on the Terrain Panel of the Plex-Earth 5 ribbon, select "Terrain" at the bottom part.
Click on "Analysis" and on the dropdown, choose "Analysis" again.
Plex-Earth 5 will prompt you to select the terrain object to conduct an analysis of. It can be a terrain mesh, contours, or elevation points. We will be performing an analysis for a terrain mesh for this tutorial.
Choose which category of analysis you would like to perform. Plex-Earth can show 3 types of terrain analysis: Elevation, Slope, and Direction analysis. You can select which one via a small window or via the command line.
The steps to conduct either of the three analyses will be similar. For this tutorial, we will conduct an elevation analysis.
You will then be asked how to specify the ranges - Auto or Custom.
- Auto - Plex-Earth will automatically calculate the interval of ranges for you.
- Custom - Choose this to set different minimum and maximum values for each range. Set the minimum value of the current range to 1 unit above of the minimum value of the previous range. Example, if the maximum value of Range 1 is 100, set the minimum value of Range 2 to 101.
Once done, define the number of ranges to consider for your analysis.
Pick the method on how you would like to visualize the range colors - either Gradient or Manual.
- Gradient - This option will show a smooth transition from the two colors that you will need to select. The first color corresponds to the color of the range with the lowest elevation value and the last color corresponds to the color of the range with the highest elevation value.
- Manual - This option will let you choose the color for each range.
If you already know the color code of your preferred colors, you may type it in. Otherwise, click on "Dialog" located in the command line and choose your desired color from the color dialog box that will pop up.
After choosing your colors, select how you would to display the analysis - either as 2D Solid, 3D faces, or Mesh, whichever is the most fitting to your needs.
For this tutorial, we have selected the 3D faces display and the resulting image of the analysis is displayed below:
Through utilizing this feature, designers can not only perform advanced terrain analysis in the simplest and most efficient way possible but also gain valuable data and insights of a terrain from the stunning visualization produced by Plex-Earth 5.
Feel free to contact us at support@plexscape.com for any questions you may have and don’t forget to start your free trial today.