Quicksurf

Quicksurf
Version 5. 1
Surface modeling.
Copyright 1998 Schreiber Instruments, Inc.

All Rights Reserved
Schreiber Instruments, Inc. makes no warranty, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to any implied warranties of
merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, regarding these materials and makes such materials available solely on an "as
is" basis. In no event shall Schreiber Instruments, Inc. be liable to anyone for special, collateral, incidental, or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of the purchase or use of these materials. The sole and exclusive liability to Schreiber
Instruments, Inc., regardless of the form of the action, shall not exceed the purchase price of the materials described herein.
Schreiber Instruments, Inc. reserves the right to revise and improve its products as it sees fit. This publication describes the state
of the product at the time of publication, and may not reflect the product at all times in the future.
Quicksurf is a trademark of Schreiber Instruments, Inc. 3D Studio and AutoCAD are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office by Autodesk, Inc. All other tradenames or trademarks are gratefully acknowledged as belonging to their respective owners.
Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
About Quicksurf .................................................................... 1
Chapter 2: Installation
System software requirements............................................... 9
System hardware requirements.............................................. 9
Required knowledge .............................................................. 9
Quick installation................................................................ 10
Installation ........................................................................... 10
CD ROM installation .................................................... 10
DOS Installation............................................................ 10
Windows Installation .................................................... 14
Hardware keys ..................................................................... 17
Network considerations ....................................................... 18
Customer support................................................................. 19
Chapter 3: Concepts
Whats a surface?................................................................. 21
Surface memory ............................................................ 22
Parts of a Surface................................................................. 24
Data parts ...................................................................... 25
Calculated parts............................................................. 26
Break lines..................................................................... 30
Contours ........................................................................ 34
Grid Methods....................................................................... 35
Continuous Curvature (Standard method) .................... 35
Trend surfaces ............................................................... 35
Kriging .......................................................................... 36
Chapter 4: Quicksurf menus

............................................................................................. 37
Chapter 5: Quick Start

Introduction ......................................................................... 43
Quicksurf
Loading the Quicksurf menu................................................43

Quicksurf demo mode ..........................................................44
Loading the demo data set....................................................44
Displaying a surface.............................................................46
Examining surfaces in 3D ....................................................50
Draping a polyline................................................................51
Generating a profile..............................................................52
Examining new surface parts ...............................................53
Using Boundaries .................................................................54
Annotating your map............................................................57
Drawing the contours.....................................................57
Indexing the contours ....................................................58
Labeling the contours ....................................................58
Posting Z values of points .............................................59
Chapter 6: Command Reference

Organization.........................................................................61
Data input .............................................................................61
Extracting drawing data.................................................62
Reading ASCII data files...............................................65
Data Export ..........................................................................79
Exporting ASCII data files ............................................79
Exporting 3D Studio files ..............................................81
Surface commands ...............................................................82
Show versus Draw .........................................................82
Surface modification ............................................................93
Surface Options .............................................................94
Surface viewing....................................................................95
Boundaries............................................................................99
Annotation..........................................................................102
Color control ......................................................................114
Surface colors ..............................................................114
Surface Color Sequence...............................................122
Set SHOW Color .........................................................129
Contour colors .............................................................130
Volumetrics ........................................................................133
Design Tools ......................................................................143
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Quicksurf
Utilities .............................................................................. 167

Elevation utilities ........................................................ 167
Quicksurf utilities........................................................ 171
Polyline utilities .......................................................... 182
Polyface utilities.......................................................... 184
General utilities ........................................................... 185
Chapter 7: Configuring Quicksurf

Configuration files............................................................. 195
List Configuration ....................................................... 196
Read Configuration ..................................................... 197
Save Configuration ..................................................... 197
Factory Configuration ................................................. 197
Version Info ................................................................ 197
Configure Grid................................................................... 198
Grid Method................................................................ 201
Trend method of gridding ........................................... 203
Krige method of gridding............................................ 205
Configure Contour............................................................. 207
Configure Drape ................................................................ 211
Configure Breaks............................................................... 213
Configure Extract .............................................................. 214
Configure Boundary .......................................................... 218
Configure Units ................................................................. 219
Configure Camera.............................................................. 220
Configure Post ................................................................... 221
Configure ASCII Load ...................................................... 223
Configure Slopes ............................................................... 225
Configure Section .............................................................. 230
Configure Surf Ops............................................................ 237
Chapter 8: Surface Operations

Introduction ....................................................................... 239
Surface operations dialog box ........................................... 239
Surface list................................................................... 240
Surface management buttons ...................................... 241
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iii
Mathematical operation controls .................................246

Surface management functions....................................247
Surface modification operations ........................................250
Grid geometry operations ............................................250
Surface modification operations..................................254
Mathematical surface operations........................................256
Understanding surface operations ...............................256
Mathematical surface operators...................................260
Chapter 9: Boundaries
Boundary smart commands................................................269
Establishing boundaries .....................................................270
Nested boundaries ..............................................................271
Boundaries and surface displays ........................................271
Chapter 10: Break lines

Creating break lines............................................................273
Adaptive densification .......................................................274
Resolving break lines .........................................................275
Intersecting break lines................................................276
When to use break lines .....................................................276
Chapter 11: Drape

Concepts.............................................................................279
Drape basis ..................................................................279
Drape step ....................................................................280
Draping off the edge of a surface ................................280
Drape and Boundaries .................................................281
Using Drape .......................................................................281
Solving for an elevation...............................................281
Creating a 3D profile ...................................................282
Constructing design elements (break lines).................282
Converting 2D maps to 3D maps ................................282
Application examples.........................................................283
Drape and post points ..................................................283
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Horizontal arc to vertical curve................................... 284

Hatch pattern draped on a surface............................... 285
Chapter 12: Surface editing

Examining the raw data ..................................................... 287
What is an edit point? ........................................................ 288
Adding edit points ............................................................. 289
Editing contour polylines................................................... 291
Correcting slope excursions............................................... 292
Chapter 13: Site planning workflow

Workflow Overview .......................................................... 295
Chapter 14: Volumetrics

TIN based volumetrics....................................................... 297
Volume under a triangle.............................................. 297
Volume under a surface .............................................. 299
Understanding volume calculation .................................... 300
Workflow .................................................................... 301
Volume by Entity............................................................... 303
Volume calculation from surface memory ........................ 305
Volume calculation options ........................................ 305
Running a volume command ...................................... 309
Surface volume ........................................................... 310
Area Volume ............................................................... 310
Boundary Volume ....................................................... 311
Practical volume calculations ............................................ 312
Comparison to Average End Area volumes................ 314
Common volume calculation mistakes ....................... 315
Chapter 15: Surface estimation methods

Supported methods ............................................................ 317
Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN)....................... 317
Slope-based methods................................................... 318
Quicksurf
Geostatistical methods.................................................319
Which method do I use?.....................................................320
Workflow.....................................................................320
Data types and surface methods.........................................321
Chapter 16: 3D Studio meshes

Exporting mesh objects ......................................................323
Direct surface export ...................................................323
Subdividing surfaces....................................................324
Morphing Quicksurf surfaces.............................................325
Chapter 17: User coordinate systems

Extract commands and User Coordinate Systems .............327
Chapter 18: Working with extracted contours

Objective ............................................................................329
Workflow ...........................................................................329
Extracted contours tutorial .................................................330
Extracting the contours................................................330
Correcting slope problems...........................................331
Correcting short-cutting contours................................331
Edge effects .................................................................334
Chapter 19: Pad construction

Objective ............................................................................335
Workflow ...........................................................................336
Pad construction tutorial ....................................................337
Chapter 20: Pond construction tutorial

Objective ............................................................................343
Workflow ...........................................................................344
Pond construction tutorial ..................................................345
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Chapter 21: Ditch construction

Objective............................................................................ 355
Workflow........................................................................... 356
Ditch construction tutorial ................................................. 357
Chapter 22: Wall construction

Vertical discontinuities ...................................................... 364
Workflow........................................................................... 365
Chapter 23: Road construction

Objective............................................................................ 367
Workflow........................................................................... 368
Road construction tutorial ................................................. 369
Chapter 24: Slope analysis

Objective............................................................................ 385
Workflow........................................................................... 385
Slope analysis tutorial........................................................ 386
Chapter 25: Contaminant modeling

Overview ........................................................................... 391
Mapping contaminant iso-concentrations.......................... 391
Chapter 26: Using Kriging

Introduction ....................................................................... 395
Objective............................................................................ 397
Workflow........................................................................... 397
Using kriging ..................................................................... 397
Chapter 27: Geologic faulting

Introduction ....................................................................... 407
Constructing fault break lines............................................ 409
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Workflow ...........................................................................410
Using Drape and Extrapolate ............................................414
Chapter 28: Architectural uses

............................................................................................417
Chapter 29: Configuration files

............................................................................................419
Chapter 30: Keyboard equivalents

Data input ...........................................................................423
From the drawing.........................................................423
From ASCII... ..............................................................423
Data Export ........................................................................423
To ASCII.. ...................................................................423
To 3D Studio.. .............................................................423
Surface commands .............................................................424
Boundaries ...................................................................424
Create / Display ...........................................................424
Modify .........................................................................424
Viewing .......................................................................424
Annotation..........................................................................424
Color control ......................................................................425
Volumes .............................................................................425
Design Tools ......................................................................425
Utilities...............................................................................425
Elevations ....................................................................425
Quicksurf .....................................................................426
Polylines ......................................................................426
Polyfaces......................................................................426
General.........................................................................426
Surface operations..............................................................427
Surface management....................................................427
Surface modification....................................................427
File operations .............................................................427
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Mathematical operations ............................................. 428
Chapter 31: Trouble shooting

Program doesnt run.................................................... 429
Menu misbehavior....................................................... 429
Data import problems.................................................. 430
Extract problems ......................................................... 431
Display problems ........................................................ 431
Speed problems ........................................................... 432
Grid problems ............................................................. 433
AF pager error............................................................. 433
Annotation Problems................................................... 433
Lengthy Auto Densification........................................ 434
Quicksurf
ix
Quicksurf
About Quicksurf
Quicksurf is a fast, powerful general purpose surface modeling
system running inside of AutoCAD Release 12,13 or 14. Thousands of people use Quicksurf daily for generation and annotation
of contour maps, profiles, sections and volumetric computation.
Quicksurf converts surface mapping data such as point or break
line data into contours, grids, triangulated irregular networks
(TIN), and triangulated grids (TGRD (pronounced tee-grid)). A
suite of sophisticated tools allows you to manipulate modeled
surfaces into high quality finished maps and perform a variety of
engineering computations.
Quicksurf meets the needs of a broad range of professional disciplines such as civil, environmental, petroleum and mining engineering, geologic mapping and exploration, surveying,
photogrammetry and topographic mapping, landscape architecture, oceanography and surface visualization.
Quicksurf was designed to operate seamlessly with all AutoCAD
applications software. Written in C, Quicksurf is the fastest modeling package available running inside of AutoCAD. All of the
three-dimensional models produced by Quicksurf are completely
compatible with 3D Studio and other three dimensional visualization packages.
There is no limitation on the number of points or the number of
surfaces which may be manipulated simultaneously. Quicksurf
utilizes AutoCADs virtual memory, so the size of your project is
limited only by the available hard disk space. Some Quicksurf
users have built maps containing over 10 million control points
on the PC platform.
About Quicksurf
Page 1
Quicksurf 5 is available in versions for DOS, Windows, and Windows NT running AutoCAD Release 12, 13, or 14.
Input
Data may be input from a wide variety of sources to Quicksurf
including:
ASCII files of X,Y,Z point data

ASCII files of X,Y,Z polyline (break line) data
Extracted from any AutoCAD drawing entities
Direct import of digital elevation model (DEM) data
X,Y,Z point information may be extracted from AutoCAD points,

vertices, 2D polylines representing contours or break lines, vertices of 3D polylines representing break lines or profiles, as well as
most other drawing entities.
Output
Data generated within Quicksurf may be saved in several ways
including:
AutoCAD drawing entities:
Entity drawn
points
lines or meshes
points or meshes
lines, or meshes
2D polylines
2D or 3D polylines
text
Points
Triangulated Irregular Networks (TIN)
Grids
Triangulated Grids (TGRD)
Contours
Profiles and sections
Annotation
Non-AutoCAD formats:
Page 2
ASCII point files

ASCII polyline files
3D Studio mesh files
Binary QSB and QSP surface and polygon files
Introduction
Quicksurf surfaces
A surface, in Quicksurf terms, is a mathematical description of a
three dimensional surface based on original point or break line
data. Surfaces are maintained in Surface memory, which is part
of AutoCAD controlled memory, separate from the drawing database. Mathematically, a Quicksurf surface is a single-valued
function of the independent variables x and y. This means that no
part of a surface may be overhanging or exactly vertical, since it
would have more than one elevation (z value) at an x,y, point. A
surface may consist of any combination of each of the following
elements:
Points
Break lines (Breaks)
Triangulated irregular network (TIN)
Derivatives
Grid
Triangulated Grid (TGRD)
A new surface may be created with just Points as a result of loading X,Y,Z triplets from an ASCII file or extracting points from
entities in the drawing with the Extract to surface command.
Breaks may be incrementally added to a surface by extracting
polyline entities as break lines with Extract Breaks. The calculation of a surface model with the TIN, Grid, TGRD, or Contour
commands create the TIN, Derivatives, Grid or TGRD parts of
the surface as needed.
Quicksurf also has the ability to manage an unlimited number of
these surfaces (dependent on your machines resources) with each
having any combination of these elements. Multiple surfaces
allow you to perform algebraic operations between surfaces
resulting in surfaces representing thicknesses, cut and fill volumes, exaggerated surfaces, slopes and many other possibilities.
Quicksurf maintains one special surface which is called the
results surface or the <.> dot surface. When you load data from
an ASCII file, or use the Extract to surface command to extract
Introduction
Page 3
X,Y,Z data from AutoCAD entities you create a new <.> surface.
Any of these actions replace the pre-existing contents of the <.>
surface. You may save surfaces as named surfaces with the Surface Operations commands.
Quicksurf uses surface memory storage (rather than the
AutoCAD drawing database) to decrease the amount of memory
required to manipulate data, providing fast execution of modeling
operations. Fast and efficient operation in memory provides
instantaneous results allowing for thought and analysis to predominate your design process, rather than waiting for calculations.
A surface is stored in AutoCAD-controlled memory, but is not
part of the drawing until you instruct Quicksurf to add it to the
drawing by issuing a draw response to a Quicksurf command.
A surface will not be visible until you use the specific Quicksurf
commands which display surface geometry and their Draw or
Show options to display the surface in the current viewport. In
the interest of speed the Quicksurf commands of Points, Breaks,
TIN, GRD, Triangulated Grid (TGRD), Contour and Post from
Memory support the ability to either Show or Draw. Draw produces AutoCAD drawing entities (such as points, polylines or
polyface meshes) from a surface model, making them a permanent part of the drawing, while Show temporarily displays them
in the current viewport (until the next event causing a redraw, like
pan or zoom). Using Show allows you to maintain visibility of a
model throughout a series of surface operations or viewpoint
manipulations without waiting for regens or redraws; once a
model is completed it can be incorporated into the drawing with
the Draw option of the appropriate command.
Using Show is substantially faster than Draw, but remember a
Shown object is not an AutoCAD entity, so it cannot be selected
or manipulated with AutoCAD commands and will not be saved
with the drawing file when you save the drawing.
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Introduction
Surfaces in memory will not be saved with the drawing when an

AutoCAD Save or End command is executed, but you will be
given a chance to save surfaces when exiting the drawing. If you
need to save the contents of surface memory, Quicksurf provides
a separate command (Write QSB) that allows you to write one or
more surfaces from surface memory to disk independently of the
AutoCAD drawing. This provides more efficient use of storage
(as much as 50% less) and preserves all parts of a surface in a
quickly retrievable form.
Surface models
Starting from points and/or break line data, Quicksurf can generate the following basic model types:
Triangulated Irregular Networks (TIN)

Grids
Triangulated Grids (TGRD)
Contours may then be generated from the TIN, TGRD or Grid

surface model. Any AutoCAD entity may then be draped onto
the surface so it lies on or follows the surface exactly. In this way
you may turn 2D map data into 3D maps or solve for the surface
elevation at any point(s) by draping.
Break line data, representing 3D polylines where surface slopes
are discontinuous, may be used without limitation on number or
complexity. Both smooth surface curvature and break line slope
discontinuities may be combined in the TGRD surface model.
Introduction
Page 5
Surface estimation methods

TIN models are created using highly optimized Delauney triangulation which optimally connects all of the data points. TIN models linearly connect the control points with planar triangular
faces. Grid models provide surface estimation between control
points and may be created using several different methods including:
Linear interpolation
Continuous curvature
Continuous slope
Kriging
Linear
Exponential
Spherical
Gaussian
Piecewise continuous
Hole
Surface editing
Any surface may be edited to change its shape to honor your
design or interpretation. The edited surface may then be used like
any other for volume, slope, or surface to surface computation.
Surface manipulation
Quicksurf can maintain multiple surfaces in memory simultaneously. Surface algebra may be performed between surfaces,
including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, logarithms, relational comparisons, slope calculation and more. Two
simple examples of surface algebra are subtracting an existing
topography from a proposed topography to calculate a cut and fill
surface to be used in volume calculation, or subtracting the top of
a geologic horizon from the base of the same horizon to calculate
thickness.
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Introduction
Surface algebra and surface manipulation is performed within the

Surface Operations subsystem of Quicksurf. Polynomial trend
surface analysis and automatic residual calculation are also available in Surface Operations.
Volumetrics
Fast, accurate volumes may be calculated on one thickness surface, between two different surfaces or between a surface and a
constant. The volumes may be computed for the entire surface or
separately on one or more arbitrary sub-areas.
Construction tools
A broad suite of construction utilities are included to help with
your design process. Intersect slope projects a given slope up or
down from a 3D control line until it intersects the specified surface, then draws a 3D polyline representing the intersection in
space. Daylight lines in site planning, fault traces in geology and
bench edges in mine design are determined painlessly.
Apply section applies a cross-section template of any complexity
to a 3D polyline path to automatically create all of the breaklines

for a roadway, including the daylight lines at the head of the cuts
and base of the fills. Points on the original topographic surface
are automatically moved to a different layer within the disturbed
design area.
3D Offset offsets a 3D polyline normal to itself and a user-speci-
fied horizontal and vertical distance.

Quicksurf is a not tailored to one specific discipline. We have
attempted to give you the fastest, most flexible surface modeler
available. As you use Quicksurf, you will find that there are
many different ways to accomplish the same end. In this manual
we strive to give you the background to quickly use Quicksurf
Introduction
Page 7
productively. We cannot cover everything, so consider attending

one of the several Quicksurf courses offered by Schreiber Instruments to tune your skills and get the most out of your investment.
Using this manual

This manual is organized into several chapters on concepts, a
large command reference, and many specific application examples. Please take the time to read the concepts chapters. Quicksurf is a big, powerful program and you really need to develop a
framework to understand and effectively use its capabilities. The
command reference chapter is the how-to chapter, stressing syntax and command result, rather than concept or tutorial examples.
The application examples present small discipline-specific tutorials of common tasks. A short workflow summary is included in
each application example. They do not need to be done in any
given order, but some of the more complex ones do build on
skills covered in the simpler ones. For example, it will be worth
your while to do the simple building pad example before you
tackle building an entire road. The troubleshooting chapter summarized common problems and their causes.
Typeface conventions
Several different typefaces are used within this manual:
Menu entry or Check box or Edit box
Prompt
User response to prompt
Button
Page 8
Introduction
System software requirements
Quicksurf is implemented for operation from AutoCAD Release
12 or 13 for DOS, Windows and 14 for Windows. The program
will not run on earlier releases of AutoCAD. Quicksurf is
designed to work seamlessly with other Schreiber products such
as Spatial Explorer and QuickSurf Pro if present, but Quicksurf
has no additional requirements other than AutoCADs.
System hardware requirements

Quicksurf operates within AutoCAD Release 12, 13, or 14 and
has no hardware requirements over and above those of AutoCAD
itself. If you plan to construct very large complicated models,
more memory will allow faster construction times. We suggest
the following basic system configuration as a minimum for efficient operation:
80486 or Pentium processor

16 megabytes RAM (32MB for ACAD R13)
Sufficient free hard disk space to accommodate your model
VGA monitor or better
Required knowledge
Effective use of Quicksurf requires a basic working knowledge of
AutoCAD. Familiarity with AutoCAD entity types (points,
polylines, polyface meshes, text and inserts) and basic use of
viewing commands (Pan, Zoom, etc.) is needed. If you plan to
produce hard copy output, knowledge of the Plot, Hide, Shade,
and Render commands is helpful. This knowledge may be
gained by attending an authorized Autodesk Training Center,
guidance from an experienced AutoCAD user, or manual study.
Quicksurf requires no other specialized training or knowledge.
System software requirements
Page 9
Quick installation
Experienced DOS or Windows users may follow these abbreviated instructions. Install Quicksurf by inserting the floppy, typing
B:INSTALL and answer the drive and directory prompts.
Include the install directory (\QS51) in the ACAD path environmental variable if you are running AutoCAD R12 or R13 outside
of the Windows environment. If you are unsure about anything,
please follow the complete step by step installation instructions
below.
Installation
Quicksurf is released on three 1.44-megabyte, 3 1/2-inch disks or
on the Schreiber Instruments CD-ROM, with an automatic installation routine. It is similar to the installation program used for
Autodesk products, so most users should be familiar with its
operation. The installation program will prompt the user for the
AutoCAD version and the appropriate drive and directory names
for placement of the support files. The installation requires
approximately three megabytes of free hard disk space. Installation procedures for DOS, Windows and UNIX are described separately below.
CD ROM installation
If you are installing from the CD-ROM please follow the instructions on the CD label.
DOS Installation
The installation program runs from a floppy disk drive, generally
drive A or drive B. The following procedures assume drive B: is
the installation drive.
Insert the Quicksurf diskette into disk drive B: and close drive
door.
Type B:INSTALL at the DOS prompt and then press Enter.
Page 10
Quick installation
The installation program will prompt you for the required information to complete the installation process. If you decide to quit
before the installation is completed, press ESC to abort and return
to DOS. Please note that aborting the install process may leave
files on your hard disk. When you restart the installation, these
files will be automatically copied over (prompting you to allow
overwriting of the old files), unless a different drive-directory is
specified.
The installation routine first displays the software name and version number being installed. It then displays the following
prompts:
Please choose one AutoCAD release for running Quicksurf:
The flashing selection
will be used.
The available AutoCAD releases are shown, with the potential

selection flashing. Use the up or down cursor (arrow) keys to
highlight your selection then press return to accept it. If more
than one AutoCAD releases are run on the same system, the
Quicksurf install program may be run a second time.
On which disk drive do you wish to install Quicksurf?
The available drive letters will be shown, with the potential selection flashing. Use the up or down cursor (arrow) keys to highlight your selection then press return to accept it. Quicksurf may
be installed on a network drive, but is only valid for one user at a
time unless additional licenses are obtained.
The next prompt is for a directory for placement of the Quicksurf
files.
Please specify the directory on your disk where Quicksurf
should be installed: \QS51
We highly recommend you accept the default directory name
offered. The path defaults to \QS51, but may be changed to correspond to the directory of your choice. If you do choose to place
Installation
Page 11
the files in a different place, be sure to alter your ACAD path

variable accordingly. After successful input to the these prompts,
the hard disk installation process begins.
Unpacking executables...
The files will be copied to the drive and directories you chose.
The program and support files will then be expanded from their
compressed format.
There is a DOS environmental variable called ACAD which tells
AutoCAD where to look for files it needs. You must add the
\QS51 directory to this AutoCAD path, so Quicksurf can be found
by AutoCAD. If you fail to do this you will receive an Unknown
command error message from AutoCAD when trying to access
Quicksurf commands.
The ACAD path variable needs to include the node for the directory in which you installed Quicksurf (such as "C:\QS51").
The ACAD variable is either set by a line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT
or in the batch file you execute when starting AutoCAD. For
example, a typical SET statement from your AUTOEXEC.BAT or
ACADR12.BAT would look as follows:
Setting this variable
properly is critical!
SET ACAD=C:\QS51;C:\ACAD\SUPPORT;C:\ACAD\...
Remember that the maximum length of a SET statement is 126

characters.
The most common installation problem occurs when AutoCAD is
started from a batch file which resets the ACAD path variable subsequent to the place where it is set originally (AUTOEXEC.BAT). If
you start AutoCAD from a batch file either directly (such as
ACADR12.BAT) or indirectly (such as selecting AutoCAD from a
menu), you must alter the SET ACAD= statement in the batch file
which starts AutoCAD.
Page 12
Installation
You can confirm the setting of the ACAD variable as seen by

AutoCAD by starting AutoCAD, then shelling out to DOS (type
Shell followed by two returns), then typing SET at the DOS
prompt. This lists the environmental variables including the
ACAD path variable. If C:\QS51; is not in the "ACAD=" line, then
you have not correctly set the ACAD variable and Quicksurf will
not run. Fix it before proceeding.
Installation is now complete.
Convertible demonstration software
Quicksurf is shipped either as a hardware-keyed convertible
demo or as an unprotected licensed version upon purchase. In
demo mode without a hardware key, Quicksurf only works with
the included sample data set and will not import your data. With
a Schreiber hardware key installed in a parallel port, this demo
version is the same as the full unprotected Quicksurf software.
All Quicksurf copies outside of the United States and Canada are
required to be hardware locked versions.
Unprotected software
Fully licensed Quicksurf users in the United States or Canada are
shipped unprotected copies of Quicksurf, with the understanding
that each Quicksurf license is for one concurrent user. Two
simultaneous users require two licenses. Additional licenses are
available at significant discounts, contact Schreiber Instruments
or your dealer for information.
Installation
Page 13
Windows Installation
All versions of Quicksurf should be installed from the main DOS
prompt (such as C:>), not from inside of Windows or a DOS window. The installation program runs from a floppy disk drive,
generally drive A or drive B. The following procedures assume
drive B: is the installation drive.
Insert the Quicksurf diskette into disk drive B: and close drive
door.
Type B:INSTALL at the DOS prompt and then press Enter.
The installation program will prompt you for the required information to complete the installation process. If you decide to quit
before the installation is completed, press ESC to abort and return
to DOS. Please note that aborting the install process may leave
files on your hard disk. When you restart the installation, these
files will be automatically copied over (prompting you to allow
overwriting of the old files), unless a different drive-directory is
specified.
The installation routine first displays the software name and version number being installed. It then displays the following
prompts:
Please choose one AutoCAD release for running Quicksurf:
The flashing selection
will be used.
The available AutoCAD releases are shown, with the potential

selection flashing. Use the up or down cursor (arrow) keys to
highlight your selection then press return to accept it. If more
than one AutoCAD releases are run on the same system, the
Quicksurf install program may be run a second time.
On which disk drive do you wish to install Quicksurf?
Page 14
Installation
The available drive letters will be shown, with the potential selection flashing. Use the up or down cursor (arrow) keys to highlight your selection then press return to accept it. Quicksurf may
be installed on a network drive, but is only valid for one user at a
time unless additional licenses are obtained.
The next prompt is for a directory for placement of the Quicksurf
executable files.
Please specify the directories where the Quicksurf
executables should be installed:
The default will be \ACADWIN for AutoCAD Release 12 or
\ACADR13\WIN for AutoCAD Release 13. The Quicksurf executable files should be placed in the same directory with the
AutoCAD executables.
Please specify the directories where the Quicksurf
support files should be installed:
The default will be \ACADWIN\SUPPORT for AutoCAD
Release 12 or \ACADR13\WIN\SUPPORT for AutoCAD
Release 13. This directory is where the menus and associated
files are placed.
Please specify the directory where the sample files
should be installed: \QS51
We recommend you accept the default directory name offered.
The path defaults to \QS51, but may be changed to correspond to
the directory of your choice. The example files will be placed in
the directory you specified here.
After successful input to the these prompts, the hard disk installation process begins.
Unpacking executables...
Installation
Page 15
The files will be copied to the drive you chose. The program and
support files will then be expanded from their compressed format.
A de-installation routine (RMQS51.BAT) is included which will
delete all Quicksurf program files from this directory.
If you have performed a custom installation and placed the
Quicksurf program files in a different directory than the suggested directories, you must alter the ACAD environmental variable to include the node for the directory in which you installed
Quicksurf executable files. This need not be done for a standard
installation.
When finished, the install program will report:
Quicksurf has been successfully installed.
Convertible demonstration software

Quicksurf is shipped either as a hardware-keyed convertible
demo or as an unprotected licensed version upon purchase. In
demo mode without a hardware key, Quicksurf only works with
the included sample data set and will not import your data. With
a Schreiber hardware key installed in a parallel port, this demo
version is the same as the full unprotected Quicksurf software.
All Quicksurf copies outside of the United States and Canada are
required to be hardware locked versions.
Unprotected software
Fully licensed Quicksurf users in the United States or Canada are
shipped unprotected copies of Quicksurf, with the understanding
that each Quicksurf license is for one concurrent user. Two
simultaneous users require two licenses. Additional licenses are
available at significant discounts, contact Schreiber Instruments
or your dealer for information.
Page 16
Installation
Hardware keys
For international and OEM systems, Schreiber Instruments provides a hardware key. Customers with hardware keys simply
plug the key into parallel port 1 or 2 and plug the printer into the
key. If you are using hardware keys with a printer plugged in, we
recommend that the printer be turned on.
Hardware keys
Page 17
Network considerations
The Quicksurf program and support files may be installed on a
network drive. As long as the directories containing these files
are available on the ACAD path, Quicksurf will function normally. For hardware locked versions, Quicksurf will be in demo
mode if accessed by nodes without a hardware key present. A
network hardware key for multiple users is being developed for
OEM and international use. Contact Schreiber Instruments technical support department for more information.
Please note: On AutoCAD R14 installations on a network server
that does not support long filenames you will have to make modifications to program filenames for proper operation.
Network installations require either multi-seat licenses or a site
license. A single Quicksurf license is for one concurrent user and
additional seats require additional licenses. Multi-seat licenses
are available at significant discounts from the single seat price.
Please contact Schreiber Instruments or your Quicksurf dealer for
further information.
Page 18
Network considerations
Customer support
Schreiber Instruments, Inc. provides several mechanisms for
technical support.
TELEPHONE (303) 843-9400 8:00 TO 5:00 MST MON-FRI
FACSIMILE (303) 843-9885 24 HRS.
World Wide Web (WWW) http://www.schreiber.com/ 24 HRS.
Schreiber technical support is provided as a service for our clients. Free technical support is available free via our WWW site.
Our toll-free 800 telephone lines go to our sales department and
no technical support is available on them.
Free technical support is available via WWW or FAX for all
Schreiber products. We endeavor to keep the WWW Tech Support current, informative and containing the latest examples of
techniques to help you.
Free voice technical support is available for the first 60 days after
purchasing any Schreiber product. After 60 days, free technical
support is still available via our WWW or via fax. Voice technical support after the first 60 days is available by purchasing a
technical support contract. Questions on installation will be
accepted on voice lines and answered immediately at no charge,
regardless of whether the 60 day period has elapsed.
Schreiber Instruments, Inc. does not provide technical support for
AutoCAD only for Quicksurf. If you have a question related to
an AutoCAD function or configuration, or hard copy plotting
please call your AutoCAD dealer for technical support.
Include the following on any tech support request:
1. Product name ( i.e. Quicksurf ) and version number (Use the
Version selection on the configuration menu of the Quicksurf
menu)
2. If the problem can be represented visually, plot the problem
Customer support
Page 19
or use the Saveimg command to make a GIF file and utilize

email to send your image or data file to tech@schreiber.com.
We can often answer your question in much less time if we
have a picture of your problem. Alternatively you may fax us
an image.
3. Certain complex problems may require us to see the data set.
In such cases, utilize our bulletin board system to upload your
Quicksurf configuration file (.qcf) and AutoCAD drawing
file (.dwg) so we can try to duplicate the behavior. Please
remove any unnecessary objects from the files to keep the file
size as small as possible. Email your files zipped to
tech@schreiber.com and technical support will respond back
in 1 to 2 business days.
4. Have your question well formulated and written down so that
all questions may be answered in one pass.
We look forward to answering your questions about Quicksurf.
We will endeavor to answer your questions in a timely fashion.
Page 20
Customer support
Chapter 3: Concepts
Whats a surface?
Quicksurf creates and manipulates surfaces. A Quicksurf surface
is the mathematical description of a surface which exactly honors
all input data points. Quicksurf surfaces are a single-valued function of independent variables X and Y. This means that a surface
only has one Z value for any given (X, Y), and so does not model
overhanging surfaces or exactly vertical surfaces.
Surface may represent anything. Existing topography, proposed
topography, thickness maps, geologic structure maps, concentration distribution, slope maps, pressure gradient maps may all be
represented as Quicksurf surfaces. Surfaces may intersect.
Overhanging surfaces may be modeled in multiple patches.
Quicksurf has no limit on the number of points in a surface or the
number of surfaces simultaneously used. The ultimate limitation
is available space on your hard disk drive.
Surfaces contain one or more parts such as points, break lines,
triangulated irregular networks (TIN), grids or triangulated grids
(TGRD).
A surface is not an AutoCAD drawing entity, rather it is a mathematical description held in surface memory. Representations of a
surface, such as points, contours, grids or TINs may be drawn
into your AutoCAD drawing as point, line, polyline, 3D face,
polyface mesh or mesh entities. It is important to keep the distinction between Quicksurf surfaces (which reside in surface
memory) and drawn AutoCAD entities representing parts of surfaces (which reside in the AutoCAD drawing database).
All drawing entities created by Quicksurf are placed in their
proper position in 3D model space.
Whats a surface?
Page 21
Chapter 3: Concepts
Surface memory
Quicksurf creates a unique unit of memory storage inside
AutoCAD-controlled memory commonly referred to as a surface.
Surface memory has the ability to manage an unlimited number
of these surfaces (dependent on your machines resources). Multiple surfaces allow you to perform algebraic operations between
different surfaces, resulting in surfaces representing thicknesses,
cut and fill volumes, exaggerated surfaces, surfaces representing
slopes and many other possibilities.
Quicksurf uses surface memory, rather than the AutoCAD drawing database, to store and manipulate surfaces. Although surfaces
are stored in AutoCAD-controlled memory, a surface is not part
of the drawing until you instruct Quicksurf to add it to the drawing by issuing a Draw response to a Quicksurf command such as
Contour.
Draw
Extract
AutoCAD Drawing
Points
Lines
2D polylines
3D polylines
3D faces
Polyface meshes
Polygon meshes
Write
Read
Surface Memory
Points
Breaks
TIN
Derivatives
Grid
Triangulated grid
Disk Files
ASCII point files
ASCII break files
Quicksurf QSB files
DEM data files
Surface memory versus the AutoCAD drawing
Page 22
Whats a surface?
Chapter 3: Concepts
A surface will not be visible until you use specific display commands (Points, Breaks, Contour, TIN, Grid, Triangulated grid) and
their Draw or Show options to either draw or temporarily display
the surface in the current viewport. The Show option temporarily
displays the requested contours or surface element on your drawing screen, until the next AutoCAD Redraw. The Draw option
adds the requested contours or surface element to the drawing
database as AutoCAD entities.
Quicksurf maintains one special surface which is the results surface named <.> dot. When you load point data into surface
memory it is placed into the <.> surface. The results of any surface operation are placed in the <.> surface. Any of these actions
replace the pre-existing contents of the <.> surface. You may
make copies of any surfaces or rename surfaces using the surface
management commands within Surface Operations.
Surfaces in memory will not be saved when an AutoCAD Save or
End command is executed. Quicksurf instead provides a separate
command (Write QSB) that allows the user to write a one or more
surfaces to disk independently of the AutoCAD drawing. This
provides more efficient use of storage (as much as 50% less) and
preserves all parts of a surface in a quickly retrievable form. If
you attempt to exit AutoCAD with surfaces still in memory, you
will receive an alert and be offered the chance to save them.
Whats a surface?
Page 23
Chapter 3: Concepts
Parts of a Surface
The component parts of Quicksurf surfaces can be divided into
data parts, which you supply, and calculated parts, which Quicksurf calculates. The following discussion of surface parts relates
to the characteristics of the surface parts, not the methods used to
create them. Realize that the elevations of calculated parts, such
as a grid or triangulated grid, may be computed using different
algorithms.
Points
TIN
Grid
Contours
are not a surface
part, rather a result
of interpolating on a
TIN, Grid or TGRD
Basic parts of a surface
Page 24
Parts of a Surface
Chapter 3: Concepts
Data parts
The two types of data Quicksurf uses to create surface models
consist of points and/or break lines.
Points
Points form the basis of most surfaces. Points are unique X,Y,Z
triplets in AutoCADs World Coordinate System. Point data may
be loaded to surface memory by the following commands:
Extract to Surface (QSX)
Merge Extract (QSMX)
Read ASCII Points (QSL)
Read ASCII Table (QSML)
Read QSB File
Read DEM File
Load Points (with optional Geokit)
The Extract commands extract point data from AutoCAD drawing entities. The Read commands read point data from disk files.
The Load Points command reads point data directly from database files.
Breaks
Break line data (Breaks) are 3D polylines which represent abrupt
discontinuities in the slope of a surface. Examples of breaks are
the edges of ditches, walls and curbs in civil engineering and
faults in geology. Whereas a surface without breaks maintains
continuous slope and curvature throughout, a surface with breaks
may have abrupt changes in slope at the trace where the surface
crosses break lines.
Break line data may be loaded to surface memory by the following commands:
Extract Breaks (QSBX)
Read ASCII Breaks (QSBL)
Read QSB File
Parts of a Surface
Page 25
Chapter 3: Concepts
The Extract Breaks command extracts break data from AutoCAD

drawing entities such as 2D and 3D polylines. Read ASCII
Breaks reads break data from disk files, such as survey data.
Read QSB reads break data from Quicksurf surfaces previously
stored to disk.
Calculated parts
The calculated parts of a surface are the Triangulated Irregular
Network (TIN), Derivatives, Grid and Triangulated Grid
(TGRD). Some Quicksurf commands calculate more than one of
these parts.
Command
Parts calculated
TIN
Grid
TGRD
Contour
TIN
TIN, Derivatives, Grid, as necessary
TIN, Derivatives, TGRD as necessary
TIN, Derivatives, Grid, TGRD as necessary
Triangulated irregular network (TIN)

The triangulated irregular network, or TIN, is a three-dimensional
model of a surface composed of planar triangular faces. Quicksurf generates it based on the Delauney criterion, by which points
are connected optimally to make all triangles as nearly equilateral
as possible. The TIN may be used directly for volumetrics, profiles, elevation analysis, contouring or as a surface to render.
Since each vertex of the TIN is a surface point, a TIN honors all
the points exactly.
Quicksurf also uses the TIN to identify neighboring points when
calculating derivatives for gridded surfaces. Quicksurf can draw
the TIN as lines, 3D faces or polyface mesh entities.
Page 26
Parts of a Surface
Chapter 3: Concepts
Derivatives
The 1st derivatives of a

surface represent slope.
The 2nd derivatives of
a surface represent
curvature.
When Quicksurf generates a surface where surface curvature is

calculated, slope information (1st and 2nd derivatives) are calculated at each vertex of the TIN, representing the slope of the surface at that vertex. The derivative order, weighting and blending
parameters affecting this calculation are set within the Configure
Grid dialog.
Whether or not surface curvature is calculated between control
points is based on the Derivative setting in the Configure Grid
dialog box. When surface curvature is requested, the derivatives
are used to fit a smoothly curved polynomial surface to each triangular face of the TIN. By default this polynomial surface has
continuous slope and curvature between all neighboring faces of
the TIN, except at break lines, where the slopes are allowed to be
different on either side of the break line. If a TIN is created from
a data set including break lines, the break line information is
totally represented in the resulting TIN and derivatives. The TIN,
along with derivatives, represent the complete mathematical surface description. Both the Grid and TGRD commands use these
to solve for elevation at each grid node during surface construction.
TIN without
curvature
Grid with
curvature
Input
data
Surface curvature
Parts of a Surface
Page 27
Chapter 3: Concepts
Grid
The grid consists a set of vertices, spaced rectangularly in the X
and Y axes, with Z values conforming to the modeled surface.
Although the mathematical model used honors the input data
exactly, the resultant grid model is comprised of cells with vertices that are not members of the input point data set. Therefore,
the final grid model will very nearly honor the input data set, but
may not match the data set exactly. As a smaller grid cell size is
used, any error between the input data set and the calculated grid
is reduced. As a larger grid cell size is used, the potential error
between the input data set and the calculated grid increases. The
grid model provides for a smoother representation of the data,
when contoured, than a TIN due to the larger number of vertices
present for contour interpolation.
Gridding is very effective when dealing with data sets that do not
contain break data. The grid does not have the capacity to truly
represent break line data due to the fact that the cells have consistent spacing, causing the breaks to be smoothed to the grid cell
size.
Data sets which contain break lines should be modeled with
either a TIN or TGRD, rather than a grid.

The Triangulated Grid (TGRD) model combines the best parts of
the TIN and grid models into one continuous model of a surface.
The TGRD is used for surfaces which contain both points and
break line data, and produces a smooth curved surface away from
break lines, but honors break lines exactly.
A Triangulated Grid consists of point data and densified 3D
breakline data which have been internally gridded based on the
derivative and cell size settings of Configure Grid. The resulting
grid node data, along with the breakline data, form a point set
which is triangulated to form a special TIN termed a Triangulated
Page 28
Parts of a Surface
Chapter 3: Concepts
Grid (TGRD). This TGRD is a TIN which honors breakline data

exactly, but also may honor curvature data when away from
breaklines.
A TGRD surface honors breaklines exactly, with each break line

represented as edge of a triangle. Away from break lines, the vertices of a TGRD triangles are coincident with where regular grid
nodes would have been. The original data points are no longer
vertices of the TGRD. The TGRD model produced has smooth
grid characteristics (two triangles per grid cell) when away from
break lines and behaves as a normal TIN near break lines.
To create the diagram above, first the control points on the surface were extracted, then the three 3D polylines representing the
edges and bottom of the ditch were extracted as break lines. A
triangulated grid was then built with the TGRD command.
The Triangulated Grid may be used for volumetrics, profiles, elevation analysis, and contouring. Since each vertex of the TGRD
is a surface point, it honors all of the grid nodes and breaks line
vertices exactly. Quicksurf can draw the TGRD as lines, 3D faces
or polyface mesh entities.
Parts of a Surface
Page 29
Chapter 3: Concepts
Break lines
A break line is a 3D polyline which lies in the surface along
which the slope of the modeled surface is allowed to change
abruptly. This enables modeling such features as roads, excavations, retaining walls, normal faults and structures.
Under ordinary gridding conditions, Quicksurf will calculate first
and second derivatives at all control points based on the elevation
values of these points and their neighboring points. These are
used in the polynomial equations that will be solved for the z values at the grid vertices. The resulting grid will have continuous
slope and curvature (i.e., first and second derivatives) everywhere
on the modeled surface. Data near an abrupt slope change will not
be honored exactly because of smoothing errors associated with
gridding. If we designate the abrupt slope change as a break line,
the surface is calculated differently to honor the slope change.
When a break line is encountered by TGRD, both slope and curvature are allowed to be different on either side of the break line.
When a grid is generated, the break line will form the intersection
of two surfaces of different slope and curvature: i.e., an edge.
There will be no smoothing errors and elevation data will be honored exactly.
The figures which follow illustrate the effect of adding break
lines with the Extract Breaks command on a surface having a Vshaped excavation. A standard grid of the original topography is
shown along with the TIN of the original control points. The
standard gridded surface (top figure) was generated by extracting
the original spot elevations with the Extract to Surface command.
This grid shows a rolling surface created by the smoothing process inherent in gridding with continuous curvature selected.
Several 3D polylines representing the edges and bottom of a proposed ditch are shown. Extracting these 3D polylines as break
lines with the Extract Breaks command produces a TIN, but with
no curvature away from the break lines (bottom figure).
Page 30
Parts of a Surface
Chapter 3: Concepts
Grid of original topography
TIN of original seven points
TIN after ditch break line extraction
Parts of a Surface
Page 31
Chapter 3: Concepts
Subsequently using the TGRD command produces the accurate

reproduction as the triangulated grid. The TGRD surface is a TIN
which honors both the grid nodes and break lines exactly.
A TGRD gives the best representation
Grids should not be used with surfaces containing break lines. A

grid will average across break line and tend to smooth across the
breaks. The figure below shows a grid for this same data set.
Gridding does not honor break line exactly
Breaks may be established by any AutoCAD drawing entity, but

2D and 3D polylines are most efficient. Remember that the break
line must follow the elevation of the surface to produce meaningful results.
Page 32
Parts of a Surface
Chapter 3: Concepts
There are two special considerations in break line modeling: vertical discontinuities and intersecting breaks.
Vertical discontinuities
Recall that the Quicksurf definition of a surface is a single-valued
function of the independent variables X,Y. This means that no
part of a surface may be exactly vertical, since it would have
more than one elevation value at a given X,Y point.
However, the steepest surface Quicksurf can model is one in
which the upper and lower edges are displaced by approximately
9
drawing units, which is indistinguishable from vertical in

most cases. The applications chapter on wall construction discusses methods for approximating vertical surfaces.
10
Intersecting break lines

Quicksurf densifies all break lines and resolves all crossing break
lines during break extraction. When Quicksurf processes a single
break line, the elevation of the break line itself furnishes the elevation of all densified surface points along it. This produces a
potential ambiguity when two break lines intersect over a common X,Y point, yet differ in elevation. Intersecting break lines
are representing the same surface, therefore the elevation must be
the same at any break line intersection. Quicksurf resolves this by
setting the elevation of the surface to the mean of the elevation
values on the two break lines. This feature resolves small measurement and interpolation errors.
To resolve crossing break lines, Quicksurf must compare every
segment of every break line against every other segment. As the
number of break lines increases, the computation time increases
dramatically.
Stacked data points (multiple control points at a given X,Y location) along break lines are dropped. Quicksurf resolves stacked
data by arbitrarily deleting points from a stack until there is only
Parts of a Surface
Page 33
Chapter 3: Concepts
one. Break lines made up of multiple polylines joined with common endpoints must be treated as break line intersections, which
therefore slows processing.
Contours
Contours are 2D polylines that follow paths of constant elevation
on the modeled surface. Contouring is the interpolation of a specified Z value on a TIN, TGRD or Grid model. Although contours
are produced from a surface model, they are not inherently part of
the surface model. Contours are always generated on the fly from
the surface model of the users choice (Configure Contour).
Grid based contours
TIN based contours
Contouring from a TIN or TGRD is done via basic linear interpolation which interprets each face of a triangle as a plane in space.
Contouring from a Grid is done by linear interpolation on the grid
cells. This interpolation is performed by solving polynomial
equations representing each triangle of the TIN for a constant Z
value. In the illustration above, the same area was contoured on
the Grid and the TIN. You can see the TIN edge effects on the
TIN based contours.
The segment of a contour line within one triangle or grid cell is
always a straight line. Grid cell size therefore has a profound
effect on the smoothness or angularity of contours.
Page 34
Parts of a Surface
Chapter 3: Concepts
Grid Methods
A grid may be calculated by many methods within Quicksurf.
Each of these methods has several options providing for numerous gridding methods.
Continuous Curvature (Standard method)

The Standard method calculates polynomial equations for each
individual face of a TIN and evaluates the polynomials at grid
vertices that fall under the TIN faces. The user may set the derivatives calculated for each triangle to None, 1st or 2nd in the Configure Grid dialog.
The results are quite different: Using derivatives set to None
results in a grid fitted to the TIN in planar fashion. This method
involves no polynomial generation. Grid vertices are simply
interpolated against the planar TIN faces. Using 2nd derivatives
produces a smoothed surface with continuous slope and curvature. This method occasionally may produce surface overshoot
problems in areas of very rapid slope changes, but provides
excellent results on most data sets.
These continuous curvature methods are the fastest available and
provide excellent results when large data sets are to be modeled.
Trend surfaces
The Trend method of gridding allows you to select a particular
order polynomial surface and fit it to the entire data set using a
least squares fit. You may choose the highest cumulative order of
the polynomial in all directions, or specify the order in X and Y
directions independently to yield a polynomial with more terms.
The selection of a Type 1, first order trend will result only in a
least squares fit of a planar surface to the data set. This can be
very useful when generating uniformly sloping surfaces to subsequently drape entities onto. Trend surface and trend surface residual generation are also available as surface operations.
Grid Methods
Page 35
Chapter 3: Concepts
Kriging
Kriging is a geostatistical approach to surface generation. Kriging
allows the user to design and apply specialized functions to predict the variance the Z value of a surface as a function of distance
between control points. The use of kriging requires understanding
of semi-variograms and their relationship to spatial distribution of
data. When applied without a working knowledge of this theory
it is liable to produce inaccurate or deceptive results.
Quicksurf includes interactive semi-variogram design using the
Vario command and supports linear, piecewise, spherical, gaussian and hole semi-variograms. The kriging tools of Quicksurf are
supplied for users already familiar with kriging techniques. This
manual does not cover theory related to kriging. Kriging is useful
in such disciplines as geophysics, environmental studies, and
remediation projects. Users with small contaminant data sets
should consider using kriging rather than the standard continuous
curvature method.
Grids generated by any of these methods may be used for in any

surface operation or for volumetrics, isopachs, profiles, elevation
analysis, slope analysis, rendering, or contouring. Quicksurf can
draw grids as 3D face, polyface, 3D mesh, or point entities colored according to the surface colors options.
Page 36
Grid Methods
The Quicksurf menus are contained in the QS51.MNU file and its
associated menu lisp file QS51.MNL. The Quicksurf menu is
added onto the standard AutoCAD menu under the Model pulldown. The root Quicksurf menu is invoked by pulling down the
Model pulldown and clicking on Quicksurf, or by clicking on
Quicksurf on the right sidebar menu. Either of these actions puts
the Quicksurf menu in place of the Model menu.
The root Quicksurf menu contains many cascading sub-menus.
Each of the sub menus will be shown over the next few pages.
Quicksurf root menu
Quicksurf menus
Page 37
Configuration sub-menu
Extract, import, export sub-menus
Page 38
Quicksurf menus
Surface and color option sub-menus
Boundary and View option sub-menus
Quicksurf menus
Page 39
Annotate, Design, Volumetrics sub-menus
Utilities sub-menus
Page 40
Quicksurf menus
Utility sub-menus
If you are configured to have a side bar menu present, many of

the Quicksurf pulldown commands may be selected directly from
the side bar menu. The command function is identical.
Quicksurf menus
Page 41
Page 42
Quicksurf
Chapter 5: Quick Start

Introduction
Now that you have Quicksurf installed, we will take about 30
minutes to walk through a basic Quicksurf hands-on introduction.
If you have not yet installed Quicksurf, please return to the installation chapter and install the program. Start AutoCAD as you
normally do and begin a new drawing.
Loading the Quicksurf menu

Load the Quicksurf menu by typing Menu at the command prompt
and navigating in the dialog box to the select the QS51.MNU
menu. The menu will be in the \QS51 directory (DOS or UNIX)
or the \ACADWIN\SUPPORT directory (Windows).
Pull down the Model menu and click on Quicksurf or choose
Quicksurf from the right sidebar menu if present. This will swap
out the Model menu to display the main Quicksurf menu.
Quicksurf menu
Introduction
Page 43
Chapter 5: Quick start
All Quicksurf commands may be accessed through this menu.

You may explore the contents of some of the cascading submenus if you wish.
All of the commands referred to in the rest of this chapter will be
chosen from the Quicksurf menu, unless otherwise specified.
Quicksurf demo mode

Quicksurf ships in demo mode or as a fully operational package.
International customers outside North America will be issued a
hardware lock. North American customers will be shipped a version that does not require a hardware lock. In demo mode all of
the data loading functions are disabled except the Terrain Generator and the ability to read the file DEMO5.QSB. This file is a special version of the Quicksurf binary .QSB surface file and
contains a demo data set which includes a collection of surfaces
which we will use in this introduction and in the application
examples.
When Quicksurf is in demo mode, DEMO5.QSB is the only data
file which may be loaded. The Terrain Generator, found under
the Utilities -> Quicksurf Utilities sub-menu, can make synthetic
terrain surfaces of any number points you specify while in demo
mode.
Loading the demo data set

If you get an unknown
command message, you
have not installed
Quicksurf properly.
Please see the Trouble
shooting chapter.
Page 44
We will load the surface data from the DEMO5.QSB file which
contains point and break line data. These data will be loaded
directly into surface memory which was introduced in the concepts chapter.
We will load the data using the Surface Operations dialog so we
can see what happens. Click on Surface Operations and the dialog shown on the next page will appear.
Quicksurf demo mode
Surface Operations dialog
Select Read QSB file button. This will invoke the standard
AutoCAD file dialog. Select the file DEMO from the \QS51 directory, then press OK. This may entail using the left side of the file
dialog to change directories to the \QS51 directory, if needed.
The surfaces listed in

your dialog box may be
different than shown.
After you load the surfaces, your dialog box will look similar to
the one above. The listed surfaces are in surface memory, not in
the drawing yet. It is important to keep the distinction between
surface memory and the AutoCAD drawing database.
At this point, the surface list on the left side of the box shows all
of the surfaces which have been loaded from the DEMO5.QSB file.
The <.> surface is always present and is listed first. This is called
the results or dot surface, and will contain any points or breaks
you extract from either the drawing or an ASCII text file or the
resulting surface from any surface operation.
There is a surface named Existing on the list which contains the
original topography of our demo site. Highlight the Existing surface by clicking on the name Existing. Notice that several of the
surface management buttons become enabled, including the
Detailed button. Press on the Detailed button to see more inforLoading the demo data set
Page 45
mation about the Existing surface. The detailed surface information box is invoked which shows that the surface only consists of
167 points and no other surface parts are present. The points simply represent spot surface elevations. They could have come
from an ASCII XYZ file from survey information or from points
extracted from drawing entities. We will revisit this box as we
create more parts for this surface. Press OK to exit the Detailed
dialog and then press OK to exit the Surface management dialog.
So far there is nothing in the AutoCAD drawing. Lets look at
the Existing surface and see the various ways Quicksurf surfaces
may be displayed. First lets zoom the view so it overlies the surface named Existing. Use the Surface Zoom command found
under the View Options sub-menu to do this.
View Options -> Surface Zoom
Surface name <.>:
You are prompted for a surface name. You may enter the name
(existing) or press a question mark (?) to pick from a surface list.
Enter a ? followed by a return to see what a surface pick list looks
like. Highlight the Existing surface and click OK. The view will
be zoomed so the surface takes up about 80% of the current viewport. The screen is still blank because we havent displayed anything yet.
Displaying a surface
Lets look at the surface parts one by one. The commands we are
going to look at now (Points, TIN, Grid) are some of the commands that can temporarily display surfaces with the show option
or make them a permanent part of the AutoCAD drawing using
the draw option. Lets look at the original points:
The keyboard command
for Points is PNTS.
Page 46
Points
Surface name <Existing>: Press enter to accept the default
None/Show/Draw/Redraw <Show>: S
The points are displayed as single pixels dots on the screen. The
points may be hard to see by themselves, so we will normally
show the TIN instead because it is easier to see. These are the
locations of the points in the Existing surface. We selected the
show option, so the points are just temporarily shown. An
AutoCAD Redraw command will remove shown objects. Shown
objects such as these points are temporary and are not known to
AutoCAD, so you may not select them or erase them with
AutoCAD commands.
Perform a redraw by selecting Redraw from the AutoCAD menu
or typing:
Redraw
The shown points disappear. Any AutoCAD command that performs a redraw (such as zoom, pan, regen, etc.) will remove
objects displayed with the show option.
Lets make the points a permanent part of the drawing:
Points
Surface name <Existing>: Press enter to accept the default
None/Show/Draw/Redraw <Show>: D
By answering D for Draw at the Show/Draw prompt we have

drawn the points from surface memory into the AutoCAD drawing as point entities. These would be saved as part of the drawing
if we were to do a Save or End command.
If your display includes
a sidebar menu, you
may optionally select
Quicksurf commands
from the sidebar.
Lets look at some other parts of the surface. First lets show the
TIN (triangulated irregular network) for the Existing surface.
TIN
Surface name <Existing>: Press enter
Page 47
The TIN is the triangular interconnection of all of your data

points. Showing the TIN is a fast easy way to look at your data
set. Now lets show the grid.
The keyboard command
for Grid is GRD.
Grid
Dots/Horizontal/Vertical/Both <Both>: B
30 x 22 grid built
The grid is calculated by solving for the Z value of each grid node
using a polynomial fit to each triangle of the TIN which honors
continuous slope and curvature for the surface using the default
settings. Quicksurf includes many other methods to create a grid,
which will be examined later.
Contours are not a surface part, per se, rather a linear interpolation on a surface part such as the TIN, Grid, or TGRD. Lets
show the contours.
Contour
None/Show/Draw/Redraw <Show>: R (to perform a redraw)
We used the Redraw option of the None/Show/Draw/Redraw prompt

to remove the previously shown TIN and Grid. The points
remained because we had drawn them.
If you are using the defaults, the contours are displayed based
upon the grid. The Configure Contour dialog will allow you to
contour based upon different parts of the model, such as the TIN
or TGRD. Lets change the contour interval from the automatic
setting to a two foot contour interval and contour again.
Contour Interval
Contour interval/Auto <Auto>: enter 2 for a 2 foot contour interval
Page 48
Contour
At this very dense contour interval you can see some angular
areas in the contours. This is an artifact related to the grid cell
size we are using. We will now reduce the grid cell size from
about 37 feet on side to 10 feet, recompute the surface and re-display the contours.
The Cell size and Cell
count commands clear
and recreate a grid in a
single command.
Surface Options -> Cell Size

Current cell size is <37.21 x 36.86 >
Horizontal cell size/Auto <default>: 10
Vertical cell size/Auto <default>: 10
111 x 81 grid built
(cell size in x, y)
(new 10 x 10 cell specified)
Contour
None/Show/Draw/Redraw <Show>: R
(to perform a redraw)
Notice that the angularity of the contours disappears. Determining grid cell size entails a trade-off between accuracy and file
size. A finer grid cell size has less error, but consumes more
memory and produces more vertices in the contours drawn.
We can sample the elevation of any surface which has a TIN,
Grid or TGRD by using the Track Z command.
Utilities -> Elevation Utilities -> Track Z
Move the cursor over the surface and the surface elevation at the
cross-hairs is displayed on the top status bar. Press a return to
exit the Track Z command.
Until now, we have been only observing the parts of the Existing
surface in plan view. Everything Quicksurf creates is actually in
its proper position in 3D space. We will now look at these same
Page 49
parts in 3D, but first lets draw a polyline on top of the surface
while we are still in plan view. We will drape this line onto the
surface later in this exercise. Use the Pline command to draw a
roughly horizontal polyline from the left side of the contoured
area to the right side. Keep the ends of the polyline within the
contoured area, because this is where the surface is defined.
Examining surfaces in 3D
Now lets change to a 3D view using AutoCADs VPOINT command.
VPOINT
Rotate/ <View Point> <0.0000, 0.0000, 1.0000>: 1,-1,1
Regenerating drawing
Zoom Extents to insure the data fills the screen. Remember the
points are drawn and, therefore, are AutoCAD entities. If we had
been using show only and not drawn any entities, AutoCAD
would have reported Extents undefined, zooming to limits. In such a
case you may use the Surface Zoom command to coordinate the
AutoCAD view and the Quicksurf surface.
Now that we are in a 3D view show all the surface parts again and
note that they are all represented in full 3D.
TIN
Grid
Contour
Page 50
Examining surfaces in 3D
Note that the polyline we drew is at an elevation of zero and lies

underneath the surface which ranges between 400 and 700 feet in
elevation.
Draping a polyline
While we are still in a 3D view, lets use the Drape command to
convert the 2D polyline we drew into a 3D polyline which lies on
the surface.
Design Tools -> Drape
Return to select all visible or
Select objects: Select the polyline you drew earlier.
The polyline now appears as a 3D polyline following the surface.

A redraw is part of Drape, so your shown surface parts disappeared. Re-display the grid so you can see the relationship
between the surface and the draped polyline.
Grid
Drape is a very powerful feature of Quicksurf which can change

or register any entity onto a surface.
Change back to plan view before proceeding:
Command: PLAN
<Current UCS>/Ucs/World: enter
Draping a polyline
Page 51
Generating a profile
We can generate a 2D profile of the 3D polyline we just created
with drape. We will use the Flatten command to display the profile of this draped line. First zoom back (0.5x) to allow room on
the display to draw the profile.
Zoom
All/Center/Dynamic/Extents/Left/Prev/Vmax/Window/<Scale(X/XP)>: .5x
Design Tools > Flatten

Select objects: Select the draped 3D polyline
Select objects: Enter
Flatten proceeds through a dialogue to define the graph it will
draw. Quicksurf calculates various defaults for some of the

parameters based upon the 3D polyline selected. For this example, just accept the defaults (which may be different than shown)
until you get to the Select origin point: prompt.
Vertical multiplier <1>: press enter
Text size for labeling <7.5>: press enter
Base elevation for grid/Auto <Auto>: press enter
Draw a grid background <Y>: press enter
Vertical spacing <10>: press enter
Vertical labeling interval <2>: press enter
Horizontal spacing <20>: press enter
Horizontal labeling interval <5>: press enter
Select origin point: Select a point near the bottom left of your screen
Now the profile will be drawn as a graph of elevation vs. horizontal distance along the polyline. Quicksurf flattens the 3D polyline
into a 2D profile in the XY plane, displaying the distance along
the 3D polyline in the X axis and the Z elevation in the Y axis of
the resulting 2D profile.
Zoom as necessary to examine the profile. When finished, erase
the draped polyline and profile, as we wont need them further.
Page 52
Generating a profile
Examining new surface parts

Using the TIN, Grid and Contour commands, we created additional surface parts. When we first looked at the Existing surface
it only contained points. Lets use surface operations to look at
the Existing surface again and see what parts have been created.
Surface Operations
Before we invoke the Detailed box, notice that the Existing surface now has more parts listed after the surface name. Where initially only the letter P (for Points) was listed, now the list includes
P TDG indicating that a TIN, Derivatives and a Grid were built. A
Quicksurf command will generally build the parts it needs automatically. For example, if a surface contains only points and you
issue the Contour command, the TIN, Derivatives and Grid will
be automatically created, as required.
Highlight the Existing surface by clicking on the name Existing,
then press on the Detailed button.
Detailed Surface information

Examining new surface parts
Page 53
In addition to the points, the TIN and Grid portions of the dialog
box now contain information. The minimum and maximum values of X,Y, and Z, along with plan and surface areas and the volume between the surface and the zero (XY) plane are shown. The
slope extremes shown for the TIN, TGRD and Grid commonly
show a steep maximum slope. This may be reflecting one small
edge triangle or grid cell which has an abnormally steep local
slope.
The detailed surface information dialog is the first place to look
when you have a misbehaving surface. Often the minimum and
maximum values for the points will indicate erroneous input data.
Press OK to exit both of the dialogs.
Using Boundaries
You may limit the area in which points, TINs, grids and contours
are displayed by specifying one or more closed polylines as
boundaries with the Boundary Options -> Set Boundary command. The boundaries may be nested. Boundaries are very useful
for presentation purposes and volumetric limitations. If you
attempt to display parts of a surface and dont see anything, you
may have a boundary set which does not overlie the surface or
display area. We will draw several polygons to be used as boundaries.
First zoom the viewport to register over the Existing surface.
Show the TIN to see the extents of the Existing surface.

TIN
Draw a rectangle within and somewhat smaller than the area covered by the TIN. We will use this as a boundary.
Page 54
Using Boundaries
Command: RECTANG
First corner: select lower left point
Second corner: select upper right point
Select the rectangular polyline you just drew as a boundary.

Boundary Options -> Set Boundary
Select objects: Select the rectangle
Select objects: Press enter
4 points extracted from 1 polyline
Show the contours to see the effect from the boundary.

Contour
None/Show/Draw/Redraw <Show>: Redraw to remove the shown TIN
Notice that the contours stop at the boundary. Boundaries may be

complex polylines and also may be nested. Draw a closed
polyline shaped like a peanut inside of the rectangle with the
PLINE command. Remember to end the PLINE command with a
c to close the polyline.
Now run the Set Boundary command again.
Show/New/DIsable/Enable/DElete/Read/Write <DI>: Enter N for New
Select objects: Select both the rectangle and the peanut polyline
Select objects: Press enter
nn points extracted from 2 polylines
Notice that once a boundary has been set, the Set Boundary
prompt includes more options. In this case, we are specifying a
new boundary definition.
Using Boundaries
Page 55
Now show the contours again.

Contour
None/Show/Draw/Redraw <Show>: Redraw to remove the old contours
Now, with nested boundaries, the contours appear between the

boundary polygons. You may want to experiment with other
combinations of closed polylines as boundaries.
Now show the grid with the boundary enabled to observe the
effect of the boundary on the grid display.
Grid
Elements such as grid cells or TIN faces are either shown in their
entirety or not shown at all; they are not clipped at the boundary.
Important: Before moving on, disable any boundary you may
have set, so the entire surface will be displayed.

Boundary options -> Set Boundary
Show/New/DIsable/Enable/DElete/Read/Write <DI>: Enter DI to disable
Perform a Redraw to remove the shown surface parts, then erase

the boundary polylines before proceeding.
Page 56
Using Boundaries
Annotating your map

Next we will draw, index and label the contours, then post the Z
values next to the points. We will create a display similar to the
one shown below, but for the whole surface.
Indexed and Labeled Contours
Drawing the contours

Until now we have just been showing the contours. The contour
annotation commands (Index and Label) only work on drawn
contours (2D polylines), so lets draw the contours, first resetting
the contour interval back to automatic.
Contour Interval
Contour Interval / Auto <2>: enter A for automatic
Contour Levels / Auto <20>: enter 20 for 20 contours over the Z range
Contour
None/Show/Draw/Redraw <Show>: D (to Draw as polylines)
Close all? <N>: Press enter (option explained in command reference)
Annotating your map
Page 57
Indexing the contours

Use the Index command to widen selected index contours.
Annotate -> Index Contours
Index interval <100>: Press enter
Index layer <unchanged>: Enter to leave index contours on same layer
Index width <1.0>: Enter 4 for an index contour width of 4 drawing units
Select objects: Press enter to select all of the contours
The 100 foot index contours will be redrawn 4 units wide. Note
that the index width is in drawing units, so the proper width to
choose will depend on the scale of the drawing. If you are
unsure, you may indicate the width graphically by pointing.
Labeling the contours

Now well label some of the contours with elevation values.
Contour labeling is interactive; simply pick the contours to be
labelled at the desired label locations when prompted.
Annotate > Label Contours
Label location: Select several locations with the cursor
Label location: Press return when done selecting locations
Text height <0.2000>: Enter 15 or specify a height by pointing
Elevation values will appear on the contours at the selected sites.

Note again that the text height must be chosen according to drawing scale. This command uses the current AutoCAD Units and
Style settings which can affect the number of decimal places displayed and the font size.
For labeling large numbers of contours you will use the AutoLabel Contours command, which is described in the Command
Reference chapter on page 112.
Page 58
Annotating your map
Posting Z values of points

Now well post elevation values next to some of the points.
Quicksurf can either post the Z values of the points directly from
memory (Post) or post the elevation of the drawing entities
(Drawing Post). We will use the Post command to post the Z values of the points directly from memory.
Annotate -> Post from memory

Zoom as necessary to view the posted values. The Post from

Memory command uses the settings from the Configure Post dialog box to determine the text location, height, rotation and justification for the posted Z values. Post supports the Show/Draw
display option so you may preview your settings. The number of
decimal places shown to the right of the decimal point depends
upon the AutoCAD Units command settings. If your posted values need adjusting, you may need to change these settings.
Any boundaries in effect are honored by Post from Memory. The
Z values are drawn as text on the current layer unless a specific
layer has been associated with the surface being posted via the
Detailed surface operation dialog box.
Over-posting of text may occur in densely populated areas of a
drawing. The AutoCAD Move and Rotate commands are useful
in resolving such problems.
This quick start introduction barely scratches the surface of the

capabilities of Quicksurf. It is designed to give you the concept
of a surface, independent from the drawing, and to taste the 3D
functionality of the program. Break lines, surface operations
including surface to surface algebra, volumetrics, and many other
tools are discussed in the following chapters.
Annotating your map
Page 59
Page 60
Quicksurf
Chapter 6: Command Reference

Organization
This section describes each Quicksurf command. You should be
familiar with the material covered in the concepts chapter before
using this section. It is divided into the following groups based
upon command function.
Data input
Data export
Surface commands
Surface modifications
Surface viewing
Boundaries
Annotation
Color control
Volumetrics
Design tools
Utilities
Many of these commands are influenced by the current configuration settings. Those are described in the next chapter on Configuring Quicksurf.
Data input
Quicksurf surfaces are generally created from input data consisting of points and/or break lines. Points may be read from an
ASCII file, extracted from AutoCAD drawing entities or read
directly from a database manager using the optional QuickSurf
Pro extension. Break line data may similarly be read from an
ASCII file or extracted from 3D polylines in your drawing. Data
in ASCII files consist of X, Y, Z data from any source, such as
total stations for survey data, log depths for borehole data, concentration values for ore or contaminants, or measurements from
geophysical surveys.
Organization
Page 61
Chapter 6: Command reference
Extracting drawing data

Extract to surface
QSX
The keyboard equivalent of
each command is shown at
the right margin.
Extracts X,Y,Z points from AutoCAD drawing entities and loads

them into the results < . > surface. This will delete the current
contents of the < . > surface and create a new < . > surface containing just the newly extracted points.
Extract from drawing -> Extract to surface
Select objects: select
Objects may be selected with the normal AutoCAD selection

methods. Pressing enter will select all visible entities on screen.
Use the Return to select all visible prompt with caution as you may
extract elevation information from unintended entities (such as
TEXTs or INSERTs).
If you want to add points
to an existing surface, use
Merge Extract.
Objects will be extracted as follows:

Points
2D or 3D polylines:
Circles
Arcs
Shapes
Solids or traces
3DFACES
Inserts (blocks)
Text
3D polygon mesh
3D polyfaces
Lines
Directly
One point per vertex *
One point at center *
One point at each endpoint *
One point at the insertion point
One point at each corner
One point at each corner
One point at each grid node in the mesh
One point at each vertex
One point at each endpoint*
* These entities may be optionally densified with additional

vertices during extraction using the Densify during extract option
of the Configure Extract dialog box.
Page 62
Data input
Entity extraction is controlled by the settings in the Configure

Extract dialog box. Within that dialog you may select auto-densification of lines, arcs, polylines and circles during the extraction.
You may also filter which entities you extract by entity type, layer
or z value of the entity. These are described fully under the Configure Extract section on page 214.
All entities are extracted in the AutoCAD world coordinate system by default. Refer to the User Coordinate System chapter if
you need to extract in user coordinates.
Merge extract
QSMX
Merge extract functions exactly like Extract to surface with one
major difference: Merge extract incrementally adds the extracted
points to the results < . > surface, as opposed to Extract to surface
which deletes the existing < . > surface and creates a new one.
Extract from drawing -> Merge extract
Use Merge extract to incrementally add points to the < . > surface. Use Extract to surface to create a new results < . > surface.
Extract breaks
QSBX
Extracts break lines from the drawing and adds them incrementally to the results < . > surface. Typically it is used after Extract
to surface or Merge extract, but may be used by itself if the surface is composed only of break lines with no points. A break line
is a line of slope discontinuity along which the slope of the modeled surface is allowed to change abruptly. This enables you to
Data input
Page 63
model such features as normal faults, mine pits, cuts, fills, retaining walls and structures which have abrupt edges. Break lines are
most commonly represented in the drawing as 3D polylines.
Extract from drawing -> Extract Breaks
Using a curve error of XXXX
Using a step of XXXX
X break lines extracted
XX stacked points dropped
Checking existing surface data
Finding new intersections...
Resolving intersections...
Adding break line points...
Auto densification...
(may be repeated many times on complex models)
XX triangles built
XXXX additional points added to the current surface
Objects may be selected with the normal AutoCAD object selection methods, or all visible objects may be selected by pressing
enter at the Select objects prompt. Objects are extracted in the
same manner described for the Extract to surface command.
The following entity types are extracted and automatically densified by Extract Breaks:
Line
2D or 3D Polylines
Arc
Circle
3D Face
Edges become breaks
Trace
Solid
Non-extruded edges become breaks
All other entity types are ignored. The results of Extract Breaks
is dependent upon the settings in the Configure Extract dialog
covered in the next chapter. Within that dialog you have control
over break line densification and curve error tolerances.
Page 64
Data input
The Break lines chapter (page 273) describes how Quicksurf uses
adaptive densification to create new vertices in your surface. It
also covers how break line intersections are resolved and the time
required.
Always use the TIN or Triangulated Grid command, not the Grid
command, when modeling a surface containing break lines, as a
TIN or TGRD honors break lines exactly, but a Grid only approximates break lines. Likewise, contours created from surfaces containing breaks should always be generated based on the TIN or
TGRD, not the Grid, to insure that the breaks are honored exactly.
Reading ASCII data files

Read ASCII Points
QSL
Loads one surface at a time from an ASCII file of free-form x,y,z
data into the results < . > surface. Input files must be in ASCII
with data values arranged by column. Any non-numeric character
string is considered a delimiter. The default format is three columns representing x,y,z values respectively; other columnar
arrangements may be set within the Configure ASCII Load dialog.
Import Data -> Read ASCII Points
File name <>: Drive/path/filename.ext
N points extracted from file filename.ext
This command does not assume a default extension for the filename; if the filename has one, you must enter it.
External files are basically free-field ASCII text files consisting
of a sequence of lines. Each line consists of numbers delimited by
spaces or any non-numeric characters and terminates with either a
line feed or a carriage return/line feed sequence. Each line must
contain at least three numbers expressed as ASCII text, expressing the x, y and z coordinates of a control point. Standard deciData input
Page 65
mal or exponential notation may be used to express x, y, z

coordinate values in the input file. Any group of characters that
cannot be interpreted as a number may be used to separate the
three values on a line. Therefore, spaces, tabs, commas, semicolons, parentheses, etc. are all valid data field separators (delimiters). By default, files are assumed to have three columns of data
for x, y and z respectively.
The Read ASCII Points command parses each data line as
described above. It is important to realize that if you have more
than three columns of data and some of the columns have missing
data, this loader is inappropriate. For example: assume you have
four data values separated by commas and are loading columns 1,
2, and 3. If a line in the file has no data (e.g. blanks) for the third
value, the fourth value is used because it is the third valid number
on the line. In such cases, use the Read ASCII Table command.
If you need to load more than one surface at a time or have delimited or fixed-field data or multi-column data containing holes
(fields with no data), use the Read ASCII Table (QSML) command instead of this Read ASCII Points (QSL) command.
Rarely you may encounter a file that appears correct, but does not
load properly. This can be caused by non-printing characters
embedded in the file or by non-standard line terminators. These
can be encountered when receiving files from different platforms.
A quick fix for these files is accomplished by reading them into a
word processing program and writing them back out as a text file.
Most word processing programs automatically strip offending
characters.
Page 66
Data input
Configure ASCII Point load

Read ASCII Points supports alternate column order and scaling of
the values in your input file. You may scale x, y, or z independently during loading using the settings within the Configure
ASCII Load dialog box.
If there are additional columns, or the columns are not in x, y, z
order, or you want to scale the data, this command will allow you
to define an alternate format.
Configure ASCII Load
Note: These options only
effect the free-form Read
ASCII Points command,
not the Read ASCII Table
command.
This invokes the Configure ASCII Load dialog box.
ASCII Load configuration dialog
ASCII file
Specify the file containing the ASCII data to be loaded into the
results < . > surface. This command does not assume a default
extension for the filename; if the filename has one, you must
enter it. A full path may be included if needed.
Data input
Page 67
Data column position

Specify the three data column position numbers by setting the
column numbers that contain the x, y and z data. For example, if a
file contains four columns representing point number, northing,
easting and elevation. The x, y, z column numbers should be set
to 3, 2, 4 respectively.
Scale factors
Next specify any scale factors you wish to use during data loading. X, Y and Z values may be scaled independently during
loading into surface memory. This is handy for data sets expressing x and y in units of feet and Z in units of meters or vice versa.
The options set in this command are preserved in the configuration file if you save one. This command only sets the options for
data loading by Read ASCII Points. The Read ASCII Points command actually loads the points into surface memory.
Spreadsheets, database report generators, application programs,
surveying data collectors, laboratory data acquisition systems,
word processors and text editors can create ASCII input files suitable for use with Quicksurf.
Read ASCII Table

QSML
The Read ASCII Table command is designed to load single or
multiple surfaces from an column oriented ASCII file in one pass.
It can read delimited or fixed field data structures such as those
exported from spreadsheets, database managers or total stations.
If you have columnar data containing holes (where no surface
value was recorded), the Read ASCII Table (QSML) command
will load these properly, whereas the Read ASCII Points (QSL)
command will not.
Page 68
Data input
The Read ASCII Table command reads the ASCII file, writes a
QSB file with the same filename, then loads the surfaces into surface memory. Unlike the Read ASCII Points command, which
loads into the results < . > surface, Read ASCII Table loads into
named surfaces and leaves the results < . > surface unchanged.
An associated keyboard command, ASC2QSB, reads the ASCII
file and writes a QSB file, but does not load the surfaces into
memory.
Read ASCII Table is designed for data sets which have multiple z
values for each x, y location. Information from vertical drill
holes (tops, thicknesses, saturations, concentrations) or repeated
samples over time at the same location fall into this category.
Import Data -> Read ASCII Table
Read ASCII Table invokes the standard AutoCAD file dialog and
allows you to select the desired ASCII file for surface loading.
The input file format should look as follows:
X,Y,Z1,Z2,Z3,Z4,...
One X,Y location per line
X and Y represent the map view location and Z1, Z2,... represent
the Z elevation of each successive surface. Quicksurf will create
a surface for the Z1 values using a point for each (X,Y,Z1) where
Z1 is a valid number. The Z2 surface likewise consists of the
point set of (X,Y,Z2) points, and so on for all Z values specified.
Each line in the file should contain the same number of Z fields.
If no data is present for a given X,Y then a blank or null field
should be given in the input file.
Loading surface data from a QSB or ASCII file always reloads all
of the surfaces in that file into Quicksurf surface memory and
replaces any surface with the same name. You may sequentially
load surfaces from several different files and paths, but keep in
mind that if two surface files have surfaces with the same name
Data input
Page 69
only the values for that surface from the last file read will be in
surface memory. Loading the same surface name twice is a
replace operation, not a merge.
Read ASCII Table is flexible enough to handle many different
data formats as illustrated by the following examples:

Sample ASCII data file with no heading line:
527,1028,12.5,20.92,35
473,1181,18.5,18.55,28
581,1629,29.2,25.13,43
482,1163, ,17.93,32
522,1073,18.1,21.73,
495,1278,,,36
519,1186,13.8,19.92,23
Z1 missing
Z3 missing
Z1 and Z2 missing
In the above example four surfaces would be loaded. X and Y are

in columns one and two respectively, with the first Z value in the
third position. This Z value in the third column becomes a point
in the first surface (S1). Because there are no surface names
defined in this file, the default names of S1, S2, S3, and S4 will
be assigned. Surface S1 will have five points in this example,
because the fourth and sixth record dont contain a Z value.
Assigning Surface Names
When you read an ASCII file with no surface name information,
default names of S1, S2, S3, ... are assigned. You have the option
of supplying a header line containing a comma-delimited list of
surface names. This header should be the first line in the file and
start with the character string #X,Y, followed by a commadelimited list of your surface names.
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Data input
For example, the following ASCII file would load three surfaces
named Topography, Piezometric, and Bedrock.
#X,Y,Topography,Piezometric,Bedrock
552,1026,1560,1541,1450
637,2931,1610,1565,1482
1245,831,1592,1572,1502
...
Changing delimiter and quote characters
By default, the delimiter character is a comma (,) and the quote
character is a quote mark ("). These may be redefined if needed
by adding a special line at the beginning of the ASCII data file
you are going to read. The special line must occur before any
data line and consists of a keyword followed by a space followed
by the substitute character. The two keywords are #Delimiter and
#Quotemark.
For example, if the previous dataset used a pipe symbol (|) as a
delimiter and a single quote as the quote character () the file
would look as follows:
#Delimiter |
#Quotemark
552|1026|1560|1541|1450
637|2931|1610|1565|1482
1245|831|1592|1572|1502
...
Quote characters are not required and are supplied for compatibility with other software packages. Quote characters allow for
imbedded delimiter characters within one field. The entire text
string within the quotes is considered one field. Any character
string within a field is used if the first character(s) convert to a
number successfully and is assumed to be missing data if it does
not. Any numbers within a field are ignored after a character is
encountered in that field. All blanks are ignored.
Data input
Page 71
The following examples would all convert to the value 51:

51
"51"
"+51."
51.000
5.1E+01
"51 approx"
"51 +/- 2.21"
" 51"
51 read; character data ignored

51 read; everything after space ignored
51 read; leading blanks ignored
The following list entries would be skipped as no data:

A51
Fifty-one
Everything after character ignored

No text conversion supported
Reading Fixed Length ASCII files

Fixed field ASCII files may be read if both a surface name
(#X,Y,) line and a (#Fixed) line are included as the first lines in a
data file. The #Fixed line consists of the start and stop character
positions of each field in the surface name line (#X,Y). There
must be two entries in the #Fixed line for each entry in the #X,Y
line. An example:
#Fixed,1,9,10,19,20,29,30,39,40,49
552
1026
1560
637
2931
1610
1245
831
1592
...
1541
1565
1572
1450
1482
1502
X would be within character position 1 to 9, Y from 10 to 19, etc.

The contents of each field are processed by the same rules as
comma-delimited data.
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Data input
ASCII to QSB
ASC2QSB
This keyboard command is identical to Load ASCII Table, with
the exception that no surfaces are loaded into surface memory,
only a binary .QSB file containing the surfaces is written.
Read ASCII Breaks

QSBL
Read ASCII Breaks allows you to read break line data (represent-
ing 3D polylines) from a generic ASCII file format consisting of

X, Y, Z triplets. The routine allows for free-form input files following the same rules as Read ASCII Points (QSL). Sequential
lines in the file which have three valid fields are considered adjacent vertices on the break line. Any line in the file with more or
less than three valid fields is considered the end of one break line
and the beginning of the next. This format allows you to read
many break lines from the same ASCII file.
Import Data -> Read ASCII Breaks
The standard AutoCAD file dialog is invoked and allowing you

to specify the name for the breaks file. The default file extension
for break line files is .DAT, but may be anything.
Data input
Page 73
An ASCII Break line file might look as follows:

Line 1
10,25,32.5
20,42,41.2
16,23,22.1
18,37,52.8
Line 2
32,56,103.2
43,61,112.6
48,64,123.8
Line 3
0.75,0.32,1.543
0.64,0.27,1.342
0.58,0.22,1.039
Any non-numeric character is considered a delimiter. The file
shown below would load the identical break lines even though
various non-numeric characters are used for delimiters.
The same ASCII Break line file as shown above, but with random
non-numeric delimiters.
10
20
16
18
25
42
23
37
32.5
41.2
22.1
52.8
32abc56def103.2
43xxx61xxx112.6
48xyz64pqr123.8
Any line without three valid numbers starts a new break line
0.75,0.32,1.543
0.64,0.27,1.342
0.58,0.22,1.039
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Data input
This free-form format is generic enough to load most data, but be

careful not to create unintended line breaks by having three valid
numbers in a comment or header line.
Break line data is loaded into the results < . > surface and is reconciled with any breaks already present. See the Chapter 10 on
break lines for more information on break line handling.
Although it is not the purpose it was designed for, you may use
Read ASCII Breaks in conjunction with Breaks / Draw to draw
3D polylines from data in an ASCII file.
Read ASCII Boundaries

RBOUND
2D polyline data representing boundaries may be read from an
ASCII file. When a boundary file is read, the boundary polygon(s) from the file become the new current boundary. The Read
ASCII Boundaries command may be selected from the menu or
accessed via the Set boundary command when redefining an
existing boundary.
The format of the ASCII file is similar to that for ASCII break
line data. Although a third field (which is the Z value in the break
line format) is carried for each vertex in the boundary file. It represents the bulge factor for arcs within polylines, not a Z value.
Boundary files are generally created with the Write ASCII Boundaries command of Quicksurf. If you are manually creating an
ASCII boundary file, add sequential vertices of the boundary
polygon (one vertex per line), using a zero as the third field on
each line. This will result in a boundary with straight lines connecting the vertices.
The command is invoked by selecting
Import Data -> Read ASCII Boundaries
Data input
Page 75
You are presented with the standard AutoCAD file selection dialog box. The default file extension is .DAT . Select the desired
boundary file and it will be read, becoming the current boundary.
Boundary files may be created manually from outside data or by
using the Write ASCII Boundaries command described in the
exporting data section of this chapter.
Read DEM file

QSLDEM
Quicksurf can directly read USGS Digital Elevation Model
(DEM) data from ASCII files. DEM data is available from the
USGS and from many vendors. Two major types of DEM data
sets are offered by the USGS:
3 Arc-second data
These DEM data sets originate from 1:250,000 scale maps and
typically cover one degree blocks. These one degree blocks contain approximately 1.44 million elevation values. The x and y
units are in latitude and longitude. You may use software such as
Schreiber Instruments Projector to convert the x and y units into
feet or meters in a known coordinate system such as Universal
Transverse Mercator (UTM) or a specific State Plane prior to
mapping. It is important that x, y, and z be in the same units
when creating maps to be used for visualization or slope analysis.
7.5 minute Quadrangle data
These DEM data sets originate from 1:24,000 scale maps and
typically cover one 7.5 minute USGS quadrangle. The x, y and z
units are commonly in meters. There are approximately 160,000
elevation values per quad.
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Data input
Options during import

Quicksurf automatically senses the DEM type and imports either
DEM format directly into surface memory. Alaskan DEM data
formats are variable and may not be imported directly without
reformatting.
Quicksurf allows you to optionally load DEM data directly into a
surface memory grid or load the data as points and build the TIN
during import. This optimized loading allows you to import
DEM data in much less time and space than loading x, y, z triplets. A 7.5 minute quad may be loaded and ready to contour on
the TIN in less than one minute on most computers.
Import Data -> Read DEM file
<Invokes standard file dialog>: select DEM file
Load as finished Grid <No>: Yes for grid only; No for TIN
Surface <current>: enter new surface name
Answering Yes to the Load as finished Grid prompt loads the DEM
grid nodes directly into the specified surface as a grid, with no
points or TIN generated. If Configure contour is set to contour on
the grid, you may immediately contour your map. The grid cell
size will be that from the DEM file, being approximately 30
meters for 7.5 minute quads, and 3 arc-seconds (200 - 300 feet
depending on latitude) for the 3 arc-second data sets.
Only answer Yes if you can use the native cell size as is, because
Quicksurf requires point data to recalculate a grid. Loading a
DEM as grid only will result in no point or TIN data, therefore
you will be unable to re-grid the data set to change cell size.
Answering No to the Load as finished Grid prompt loads the DEM
as points and triangulates them during import. This will allow
you to recalculate an appropriate grid cell size for your needs.
Selecting a smaller grid cell size will interpolate your DEM based
upon the current grid method settings. Selecting a larger grid cell
size will have a smoothing effect on the DEM. Choosing this
Data input
Page 77
allows you to immediately contour on the TIN (Configure contours set to contour on the TIN), or to re-grid the data to a different cell size (Configure contours set to contour on the Grid).
Quick projection
When loading 3 Arc-second DEM data, you have the option to
use a simple projection to convert from the latitude, longitude
units of the input file to x and y in units of feet or meters. This
uses an equidistant-cylindrical projection with an arbitrary origin
at the center of the data set. This is not intended to take the place
of rigorous projection or coordinate transformation software such
as Mentor Softwares Tralaine. If you are importing 3 Arc second data, you will receive an additional prompt.
Convert DEM from Lat-Long to feet/meters? <Yes>: specify
Answering Yes will perform the projection and convert x and y to

the same units as the elevation values in the DEM file, answering
No will leave the X, Y units in decimal degrees.
Because DEM models are large, you are allowed to load them
directly into a named surface. Try to avoid moving these surfaces
around within surface memory, due to their size.
DEM models are large data sets, so plan ahead. Determine
whether you need to work with a TIN based or a grid based
model. If you are using a grid based model, check your Configure
Grid settings to confirm your options. We recommend you use
variations of the standard (continuous curvature) method for large
grid based models. This method is orders of magnitude faster
than the other grid based methods.
You may efficiently explore your large DEM data set by using the
Sview, Szoom and Show commands and avoiding actually draw-
ing contours or meshes into your drawing unless needed.
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Data input
Data Export
Exporting ASCII data files
Export ASCII from memory
QSXPORT
Points, breaks or grid nodes may be exported from surface memory directly to a comma-delimited ASCII file. The menu selection is found under Export Data.
Export Data -> Surface data -> Write ASCII file
You are prompted for which part of the surface to export, the
name of the ASCII file to be created and the surface to export. If
you specify a file that already exists, you are given the choice to
append the new data to the existing data or to overwrite the existing file.
Points and grid nodes are written as comma-delimited x,y,z triplets, one point per line. Break lines are exported line by line, with
each break line as a sequence of vertex x,y,z triplets, one per line.
Each break line in the ASCII file is separated from the adjacent
one by a blank line and a text string "Break - nn" where nn is a
sequential whole number. These files may be read by the Read
ASCII Breaks command to reload the saved break lines.
Export Data -> Surface data -> Write ASCII file
Points / Breaks / Grid points <default> : select
Invokes standard file dialog: Choose a file name
Surface < . >: select or press ? to pick from dialog
The requested part of the selected surface is written to the ASCII

file. If the file already exists you will first be given an alert box
asking if the existing file may be replaced. If you answer yes,
you will receive a second prompt:
Data Export
Page 79
Merge with existing data <Yes> :
Answering Yes will append the new data to the existing file.
Answering No will replace the file with the new data.
Extract ASCII from drawing

DWG2TXT
This command extracts points from AutoCAD drawing entities
and writes them to an ASCII file as space delimited x,y,z triplets,
one per line. The points extracted from the drawing entities follow exactly the same rules as the Extract to surface command.
The filter and auto densification options within the Configure
Extract dialog box do not apply to this command. If you need
those options, first use Extract to surface to create a < . > surface
containing the desired data, then use Export ASCII from memory
to write the ASCII file.
Export Data -> Entity XYZ data
File name: specify
The selected entities will have their x,y,z nodes written to the
specified file.
Write ASCII Boundaries

WBOUND
The current boundary definition (created with Set boundary) is
written to an ASCII file. This boundary definition may be
reloaded using the Read ASCII Boundaries command. The Write
ASCII Boundaries command may be selected from the menu or
accessed via the Set boundary command when redefining an
existing boundary. The format of the ASCII file is completely
described in the Read ASCII Boundaries description earlier in
this chapter.
Page 80
Data Export
Export Data -> Boundary data
The standard AutoCAD file dialog is invoked and you should

specify the name for the boundary file. The default file extension
is .DAT .
Exporting 3D Studio files

Export to 3DS from memory
QS3DS
TINs, triangulated grids and grids may be written directly from
surface memory to 3D Studio mesh (.3DS) files. This avoids the
cumbersome process of drawing the object into AutoCAD, then
DXFing it out and importing it into 3D Studio.
Export Data -> Surface data -> Write 3DS File
Surface < . >: select or press ? to pick from dialog
TIN / TGRD / Grid < default > : select
3DS file complete
The 3DS file representing the entire surface is written, ready to be

merged into your 3D Studio scene. All meshes written from
Quicksurf have the normals of all faces pointing upwards, so twosided materials within 3D Studio are generally not needed.
The Surface region command allows you to write separate surface patches as different mesh objects for ease of materials application within 3D Studio.
Data Export
Page 81
Surface commands
Show versus Draw
A surface will not be visible until you use specific commands
which display surface geometry and their Draw or Show options
to display the surface in the current viewport. In the interest of
speed the Quicksurf commands of Points, Breaks, TIN, GRD, Triangulated Grid (TGRD), Contour and Post from memory support
the ability to either Show or Draw. Draw produces AutoCAD
drawing entities from a surface model, making them a permanent
part of the drawing, while Show temporarily displays them in the
current viewport (until the next event causing a redraw, like pan
or zoom). Using Show allows you to maintain visibility of a
model throughout a series of surface operations without waiting
for regens or redraws. Once a model is completed it can be incorporated into the drawing with the Draw option of the appropriate
command.
Using Show is substantially faster than Draw, but remember a
Shown object is not an AutoCAD entity, so it cannot be selected
or manipulated with AutoCAD commands and will not be saved
with the drawing file when you save the drawing.
The Quicksurf surface display command offers this prompt:
None/Show/Draw/Redraw <Show>:
You may answer with a single letter (D for Draw, etc.) or press
return to Show. Responding with R or Redraw performs a redraw
on the current viewport. This removes any previous Shown
objects and re-displays the same prompt, allowing you to Show
or Draw. The None option is supplied for use with commands
such as TIN which create additional surface parts that you may
not wish to display as the are made. We highly recommend using
the Show option while developing your model, then use the Draw
option to place the final result into the drawing.
If you are going to be using the Draw option, remember to disable
any snap or object snap modes you may have set.
Page 82
Surface commands
Points
PNTS
The POINTS keyboard
command of earlier versions of Quicksurf has
been renamed to PNTS to
resolve name conflicts.
Displays the points in the current surface on screen.

Points
Surface < current >: select or press ? to pick from dialog
None/Show/Draw/Redraw/None <Show>: select
You are prompted for the surface for which to display points, with
the current surface offered as the default. This is followed by the
standard None/Show/Draw/Redraw prompt.
Selecting Draw will draw the points into the drawing regardless
of whether or not they are visible on the screen. The points will
be drawn to the current layer unless a specific layer-surface association has been established using surface operations.
If the points extend outside the current drawing extents, you may
use the Surface zoom command to reorient the view without having to draw in the points. Alternatively you may first Draw the
points and then Zoom Extents to display all of them.
The Points command honors any boundary set with the Set
Boundary command and only points within the current boundary
are shown or drawn. Nested boundaries may be used to segregate
a point set into areas of original topography and areas which have
been modified during the design process.
AutoCAD point size and type settings determine how the points
will appear when drawn into a drawing (PDMODE and PDSIZE).
These settings do not affect the Show mode of points.
Surface commands
Page 83
Breaks
BREAKS
Shows or draws the break line data from the current surface.
Breaks
Surface <current>: select or press ? to pick from dialog
None/Show/Draw/Redraw <Show>: select
Selecting Show displays the breaks of the current surface temporarily in the current viewport. Selecting Draw draws the break
lines from the current surface into the drawing as 3D polylines.
The breaks will be drawn to the current layer unless a specific
layer-surface association has been established using surface operations. Both the show and draw options honor any boundaries in
effect.
TIN
TIN
Generates and/or displays a triangulated irregular network (TIN)
for the points and/or breaks in the current surface.
TIN
You are prompted for the surface for which to create or display
the TIN, with the current surface offered as the default. This is
followed by the standard None/Show/Draw/Redraw prompt. If
you accept the Show default, the TIN will be created if needed
and written into the current surface and displayed on the screen.
The color of the displayed TIN is based upon the settings in the
Surface Colors dialog box.
Page 84
Surface commands
The TIN command honors any boundary set with the Boundary
command and only triangles within the current boundary are
shown or drawn. The selection criterion for a triangle being
inside or outside of a boundary is set in the Configure Boundary
dialog box.
As the TIN is calculated, the status bar reports triangulation and
number of triangles produced. If you select Draw, rather than
Show, you will receive additional prompts:
TIN
Lines/3dFaces/Polyfaces <P>: select
Select invisibility...
All/Interior/None <None>: select
The TIN surface may be drawn as lines, 3D faces or a polyface

mesh. This command draws the complete TIN on the current
layer unless a boundary is specified or the current surface has an
override layer specified by the Layer surface operation.
TIN invisibility option
All or part of a drawn TIN may be made invisible. An invisible
face created this way may not be seen, but will hide objects
behind it when used with the hide, shade or render commands.
Generally you will answer None to the invisibility prompt. This
will result in a visible display.
The All selection of the invisibility options will make all triangles
invisible. Invisibility is used in the special case where you want
to hide contour lines in an oblique view. Normally contour 2D
polylines do not hide. By superimposing an invisible TIN or grid
just beneath the contour polylines, you may produce a hidden line
display from an oblique view and have the contours behind a hill
appear hidden.
Surface commands
Page 85
The Interior selection of the invisibility options will make only

those triangles in the interior of closed break lines invisible.
Geologists use this option to make fault planes invisible, yet display the structure of faulted surfaces. These invisibility options
generally are used for rendering and visual presentation purposes
only.
Triangulated grid
TGRD
Generates a surface model based on a triangulated grid (TGRD),
using points and break lines from the specified surface. The
TGRD is a triangulated model incorporating grid nodes and densified break lines as vertices of a complex TIN.
Triangulated Grid
XXX triangles built
Creating grid points...
XXXX triangles built
None/Show/Draw/Redraw <Show> : select
The TIN representing the triangulated grid is calculated, then

shown or drawn if requested.
Please read the concepts chapter for a complete discussion of triangulated grids. In brief, a TGRD consists of point data and densified 3D break line data which has been internally gridded based
on the derivative and cell size settings of Configure Grid. The
resulting grid node data, along with the break line data, form a
point set which is then triangulated to form a type of triangulated
irregular network termed a TGRD. This TGRD is a TIN which
honors break line data exactly, but also may include curvature
data when away from break lines.
Page 86
Surface commands
A TGRD surface honors break lines exactly, but away from break
lines the vertices of a TGRD are coincident with where the grid
nodes would have been. The original data points are no longer
vertices of the TGRD.
The TGRD command honors any boundaries specified by the Set
Boundary command. The boundaries chapter explains how you
may specify any desired areas of the modeled surface for triangulated grid generation with external and internal boundaries. Break
lines made up of closed polylines can be extremely useful boundaries in many situations. You will find that selecting closed
polylines as both breaks and boundaries is a very powerful combination when used with TGRD, useful in volumetrics and imaging problems.
The options presented when selecting the Draw option for TGRD
are identical to those for the TIN command, described previously.
Grid
GRD
Note the spelling difference between Quicksurfs
GRD keyboard command
and AutoCADs GRID
keyboard command.
Displays a grid model of the current surface. If a grid already

exists in the current surface, this command simply displays the
grid. If a grid does not exist, one is created based upon the current settings of the Configure Grid dialog box. If the standard
continuous curvature method is selected, a TIN and derivatives
will also be created as needed.
During a grid calculation the status bar will report progress of any
required TIN, derivative and the grid calculations. The method
used for grid computation will be inserted automatically in the
current surface description.
Grid computations are performed only on data whose plan view
lies within a defined window, which defaults to the smallest rectangle containing all the points. The window definition is normally handled automatically, but may be manually defined via the
Window surface operation.
Surface commands
Page 87
If a grid already exists in the current surface and you wish to create a new grid reflecting different cell parameters or grid methods, you must first clear the old grid and derivatives parts from
the current surface using Surface Operations dialog or use one of
the following surface operations which clear and regenerate the
grid in one step: window, cellsize, cellcount and cellfactor.
If you receive a Grid undefined error, you have the probably used
surface operation Window improperly or set a cell size larger than
the x,y range of your data. If the current window and your data set
do not overlap, when viewed from plan view, a Grid undefined
error may result. Setting the window while in a UCS will cause
further confusion as the window will be set using UCS coordinates and your data will more than likely be in world coordinates
(WCS). Please be careful to understand the differences between a
UCS and WCS coordinates, see your AutoCAD manual for a
detailed discussion.
The Grid command honors any boundary set with the Boundary
command and only cells within the current boundary are shown
or drawn. The selection criterion for a cell being inside or outside
of a boundary is set in the Configure Boundary dialog box.
Grid
Surface <current> : select or press ? to pick from dialog
The next prompt you get will depend on which display option you
select.
Showing the grid
Grid
Dots/Horizontal/Vertical/Both <B>:
Page 88
Surface commands
Selecting Dots will display the grid as an array of dots at the grid
intersections. Horizontal will display the grid lines parallel to the X
axis; Vertical will display those parallel to the Y axis; Both will display the full orthogonal grid. Color options for displaying the
grid may be set via the Surface Colors dialog. For perspective
views you may want to vertically exaggerate the grid using Surface operations multiply (*). Showing the grid in combination
with the Surface view command can create striking displays.
Drawing the grid
Grid
Dots/3dFaces/Polyface/Mesh <P>: select
Draws the grid in the selected form as AutoCAD drawing entities, honoring any boundaries set with the Boundary command as
follows:
Grid as Dots
Dots/3dFaces/Polyface/Mesh <P>: D
Draws a point at each node of the grid. Points are drawn on the
current layer, unless overridden by the surface operations Layer
setting. Color is BYLAYER, unless overridden by the Surface Colors dialog.
Grid as 3D Faces
Dots/3dFaces/Polyface/Mesh <P>: 3
Invisible/Horizontal/Vertical/Both <B>:
Draws 3D faces on the grid surface with neither, horizontal, vertical or both edges visible as selected. Faces are drawn on the current layer, unless overridden by the surface operations Layer
Surface commands
Page 89
Grid as Polyfaces
Dots/3dFaces/Polyface/Mesh <P>: P
Invisible/Horizontal/Vertical/Both <B>: select
Draws polyfaces on the grid surface with neither, horizontal, vertical or both edges visible as selected. Polyfaces are drawn on the
current layer, unless overridden by the surface operations Layer
Grid as Mesh
Dots/3dFaces/Polyface/Mesh <P>: M
Fold undefined cells <Y>? N or enter for Y
Draws the grid as a rectangular 3D polygon mesh. The mesh is

drawn on the current layer, unless overridden by the surface operations Layer setting. Color is BYLAYER.
AutoCAD meshes are rectangular meshes with a fixed number of
rows and columns. Your surface probably is not the same shape,
which results in undefined grid cells (having no z value) at some
mesh edges. You have the choice of drawing the undefined cell at
the Undefined cell elevation (set in the Configure Grid dialog box)
or folding the cell underneath the defined part of the mesh.
Selecting Yes at the Fold undefined cells prompt folds undefined
cells underneath at edges, eliminating any pedestal effect.
If you want a polyface mesh pedestal surrounding your drawn
mesh, use the Grid Pedestal command which is described in the
utilities section of this chapter.
Page 90
Surface commands
Contour
CONT
Generates and/or displays contours of the current surface. The
basis of the contours (TIN, grid or TGRD) is controlled by the
Configure Contours dialog setting. Contours are derived from a
grid by linear interpolation on grid cells and from a TIN or TGRD
by linear interpolation across triangles. Contours are never stored
as part of a surface, but are always generated on demand from the
current surface. The contour command will create a TIN, Derivatives, Grid or TGRD as necessary prior to displaying the contours. If the Contour command does generate additional surface
parts, the settings of the Configure Contours dialog controls
whether a TIN, Grid or TGRD is built.
The contour interval (the Z value between adjacent contours) is
set via the either the Contour Interval menu command or the Configure Contours dialog. If the contour interval and number of
intervals are set to Auto, Quicksurf will produce contours at 16
levels by default, i.e. the Z range of the TIN, TGRD or grid
divided by the number of levels (16). The contour interval is displayed on the top status bar at the completion of a show or draw
of contours.
Contour colors are controlled via the Contour Colors command.
Contours are drawn on the current layer unless overridden by the
surface operations Layer setting.
All shown or drawn contours honor any current boundaries. The
boundary tolerance set in the Configure Boundary dialog controls
how close a contour line is drawn to a boundary edge.
Contour
Surface commands
Page 91
The next prompt you get depends on which display option you
select.
Showing the contours
Displays the contours in the current viewport, but does not add
them to the drawing.
Drawing the contours
Close all <N>? select
Remember not to have

object snaps set when
drawing contours.
When you select the Draw option you receive an additional

prompt asking whether or not to close the contours. Answering
No draws each contour to the edge of the grid and stops, resulting
in an open 2D polyline. Answering Yes causes each contour to
be drawn across the surface, then follow the edge of the defined
grid until they encounter themselves, resulting in closed 2D
polylines. Any closed contours within the defined area of the grid
are drawn as closed 2D polylines regardless of your answer. The
Close All option is useful when you want to Hatch or color
between contours.
Closed contours may be used with AutoCADs Hatch command
or with Quicksurfs PFill command for screen only polyfills. With
AutoCAD Release 12s raster image capture capability the PFill
command can produce very nice displays. After running PFill,
you may use the AutoCAD SELECT <ALL> command to cause the
drawing elements which may have been covered with fill color to
be re-displayed on top of the solid fill colors.
Page 92
Surface commands
Contour Interval
The contour interval may be set via the Configure Contour dialog
box, or directly using the Contour Interval menu command.
Contour Interval
Contour Interval/Auto <Auto>: enter value
You may enter the desired contour interval from the keyboard or
pick it from the side bar menu if present. If you respond with
Auto you will be prompted for the number of levels to use. The
number of levels represents the number of intervals the Z range of
the data points is divided into while automatically choosing a
contour interval.
Surface modification
Surface modification is accomplished using the surface operations commands. These are described in the surface operations
chapter. The command descriptions which follow simply show
how to access the surface operations sub-system.
Surface operations dialog
DSOP
Selecting the Surface operations prompt invokes the surface
operations dialog box. All surface management and mathematical surface operations may be performed from within this dialog.
Surface Operations
The description of all of the surface operations commands is in

Chapter 8 (page 239) on Surface Operations.
Page 93
Surface operations without dialogs

SOP
Keyboard access to surface operations is available by typing
SOP
at the Command: prompt. This allows keyword access to surface

operations without invoking the dialog box. This interface is
identical to Quicksurf 4.x versions. Refer to the Surface operations chapter for the description of all of the surface operations
commands.
Surface Options
Four commonly used surface commands are clustered for convenience under the Surface Options menu. All of them may be
accessed via the surface operations dialog or the configuration
dialogs.
Current surface
CSURF
Sets the current surface to the surface name specified. This surface name will be offered as the default name in any subsequent
Surface: prompts.
Surface Options -> Current surface
Surface <current >: select or press ? to pick from dialog
Type a surface name or a question mark to pick the surface name

from a dialog box.
Configure surface operations
Accesses the Configure Surface Operations dialog. See the next
chapter, Configuring Quicksurf (page 237) , for a description.
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Window
Invokes the surface operations Window command which restricts
where grid nodes are created. Use with caution. See page 252
for the Window command description.
Cell Size
Invokes the surface operations Cell Size command which deletes
and recomputes the grid for a surface. See page 251 for the Cell
Size command description.
Cell Count
Invokes the surface operations Cell Count command which
deletes and recomputes the grid for a surface. See page 251 for
the Cell Count command description.
Surface viewing
Quicksurf allows you to adjust your view relative to a surface in
surface memory, rather than just entities drawn into your drawing. You may zoom based upon the extents of a given surface in
memory, or automatically set up a perspective view to simulate
standing on the surface at one point and looking at the surface at
another. This can greatly enhance site visualization without the
time and frustration of trial and error DVIEW adjustment.
The surface viewing tools can also greatly speed your work when
dealing with large surfaces such as DEM topographic models. By
using these surface viewing tools along with the show mode of
the surface drawing commands, you can avoid placing large
objects (meshes and point sets) into the drawing as drawing entities. This allows you to investigate the surface from different
viewpoints without waiting on regens and redraws.
Surface viewing
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Surface zoom
SZOOM
Surface zoom allows you to immediately zoom so the view cov-
ers an area centered over and slightly larger than the selected surface.
View Options -> Surface zoom
The extents of the surface will cover approximately 90% of the

view. The has the same effect as drawing the surface into the
drawing, then zooming extents, then zooming .9X to back off
slightly. The advantage is speed: no AutoCAD entities are
drawn.
Surface zoom may be executed from any viewpoint.
Surface plan view

SPLAN
Surface plan view changes to a plan view centered over the
selected surface. Surface plan view is identical to surface view,
but it forces the view to plan view in the current UCS prior to
zooming over the surface.
View Options -> Surface plan view
The extents of the surface will cover approximately 90% of the

view. The has the same effect as drawing the surface into the
drawing, changing to plan view, then zooming extents, then
zooming .9X to back off slightly. No AutoCAD entities are
drawn.
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Surface viewing
Surface view
SVIEW
Surface view allows you to create a perspective view simulating
standing on the surface and looking at another point on the surface. This command should be run from plan view. The command
prompts you to graphically pick a camera position and a target
position for a specified surface, then it determines the 3D location
of the camera and target and executes AutoCADs DVIEW command to place you in the correct perspective view. The camera
height and lens length are set in the Configure camera dialog.
This command should be
run from plan view.
View Options -> Surface view

Select viewing position: pick
Select viewing direction: pick
Select the surface to base the view upon (usually representing

topography). This surface must have a TIN, TGRD or grid
present to allow Quicksurf to solve for camera and target elevations.
When prompted for a viewing position, select the camera position
using the cursor. Quicksurf will solve for the elevation of the surface at the camera location.
When prompted for a viewing direction, a rubber-band line will
be anchored to the camera location and attached to the cursor.
Select the viewing target with the cursor. Quicksurf will solve for
the elevation of the surface at the target point. The 3D vector
from the camera position (including the camera height) to the target point on the surface established the viewing direction. The
perspective view is set based upon these values and the camera
settings. The surface elevations are used, so if you place the camera in a valley and the target on a mountain, you will be looking
up at the mountain in the perspective view. Conversely, you may
climb the mountain and set the camera on the peak, set the target
in the valley, and look down on the surrounding scene.
Surface viewing
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Depending upon the complexity of your surface model, you may

want to draw the TGRD or grid into the drawing as a colored
mesh or polyface mesh. This lets you see the surface view without continually having to re-display the mesh with show. If you
are experimenting with different views, it may be faster to not
draw the mesh into the drawing, because you must change back
to plan view each time you select new camera and target positions
(forcing a regen).
Configure camera
SETCAM
The perspective view created by Surface view depends on camera
and target positions as well as the height of the camera above the
ground and the lens length used on the camera. Configure camera allows you to set camera height and lens length.
View Options -> Configure camera
Camera Configuration dialog box
Within the dialog box you are prompted for camera height and
lens length.
Height above surface
The height of the camera above the surface. The default is 10. If
the surface is in units of feet, this represents a camera height of
ten feet above the surface. You will find that a camera height
somewhat taller than a persons eye height works best. Using
camera heights of hundreds or thousands produce nice perspective aerial views.
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Surface viewing
Camera lens
This sets the camera lens length in mm. The default is 30 mm
corresponding to a wide angle lens. Lower lens lengths correspond to wide angle views and higher lens lengths correspond to
telephoto views. Typically lens lengths from 20 - 50 mm work
well for topography.
Boundaries
Set Boundary
BOUND
You may limit the area in which Points, Breaks, TINs, TGRDs,
Grids, Contours or draped objects are displayed by specifying
one or more closed polylines as boundaries with the Set Boundary command. The boundaries may be nested. Boundaries are
very useful for presentation purposes and volumetric limitations.
Please refer to Chapter 9 (page 269) on boundaries for a description of how boundaries are used in Quicksurf.
Show/New/DIsable/Enable/DElete/Read/Write <DI>: select
Once selected, boundaries

are independent of the
polyline used to create
them.
If there is no boundary in memory, you are prompted to select

objects or read an ASCII boundary file. If a boundary does exist
in memory you are presented the following options for creating or
removing boundaries:
Show current boundaries

Show/New/DIsable/Enable/DElete/Read/Write <DI>: S
Shows the currently effective boundaries on the screen, if they are

within the current drawing extents. No entities are drawn.
Boundaries
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Create new boundaries

Show/New/DIsable/Enable/DElete/Read/Write <DI>: N
Redefining Boundary...
N points from M polylines
Select boundary entities via the normal AutoCAD object selection methods. The (valid) objects selected will reported and
become the currently effective set of boundaries.
Disable current boundaries

Show/New/DIsable/Enable/DElete/Read/Write <DI>: D
Boundary Disabled
Disables the current boundaries, but retains them in memory.

They may be toggled back on with the Enable option.
Enable current boundaries

Show/New/DIsable/Enable/DElete/Read/Write <DI>: E
Boundary Enabled
Toggles on the last defined boundary set.
Delete boundary
Show/New/DIsable/Enable/DElete/Read/Write <DI>: DE
Boundary Deleted
Deletes last defined boundary set from memory. Does not delete
any drawing entities.
The boundary once selected can only be cleared with this command. Boundary entities may be frozen or erased with no effect
on the boundary once selected.
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Boundaries
A boundary tolerance is automatically calculated based upon the

geometry of the boundary. This controls the edge tolerance of
drawn objects (such as contours) which intersect the boundary. If
you want to set this tolerance each time a new boundary is
defined, you may select this option in the Configure Boundary
dialog box and a tolerance prompt will appear in the Set boundary command.
Read ASCII Boundaries

Show/New/DIsable/Enable/DElete/Read/Write <DI>:R
Invokes standard file dialog
Allows you to read an ASCII boundary file from disk. Select the
boundary file to read from the file dialog box. ASCII boundary
files are completely described in the Read ASCII Boundaries
command section earlier in this chapter.
Write ASCII Boundaries

Show/New/DIsable/Enable/DElete/Read/Write <DI>:W
Invokes standard file dialog
Allows you to write an ASCII boundary file to disk. Select the

boundary file to write from the file dialog box. ASCII boundary
files are completely described in the Read ASCII Boundaries
command section earlier in this chapter.
Boundaries
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Annotation
These commands provide annotation features for refining Quicksurf models into finished drawings. With the exception of Post
from memory, these commands only operate on entities that have
been drawn into the drawing, not on shown objects.
Post from memory

POST
Posts values into the drawing directly from surface memory based
upon the current settings in the Configure post dialog box. This
command offers the Show/Draw/Redraw option and honors the
current boundary and AutoCAD Units settings. Unlike the other
annotation commands, Post from memory posts values directly
from surface memory, not from drawn AutoCAD entities.
Annotate -> Post from memory

The values of the points in the current surface are posted at each
point in the current text style and at the text height, rotation and
offset specified in the Configure Post dialog box. The number of
significant digits displayed to the right of the decimal point is
controlled by the setting within the AutoCAD Units command.
The posted values may be shown or drawn. If a boundary is in
use, any point within the current boundary is posted, even if the
resulting text slightly overlaps the boundary. Using the Show
mode of posting allows fast temporary display of elevation information while editing surfaces.
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Annotation
Configure post
SETPOST
The Configure Post dialog box controls text height, rotation, justification and position (offset) of posted values displayed by the
Post from memory command. Selecting Configure Post from the
Annotate menu invokes the following dialog box.
Configure Post Dialog box
Position
Nine preset text placements are offered in the upper left corner of
the dialog box. These nine selections correspond to top left, top
center, top right, center left, center, center right, bottom left, bottom center and bottom right. The text offset (relative to the point
being posted) is a function of the text height being used. One of
the nine preset positions may be selected by clicking on one of
the nine boxes themselves.
The preset offsets are designed such that subsequent posting of
three vertical positions, such as top right, center right and bottom
right, will post in an aligned column with no overlap. The center
position preset will place the decimal point of the posted value at
the position of the data point. Due to this, data posted at the center position will not necessarily be aligned with other preset
posted positions.
Annotation
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Alternatively, you may click on the Pick offset button and graphically pick the offset that the posted value will have relative to the
point being posted. Discrete text offsets may be entered in the X,
Y, Z edit boxes if desired. Either the preset text offsets, or the
user defined offsets are used, not both.
Text Height
Text height in drawing units may be entered in the Height edit
box or input graphically by clicking on the Pick height button.
Upon clicking on this button the dialog box temporarily disappears, allowing you to indicate a height by picking two points.
The distance between the two points becomes the text height and
you are returned to the dialog box. If you are unsure of the appropriate text height, pick it graphically, and the height you picked
will be displayed in the Height edit box. You may adjust it further in the edit box if required.
Text Rotation
The rotation angle of the posted text may be entered in the Rotation edit box or input graphically by clicking on the Pick rotation
button. Upon clicking on this button the dialog box temporarily
disappears, allowing you to indicate a rotation by picking one
point which anchors a rubber-band line with which you indicate
the desired rotation. The rotation angle you picked is placed into
the Rotation edit box. The direction and units of the angle measurements are based upon the AutoCAD Units settings.
Text Justification
Text justification (left, center or right) only applies if a discrete
text offset is specified. These selections are grayed out is one of
the nine preset positions is selected. These settings are identical
to AutoCAD text justification conventions and justify the text relative to the offset point specified.
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Annotation
Post entities
DPOST
Post entities labels selected drawing entities with their z values.
This command does not operate on points in surface memory,

only selected AutoCAD drawing entities, such as POINT or
INSERT entities. The number of digits displayed to the right of the
decimal point is controlled by the AutoCAD Units command settings. Trailing zeros to the right of the decimal point are not displayed. The Post from memory command does display trailing
zeros, if needed.
Post entities will annotate the Z values of most entity types, so be
careful to select only the entities you want posted when using this
command. By default, only POINTs, SHAPEs and INSERTed
blocks can be processed.
Annotate -> Post entities
Text position: select
Text height: select
Text angle <0>: select
Align (Left/Center/Middle/Right) <best>: select
Select the objects to be posted via the normal AutoCAD object

selection methods.
Quicksurf will choose the last selected point, and ask you to
graphically position the text relative to this point using the pointing device. The same relative offset will be used to place labels
next to all other objects. Alternatively you may key in a 2D offset, like @.1,-.2, which would place the text 0.1 units to the
right and 0.2 units below the point.
Text height may be specified graphically with the cursor by indicating a distance from the text insertion point. A rubber-band line
will be anchored to the text insertion point. In certain cases, this
is not convenient, so you may alternatively type in text height (in
Annotation
Page 105
drawing units) from the keyboard. This setting is over-ridden if

you have set a fixed text height with the AutoCAD Style command. The Post entities command works best when a variable
text height is specified in the Style command. This is accomplished by setting the text height to 0.0 in the AutoCAD Style
command.
The text angle specifies the orientation of the text line. This may
be specified graphically or by typing in an angle.
Quicksurf will suggest the best justification for text given the
text rotation angle and the position of text relative to the control
point. For example, if text is posted to the upper right-hand corner of a control point, it would ordinarily be best to left justify it.
Conversely, if the text is posted to the upper left-hand corner of a
control point, right justification would be appropriate. The available justifications are left, center, middle, and right, as in the
AutoCAD Text command.
Over-posting of text may occur in densely populated areas of a
drawing. The AutoCAD Move and Rotate commands are useful
in resolving such problems.
Posting shortcut
Several utility routines supplied with Quicksurf can help you to
use Post entities efficiently. Set Layer, Erase selected and Select
by Z each can be helpful in layer management while posting.
Normally posting is done in conjunction with turning off or freezing unwanted layers, until just the entities to post are visible, then
running Post entities. When posting a large number of point entities is a drawing, this procedure can be cumbersome. The Post
entities command can accept an AutoCAD selection set at the
Select objects: prompt. If the drawing entities to be posted all
reside on the same layer, you may build a selection set of just
those entities to feed to Post entities. A handy tool to accomplish
this with is Select by Z. Select by Z prompts you for a layer name
and a minimum and maximum range of entity Z values and crePage 106
Annotation
ates a selection set containing all of the entities on that layer

within the Z range specified. Having done this, you may run the
Post entities command and answer P (for Previous selection set)
at the Select objects: prompt. This will pass just the selected
entities to the posting routine without having to do any layer
manipulation.
When you are prompted for the text location, answer with a relative position, such as @10,20 for 10 units to the right and 20
units above each point. In this way you may post large sets of
drawn entities without lots of layer manipulation. Obviously a
little foresight in layer management goes a long way.
Common posting problems
Multiple values posted for each point
If you encounter multiple over-posting for each point, you have

selected more than one entity located at the same X, Y location.
This commonly happens if you have drawn points into the drawing for more than one surface or have co-located points and well
symbols or survey symbols. Turn off all layers except the point
set you wish to post and try again.
Text height irregularities
If the text height appears incorrect or the aspect of the text seems
strange, you probably are using a text style with a fixed, rather
than variable, text height. Use the AutoCAD Style command to
set the text height to 0.0 (variable) and try again.
Annotation
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Incorrect number of significant digits displayed
The number of units displayed to the right of the decimal point

for posted values is based upon the settings in the AutoCAD Units
command. Use the Units command to set the appropriate precision and try again. Trailing zeros to the right of the decimal point
are dropped.
Text rotation angle are not as expected
The rotation angle is affected by the angle measurement settings

within the Units command and any Snap settings. Verify those
settings and turn off snaps modes and try again.
Posted values are not uniformly located relative to the points.
Objects snaps and snap modes can cause the posted values to be
snapped to unrelated drawing entities. Turn off all snaps prior to
using Post entities.
Smooth Contours
SMOO
Applies a smoothing algorithm to contour polylines and draped
objects. This may improve the appearance of a contours generated using a sparse grid. Smoothing contours greatly increases
file size, so use only where required. If you wish to smooth the
surface itself, rather than just the resulting contours, consider the
Moving Average command described in the Utilities chapter.
Annotate -> Smooth Contours
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Annotation
Select objects to be smoothed via the normal AutoCAD object

selection methods. Any entity in a drawing may be selected for
smoothing, but only smoothable polylines will actually be processed; other entities will be ignored. This command utilizes the
spline fitting of the AutoCAD Pedit command.
Smoothing variables
The smoothing technique may be controlled by setting two
Quicksurf AutoLISP variables, howsmooth and splinesegs.
Howsmooth controls the type of smoothing applied to the contour
polylines. Set howsmooth to:

d to decurve
f to fit
s to spline (default)
Splinesegs controls the number of spline segments created for
each segment in the un-smoothed polyline. By default this is set
to 8, causing eight segments for each original segment. This
causes the file size to greatly increase when large sets of contours
are smoothed. Smooth contours only if needed and consider lowering the setting of splinesegs. Set splinesegs to a numerical
value to be used when splining polylines. Setting this to -1
results in arc approximation for segments.
Example:
Command: (setq howsmooth s splinesegs -1)
will select splining with the arc approximation.
Annotation
Page 109
Index Contours
INDEX
Highlights major contours by widening them and/or moving them
to another drawing layer. Those contours lying at integer multiples of the index interval are changed to the selected width and
layer.
Annotate -> Index Contours
Index interval <>: enter value
Index layer <unchanged>: layer name, or enter for current layer
Index width <default>: value or rubberband line
At the interval prompt, enter a value as the index interval. For

example, entering 200 will highlight the 0, 200, 400, 600, etc.
contours.
At the layer prompt, enter a new or existing layer on which to
place the indexed contours.
At the width prompt, enter the desired index polyline width in
drawing units or specify a width graphically by using the rubberband line attached to the cursor.
Label contours
LABEL
Labels contour lines with their z values at user-selected locations.
Annotate -> Label Contours
Label location: select points
Text height <default>: value, or enter for default, or rubber-band line
When prompted for contour label locations, select label locations

(on drawn contour lines) with the cursor, ending with an enter
when done.
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Annotation
Select text height by indicating with the cursor and rubber-band

line or by typing a numeric value for text height in drawing units.
Avoid transparent zooms
when using the Label Contours command.
Each label point will be marked with a small circle as it is

selected. After the text height is selected, each circle will disappear; a gap will appear in the appropriate contour line; and a label
will appear in the gap. Each label will have the same layer, color
and elevation attributes as its contour line. The label will be
drawn in the current text style and rotated parallel to the contour.
Label placement should be planned carefully for best aesthetic
results. Overlaps and other minor placement errors may be corrected with the AutoCAD Move and Rotate commands. The
Undo command may be used to undo more serious errors provided Undo was enabled before labeling.
Common contour labeling problems

If Label contours is not prompting you for text height, you may
have a fixed text (rather than variable) height set in your
AutoCAD Style command. Running the Style command and setting text height to 0.0 (variable) will bring back the text height
prompt.
If label placement is irregular, you may have object snap set to
snap to a particular entity element. Set object snap mode to None
to correct the problem.
The label command relies on the z value of the contour polyline
to determine the elevation. Many AutoCAD editing commands
can change the elevation of a contour (move, stretch, pedit, etc.).
If you edit a contour polyline, then subsequently label it, you may
get a different value than the original elevation.
If you have a very small text height set and pick a label location
such that the text doesnt intersect the contour, in very rare cases
the contour polyline will disappear. If this occurs, use the Undo
command to recover the contour and re-pick the label location.
Annotation
Page 111
Auto-Label Contours
MLABEL
Labels contour lines with their z values at automatically selected
locations based on a guide polyline indicating general label placement. All visible contours (2D polylines) which are crossed by
the guide polyline are labeled at their intersection with the guide
polyline.
Draw a guide polyline crossing the existing drawn contours. The
intersection of this polyline and the contour polylines represent
potential label locations. Freeze or turn off layers with unrelated
2D polylines which are crossed by the guide polyline.
Annotate -> Auto-Label Contours
Label interval: enter z interval
Text height <default>: value, or enter for default, or rubber-band line
Select guide polyline: select polyline
Select a Label interval representing the Z interval for labelling.

Only those contours at even multiples of the Label interval are
labeled. For example, with contours drawn at 10 unit contour
intervals, selecting a Label interval of 50 would label the 50, 100,
150,... contours.
Select text height by indicating with the cursor and rubber-band
line or by typing a numeric value for text height in drawing units.
Each label will have the same layer, color and elevation attributes
as its contour line. The label will be drawn in the current text
style and rotated parallel to the contour.
The Auto-Label Contours command is identical to the Label Contours command except for location determination. The 3D
polylines generated by 3D Flowlines make good guide polylines.
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Annotation
Hachure contours
TICK
Draws evenly spaced, locally perpendicular tick marks (hachuring) on selected polylines.
Annotate -> Hachure Contours
Select objects: select contour polylines
Upward/Center/Downward <D>: select
Distance between ticks <default>: numeric value, or rubber-band line
Length of ticks <default>: numeric value, or rubber-band line
At the first prompt, select the polylines to be hachured with the

standard AutoCAD object selection methods, ending with enter.
At the next prompt, select whether the tick marks should extend
downward (D), upward (U), or be centered (C) on the polylines.
For most purposes, ticks are applied downward and only on the
closed contours of a depression. The centered option is useful for
quickly constructing cross section orientations in highway design
or building a quick railroad symbol.
If a selected polyline is a 2D polyline (as are all Quicksurf-generated contours), the ticks are drawn at the elevation of the polyline.
If it is a 3D polyline, the ticks are drawn at the current elevation
setting on the assumption that they will be moved to the correct
elevation later using the Drape command.
Annotation
Page 113
Color control
Surface colors
PAINT
Quicksurf objects representing surfaces (TIN, TGRD or Grid)
may be colored based on surface properties such as elevation,
slope, visibility, lighting or by the elevation of a second surface.
The Surface colors dialog box controls all aspects of surface coloration. Both the show and draw options support these color
options, with the exception that some AutoCAD entities such as
meshes and polylines, can only be displayed in a single color.
The Surface color dialog settings only affect surfaces which are
subsequently displayed, it does not change surfaces which have
previously displayed. These settings control all surface coloration for the remainder of the drawing session unless changed by
you or another configuration is read using Read Configuration.
If surface coloration is set to None, the draw option produces
entities with color BYLAYER and the show option displays in the
current color of the Set show color command.
The following entities can be drawn by Quicksurf and support
surface color options:
Surface representation
AutoCAD entity
GRID Dots option

TIN, TGRD Line option
TIN, TGRD, GRID Pface option
TIN, TGRD, GRID 3D Face option
Point
Line
PFace mesh
3D Faces
These entities are drawn by Quicksurf only in the current color:

POINTS
BREAKS
GRID Mesh option
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Color control
Point
3D polyline
Mesh
When a surface color option is selected, each element of the TIN,

TGRD or Grid is evaluated and a color is assigned to that element. The coarseness or fineness of the coloration is dependent
upon the geometry of the object being colored. For TGRD and
Grid representations, coarseness is a function of the grid cell size
used when the surface was created.
The colors of a surface will be a function of the method, the
range of values in the surface, the number of colors and the color
sequence used. These are all accessed from the Surface Colors
dialog box.
Surface Colors dialog box
The Surface Colors dialog box allows you to pick a coloration

method from the choices down the left side of the box. The other
options in the box are enabled or disabled depending on your
choice. After selecting a method, you may configure the color
sequence by selecting the Configure Colors button.
Method
You may color a surface based upon its Elevation, Slope in
degrees, Slope in percent, Light, Shadow, Visibility, Direction,
by Another surfaces Z value, or use no special coloration. Each
option is described individually:
Color control
Page 115
Z Elevation
The surface is colored based upon its Z value. The specific elevation versus color is controlled by the Configure Colors dialog.
Slope (Degrees)
The surface is colored based upon its slope in units of degrees.
The specific slope versus color sequence is controlled by the
Configure Colors dialog.
Slope (Percent)
The surface is colored based upon its slope in units of percent.
Whether 100% slope is represented as 100. or 1.00 is dependent
upon your Configure Units setting for percentage. (This refers to
the Quicksurf dialog, not the AutoCAD Units command.) The
specific slope versus color sequence is controlled by the Configure Colors dialog.
Light
Surface areas are colored based upon how they would be illuminated by a single light source. The surface is colored based upon
the angle of incidence of the light falling on the surface. You
must specify both a light source location and a target location to
use this option. Doing so establishes a direction vector for the
light. All light rays are considered to be parallel to this direction
vector.
Pressing the Pick Source button allows you to graphically pick
the X,Y location of the light source. The current elevation is used
for the Z value. Alternatively, you may enter or edit the X,Y,Z
coordinates of the light source in the edit boxes.
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Color control
Pressing the Pick Target button allows you to graphically pick

the X,Y location of the target. The current elevation is used for
the Z value. Alternatively, you may enter or edit the X,Y,Z coordinates of the light target in the edit boxes.
The illuminated parts of the surface are colored based upon the
angle of incidence and the specific angle versus color sequence
specified in the Configure Colors dialog. The color of each face
(triangle or grid cell) is based upon the angle between the light
ray and that face or grid cell. Zero degrees represents lighting
parallel to the face and ninety degrees represents light falling normal (perpendicular) to the face. Only illuminated areas of a surface are shown or drawn. Areas of a surface in shadow or
illuminated from below are not colored.
For natural lighting studies you may select the Locate Sun button (described below) to automatically set the Source and Target
locations based upon a date, time and site latitude.
Shadow
The shadow option is the inverse to the Light option. Only surface areas in shadow are colored based upon a specific light
source and target. The surface is colored based upon the angle of
incidence of the light direction and the surface. The coloration
indicated how deeply shadowed various areas of the surface are.
You must specify both a light source location and a target location
to use this option. Doing so establishes a direction vector for the
light. All light rays are considered to be parallel to this direction
vector.
Pressing the Pick Source button allows you to graphically pick
the X,Y location of the light source. The current elevation is used
for the Z value. Alternatively, you may enter or edit the X,Y,Z
coordinates of the light source in the edit boxes.
Color control
Page 117
Pressing the Pick Target button allows you to graphically pick

the X,Y location of the target. The current elevation is used for
the Z value. Alternatively, you may enter or edit the X,Y,Z coordinates of the light target in the edit boxes.
The shadowed parts of the surface are colored based upon the
angle of incidence and the specific angle versus color sequence
specified in the Configure Colors dialog. The color of each face
(triangle or grid cell) is based upon the angle between the light
ray and that face or grid cell. Zero degrees represents a face parallel to the light direction and ninety degrees represents a face
pointing directly away from the light source. Only shadowed
areas of a surface are shown or drawn. Areas of a surface illuminated by the light are not shown or drawn.
For natural lighting studies you may select the Locate Sun button (described below) to automatically set the Source and Target
locations based upon a date, time and site latitude.
Locate Sun
Both the Light and Shadow options require selecting a light
source and target location to establish a direction vector for the
lighting. The Locate Sun option establishes this vector automatically given the date, time and latitude of the model. Both the
source and target locations are filled in automatically to reflect
the correct position of the sun. The actual x, y, z coordinates in
the source and target boxes may not appear to relate to your
model, but the direction vector they establish will properly represent the sunlight direction for the time, date and latitude you
specify. Pressing the Locate Sun button invokes the following
dialog box.
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Locate Sun dialog box
Specify the date by placing the day in the day edit box, selecting
the month from the pull-down list and specifying the year in the
year edit box.
Specify the time in decimal hours (0.0 to 24.0) and select AM or
PM. You may specify time as military time (i.e. 15.00 for 3 PM)
if desired and it will be converted to a twelve hour basis and the
PM button will be activated if appropriate.
Specify the latitude of your site in decimal degrees. A latitude of
-90.0 degrees represents the south pole, zero is the equator and
+90.0 represents the north pole.
Visibility
The visibility option allows you to specify a view point location
and color the surface based upon what is visible from that point.
The view point location is specified pressing the Pick Source
button or filling in the X,Y,Z coordinates of the view point above
the surface in the source edit boxes. The surface is colored based
upon the angle from this view point to any given surface face or
cell. Make sure that your view point is at an elevation higher than
the surface. The visibility sight lines are radial from the view
point, not parallel. This is quite different than the light or shadow
option.
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The view point of this Visibility option is not the

same as the AutoCAD
VPOINT viewpoint.
Areas of the current surface visible from the selected viewpoint

will be colored based on the viewing angle in degrees along with
the settings in the Configure Color dialog box. Invisible areas or
areas seen from beneath will not be shown or drawn. The color
of each face (triangle or grid cell) is based upon the angle
between the sight line and that face or grid cell. Zero degrees
represents a face parallel to the sight line (edge on) and ninety
degrees represents a face or grid cell pointing directly at the
viewer.
Direction
The Direction option colors a each triangle or grid cell of a surface based upon its aspect (the direction in which it faces). The
number of colors selected in the Configure Colors dialog box
determines into how many groups the 360 degrees of the compass
are divided. All of the faces or grid cells of the surface are sorted
into these color groups based upon the direction they are facing.
Direction is measured counterclockwise from the positive x axis.
The transition from 360 to 0 degrees always produces a discontinuity.
For example, if you chose only four colors in the Configure Colors dialog box, then used the Direction option, the surface would
be displayed in four colors, representing those faces pointing
between west and north in first color, north to east in the second
color, east to south in the third color and south to west in the
fourth color. Selecting 36 colors would divide the compass into
ten degree increments and color faces based upon those 36
classes.
Another Surface
You may color one surface based upon the Z value of a different
surface. The specific elevation versus color relationship is controlled by the Configure Colors dialog. This powerful feature
allows you to display the geometry of one surface colored by the
z value of a different surface. The geometry of the displayed
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model is based upon the current surface and the coloration is

based upon the Z value of the surface specified in the Surface edit
box. This "other" surface must contain either a TIN, TGRD, or
grid; it may not contain just points or the needed elevation information will not be available.
This option is useful in displaying concentration data related to
structure, depth or thickness information. Problems of displaying
ore grade, contaminant concentration, fluid saturation, or geophysical measurements as they relate to zone thickness or structure are quite common. The Another Surface option lets you
easily build striking visual displays of these situations.
None
Selecting the None option disables all surface coloration options.
TIN, TGRD or Grid displays will be in a single color. The color
used will be BYLAYER (i.e. in the color assigned to the current
layer) for the Draw option. Using the Show option, the color will
be as specified by the Set Show Color menu selection.
Drawing Legend Checkbox

Selecting the Drawing legend checkbox will show or draw an
annotated legend with the color sequence and the numeric range
of each color. Upon showing or drawing a TIN, TGRD or grid
with a Surface Color option in effect, you will be prompted to
pick a rectangular window in which to place the color legend.
Graphically pick a window and the legend will be displayed. If
you have elected to display a legend, then decide in the middle of
the command that you dont want it, you may respond with a control-C to abort the legend display when prompted for the window.
If the Drawing legend checkbox is checked, you will be prompted
for legend placement every time you display a TIN, TGRD or
Grid. You will probably want to disable the drawing legend display during your design process, when you are repeatedly displaying surfaces.
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Configure Colors Button

The Configure Colors button invokes the Surface Color
Sequence dialog box (described below) which enables you to
control which colors are used and their sequence.
Surface Color Sequence

The sequence of colors used by all of the Surface Colors options
is controlled by the Surface Color Sequence dialog box. This
dialog is invoked by pressing the Configure Colors button
within the Surface Colors dialog box.
Surface Color Sequence dialog box
The Surface Color Sequence dialog allows you to control the colors and their display sequence relative to the property (elevation,
slope, etc.) being used to color a surface. Every color sequence
starts at a Starting Color, and increments color-by-color for the
specified Number of Colors. For example, if you are breaking the
range of Z elevations in a surface into ten equal intervals the
Number of Colors would be 10. If you chose 20 as the Starting
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Color, the lowest interval would be displayed in color 20, the next
in color 21, the next in color 22, etc. through color 29. In this
way you may use any contiguous part of the 256 color range for
your interval color sequence.
The standard AutoCAD color sequence is not very useful for
most mapping applications as is, so Quicksurf allows you to redefine the color sequence in any order to suit your needs. By pressing the Setup Remapped Colors button, you may design custom
color sequences to match your display needs. Several standard
color remapping files are included with Quicksurf.
The resulting color sequence and values for each color are shown
in the sample surface color legend on the right side of the dialog
box. This display changes dynamically as you adjust your color
settings.
You may limit the range of values to be colored by selecting the
Use Range checkbox. Only those areas of the surface existing
between the specified minimum and maximum values will be displayed.
Pressing the Set Interval button invokes a dialog allowing you to
specify specific ranges (elevation, slope, angle of incidence) for
each color. These intervals need not be regularly spaced and may
contain gaps. A Blank Color is defined for use in any gaps.
Each parameter is individually described starting on the next
page.
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Starting Color
The starting (lowest) color number used in a color number
sequence.
Number of Colors
The number of colors in a color sequence. Nice results may be
obtained with between 10 and 50 colors. The color number
sequence will start at the Starting Color value and continue for the
Number of Colors. If you specify a value greater than 255, the
color sequence will repeat after reaching color 255.
The range of values in the surface being displayed is divided into
the same number of intervals as you have Number of Colors. This
range may be different for a TIN, TGRD and Grid of the same
surface, due to the curvature inherent in TGRD and grid models.
To insure that the color breaks occur at the same points on the different surface displays, you may use the Use Range setting and
specify a minimum and maximum value. The difference between
the specified minimum and maximum values are divided into the
number of intervals specified by the Number of Colors value.
Blank Color
The color used for gaps in defined intervals when using the Set
Intervals option.
Use Range
When the Use Range checkbox is marked, only those areas of the
surface existing between the specified minimum and maximum
values will be displayed. The range between the Minimum and
Maximum values is used together with the Number of Colors to
determine interval colors. Ranges may be used either to clip the
data being displayed or to force breaks between color intervals to
occur at specific values (see example below).
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Maximum value
Values above this are displayed in the same high color, being the
next higher one in the color sequence. The value is in the units of
the property being used for coloring (elevation, slope in degrees,
slope in percent, angle of incidence in degrees, etc.).
Minimum value
Values below this are displayed in the same low color, being the
next lower one in the color sequence. The value is in the units of
the property being used for coloring (elevation, slope in degrees,
slope in percent, angle of incidence in degrees, etc.).
For example, if you are using color by elevation and your data
ranges from 8 to 91 meters in elevation, not specifying a range
will give you odd color intervals. If you wanted to have twenty
color intervals, each representing five meters, you would select
the Use Range checkbox; set a Minimum of 0.0; set a Maximum
of 100.0; and set Number of Colors to 20. This would result in
the Starting Color for 0 - 5 meters, the next color for 5 - 10 meters
and so on. The resulting surface color legend is previewed on the
right side of the dialog box.
Low color and high color
are next colors below and
above color range being
used. If your color
sequence starts at color 1,
the low color will be 255.
For this same data set if you selected Use Range; Minimum of
20.0; Maximum of 80.0; and Number of Colors of 6, all values
below 20.0 would be shown in the low color; all values greater
than 80.0 would be shown in the high color; values from 20 to 30
would be in the starting color; 30 to 40 in the next color; and so
on.
Set Interval
Pressing the Set Interval button invokes an interval definition
dialog box. The intervals are automatically filled in based upon
the settings of Starting Color, Number of Colors and any range
settings as well as the maximum and minimum values of the current surface or the Use Range settings. Generally you will want
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to specify maximum and minimum values in Use Range box

prior to selecting Set Intervals. By doing so you may force the
breaks between adjacent color intervals to be at round numbers.
You may subsequently change any of the interval settings manually.
The range of the property (elevation, slope, etc.) being colored is
divided by the Number of Colors to establish the high and low
value for each color interval. If the Use Range checkbox is
selected, the user-specified maximum and minimum values are
used, rather than the actual data extremes. The user may force
breaks between adjacent color intervals to occur at round numbers.
Surface Color Intervals dialog box
The Surface Color Intervals dialog box is automatically filled in

based on these values. The number of intervals is determined by
the Number of Colors chosen in the Configure Colors dialog. You
may change the numeric high and low values in the edit boxes to
represent any range you wish for each color. If you leave a gap in
the numeric values between adjacent color intervals they will be
colored in the Blank Color. Two extra color intervals are defined:
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high color for all values above the highest defined interval and
low color for all values below the lowest defined interval. These
are the next color above and below the color sequence being used
respectively.
The key to effective use of intervals is based on setting the Number of Colors and a Maximum and Minimum in the Use Range box
in the Configure Colors dialog prior to pressing the Set Intervals
button. This allows Quicksurf to intelligently fill in the intervals
for you and reduce your time spent editing interval definitions.
Remap Colors
DCMAP
Invokes a dialog box which allows you to interactively re-map
AutoCAD colors into a different color number sequence. Generally this is accessed via the Setup Remapped Colors button of
the Surface Colors dialog box.
Remap Colors dialog box
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Using Remap Colors

The Remap Colors dialog box is separated into two large color
maps. The upper map represents the standard AutoCAD color
sequence for your display configuration. The lower map represents the re-mapped colors. Each map displays color #1 in the
upper left corner. The color numbers increase from left to right
across each row and continue on the left side of the next row.
A current color may be selected by clicking on any desired color
in the upper color map. The Current Color box between the two
maps will change color to reflect your pick. Picking any color
square in the lower color map will redefine that color to the current color. The lower map will change as you set colors by clicking on them. By selecting the desired color from the top map,
then clicking on the bottom map, you may quickly construct a
color sequence that fits your needs. This color map may be used
with all of the Surface Color options.
Re-mapped colors may be saved to or read from an ASCII text
file using the Save and Load buttons. These buttons invoke the
standard file dialog to write or read a color mapping file. The
default file extension for a color mapping file is .CLS. A Reset
button allows resetting to AutoCADs default color sequence.
A color map is simply an ASCII file with the filename extension
.CLS containing the desired color sequence. Although it is much
easier to create a color mapping file with the Remap Colors command, you may create one with a text editor if needed. The file
consists AutoCAD color numbers, one number per line. The first
number in this file will substitute for color #1, the second for #2,
and so on.
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Set SHOW Color

Selects the color assignment method used when points, TIN, grid
or contours are shown on screen with the Show option when no
Surface Color options are in effect.
Set Show Color
XOR/Inv/Color number <XOR>: select
XOR Option
The XOR (exclusive-or) option causes objects displayed with the
Show option to appear on screen in the color which is the inverse
of the background color. Showing in XOR mode a second time
will restore the screen to its original appearance.
For example: Starting from a blank screen with XOR enabled (the
default condition), show the grid of a surface. Next show the contours without redrawing; the contours will appear over the grid.
Now show the contours again; they will be removed from the
screen leaving the grid in place, whereas a Redraw would have
removed both contours and grid.
Invisible Option
The Invisible option causes objects to be shown in the background
color, which in effect shows nothing on a blank screen. This
option is for use in displaying on top of color-filled screen areas
such as are produced with the Pfill command. If there are colorfilled areas, the shown objects will be visible only in those areas.
Color Number Option
This option simply causes objects to be shown in the designated
color number. Answer the prompt with the desired AutoCAD
color number (e.g. 1, 2, 35, etc.).
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Contour colors
Contours may be colored with one of three methods.
Color options -> Contour colors
Color Contours <N>: Y for color contours
Color contour method:
Cycle/Interval/Split <I>: select
If you respond Yes for color contours, you are prompted for the
method for contour coloring. The next prompt will depend on
which you choose:
Cycle Option
Causes contour colors to cycle repeatedly through a sequence of
colors.
Cycle/Interval/Split <I>: C
Starting color <1>: value
Number of colors to be used <6>: value
At the starting color prompt, set the color for the lowest contour
on the drawing. At the number of colors prompt, set the number
of colors to use. Contours will be assigned this sequence of colors
in order of ascending z value. This option may be used together
with remapped colors to provide any desired contour color
sequence. If you are operating your monitor in a 256 color mode,
load the STDQS color remapping file and set a Starting color of 1
and Number of colors to 20. This will yield a smoothly graduated
color range on most graphics cards. Refer to the Configure Colors
section in this chapter how to load a color remapping file.
Interval Option
Causes every Nth contour to be highlighted.
Cycle/Interval/Split <I>: I
Base color for contours <5>: value
Highlighted color contours <1>: value
Interval for highlighted contour <5>: value
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At the Base color prompt, set the color for non-highlighted contours. At the Highlighted color prompt, set the color for highlighted
contours. At the interval prompt, set the interval for highlighting.
The response shown above would display blue (5) contours with
every fifth contour in red (1). Note that the example interval (5)
highlights every fifth contour, not an interval of five feet or
meters.
Split Option
Causes each contour to be assigned one of two colors: one for
those below and one for those above a specified elevation.
Cycle/Interval/Split <I>: S
Low color for contours <5>: value
High color for contours <1>: value
Elevation for color split <450.0>: value
At the Low color prompt, set the color number for lower elevations; at the High color prompt, set the color number for higher elevations. At the elevation prompt, set the elevation at which the
colors are to split. If a contour falls exactly on the split elevation,
it is displayed in the low color. If the split elevation is above the
highest or below the lowest elevation all the contours will be displayed in one color.
Screen fill
PFILL
Colors a closed polygon with the selected AutoCAD color in the
same manner as AutoCADs Hatch command. This is a screen
paint operation only, and a Redraw will remove the color.
Pfill
Select objects: select closed polylines
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This command does not produce a fill which may be plotted. It

may be captured in a raster format with AutoCADs Saveimg
command. Entities which have been covered by Pfill may be displayed on top of the solid fill by using the AutoCAD Select command and selecting the entities by crossing or window. The
Select command highlights, then redraws the selected entities,
causing them to be displayed on top of the screen fill.
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Volumetrics
Volumes may be computed directly from surfaces residing in surface memory using the Surface volume, Area volume or Boundary volume command or computed from a drawn TIN, TGRD or
Grid using the Volume by entity command. None of these volume
functions use the current boundary which may have been set with
the Set Boundary command, rather they prompt for closed
polylines representing areas under which to calculate volumes if
areas are required. Please refer to the chapter on volumetrics for
a complete discussion on calculating volumes.
The three commands which calculate surfaces directly from
memory (Surface volume, Area volume and Boundary volume)
all invoke the same dialog box.
Surface Volume dialog box
Volume calculation
Volume may be calculated between a surface and the zero plane
(i.e. sea-level), between a surface and a constant elevation, or
between two surfaces. If the volume requested is between two
surfaces or between a surface and a constant, the results surface
<.> will contain the actual thickness surface for which the volume
is calculated. You may show or draw this surface to confirm its
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geometry. Always inspect the thickness surface prior to volume

calculation by showing the TIN, TGRD or Grid from an oblique
viewpoint or by contouring it. In some cases the edges may contain anomalies; either correct the surface or exclude the edge
effect by using Area Volumes.
Within the dialog box you must specify the basis for the volume
(Planar TIN, TIN with derivatives, Grid or TGRD), the first surface, optionally a second surface or constant, and output file type.
Basis for volume calculation

Planar TIN
TIN w/ Deriv
Grid
TGRD
Calculate volumes based on the planar TIN.

Calculate volumes using the TIN and derivatives.
Calculate volumes based on the Grid.
Calculate volumes based on the TGRD.
The volume will be computed on the selected surface part. If a

part (Grid or TGRD) does not exist, the selection will be unavailable. If the surface only contains points, then a TIN will be created as needed. When in doubt, choose Planar TIN.
First surface name

Select the surface under which to calculate volumes from the surface pick list. If this surface represents thickness, the volume
should be computed between this surface and the zero (XY)
plane. If the volume to be computed lies between two surfaces or
between one surface and a constant elevation you will need to
specify the second surface or constant.
Second surface name

If the desired volume is between two surfaces, click on the check
box next to the surface pick list and select the second surface
from the pick list. A new surface representing the difference
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Volumetrics
between the two surfaces (first surface minus second surface) is

computed and placed in the results <.> surface and the volume is
calculated.
Internally this computation uses the TIN, derivatives, grid and/or
TGRD with the Maximize option within the surface operation
subtract. The points of each surface are draped onto the other
internally, so a thickness may then be computed. This insures the
most rigorous resulting thickness surface. When calculating the
volume between two surfaces, curvature is used for the internal
drape only if the TIN with derivatives option is used and Derivatives is set to 2nd in the Configure Grid dialog box.
Two surface example

If you have two surfaces, EXISTING and PROPOSED, and select
PROPOSED as the first surface and EXISTING as the second surface, the results <.> surface will contain your cut/fill surface.
Positive areas represent fill areas (P - E > 0) and positive volumes
represent the fill volumes. Negative areas represent cut areas (P E < 0) and "negative" volumes represent the cut volumes. Positive and negative volumes represent the volumes above and
below (respectively) the zero (XY) plane of the surface being
computed. The net volume reported is the sum of positive and
negative volumes. When the net volume equals zero, the cut and
fill volumes are the same.
Constant
If the desired volume is between a surface and a plane of constant
elevation, select the check box next to the Constant selection and
enter the constant value in the edit box. A surface representing
the difference between the first surface and the constant (first surface minus constant) is computed and placed in the results <.>
surface and the volume is calculated.
This option is convenient for determining reservoir volumes at
different water levels.
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None
The volume between the first surface and the zero plane is computed. Select the check box next to None. Use this for computing the volume of a surface already representing thickness.
File output
The resulting volumes are always displayed on the text screen,
but may be optionally written to a text file. Select the check box
of the desired option and press the File button and supply a file
name up to eight characters in file dialog. The appropriate file
type (.txt) will be appended.
ASCII
None
Writes an ASCII text file.

Does not write a file.
If a volume units conversion factor and units name has been specified in the Configure Units dialog, the volumes will be converted
and displayed in the specified units. Specify the file name using
the standard file dialog.
Label areas
Area volume and Boundary volume allow for the volumes within
multiple sub-areas of the surface to be calculated. When multiple
area polygons are selected, selecting the Label Areas checkbox
will cause each polygon to be sequentially labeled with area numbers. These area numbers correspond to the area numbering in
the volume report. The labels are placed on the current layer, in
the current text style, and at a text height equal to the grid cell
size, unless overridden by a current text style containing a fixed
text height.
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Volumetrics
Running a volume command

After selecting the options in the Surface Volume dialog box and
pressing OK, you are prompted to select area polygons (if
needed) and the calculated volumes are displayed on the text
screen. The volume results are written to a file or database table
if requested.
At least a TIN is required for volume calculation. If there are
only points in a surface used in a volume calculation, the surface
parts needed for volume calculation will be automatically created.
The specific methodology used in volume calculation is
described in the volumetrics chapter.
Volumes reported
The volume report produced looks similar to the following:
VOLUMES:
Reported in Cu.Yds.
Using 0.37037 cubic units/Cu.Yds.
Area
1
2
3
Positive Volume
15025.1
10215.3
982.5
Total
26222.9
Negative Volume
14215.5
9812.4
3402.5
27430.4
Net Volume
809.6
402.9
-2420.0
-1207.5
For each area three numbers are reported:

Positive Volume: The positive volume within the area polygon.
Negative Volume: The negative volume within the area polygon.
Net Volume:
The net sum of volumes within the area polygon.
A Total Positive Volume is reported representing the total positive
volume of the entire surface. A Total Negative Volume is
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face. Positive volumes represent areas with Z values greater than

zero and negative volumes represent areas with Z values less than
zero.
If you have selected a volume conversion factor and unit name in
the Configure Units dialog box, the volumes reported will have
the conversion factor applied and the units name will be displayed.
The three variations of the volume command are individually

described below.
Surface volume
SVOL
The Surface volume command calculates the volume under an
entire surface in surface memory. If you are using this volume to
compare to a volume computed under a different surface, you
must insure that the area covered by the two surfaces are identical.
Volumetrics -> Surface volume
The Total Volume reported represents the volume under the entire
surface.
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Volumetrics
Area volume
AVOL
The Area volume command calculates the volume under one or
more sub-areas of surface in surface memory. Each sub-area is
defined by selecting a closed polyline representing the area under
which the volume is to be calculated. You may select as many
sub-areas as you wish.
Caution: Area polygons
should not overlap!
Be careful not to overlap or nest area polygons, or incorrect

results will be obtained. If your area polygons are adjacent to one
another use OSNAP when constructing the polylines to insure that
adjacent area polygons share vertices.
Volumes may be calculated between a surface and the zero plane
<.> will contain the actual surface for which the volume is calculated. You may show or draw this surface to confirm its geometry.
The volume of each area will be calculated and reported in either
an ASCII file or a database table as specified in the dialog box.
Volumetrics -> Area Volume
If a selected area polygon does not entirely overlie the surface

being calculated, the volume reported is just for the portion of the
surface which underlies the polygon.
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Boundary volume
BVOL
Boundary volume is a special case of Area Volume where the
thickness surface being calculated tapers to zero and the specific

"zero-line" polyline must be honored, even if it crosses TIN or
Grid boundaries. This command should not be used for general
volume calculation: use Area volume instead.
Boundary volumes was designed for petroleum industry calculation of "hydrocarbon pore volume" maps. In these situations a
negotiated zero-line representing the absolute zero edge of the
hydrocarbon accumulation is determined and must be honored
exactly by all volume calculation. The zero-line polygon should
be drawn at an elevation of zero. The Z value of the surface
being calculated is forced to zero everywhere along this zero line.
This is quite different from the polygon area boundaries which
honor the Z value of the surface.
Volumetrics -> Boundary volume
This command is for special cases such as stockpile volumes

where the toe of the pile is known exactly, or other volume problems where the surface being calculated tapers to a known zero
edge. For general volume problems, use the Area Volume command instead.
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Volumetrics
Volume by entity
VOLUME
Volume by entity calculates the volume under AutoCAD drawing
entities. Unlike Surface volume, Area volume and Boundary volume which operate on surfaces in memory, Volume by entity only
operates on drawing entities such as meshes, polyface meshes and

3D faces drawn with the TIN, TGRD or Grid commands.
Volumetrics -> Volume by entity
Select objects via the normal AutoCAD object selection methods.

Quicksurf will calculate the volume under the selected entities in
cubic drawing units. 3DFACEs, Polyfaces, and 3D polygon
meshes are the only entity types that will yield a volume; all other
entities are ignored. The status bar will be updated with the total
as it is calculated. Volume by entity computes three results: a positive volume for objects above the zero datum (x,y) plane, a negative volume for objects below the zero datum plane, and a grand
total.
If you want the volume calculated with reference to a different
plane from the zero datum, use the AutoCAD Move command to
move the drawn TIN or GRID vertically to the desired level.
Either grid or triangles may be used to compute a volume under a
surface, but not both, and they generally yield different results:
triangles are treated as flat faces, whereas the grid represents a
smoothed surface that passes through all the control points. If the
grid is a 3D polygon mesh, a single value of volume for the entire
mesh is calculated. If the grid consists of individual 3DFACEs or
Polyfaces they are calculated for all selected faces, then summed
and reported in the totals.
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If the resultant faces extend above and below zero datum, the
included volume between the surface and zero will be reported
separately along with the total of the two. If a single face penetrates through the zero plane, a single net volume is calculated for
that face, rather than separate positive and negative portions.
All of Quicksurfs volume commands will produce identical
results when run on the same surface parts. Volumes run on a
TIN, TGRD and Grid of the same surface will yield slightly different results, because of different amounts of curvature information carried by the different surface parts. Always visually
examine a surface prior to calculating its volume.
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Volumetrics
Design Tools
Drape
DRAPE
Modifies AutoCAD drawing entities to conform to their z values
to the specified surface. The Configure Drape dialog box controls
the specific drape parameters.
Surface <current>: select
You may not drape onto a

surface containing only
points.
At the select prompt, select entities to be draped by the normal

AutoCAD object selection methods. When selection is completed
press enter and all selected entities will be draped onto the specified surface. A surface must contain a TIN, TGRD or Grid before
you may drape onto it. You may not drape onto a surface containing just Points.
Results of draping
Any AutoCAD entity may be draped, but the results are not necessarily meaningful. The following rules apply:
3D polylines: A new 3D polyline having the original planform
and conforming to the surface z values is generated.

2D polylines, lines, circles, arcs: The entity is converted to a 3D
polyline having the same planform and conforming to the surface

z values. Since a contour is a 2D polyline of constant elevation,
draping it on the surface from which it was generated will have
no effect except to change it to a 3D polyline with constant z values.
Text, solids, inserted blocks: Entitys z value is altered to conform
to the surface at the insertion point. If you need to drape the
components of a block, explode the block, then drape the components.
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Drape replaces the original entity with the new draped entity. If
you want both the original entity and the new draped entity, make
a copy of the entity prior to draping it.
Drape and curvature
When draping to the TIN, Drape honors the Derivatives setting in
the Configure Grid dialog box. If Derivatives is set to None,
objects are draped to the planar faces of the TIN, the same as
selecting Planar TIN. If Derivatives is set to 1st or 2nd, drape
will honor the curved shape of the mathematical surface.
Drape and boundaries
Drape honors any boundaries currently in effect and only drapes
those portions of the selected objects within those boundaries. If
a polyline entity to be draped extends across a boundary polygon,
only the part within the boundary is draped to create a 3D
polyline and those parts outside of the boundary are erased.
Draping drawing entities
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Design Tools
Drape configuration
The Configure Drape dialog controls drape parameters such as
drape step for vertex densification and which surface part is
draped upon. See Configuring Drape on page 211 of the Configuring Quicksurf chapter for details.
Using Drape
Drape is a very powerful tool. It may be used to "solve" for the Z
value of a surface at a group of points such as construction stakeout plans, fluid flow or finite difference model nodes. It is particularly useful for combining 2D maps and 3D models of the same
area, by converting 2D map data into 3D data draped on topography. Any line or polyline draped onto the surface becomes a 3D
profile. Exploded hatch patterns may be draped on a surface to
create 3D thematic maps.
Flatten
FLATTEN
Flatten creates an 2D elevation profile of a 3D polyline. Typi-
cally the 3D polyline being flattened has been draped so it lies

within the surface.
Profile produced by Flatten
The Flatten command prompts for 3D polyline(s) to flatten and

then asks questions regarding graph scaling and labeling. The
first vertex of the 3D polyline selected becomes the left end of the
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profile. Flatten and Cross-section expect polylines drawn left to

right. Use the Swap ends command to reverse any 3D polylines
which are drawn in the wrong direction prior to using Flatten.
Design Tools -> Flatten
Vertical multiplier <1>:
Text size for labeling <13>:
Base elevation for grid / Auto <Auto>:
Draw grid background <Yes>:
Vertical spacing <20>:
Vertical labeling interval <2>:
Horizontal spacing <40>:
Horizontal labeling interval <5>:
Origin: select point
[Origin of 2nd: select point]
Note: The first vertex of

the selected 3D polyline
will be the left side of the
flattened profile.
Select draped 3D polylines to be flattened via the normal

AutoCAD object selection methods. You will then be prompted
for the following graph parameters:
Vertical multiplier
The vertical exaggeration applied to the flattened profile. The
default is one.
Text size for labeling
The text size for the numerical labels in drawing units.
Base elevation for grid
The lowest elevation shown on the flattened profile.
Draw grid background
Controls whether a gray background grid is drawn behind the
profile line.
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Design Tools
Vertical spacing
The vertical spacing between background lines on the profile in
the same units as the Z units of the 3D polyline.
Vertical labeling interval
The interval for labeling background lines. 1 labels every line, 2
labels every other line, 3 labels every third line, etc.
Horizontal spacing
The horizontal spacing between background lines on the profile
in the same units as the X and Y units of the 3D polyline.
Horizontal labeling interval
The interval for labeling background lines. 1 labels every line, 2
labels every other line, 3 labels every third line, etc.
If more than one profile is
selected, Quicksurf will
ask for additional origins.
At the origin prompt, select a point on the drawing to serve as the

lower left origin of the flattened representation. Y coordinates on
the flattened drawing, relative to the origin, will correspond to the
original Z coordinates. X coordinates on the flattened profile correspond to distance along the 3D polyline, with the left end of the
profile corresponding to the first vertex of the 3D polyline
selected.
Cross-section
SECT
The terms profile and
cross section are used
interchangeably here.
The Cross section command creates a 2D profile or cross-section

of a surface. You specify a line or polyline representing a line of
section and a surface name. A line of section represents the plan
view path where the profile or section is to be cut.
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2D section produced by Cross section
The Cross section command is different from the Flatten command. Cross section only uses the plan view information of the
line of section and obtains its Z information directly from the
named surface. Flatten obtains its Z information from the vertices of the 3D polyline supplied and cannot use 2D drawing entities as lines of section. Cross section can use 2D or 3D entities as
lines of section, although 2D entities are preferred.
Vertical and horizontal scaling, labeling, background grid and
destination layers are controlled the Configure Section dialog
box. See the configuring Quicksurf chapter for a complete
description of the many options in the Configure Section dialog
box.
Design Tools -> Cross section
Surface <.>: enter surface name
Select sections...
Select objects: select line or polyline
Select objects: press return
Lower left corner: pick
Upper right corner: pick
Note: The first vertex of

the selected polyline will
be the left side of the
resulting cross-section.
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After selecting a line of section and a surface name and whether

to show or draw the section, you are prompted to supply the two
corners of a rectangular area in which the section will be drawn.
The section will be scaled to fit within the rectangle. If a specific
horizontal and vertical scale has been specified in the Configure
Section dialog box, only the lower left corner is prompted for and
the section is drawn at the specified scale.
Design Tools
The x coordinates on the resulting cross-section correspond to

distance along the line of section polyline, with the left end of the
cross-section corresponding to the first vertex of the polyline
selected. Use the Swap ends command to reverse any polylines
which are drawn in the wrong direction prior to using Cross-section.
Uses the Derivatives setting in Configure Grid.
Cross-section uses Drape internally, and therefore uses the Derivatives setting in Configure Grid. Setting Derivatives to None will
produce sections based on the planar faces of the TIN. Derivatives set to 2nd will honor surface curvature.
For most uses, Cross section replaces the Drape - Flatten combination used to create a profiles or cross sections in earlier versions of Quicksurf.
Intersect slope
ISLOPE
Intersect slope projects a user-specified slope from a 3D polyline
until it intersects the current surface and draws a new 3D polyline

where the projected slope and current surface intersect. Additional lines may be created by Intersect slope, if needed, to produce smooth radial corners or to properly represent V-shaped
areas where two fill surfaces merge. The lines and 3D polylines
created by Intersect slope will subsequently be used as break
lines.
The target surface must contain a TIN, TGRD or grid prior to running Intersect slope.
Design Tools -> Intersect Slope
Surface name <current>: select surface to project upon
Select control lines
Return to select all or
Select objects: select control polyline (2D or 3D)
Setup dialog <Y>: Yes to access Configure Slopes dialog
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The Configure Slopes dialog box may be invoked in-line to specify projection slope angles and directions relative to the control
line. The slope specifications from this configuration dialog control the behavior of the Intersect slope command.
Configure Slopes
SETSLOPE
The settings in the Configure Slopes dialog box are used by both
the Intersect slope and the Apply section commands. Both these
commands draw 3D polylines representing the intersection of a
slope projected from a 3D polyline and a surface.
Configure Slopes dialog
Please read the comprehensive description of the Configure

Slopes dialog in the Configuring Quicksurf chapter.
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Design Tools
About slope - surface intersections

Many problems in surface modeling concern determining where a
slope from a known path, typically a 3D polyline, intersects a surface. Design of building pads, stock ponds, roadways, stockpiles
and geologic faults all encounter this problem. Quicksurf will
automatically determine the 3D intersection of a given slope from
a control line with any surface. The control line is incrementally
traversed and a vector is projected up and/or down at the specified slopes until it intersects the surface. This intersection point
is then used as a vertex of the 3D polyline being created at the
intersection of the projected slope and the surface. The process is
repeated for each step down the control line. The result is a 3D
polyline representing the intersection of the projected slopes and
the surface. This 3D polyline may represent the toe of a fill or the
head of a cut. Typically these 3D polylines are then extracted as
break lines and a TIN or triangulated grid is then built. These 3D
polylines are used as break lines because they typically represent
abrupt changes of surface slope, such as at the toe of a fill slope
or the head of a road cut.
Projecting slopes from a 3D polyline
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Vertical align
VALIGN
Reverses the effect of the Flatten command by applying the vertical (Y axis) profile of a modified polyline from the 2D vertical
profile back to the original horizontal alignment polyline used to
create the profile. Some definitions will help understand this process:
Horizontal alignment polyline
The 2D or 3D polyline representing the horizontal alignment of
the profile in plan view. Only the X,Y information of this entity
is used. 2D polylines will have fewer vertices than draped 3D
polylines, therefore reducing the number of unnecessary vertices.
Original vertical profile
The 2D polyline representing the original vertical profile as produced by Flatten or Cross-section.
Adjusted vertical profile
The design vertical alignment (2D polyline) is drawn right on top
of the original vertical profile graph. The adjusted and original
profile polylines must be aligned (in the X dimension) at their left
ends for proper operation of Vertical align.
New vertical alignment
The new 3D polyline created by Vertical align using the Z values
from adjusted vertical profile polyline and the XY alignment
from the horizontal alignment polyline.
This command is principally used in road design and allows you
to alter the vertical profile of a road to suit engineering requirements and generate its 3D representation. Geologists may use it
for 3D fault line positioning.
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Design Tools
Vertical align
Although this illustration is in an oblique view, Vertical Align

should be run from plan view.
Workflow
Typically Vertical align is used in conjunction with Drape, Flatten
(or Cross-section) and Apply section in the following order:
Draw road centerline (2D polyline) in plan view

Drape road centerline onto existing topography surface
Use Flatten to build 2D profile of centerline
Draw new vertical road profile on the above profile graph
Use Vertical align to apply the new profile to the draped line
This will be the control line for Apply section
Draw the road cross-section template(s) as 2D polylines
Use Apply section to build the road break lines
Use Extract to Surface for the undisturbed topo entities
Use Extract breaks for the road break lines
Use TGRD to build the new surface
By the time you run the Vertical align command you will have a
draped 3D polyline on the surface, a 2D flattened profile of that
3D polyline and a new 2D polyline on the flattened profile representing the new vertical alignment.
Design Tools
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Design Tools -> Vertical align

Select vertical alignment...
Select objects: select adjusted vertical profile 2D polyline
Select base point: snap to lower left corner of 2D profile graph axes
Set elevation of base point <default>: enter elevation of base point
Vertical multiplier <1>: enter factor used when creating 2D profile
Select horizontal alignments for applying vertical alignment... select
Erase original horizontal alignment polyline? <Y>: enter
Applying new vertical alignment...
At the first select prompt, select the newly-created 2D adjusted

vertical profile polyline that will provide the vertical alignment.
At the base point prompt, snap to the point representing the origin
of the vertical alignment graph; normally this will be the same
origin point you selected for the Flatten or Cross-section command. Supply the elevation of this point as requested; normally it
will be the lowest elevation value marked on the graph. At the
vertical multiplier prompt, enter the same vertical multiplier used
when creating the flattened profile.
Finally, select the horizontal alignment polyline. A new 3D
polyline will be created having the original horizontal alignment
with the Z values of its vertices adjusted to reflect the new vertical alignment. You are prompted whether to erase the original
horizontal alignment polyline. Generally you will want to erase
this original polyline if it is a 3D polyline created with Drape, but
perhaps leave it if it a 2D centerline polyline which may be
needed later. If you choose not to erase the original polyline, it is
moved to the frozen layer named OLD_DATA to avoid confusion.
Vertical align may be used with the Cross-section command
instead of Drape and Flatten. Cross-section builds the 2D section
directly from the surface without draping the 2D polyline used for
the horizontal alignment. Vertical align will accept this 2D
polyline for the horizontal alignment and build a new 3D polyline
representing the new vertical alignment.
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Design Tools
Apply section
APSEC
Apply section sweeps a cross section template along a control line
(3D polyline) to create a set of new 3D polylines to be used as

break lines. The cross section template is a 2D polyline typically
representing a road cross section. Several different templates
may be used along a section of road with either linear or spline
transitions between different sections. The slopes and transition
type (if any) are defined in the Configure Slopes dialog box.
Each vertex on the cross section template leaves a 3D polyline
trail as the template is swept along the control line. Two additional 3D polylines are drawn by projecting user-specified slopes
from the ends of the template until they intersect the surface.
Any visible POINT drawing entities between the outermost break
lines are moved to a frozen layer called OLD_DATA. The points
outside the disturbed area should then be extracted to a new surface and the new 3D polylines added as break lines. Building a
TGRD on this data set represents the new design topography.
Apply section is run once for each control line or segment.
Apply section creates break lines
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Workflow
Apply section is usually used in the following sequence when
designing a road:
Draw road centerline (2D polyline) in plan view

Drape road centerline onto existing topography surface
Use Flatten to build 2D profile of centerline
Draw new vertical road profile on the above profile graph
Use Vertical align to apply the new profile to the draped line
This will be the control line for Apply section
Draw the road cross-section template(s) as 2D polylines
Use Apply section to build the road break lines
Use Extract to Surface for the undisturbed topo entities
Use Extract breaks for the road break lines
Use TGRD to build the new surface
Using Apply section to create a road
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Design Tools
Viewing the resulting TGRD with Surface view
Viewing the resulting TGRD with Surface view
The Surface view command is a handy way to examine your

design from various perspective views. The triangulated grid
shown here is the same one built in the previous example figures.
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Apply section invokes the Configure Slopes dialog then prompts
for cross-section template(s) and control line.

Design Tools -> Apply section
Invokes Configure Slopes dialog to set slopes and transitions.
Surface <current>: select or press ? to pick from surface list
Select starting section...
Select objects: select cross-section template
Control line point on starting cross-section: select point using osnap
Use a different ending section <N>: Y
Select ending section...
Control line point on ending cross-section: select point using osnap
Select control line: select
Apply to entire Control line or Segment <C>: S
Define segment along control line...
Distance/<Select beginning point>: pick point on control line using osnap
or press D then type in distance number
Distance/<Select ending point>: pick point along control line using osnap
or press D then type in distance number
Applying cross-section...
Finished
The prompt dialog shown above is the longest possible case. If

you are simply applying one cross-section along an entire control
line, many fewer questions are asked.
Apply section requires slope and transition definitions, starting
and ending cross-section polylines, and a control line.
Slope and transition control

User-specified slopes are projected up or down from the end
points of the cross-section being applied until they intersect the
surface. A 3D polyline is drawn representing this slope-surface
intersection. Slope and transition control is specified in the Configure Slopes dialog box which is automatically invoked by Apply
section. The complete description of this dialog is Chapter 7 on
page 225.
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Design Tools
Surface
Specify the surface to be used when calculating slope-surface
intersections off either end of the cross-section template. This
may be the existing topography surface or an intermediate design
surface. The surface should at least have a TIN present (not
points only), so that projecting the slopes will return an intersection.
Starting Cross-section
A cross-section template is a 2D polyline, drawn in the XY plane,
representing the road cross-section. This polyline is swept along
the control line to produce a set of 3D polylines, one for each vertex of the cross-section. Two additional 3D polylines are created
representing the intersection of the slope projected from the end
points of the cross-section polyline and the topographic surface.
These 3D polylines will be used as break lines when creating the
new design surface.
After selecting a cross-section polyline, you are prompted to
select a control line point on the cross-section. Conceptually, this
represents the point on the cross-section which is attached to the
control line as the cross-section is swept down the control line.
Typically this will be a vertex or a mid-point on the 2D cross-section polyline. If so, use OSNAP to ENDpoint or MIDpoint to insure
proper alignment. Although the attachment point is normally on
the cross-section polyline, this is not required. The relative position between the cross-section polyline and the attachment point
is used when applying the section.
Ending Cross-section
If a transition between two different sections is specified, a second cross-section template must be selected. The same questions
will be asked for the second cross-section polyline. The nature
of the transition between the two cross-sections is controlled by
the settings in the Configure Slopes dialog.
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Control line
The control line is a 3D polyline representing the path to which
the cross-section template(s) will be applied. This control
polyline is typically the 3D path of the road centerline. The
direction from the beginning to the end of the control polyline
becomes important when using transitions between different
cross-sections or when defining a segment in terms of distances.
The Swap ends command (in the utilities menu) will display the
direction of a polyline and allow you to reverse its direction if
needed.
The control line represents the final design path for the road and
usually is the result of using Vertical align to design the roads
vertical curvature.
Segment
Apply section can operate on an entire control line or just a part of
the control line using the Segment option. If you select the Segment option, you are prompted to pick a point or specify a distance along the control line for the start and end of the segment.
If you graphically pick points on the control line, the segment is
defined between the points. You may specify distances from the
beginning of the control line by answering D to the Distance/
<Select endpoint> prompt, then keying in the distance value. The
distances along the 3D control line are measured from the first
vertex of the control line are used to define the segment. The
direction of the control line may be verified or adjusted using the
Swap ends command.
See Chapter 23 (page 367) for examples using Apply section.
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Design Tools
Build surface
QSBLD
Many surface construction problems entail draping points, lines
or polylines onto temporary construction surfaces. The resulting
draped entities will then be extracted as either points or break
lines to create a new design surface. The Build surface command
builds planes, cones, or surfaces of revolved sections to use as
temporary construction surfaces. Each surface is created within
the specified XY window.
Design Tools -> Build surface
Build surfaces dialog
These commands will prompt for points, lines and angles as necessary. Normal AutoCAD selection methods apply, including
object snaps. Angles are specified in degrees by default, but may
be changed using the Configure Units dialog. A surface is created
in the results <.> surface within the defined window, ready for
draping. Any pre-existing contents of the results <.> surface are
lost. If the results surface contains data which will be overwritten, a warning message is displayed in the lower left corner on the
dialog box, as shown.
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Plane
A plane may be specified by supplying three points, a line and a
point or a line and a slope.
Cone
A cone is specified by selecting a point representing the apex of
the cone and a slope. Positive angles extend up from the point
and negative angles extend down from the point. Angles are measured from the XY plane. The axis of the cone will be parallel to
the Z axis.
A partial cone may be created by specifying less than 360 degrees
in the Start rotation and End rotation edit boxes. Horizontal
angles are measured based on the AutoCAD Units command setting. By default angles are measured counter-clockwise from the
+X axis, unless redefined within the Units command.
Revolve Section
A 2D polyline section is revolved around a point to create a surface. The section to be revolved may be a drawn 2D polyline or a
section specified by pairs of distances and angles in the Standard
Section dialog box. After selecting Revolve Section and clicking on OK, the following prompts appear:
Center point: enter or snap to object
Standard section / User section <User>: select
If you select a User section, you are prompted to select a 2D

polyline representing the section to be revolved. The first vertex
of the selected polyline is attached to the point and the polyline is
revolved through the angular sweep specified in the Start rotation and End rotation boxes. Horizontal angles are measured the
same as for cones.
If you select Standard section, the following dialog box appears.
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Design Tools
Standard sections for Revolve Section
Standard sections are described by pairs of distances and angles

from the first vertex. The first segment is labeled A, the second
B, and so on, in the dimensions section. The sections shown on
the left side of the dialog box do not represent the geometry of the
section, only the number of segments a section will have. The
geometry is described in the dimensions section of the dialog
box.
By clicking on a section icon, the corresponding number of segments will be highlighted in the dimensions section. For example, clicking on the upper right icon will select a three segment
section. This will cause dimensions A, B and C to be enabled and
D through H to be grayed out. For each segment specify the distance and slope from the previous segment.
Upon pressing OK, the section described will be revolved
through the angular sweep specified in the Start rotation and
End rotation boxes. The results will be in the <.> surface.
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Intersect surface
The intersection between two surfaces may be described with a
3D polyline. Surface intersections may be manually computed
by creating at least a TIN for each surface, subtracting the surfaces from one another with surface operations, then drawing (not
showing) the zero contour. (An easy way to draw only the zero
contour is to temporarily set a very large contour interval.) This
zero contour represents the plan view trace of the surface intersection, but is not at the correct Z elevation. The contour may
then be draped back upon either of the two original surfaces to
create a 3D polyline representing the 3D surface to surface intersection.
Surface region
REGION
Surface region creates a polyface mesh of a surface within one or
more arbitrary boundaries. In this way polyface meshes representing patches of a surface may be created. This is useful for
breaking areas of a surface into component parts which may have
different properties (such as roadway versus shoulder versus
grass). For rendering purposes it is convenient to break a surface
up into patches which will be assigned different materials (such
as fairway versus green versus rough).
Design Tools -> Surface region
Select Boundary
Select objects: select closed polylines
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Design Tools
The Surface region command creates a polyface mesh representing the surface within the specified boundary polygon(s). If the
number of faces exceeds AutoCADs face limit for polyface
meshes the surface region is automatically partitioned into multiple polyface meshes. The internal vertices of the polyface
meshes created have the same location that grid nodes would
have. The spacing of the internal nodes is controlled by the cell
size parameters in the Configure Grid dialog box.
One polyface mesh entity is created each time the command is
executed, unless the face limit forces multiple meshes to be created. This means that selecting two non-overlapping boundary
polygons will create one polyface mesh entity consisting of two
unconnected surface patches. This is an advantage if you want to
make all the greens one object and all the sand traps a different
object in golf course design for example. If you require each
mesh patch to be a separate entity, run the Surface region command multiple times, selecting the boundaries one by one.
If only points are in the surface when the command is run, a TIN
and derivatives are automatically calculated. If break lines are
present, they are honored exactly.
The Surface region command handles the edge of the resulting
TIN with great care to prevent any triangulation artifacts such as
long slender triangles which are nearly vertical.
Extrapolate
Extsurf
Extrapolate uses local triangulation and surface gradients to
adjust the Z values of AutoCAD drawing entities which lie adjacent to, but not overlying a surface. Points, lines, polylines and
circles are the only entities modified. Extrapolate functions similar to Drape in the sense that it does not affect the plan view
shape of a chosen line or polyline, it only modifies the Z values of
the vertices. Point, line and polyline entities have their Z values
Design Tools
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changed. Extrapolate adds new densified vertices to lines or

polylines just like Drape. The Drape Step setting (in Configure
Drape dialog) controls the spacing of any newly added vertices.
Extrapolate is designed to be used to adjust the elevation of enti-
ties lying a short distance off of the edge of a surface. A few new
points may be drawn, adjusted with Extrapolate, then used to
extend a surface. A 2D polyline representing the plan view of a
geologic fault may be turned into a 3D polyline using only control points on one side of the fault. Entities adjusted with this
command serve as a starting point for surface editing. As with
any extrapolation, the result should be viewed with great suspicion and adjusted as necessary.
Design Tools -> Extrapolate
Surface <Current>: select
Select objects: select entities to be adjusted
To extrapolate based upon a local subset of points, create a new

surface with Extract to surface containing only the points desired.
See Chapter 27 (page 407) on geologic faulting for examples of
local extrapolation. A typical work flow for creating an extrapolated 3D polyline might include
Insure that the surface has
enough area to rely on surface gradients for extrapolation. Extrapolating
perpendicular to a long,
skinny surface only a few
points wide may yield
meaningless results.
Page 166
Create a new surface containing the desired subset of points.
Draw the 2D polyline to be extrapolated.
Use Extrapolate to create a 3D polyline from the 2D polyline.
Use Flatten and Vertical Align to examine and further modify

its vertical profile if needed.
Use the appropriate Extract command to add the new data to

the surface, resulting in a new modified surface.
3D polylines created in this way may be used as breaklines or

just extracted as additional data points to extend a surface.
Design Tools
Utilities
Elevation utilities
TrackZ
TRACKZ
Provides a continuous readout of the Z value of the a surface at
the cursor position. A TIN, Grid or TGRD must be present for
the surface being examined. TrackZ will not work with just
points.
Utilities -> Elevation utilities -> Track Z
The elevation (z) value of the current surface at the present position of the cursor will be displayed at the top left of the AutoCAD
drawing screen. If the cursor does not overlie the surface, a surface elevation of UNDEFINED will be reported. Track Z may be
run from plan view or an oblique view. From an oblique view, a
vertical probe will extend from the cursor crosshairs to the surface.
Track Z utilizes drape internally, so the elevation reported is
based on the surface part (TIN,TGRD, grid) used by drape. This
is specified in the Configure Drape dialog box. When sampling
the TIN, Track Z also honors the Derivative setting in the Configure Grid dialog. If Derivative is set to None, Track Z returns the
elevation based on the planar faces of the TIN, otherwise it

returns the elevation using the slope and curvature information
associated with the surface.
Track Z is a very fast tool for checking surface values when editing a surface. Track Z may also be accessed from the sidebar
menu if present.
Utilities
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Display Z of entity
DELEV
Displays the elevation of a selected drawing entity.
Utilities -> Elevation utilities -> Display Z of entity
Select object: select
This command will not

operate on 3D
POLYLINEs, since they
have multiple z values
associated with them.
Select one object via the normal AutoCAD object selection methods. The elevation (z value) associated with the object will be displayed on the command line. The elevation of each object you
select is displayed. Press return to exit.
Change Z of entity
CELEV
Alters the elevation values of a group of selected drawing entities.
Utilities -> Elevation utilities -> Change Z of Entity
Select object with desired elevation or <Enter>: select
Select as many objects as desired via the normal AutoCAD object

selection methods and press enter when done. At the next prompt,
you may select an object which has the elevation you want to set
for the other objects. If you want to enter a discrete value from
the keyboard press Enter, and you will be prompted for a value. In
either case, the elevations (z values) associated with all the
selected objects will be set to the specified value.
Change Z of entity is very useful for moving groups of 2D
polylines to their correct elevation.
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Utilities
Change Z of entity will not operate on 3D POLYLINEs such as

generated by the Drape command, since they have multiple z val-
ues associated with them. It is very useful for setting the z values
of groups of 2D polylines such as contours.
Set Z
SETZ
Sets the current elevation to that of a selected drawing entity.
Utilities -> Elevation utilities -> Set Z
The current elevation is set to the z value of the selected object.

This command is commonly used while surface editing, typically
to set the current elevation to that of a nearby point or contour.
Do not select 3D polyline or various mesh objects, because these
objects have multiple Z values.
Scale Z of entities
SCALEZ
Multiplies the Z value of selected AutoCAD entities by the user
supplied scale factor. The X and Y coordinates are not affected.
Utilities -> Elevation utilities -> Scale Z
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Select by Z
SELZ
Creates an AutoCAD selection set of entities from one layer
which lie between specified minimum and maximum elevations.
Utilities -> Elevation utilities -> Select by Z
Layer <current>: select
Minimum Z <-inf>: value or return for no minimum
Maximum Z <+inf>: value or return for no maximum
By specifying a layer and a Z range only those drawing entities

on that layer and within the Z range are selected. This selection
set may then be used with any command (such as erase, chprop,
dpost) which accepts a PREVIOUS selection set.
For example, assume layer TOPO contains a set of contours from
zero to 500 meters at a 10 meter contour interval and you want to
change the color of all contours between 250 and 350 meters to
red. The following command sequence would do this.
Select by Z
Layer <current>: TOPO
Minimum Z <-inf>: 249
Maximum Z <+inf>: 351
11 selected
CHPROP
Select objects: P (This selects the previous selection set)
11 selected
Change what property (Color/LAyer/LType/Thickness)? C
New Color <varies>: Red
Select by Z may similarly be used to selectively erase, change
layers of contours or drawn points or post only a range of values

using DPOST. This may all be accomplished without turning on
and off layers. By accepting the <-inf> and <+inf> range
defaults, Select by Z simply selects everything on a layer.
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Utilities
Quicksurf utilities
Generate terrain
TGEN
Generates a randomized terrain map for demonstration or training
purposes. The terrain type generated will be a random choice of
Flat, Rugged, Rolling or Mountainous. You will be prompted for
the number of points desired; as soon as you enter this a point set
will be generated and written into the results <.> surface.
Utilities -> Quicksurf utilities -> Generate Terrain
Large test datasets may be
built with this command.
Number of points to be generated <1000>:Select number of points

Generating [Flat, Rugged, Rolling, Mountainous] Terrain
Finished Generating Terrain
The random number generator used by this command is seeded

by the option parameter GENSEED. You may obtain a repeatable
pseudorandom sequence of points by manually setting this
parameter by typing:
QSOPT
Keyword: Genseed
Seed number for terrain generator: value
Set option by keyword

QSOPT
Allows access to set any Quicksurf variable directly. Typing
QSOPT at the command prompt will prompt you for a keyword
and a value for that keyword. The keywords are listed on the left
side of the Quicksurf configuration file (.QCF), see page 419.
Expert use only.
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Command list
QS
Typing QS at the command prompt displays a list of all Quicksurf
ADS keyboard commands on the text screen.
Utilities -> Quicksurf utilities -> Command list
Quicksurf Version
QSVER
This reports the current version number of the Quicksurf program
you are using. Maintenance releases of Quicksurf may be available on the Schreiber WWW site. Your version number is the key
to determining if a newer version is available.
Utilities -> Quicksurf utilities -> Quicksurf Version
TIN edge
TINEDGE
The Tin edge command displays the 3D polyline representing the
edge of the TIN of the current surface. Both show and draw
modes are supported.
Utilities -> Quicksurf utilities -> TIN edge
The 3D polyline representing the TIN edge is shown or drawn as

requested. This 3D polyline may be subsequently used as a break
line or a boundary.
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Utilities
3D flowlines
FLOW
Draws 3D polylines on the current surface representing flowlines.
These 3D polylines are aligned with the maximum gradient of the
current surface, representing the path a drop of water would take
if allowed to flow down the surface. From plan view, flowlines
appear to cross contours at right angles. Flowlines may be drawn
"uphill", "downhill", or both, from a user specified starting position. A flowline will continue up or down gradient from the starting point until it reaches a local high or low point, or encounters
the edge of the model.
3D Flow lines over topographic surface
The 3D flowline command is invoked by selecting

3D flowlines uses the current surface in memory.
This surface must have at
least a TIN, not just points.
Utilities -> Quicksurf utilities -> 3D flowlines

Direction: Up/Down/Both <Both>: select
Step length: enter value or pick graphically
Select objects or press enter for interactive: select
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After specifying the surface to use, choose whether the flowlines

are to be drawn down-gradient from the starting point, up-gradient, or in both directions.
The step length controls the length of each segment of the 3D
polyline. Because the flowline stops at local high or low points,
the step length also directly affects what "local" is defined as.
Selecting too short a step length will cause flowlines to stop in
every mud puddle because it is a local low. Selecting too long a
step length results in coarse, angular flowlines. For any given
surface, a few experiments with step length will rapidly converge
on an appropriate value for that surface.
The starting point(s) of the flowlines are chosen either by selecting objects or by pressing Enter to use the interactive mode. If
you select objects, their X,Y locations are used as starting points.
Selecting a polyline causes each vertex of the polyline to be used
as a starting point. In the interactive mode you will be prompted
for each starting point.
If you need to have flowlines start at equally spaced intervals
along a contour, use the AutoCAD Measure command to create a
set of equidistant points along the contour. Select those points for
flowline starting points.
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Grid pedestal
GPED
Draws a polyface mesh pedestal on the base of a grid. Generally
used as a finishing touch on a perspective view, to make the grid
appear as a solid object. This feature can also improve visualization of the surface by blocking any view of the underside.
Utilities -> Quicksurf utilities -> Grid Pedestal
Surface <current>:
Elevation for base <default>: value or enter for default
The default value offered for the base elevation will be the lowest
elevation occurring on the grid; accept this value or enter any
other value. A pedestal will be drawn if a grid exists in the current
surface; otherwise the operation will fail. The pedestal will
extend downward to the specified base elevation.
The pedestal is drawn around the edge of the grid, or the edge of
any boundary that is in effect. As long as the grid and the pedestal are both drawn with the same boundaries in effect they will
always align properly. Nested boundaries produce nested pedestals.
Moving average
MAVG
Creates a moving average of a surface. This is a simple surface
smoothing routine which generates a gridded array of points
based on the <.> surface. The resulting points may then be
extracted to generate a smoothed surface. This routine may be
used to de-sample a data set to sparser control or as an averaging
filter.
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A moving square filter matrix is overlain on each new grid cell

location and the original surface is sampled at each node of the
matrix. The resulting values are averaged and this elevation is
assigned to a new grid point drawn on the current layer. The procedure is repeated for each grid node.
Utilities -> Quicksurf utilities -> Moving Average
Matrix size: value (1,2,3,4,5,...)
Cell size: value or pick graphically
Lower left corner: pick
Upper right corner: pick
Matrix size
Number of rows and columns in the moving square array that is
sampled around each grid point to be generated. All samples are
weighted equally. A value of 1 means no averaging. Low values
are recommended (1 - 5). The computation time increases as the
square of the matrix size.
Cell size
Row and column spacing of resulting grid of points as well as the
spacing of rows and columns in the sampling matrix.
Window
Lower left corner and upper right corner for the new grid points.
This may extend beyond limits of current surface. The lower left
is exact, upper right approximate.
Once the new grid nodes have been drawn, use Extract to surface
(QSX) to extract them, then contour the results <.> surface to
view the smoothing.
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Utilities
Variogram design
VARIO
Kriging is a geostatistical method of surface estimation which utilizes the relationship between variance 2 (in Z) versus the statistical distance between data points. Kriging forces the mean error
to zero and attempts to minimize the variance of the errors.
The statistical background of kriging is deep and rich and beyond
the scope of this manual. Kriging is a powerful tool, but requires
an understanding of underlying statistics. The resulting grid and
contours from kriging are utterly dependent upon proper variogram design. A poorly designed variogram for a given data set
can produce an erroneous surface or cause the mathematics to be
unstable and fail to produce a surface at all. The variogram
design tool within Quicksurf is the Vario command, which interactively creates semi-variograms.
The relation between variance and statistical distance is
expressed as a semi-variogram, which plots semivariance ( h )
along the Y axis and distance ( h ) along the X axis.
Range
( h)
Sill
Nugget
Distance (h)
A gaussian semi-variogram
Variogram design consists of fitting a function which describes

variance versus distance for the data set being mapped. The Vario
command displays a histogram of variance versus distance based
upon the points in the current surface. The histogram is displayed
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as a line graph, rather than a bar graph, with the estimated sill line
draw horizontally. The variogram is designed graphically right
on top of the displayed graph. You are prompted for variogram
type, nugget, range and sill and the resulting variogram is displayed. The variogram design may be interactively altered as
needed. Once accepted, all subsequent grids produced by the
Krige method will use this variogram design.
Utilities -> Quicksurf utilities -> Variogram design
Surface <.>:
Number of histogram intervals <24>: value
Select variogram window first corner: pick
Select second corner: pick
Variogram type <default> : specify Linear, Exponential, Spherical, etc.
Point at y=nugget <default>: pick graphically or enter value
Point at range, sill <default>: pick graphically or enter range, sill
Select variogram point below sill <default>: pick graphically or enter point
Variogram finished? <No>: Yes to accept, No to revise variogram
Number of histogram intervals

The inter-point distances of the points in the current surface are
grouped into the number of histogram intervals specified. The
default of 24 means that the X axis will be divided into 24 histogram intervals. The lowest interval starts at a distance of zero
and the highest interval ends with the maximum inter-point distance.
Variogram window
The variogram is temporarily displayed in the window you specify. The variogram is shown, not drawn and is removed from the
display once the design is accepted. Graphically pick the two
corners of a rectangular window in which to place the variogram
display.
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Utilities
Variogram type
Quicksurf supports six types of variogram models.
Types of Variogram models
A Linear variogram does not have a range or sill, as the variance

continuously increases with increasing distance. The form is
( h ) = h , where h is distance.
A Gaussian variogram is commonly used to model extremely
continuous phenomena. The Gaussian model reaches the sill
asymtotically. The range is set at the distance where the variogram value is 95% of the sill value. This variogram has an inflection point and parabolic behavior near the origin. This can cause
it to fail in cases of closely clustered, but highly variable data.
When designing a Gaussian variogram with Vario, you will be
asked to supply an "extra" guide point between the nugget and the
range,sill point to determine the shape of the Gaussian curve.
The form is ( h ) = 1 e( 3h
a )
, where a is the range.
An Exponential variogram also reaches the sill asymtotically.

The range is set at the distance where the variogram value is 95%
of the sill value. Exponential variograms are fairly linear at short
distances. The form is
range.
(h ) = 1 e
( 3h a )
, where a is the
A Spherical variogram has linear behavior near the origin, but

flattens out as it reaches the sill at the a distance equalling the
range. The form at distances less than the range is
( h ) = 1.5 ( h a ) 0.5 ( h a )
. This is a very commonly used
variogram model.
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A Piecewise continuous variogram consists of two linear segments. The first segment is linear from the nugget to the range,
sill point, then constant at the sill value at distances greater than
the range.
A Hole variogram is used when modeling periodic data. After
supplying the nugget, you are prompted for a point representing
the period (wavelength) and the sill; rather than the range,sill.
Nugget
The nugget is the term for the Y-intercept of the variogram curve.
This value represents the allowable variance at a distance of zero
(i.e. at the data point). A zero nugget forces the surface to pass
through each data point exactly; a positive value for the nugget
allows for the surface to differ from an actual data point within
the specified variance.
Range
The range is a term for the distance beyond which the variance
does not change significantly. The range represents a distance
beyond which point elevations have little or no influence on the
surface Z value being estimated. If the inter-point spacing is
larger than the range, the resulting surface surrounding each point
will have the shape of the inverted variogram.
Sill
At distances beyond the range, the variance clusters about the
mean variance of the entire data set. This mean variance value is
referred to as the sill, due to the variogram curve flattening out at
this value.
Accepting the variogram design sets the Nugget, Range, Sill and
Variogram type in the Configure Grid dialog box. These values
are carried in Quicksurfs configuration file if you save one.
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Utilities
See the Kriging chapter

(page 395) for example
usage.
Once you accept a variogram, it is used for any subsequent grid

creation using the Krige method. Remember that if you already
have a grid present in surface memory, you must recreate it using
the surface operation Cell size, Cell count commands, or clear the
grid using the surface operations Clear parts button. If you fail to
cause the grid to be recalculated, the Grid or Contour commands
will simply display based upon the pre-existing grid in surface
memory.
This version of Quicksurf supports isotropic kriging. The underlying assumption is that the data structure is isotropic and that
variograms utilizing the direction as well as distance between
points would be the same.
There is considerable literature on kriging. Two good introductory references on kriging are
J. Davis. Statistics and Data Analysis in Geology. John Wiley
and Sons, New York, NY. 2nd Edition, 1986.
E. Isaaks and R. Srivastava. An Introduction to Applied Geostatistics. Oxford University Press, New York, NY. 1989.
Voronoi diagram
VOR
Displays the Voronoi triangles for the TIN of the current surface.
The Voronoi triangle vertices represent the circumcenters of the
vertices of each triangle of the TIN. A circumcenter is the center
of a circle which passes through all three vertices of a TIN triangle. To understand this, show a TIN, then run this command and
show the Voronoi triangles on top of the TIN.
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Polyline utilities
Swap ends
SWAPPOLY
Reverses the order of vertices in a line, 2D or 3D polyline. This
is useful to correct entities drawn right to left when the reverse
was needed. 3D polylines used with the Flatten, Cross-section
and Apply section commands are examples where the left-right
sense of a polyline is important.
3D polyline offset
3DOFFSET
Creates a new 3D polyline in which is offset a specified horizontal and vertical distance from an original 3D polyline. You are
prompted to select a 3D polyline and supply a horizontal and vertical offset and whether to offset it to the right or left side. Right
and left are defined as if you are standing on the first vertex looking at the second vertex of the original 3D polyline. A new 3D
polyline is created by offsetting each vertex of the original
polyline normal to the plan view of original polyline by the horizontal and vertical distances specified. No checking for self
intersection or "bow-tie" geometry is done.
Create boundary
CBND
Creates a closed polyline out of a set of lines or polylines which
share exact endpoints. For example, four lines forming a square
could be selected and a square polyline would be drawn. Such
polylines could then be used with the Set Boundary command.
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Utilities
Make 2D poly
MK2DPOLY
Converts a 3D polyline into a 2D polyline at the elevation you
specify. The resulting 2D polyline will have the same number
and X, Y location of vertices, but all the vertices will be at the
specified elevation.
Merge 3D polyline
3PEDIT
Joins two or more 3D polylines which share exact endpoints into
a single new 3D polyline. The original 3D polylines are erased.
Densify vertices
DENSIFY
Densifies vertices of 2D and 3D polylines based upon a user
specified step size. New vertices are added to the existing
polyline vertices.
Export 3D polyline
XSEIS
Exports a comma delimited ASCII file representing vertices of
selected 3D polylines. The line number, vertex number, text label
and each vertex (X,Y,Z) is placed in a text file suitable for loading
into spreadsheets or database manager. It is a general purpose
routine, although it was originally written to export 3D polylines
representing seismic lines.
Utilities -> Polyline utilities -> Export 3D polyline
File name: filename to write
Line number or return to exit: specify line number as a prefix
Starting vertex no.: value for first vertex
Increment: value for vertex number increment
Alpha label: alphanumeric label for line
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A comma-delimited file similar to this is produced:

1, 1, Line one, 4.23, 6.87, 250.02
1, 2, Line one, 5.26, 7.83, 244.12
1, 3, Line one, 6.32, 8.49, 238.75
...
being Line number, Incremented vertex number, Label, X, Y, Z.
Every vertex of the polyline is output. The increment is for cases
where each polyline vertex may represent every Nth measurement, such as 100, 105, 110, 115,etc.
Polyface utilities
Weld 3D faces
WELD
Creates a polyface mesh from selected group of 3D faces. Not
recommended for use with greater than 5000 faces.
Surface area
SAREA
Calculates the surface area of drawn 3D face entities. A polyface
mesh must be exploded into 3D faces prior to running SAREA.
Offset 3D mesh
LINER
Creates a polyface mesh offset normal to the surface of an existing polyface mesh. Each vertex of the new mesh is moved a user
specified distance normal from the original polyface mesh. The
primary usage is for designing pit liners for ponds and landfills.
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Utilities
General utilities
Erase selected
ESEL
Erases entities of the same type and on the same layer as the
selected entities. For example, selecting a TEXT object on the
layer NAMES will erase all TEXT entities on layer NAMES. Text on
other layers, and other drawing entities (such as lines or points)
on layer NAMES will be unaffected. The unique combination of
layer and entity type determines what is erased. Multiple objects
may be selected.
Set layer
SETL
Sets the current drawing layer in AutoCAD and turns all other
layers off. This has exactly the same effect as issuing the
AutoCAD LAYER command, selecting Set, naming a layer and
then turning all other layers OFF.
Rubber sheeting
MAP
This command allows you to arbitrarily stretch a map so that it
can be overlaid over another map of the same area, when the two
maps dont match because of different scales or projections,
printing processes, paper shrinkage, etc.
The MAP command applies a bivariate polynomial transformation to all defined points of the selected objects to achieve the
mapping. INSERTs, CIRCLEs, ARCs, SHAPEs, TEXT, etc. will
be moved as necessary, but they will retain their size, shape, and
rotation. Points, lines, 2D and 3D polylines will be rubber sheeted
correctly.
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A roughly rectangular matrix of points is established on the original ("From") drawing and a corresponding set of point locations
for the resulting ("To") map is given. The set of From points
will be mapped onto a set of To points, and the remaining area
of the map will be stretched, warped, folded, or whatever is
required to obtain a continuous fit.
The selection of the two sets of points is very critical for good
results.
First, the overall size of the From map should be close to the
size of the To map. If it is not, use the AutoCAD SCALE command to adjust its size before rubber sheeting.
Second, the set of From points must be a generally rectangular
horizontal grid, with all rows containing the same number of
points. Some deviation from a perfect grid is all right, but excessive irregularity may yield very unsatisfactory results. If necessary, use the AutoCAD ROTATE command before using MAP to
make the From grid approximately horizontal. All points in the
From set must be distinct.
The only constraint on the To grid is that it has to contain the
same number of points as the From grid, since every From
point has to be mapped into a To point.
Rubber sheeting
Rows <2>: value
Columns <2>: value
From point 0,0: enter X,Y value or pick graphically
...
To point 0,0: enter X,Y value or pick graphically
...
...
Wait...
Z scale factor <1>: value
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Utilities

The selected objects will be transformed to the new geometry.

Only the x and y coordinates are involved in the mapping; the z
coordinates are only scaled by the selected Z scale factor.
If zero rows are specified, MAP only performs the scaling of z
coordinates. If only one row and one column are specified, MAP
effectively does just a 2D MOVE.
While there is no limit on the number of rows or columns, large
numbers may cause numerical instability, and will take longer to
process.
The process of entering the From and To points is very error
prone, and requires that the command be restarted from the
beginning in case of any error.
Tilt
TILT
Rotates a drawing entity or group of entities into plan view to as
if viewed from a perspective viewpoint. The Tilt command must
be executed from a perspective viewpoint.
Tilt
Select the objects to be processed with the normal AutoCAD

selection methods. When the Tilt command is complete, the drawing will be in plan view just as if the AutoCAD PLAN command
had been executed. The objects which were selected for the Tilt
command will still appear just as they did in the perspective view,
but everything else will be seen in plan.
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The primary purpose of this command is to allow both a plan

view of contours and an oblique view of a grid to be presented in
the same drawing. It is also useful with the Unwrap and Wrap
commands, to obtain the most desirable orientation for transformations of spheroidal surfaces.
Untilt
UNTILT
Undoes a previous Tilt operation.
Untilt
Select objects to be processed via the normal AutoCAD object

selection methods. The effect of the previous Tilt operation on
these objects will be reversed, restoring their previous orientation. It does more than an AutoCAD UNDO operation, because
you can select which objects will be untilted.
Wrap to sphere
WRAP
Transforms planes into spheres.
Wrap to sphere
Center <0,0,0>: select center of plane
Select the origin of the wrapping plane and the objects to be

wrapped via the normal AutoCAD point and object selection
methods.
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Utilities
This command does the inverse of the Unwrap to plane command. The selected objects are effectively transformed from an
orthogonal into a spherical coordinate system.
The positive z displacement of objects from the center in the
orthogonal domain becomes the radius in the spherical domain.
X displacement from the center divided by the radius becomes
longitude (in radians), and the y displacement divided by the
radius becomes latitude. Transformations of x displacements
greater than pi times radius, or y displacements greater than pi/2
times radius, or negative z displacements produce interesting but
meaningless results.
As a rule Wrap will restore anything that was done with the
Unwrap command. The exception is that 2D polylines are
changed to 3D polylines by both commands. Since contours generated by Quicksurf are 2D polylines, they are always affected.
Unwrap to plane
UNWRAP
The Unwrap command transforms spheres into planes.
Unwrap to plane
Center <0,0,0>: select center of sphere
Select the center of the sphere, then the objects to be unwrapped,

via the normal AutoCAD point and object selection methods.
The selected objects are effectively transformed from a spherical
into an orthogonal coordinate system.
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In the spherical domain, the north pole is in the positive y direction from the center; points in the positive z direction are at latitude and longitude of zero, as if one were looking at the center of
a globe through the point where the Equator and the Greenwich
meridian intersect.
When the objects are unwrapped, radius becomes the z offset
from the center, longitude (in radians) times radius becomes the x
offset, and latitude times radius becomes the y offset. In cartography, this is an equidistant cylindrical projection with the principal
parallel at the equator.
Note that the unwrapping process creates a discontinuity at longitude (180 degrees) and at the poles.
The primary purpose of this command is to allow modeling of
generally spheroid objects, such as human heads, mountains with
steep sides, molded objects, planets, etc. For best results, the
objects should be rotated (using TILT) so that the area of primary
interest is at the center of the plan view.
Generally, the sequence Unwrap - Wrap restores positions of all
points correctly, while the inverse is not necessarily true.
Unwrap may be used to unwrap control points. The selection of
the center is very critical here, and it must be retained for use in
any subsequent Wrap operation.
Scale symbols
SCALESYM
Scales selected INSERTs about their centers. Commonly used to
resize blocks representing well or survey locations.
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Load ASCII text

LTEXT
Performs a quick and dirty load of an ASCII text file into the
drawing as AutoCAD text. The text is inserted on the current
layer, in the current text style. The entire file is inserted as if it
were following the previous text command. The location of the
text is on the next line following any previous text. Place a
dummy text line with the TEXT command at the desired location,
then run the LTEXT command.
Sequentially number
NUMBER
Sequentially numbers a set of selected objects. The objects are
numbered in order of their insertion into the drawing. The numbering starts at zero and is placed on the current layer in the current text style and height.
Number triangles
NUMBER
Sequentially numbers a the triangles of a drawn TIN. The numbering starts at one and is placed on the current layer in the current text style and height.
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Rarefy points
RAREFY
Rarefy points operates on a point set which is drawn into the
drawing and rarefies the point set based upon inter-point slope
and distance. Unwanted points are moved to a different layer.
Rarefy points
Critical distance: distance
Maximum slope <0>: specify slope (as a fraction: 1.0 = 45 degrees)
Select objects: select points
Control points that are extremely close to one another are not necessary to define a surface, and they may cause severe problems to
Quicksurf if there is even a slight error in their coordinates. The
Rarefy points routine moves unwanted points from their current
layers to the layer TOOCLOSE, so that they can be excluded from
extraction by freezing or turning off that layer.
Points are considered unwanted if
1. They are within the user specified critical distance, and
2. The slope between them is greater than or equal to the specified slope.
Only POINT entities are considered, if they are not already on the
layer TOOCLOSE. Other entities are ignored.
If only the 2D distance between points is to be considered, the
slope should be set to zero (default). This is normally the preferred method. If specified, the slope is interpreted as the absolute difference in elevation divided by the 2D distance.
The layer TOOCLOSE may be created a priori, and frozen or
turned off, so that unwanted points disappear as Rarefy points
identifies them. If the layer doesnt exist, Rarefy points will create it, and set its color to blue, but leave it visible. In any cluster
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Utilities
of points that are too close to one another, the point with the lowest Y coordinate will be retained, and others will be moved to
TOOCLOSE.
If a large number of points is selected, Rarefy points may run a
long time, because of the large number of comparisons it must
make between points. It would be more efficient to run Rarefy
points only on small areas that contain, or are suspected of containing, unwanted points.
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Page 194
Quicksurf

Most aspects of Quicksurf may be configured to suit your specific
application. This chapter describes all of the commands on the
Configuration sub-menu of the Quicksurf menu. The configuration of all Quicksurf option settings may be saved to a named disk
file and read back at any time. You may keep as may different
configuration files as you wish. Using configuration files will
speed your work by avoiding having to re-establish options settings.
Configuration files
Quicksurf configuration files are ASCII text files with the extension .QCF. Configuration files are read automatically when
Quicksurf is loaded or you open a drawing. When you open a
drawing with Quicksurf loaded, configuration files will be
searched for in the following order:
1. <drawingname>.QCF
2. QS.QCF
If a configuration file with the same name as the drawing exists it
is loaded; if not, QS.QCF is loaded if found; if neither is found,
Quicksurf uses its internal default settings. The entire path
described by the ACAD path variable is searched.
Saving a configuration file with the same name as the current
drawing will cause the configuration to be automatically reloaded
the next time the drawing is opened. The entire Quicksurf environment will be restored automatically.
You may create a standard custom configuration by saving your
desired settings to QS.QCF in the directory in which Quicksurf is
installed. After doing so, any drawing without a custom configuration file will use the settings in the QS.QCF file.
Configuration files
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List Configuration
Lists the current Quicksurf option settings to the AutoCAD text
screen. The display format is as follows:
;
; File: /qs51/qs.qcf
; Quicksurf 5.1 Options
;
;Keyword =
Value(s)
; Description
;--------------------------------------------------------curname =
surfsort =
window =
acute =
cellsize =
cellcnt =
...
Yes
Max
0.0000
Auto
Auto
; Current surface name

; Use sort in surface list
; Current working window
; Triangulation constraint
; Cell Size
; Grid Count
Approximately 130 entries will be listed. The configuration file

is an ASCII text file with the extension .QCF. A full listing of the
settings in the default configuration file QS.QCF will be found in
Chapter 29 on configuration files.
Although parameters are normally set using the dialog boxes, any
keyword which appears in the left side of the .QCF file may be
set manually using the QSOPT keyboard command.
Command: QSOPT
Keyword: enter keyword
After supplying a keyword, such as cellsize, you will be

prompted for a value, along with a brief description of the meaning of the option. Enter the value as requested. The new setting
will be in effect for the rest of the drawing session unless
changed.
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Configuration files
Read Configuration
Read Configuration
Read options from file <drawingname>: enter filename (no extension)
Reading options from file <drawingname.qcf>
Reads option settings from a previously saved configuration file,

and makes them active for the current surface and drawing. Enter
a file name without the .QCF extension or press enter to accept the
default of <drawingname.qcf>. When a drawing is loaded with
the AutoCAD Open command, the system will automatically
attempt to load options from the default file. If <drawingname.qcf> is not present Quicksurf will look for a QS.QCF file in
along the ACAD search path. If that is not found, Quicksurf will
use its internal defaults.
Save Configuration
Save Configuration
Save options to file <drawingname>: enter filename (no extension)
Saving options to file <drawingname.qcf>
Saves current configuration settings to a named file. Enter a file

name without an extension (.qcf will be appended automatically),
or press enter to accept the default of <drawingname.qcf>.
Factory Configuration
Factory Configuration
Resets Quicksurf to its internal defaults.
Version Info
QSVER
Echoes the version number of this Quicksurf program.
Configuration files
Page 197
Configure Grid
The Configure Grid dialogue box allows you to set grid cell
parameters such as cell size. Widely varying grids can result
from various settings of these parameters. Take care when setting
them as they will remain in force until they are reset or a new
configuration file is loaded.
Configure Grid dialog
Cell Size
Controls the X and Y dimensions of an individual grid cell.
Specify the horizontal and vertical cell size (in drawing units) by
entering values in the edit boxes. Selecting the Auto checkbox
sets the cell size to 0.0 which causes automatic cell size computation based on the Cell Count setting described below. Non-square
grid cells may adversely affect contouring.
Cell size is used for both grid and TGRD node spacing.
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Configure Grid
The cell size option should be used with care, as specifying small
cells over a large area causes very large grids to be built. The Cell
Size option overrides the maximum number of cells specified in
the Number of Cells box. Surface operations Cell Size sets this
variable also.
Cell Count
Allows you to specify an exact number of grid cells in the X and
Y directions. Select the horizontal and vertical cell count by
entering a value in the edit boxes. Selecting the Auto checkbox
sets the cell count to 0.0 which causes automatic cell size computation based on the Cell Factor setting described below. Nonsquare grid cells may adversely affect contouring.
The cell count is overridden by the maximum number of cells
allowed as set in the Number of Cells box, meaning if the cell
count specified would generate more or less grid cells than the
number allowed, the number of grid cells is adjusted up or down
until the number of cells falls within the allowed range.
Number of cells
Sets limits on the minimum and maximum number of cells that
will be generated in a grid when no grid cell size is specified.
Overrides any source of grid cell number selection except the Cell
Size option above.
Cell Factor
Controls the number of grid cells created whenever automatic setting is selected for both Cell Size and Cell Count. Sets the number of cells to the supplied value times the number of points in the
current surface, then adjusts this figure up or down to keep it
within the Minimum and Maximum number of cells you specified.
Configure Grid
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Undefined Grid Value

Z value for undefined grid nodes on a 3D polygon mesh. When
you perform a Grid / Draw, some mesh nodes around the rectangular edges of the mesh may not have a defined elevation in the
grid. These undefined mesh nodes will drop to this elevation
forming a pedestal effect in the drawn grid. Positive and negative
values are accepted.
Grid Registration
Grid registration forces grid cells for different surfaces to be registered (i.e. coincident in X and Y) with other grids created with
the same cell size. If you think of grid cell size as representing
the wavelength of the grid, grid registration would control the
phase of the grid. Only grids created with grid registration
enabled are registered. If you need to have registered grids for
surfaces with pre-existing (but dissimilar) grids, clear the grids
and recreate them with grid registration enabled.
Grid registration is enabled or disabled by toggling the Enable
checkbox. The X and Y values for the registration origin are
specified in the edit boxes. Grid cells will be located based on the
grid cell size and the registration origin.
X i = X 0 + ( n CellSize )
Y i = Y 0 + ( n CellSize )
where ( X0, Y0 )
is the grid registration origin and n is a positive
integer.
Page 200
Configure Grid
Grid Method
Three methods are available for deriving the grid. The Standard
method uses continuous curvature with Delauney triangulation
and is suggested for terrain modeling. The Trend method fits a
polynomial trend surface to the data for a generalized approximation of a surface. The Krige is a geostatistical method which
requires designing a semi-variogram prior to use.
Standard method
The standard method of gridding triangulates the points, calculates slope information (1st and 2nd derivatives) at each point
based upon its local neighborhood, the derivative setting and the
weighting factor. The Z values of each triangular face of the TIN
and its associated slope and curvature is then solved for at a uniform X, Y spacing to produce a grid. The mathematical surface
honors all control points for all selections, but a grid is only a
sample of this surface. Too large a grid cell size can produces a
poor representation on the surface.
When you select the standard method of gridding in the dialog
box the related choices beneath the Standard button are available
for modification.
Derivatives
Selecting None produces a grid fitted to the planar faces of the
TIN.
Selecting 1st provides a grid with continuous slope (continuous
first derivatives). First derivatives are calculated for each vertex
of the TIN and then used to derive the grid.
Selecting 2nd provides a grid with continuous slope and curvature (continuous first and second derivatives) of which the theoretical surface honors all control points.
Configure Grid
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Selecting 2nd is good for uniformly sampled rolling terrain, but

can produce over-shoots with very irregularly sampled data or
exponential data, such as concentration data. If an overshoot
problem exists in the resulting grid, clear the grid, enable the
Honor Local Extrema option and recreate the grid. If the problem persists, either add phantom data points to shape the surface
or select the None setting for derivatives and recreate the grid.
The derivative setting affects the following commands:
Grid
Contour (if contouring on the grid)
Drape
Cross-section
Surface region
Track Z
Surface operations
Blend Order
Blend order controls how the polynomials representing adjacent
triangles are blended into one another. Generally blend order
should be set to the same as the Derivatives setting (1 or 2). If
derivatives are set to zero, blend order has no effect.
Weighting
The influence of neighboring control points when calculating
slopes is weighted based on the inverse square law by default.
The degree to which control points influence slope calculation of
each other is normally proportional to the inverse square of the
distance between them, thus the default weight is 2. Increasing
this value decreases the influence of more distant points. Specifying 0 results in equal influence between all points. Only nonnegative integers should be used.
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Configure Grid
Honor local extrema

The z values of the grid may overshoot the values at the control
points because of steep slopes caused by control points with large
variations in elevation in short horizontal distances. This effect
may be greatly reduced by enabling the Honor local extrema
check box. This option forces the surface to be horizontal (first
derivatives to equal zero) at local lows and highs, thus reducing
or eliminating overshoots.
Trend method of gridding

When you select the trend method of gridding in the dialog box
the related choices beneath the Trend button are available for
modification.
Trend Options
This option builds a surface model based on a polynomial which

is a least-squares fit to the points of the current surface. While
there is no specific limit on the order of trend surfaces, very high
orders may cause instability in calculations, and produce wildly
varying surfaces or fail to produce any results at all. The limit
depends on the number and distribution of control points, and the
Configure Grid
Page 203
nature of the surface. The practical limits are about trend order
20 (Type 1) or trend order of 14 (Type 2) in the horizontal and
vertical. First through fourth order trend surfaces fit most needs.
Trend type 1 and 2 are examined separately below.
Trend Type
Trend Type 1 requires only the trend order to be specified. The
same trend order is applied to both the X and Y axes. Trend Type
2 requires the trend order in the X and Y axes to be separately
specified.
Trend order
The trend order specifies the highest cumulative order of the
polynomial. For example, trend order 3 calculates 10 coefficients
for trend type 1:
2
a 00 + a 10 x + a 01 y + a 20 x + a 11 xy + a 02 y + a 30 x + a 21 x y + a 12 xy + a 03 y
The number of coefficients for a type 1 trend is

( ( m + 1 ) ( m + 2 ) ) 2 , where m is the specified trend order. The
number of coefficients must always be less than or equal to the
number of points.
For example, horizontal trend order of 3 and vertical order 2 calculates 12 coefficients for trend type 2:
2
a 00 + a 10 x + a 20 x + a 30 x + a 01 y + a 11 xy + a 21 x y + a 31 x y
2
2 2
3 2
+ a 02 y + a 12 xy + a 22 x y + a 32 x y
The number of coefficients for a trend type 2 when both m and n

are given is ( m + 1 ) ( n + 1 ) . where m is the horizontal order and n
is the vertical order. The number of coefficients must always be
less than or equal to the number of points.
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Configure Grid
Krige method of gridding

Kriging is a statistical method of surface modeling which is
widely used in ore-grade estimation and mapping of concentration data sets. The theory of kriging is complex and beyond the
scope of this manual. To use this technique you must first specify
the semi-variogram which describes the covariance of the Z value
of the data points versus distance between them. Variogram
design may be accomplished through the Variogram design command. The variogram design will completely control the resulting
surface. Poorly designed variograms can result in meaningless
surfaces or in mathematically unstable surface models.
Kriging configuration
The parameters which describe the variogram are set within this
dialog box. The Variogram type, Nugget, Range and Sill are set
by the Variogram design command, found in the Quicksurf utilities menu. These variables are fully described in the Variogram
design command description on page 177.
Quicksurfs kriging algorithm uses a neighborhood defined by a
set of rings of neighbors (determined by the TIN) to estimate a
function to apply during surface generation at a point. Higher
numbers of rings result in better surfaces at the expense of comConfigure Grid
Page 205
putation time. Four rings are recommended as a starting point.

Too small a neighborhood combined with too small a range will
result in surface discontinuities. Beware: Computation time
increases as the cube of the number of rings, so use only enough
to produce an acceptable surface.
Kriging is slow, almost always slower than any other method of
surface modeling because of the very large number of equation
solutions required to generate a surface.
The advantages of using kriging for surface modeling are:
The surface created always honors the data points within nugget tolerance.
The user controls the range or estimation neighborhood.
The equation used to determine the surface is created and

controlled completely by the user.
Better results are obtained on smaller data sets. If the data set
is very limited the user has better control over the surface
shape with kriging and should get better results.
The disadvantages of using kriging for surface modeling are:
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Kriging is slow due to the large amount of calculation.
Kriging is more complex and requires a high level of technical understanding on the users part.
The larger the range or estimation neighborhood, the slower

the process.
Surface generation may fail. Certain variogram designs combined with data sets following certain patterns may be unstable and will not yield solutions.
Configure Grid
Configure Contour
The basis for contours (TIN, Grid or TGRD), contour interval,
and levels of automatic contouring are controlled by the Configure contours dialog.
Configure Contour dialog
Surface for contouring

The surface for contouring selection indicates whether you want
the contours generated on the TIN, Grid or TGRD. An Auto setting is provided which contours on the grid, unless breaks are
present, whereupon it contours on the triangulated grid (TGRD).
Contouring on the TIN builds contours based upon the planar
faces of the TIN. Contour lines will be straight lines within any
one triangular face of the TIN.
Contouring on the Grid builds contours based upon linear interpolation within each grid cell. Contour lines will be straight lines
within any one grid cell. The coarseness or fineness of contours
is a function of grid cell size.
Contouring on the TGRD builds contours based upon the planar
faces of the triangulated grid. Contour lines will be straight lines
within any one triangular face of the TGRD. The coarseness or
fineness of contours is a function of grid cell size used when creating the TGRD.
Configure Contour
Page 207
Contour interval
The contour interval is the elevation difference between adjacent
contours. You may specify a discrete contour interval, the number of contour interval levels, or choose the automatic setting.
Auto
The Auto check box toggles automatic contour interval calculation. When Auto is selected, the Interval edit box is grayed-out
and the Z range of the surface is divided by the number of levels
specified below and rounded to an appropriate contour interval.
Interval
Enter the desired contour interval in the edit box. It is possible to
set a contour interval which is radically too large or too small. If
you do not know the range of your data, choose the Auto check
box for the interval and show the contours. Once you determine
an appropriate interval, set it in the Interval edit box.
The contour interval may also be set directly from the Quicksurf
pull-down menu (Contour Interval) or from the right sidebar
menu, if present.
Levels
The number of levels is used for automatic contour interval determination. When the Auto button is selected, the Levels edit box
becomes available. The Z range of the surface is divided by the
number of levels to determine a rough contour interval, then
rounded to an appropriate contour interval.
Range
The range option allows you to only display contours within a
specified Z range. This affects both show and draw modes.
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Configure Contour
Enable range
The enable range check box toggles whether a Z range is used
when displaying contours. When Enable range is checked, only
those contours within the specified range are displayed. When
Enable range is not checked, all contours are displayed.
Min
All contours greater than or equal to the value in the Min edit box
and less than or equal to the value in the Max edit box are displayed.
Max
All contours greater than or equal to the value in the Min edit box
and less than or equal to the value in the Max edit box are displayed.
Elevation list file

You may enter a file name of an ASCII file containing specific Z
values, one per line. If a filename is specified, only contours with
those Z values within the file are generated. For example, consider an elevation file containing the following:
Logarithmic contours
using an elevation file.
.01
.10
1
10
100
1000
Using this elevation file would cause only the six logarithmic
contours specified to be drawn.
Configure Contour
Page 209
You may use elevation files to control both the Z value and color
of contours generated. If the first line of the elevation file has the
word Color, followed by a list of (Z value, color number) pairs,
then for each Z listed, its contour will be drawn in the corresponding color.
Example color elevation list file:
color
10,1
20,2
30,3
40,4
An elevation file like this would result in the 10 contour being
drawn in AutoCAD color # 1 (red), the 20 contour in color # 2
(yellow), the 30 contour in green, and the 40 contour in cyan.
Using color elevation files, you may totally customize you contouring colors and which contours you wish to display with no
alterations to the surface itself.
Configure Contour messages

The message on the bottom of the dialogue box may be one of the
following:
Contouring from file elevations
Used when a valid elevation list file is entered.
File not found
This occurs when an elevation list file is not found.
Contouring from calculated interval
Most common when you have entered a number of levels or an
exact contour interval
Page 210
Configure Contour
Configure Drape
The Drape command projects an entity vertically onto a surface
(TIN, Grid or TGRD) in memory so that the entity registers at the
local Z elevation of that surface. Drape either modifies the z
coordinates of selected objects (points, text, blocks), or converts
them to 3D polylines (lines, 2D polylines) which follow the shape
of the surface as closely as possible, with a given step size.
Configure Drape dialog
Surface for draping

Select the Planar TIN, TIN with Derivatives, Grid or TGRD as
the basis for draping. This controls both the surface element
objects are draped upon, as well as the surface used by the
Track Z command for reporting elevation. Note that if a Drape
operation is attempted when the selected surface element is not
present in the surface model, nothing will happen.
Planar TIN
Drapes to the planar triangle faces of the TIN. For linear segments of polylines and lines, vertices are only added where the
draped object crosses a triangle edge. This is the same as draping
on the TIN with derivatives are set to None in Configure Grid.
Configure Drape
Page 211
TIN with Derivatives

Uses the Derivatives
setting in Configure
Grid
Drapes to the mathematical surface represented by the TIN and

derivatives. This surface honors all break lines, but also uses curvature if the derivatives setting in Configure Grid is set to use 1st
or 2nd derivatives. Draped entities such as lines or polylines will
have vertices added based upon the Drape Step setting if derivatives are used. If derivatives are set to None in Configure Grid,
then vertices are only added where a draped object crosses a triangle edge. A vertex will always be added where a draped entity
crosses a break line.
Grid
Drapes to the surface represented by the Grid. Whether a linear
or cubic fit is computed for each grid cell is determined by the
setting of Drape order described below. If a surface contains
break lines you should not be draping to the grid.
TGRD
Drapes to the surface represented by the planar faces of the triangulated grid.
Drape order
When draping to a grid, you may select the nature of the grid cell
surface fit. Drape order selects between a linear and cubic fit to
the grid cells. Selecting 1st order fits a planar surface to the cell
and drapes the entities to it. Selecting 3rd order uses the four
points of the cell plus the derivative information to derive a cubic
fit describing the cell and drapes to that.
Drape step
The drape step is the length of the segments that the entity will be
broken into prior to draping. Drape step applies to lines,
polylines, 3D polylines, circles or arcs. Other entities are draped
simply by changing the z values of their insertion points.
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Configure Drape
Additional vertices will always be added where an entity crosses

a break line. If you are draping to the Planar TIN (or with Derivatives set to None), drape step will be ignored and vertices will
only be added where the draped entity crosses a triangle edge.
If you choose Auto check box, the step size will be computed as
the average of half the width and height of a grid cell. This computation is based on the grid cell size setting regardless of
whether you are using a TIN, Grid or TGRD to drape onto.
Selecting a very small step size will add many vertices, resulting
in a much larger drawing file size.
Configure Breaks
Extract Breaks (QSBX) involves segmentation of straight line
segments and approximations of curves for accurate modeling.
Configure Breaks dialog
Quicksurf uses an adaptive densification algorithm to densify

breaklines only as much as necessary to insure the resulting TIN
honor break lines within the given tolerance. This results in the
smallest point set possible which still completely describes the
surface.
Tolerance
During auto densification, a tolerance is used to control the break
line segment length below which segments need not be subdivided further. The tolerance is specified in drawing units. This
prevents excess computation which is far beyond the accuracy of
the model.
Configure Breaks
Page 213
Break line curve error

The maximum curve error allowed by Break Extract while segmenting an arc segment. The curve error e is the maximum distance between an arc segment and its chord.
e
Break line curve error
The Auto settings work well for most conventional applications.

If you are dealing with large radius arcs, you may need to set a
discrete curve error value, rather than relying upon the automatic
selections.
Configure Extract
Configure Extract dialog box allows you to filter which entities
you extract; densify lines and polylines during extraction; determine whether spline or frame points are extracted from polylines
which have been smoothed; and limit the maximum number of
points extracted.
Configure Extract dialog
Page 214
Configure Extract
Densify during extract

Entities such as lines, 2D polylines and 3D polylines may be densified during extraction. Selecting Densify during extract uses
the Densify step size to incrementally step down the entity and
create new surface points in addition to the entitys vertices. This
is especially useful when additional points may be needed to adequately describe the surface.
For example, when creating a new topographic surface by
extracting digitized contours, it is common to encounter "flat
spots" in some of the drainages in the resulting surface model.
These result from not enough control points defining the bottom
of the drainage. These may be eliminated by setting OSNAP to
ENDPOINT and snapping a 3D polyline down the drainage from
one contour to the next. By extracting the newly drawn 3D
polyline with Merge Extract with Densify during extract
enabled, additional points defining the bottom of the drainage
will be added to the surface model. The surface model will now
accurately reflect the topography.
Densify step size

If Densify during extract is enabled the Densify step size is used
as the increment to step down the entity being densified. In general, you should specify a step length for densification, rather
than relying on the Auto setting. The Auto setting chooses a step
size based upon the extents of the model, which may not be
appropriate for many cases.
Filter by Entity
Enabling Filter by Entity will invoke the entity filter dialog box
each time an extract command is used. This dialog will enable
you to filter the selected objects by entity type prior to extracting
them.
Configure Extract
Page 215
Entity filter dialog box

The Entity Filter dialog lists all of the entity types available and
lets you highlight, then select or delete entity types from the list.
Entity filter dialog before and after selection
Only those entity types remaining on the resulting list will be

extracted. A Select button includes entities, a Delete button
excludes entities and a Reset button restore the original complete
entity list. Press OK when finished.
Filter by Layer
Enabling Filter by Layer allows you to extract only entities on
the layer specified in the Layer edit box. This filter may be used
together with the other filters. To selectively extract entities from
more than one layer, you may repeatedly use Merge Extract and
Filter by Layer, specifying different layers each time.
Layer edit box
Enter the layer name to be used with Filter by Layer.
Page 216
Configure Extract
Filter by Z
Enabling Filter by Z allows you to extract only points and vertices with Z values in the range specified in the Minimum Z and
Maximum Z edit boxes. Points and vertices with Z values greater
than or equal to the minimum Z and less than or equal to the maximum Z will be extracted.
Extract only frame points

Select the check box to extract splined polylines at their frame
points only, or leave it blank to extract all vertices.
Maximum number of points

Set the maximum number of points allowed to be extracted to the
<.> surface. The default is 2,000,000 points.
Extract and User Coordinate Systems

If you want to perform an extraction in a user coordinate system
(UCS) which differs from the world coordinate system (WCS),
you must manually set the keyword Coorsys to No.
Command: QSOPT
Keyword: COORSYS
Use world coordinates <Y>: No
Now rotate the drawing into the UCS and extract the data using
the Extract to surface (QSX) or Extract Breaks (QSBX) or Merge
extract (QSMX) commands. The data will be extracted in the user
coordinates. Dont forget to change back to world coordinates
when finished.
Chapter 17 has more information on extracting and using User
Coordinate Systems with Quicksurf, see page 327.
Configure Extract
Page 217
Configure Boundary
The Configure Boundary dialog controls the criteria for determining when a TIN, TGRD or Grid face is within a boundary.
Configure Boundary
Boundary method
When a grid or TIN is built with a boundary in effect a grid cell or
triangle face may overlap the boundary. You may configure
which of the following three methods to use for honoring boundaries.
Center
If the center of the face is within the boundary, draw the face.
Any point
If any vertex of the face is within the boundary, draw the face.
All points
If all of the vertices of the face is within the boundary, draw the
face.
There are examples of these settings in Chapter 9: Boundaries.
Boundary tolerance prompt

The boundary tolerance controls how close to a boundary is considered sufficient. The boundary tolerance is computed automatically and is generally quite small. Enabling the boundary
tolerance prompt causes an additional prompt to be displayed
Page 218
Configure Boundary
which reflects the automatically computed tolerance and allows

you to change it if desired. The prompt will appear every time
you specify a new boundary.
Configure Units
Different disciplines use different unit conventions for slopes,
areas and volumes. Quicksurf allows you to specify how to display measurement of slopes, areas and volumes.
Configure Units dialog
Slope units
Slopes may be specified in degrees, ratio, or in percent. Ratio
slope refers to horizontal to vertical ratio (such as 2:1). Percent
slope may either be specified as percent slope where 100% slope
equals 100 or in decimal percent where a 100% slope equals 1.0.
Area units
Areas by default are returned in square drawing units. You may
supply a units conversion factor in the Multiplier box and a text
label in the Label box. This will result in all areas being multiplied by the Multiplier and being followed by the area label, such
as 1284.2 sq. ft. or 24.3 acres.
Configure Units
Page 219
Volume units
Volumes by default are returned in cubic drawing units, being
(X units * Y units * Z units). You may supply a units conversion factor in the Multiplier box and a text label in the Label box.
This will result in all volumes being multiplied by the Multiplier
and being followed by the volume label, such as 32845.3 cu. yds.
or 95230.7 barrels.
Configure Camera
The perspective view created by Surface view depends on camera
and target positions as well as the height of the camera above the
ground and the lens length used on the camera. Configure camera allows you to set camera height and lens length.
Camera Configuration dialog box
Within the dialog box you are prompted for camera height and
lens length.
Height above surface
The height of the camera above the surface. The default is 10. If
the surface is in units of feet, this represents a camera height of
ten feet above the surface. You will find that a camera height
somewhat taller than a persons eye height works best. Using
camera heights of hundreds or thousands produce nice perspective aerial views.
Page 220
Configure Camera
Camera lens
This sets the camera lens length in mm. The default is 30 mm
corresponding to a wide angle lens. Lower lens lengths correspond to wide angle views and higher lens lengths correspond to
telephoto views. Typically lens lengths from 20 - 50 mm work
well for topography.
Configure Post
SetPost
The Configure Post dialog box controls text height, rotation, justification and position (offset) of posted values displayed by the
Post from memory command. Selecting Configure Post from the
menu invokes the following dialog box.
Configure Post dialog box
Position
Nine preset text placements are offered in the upper left corner of
the dialog box. These nine selections correspond to top left, top
center, top right, center left, center, center right, bottom left, bottom center and bottom right. The text offset (relative to the point
Configure Post
Page 221
being posted) is a function of the text height being used. One of

the nine preset positions may be selected by clicking on one of
the nine boxes themselves.
The preset offsets are designed such that subsequent posting of
three vertical positions, such as top right, center right and bottom
right, will post in an aligned column with no overlap. The center
position preset will place the decimal point of the posted value at
the position of the data point. Due to this, data posted at the center position will not necessarily be aligned with other preset
posted positions.
Alternatively, you may click on the Pick offset button and graphically pick the offset that the posted value will have relative to the
point being posted. Discrete text offsets may be entered in the X,
Y, and Z edit boxes if desired. Either the preset text offsets, or the
user defined offsets are used, not both.
Text Height
Text height in drawing units may be entered in the Height edit
box or input graphically by clicking on the Pick height button.
Upon clicking on this button the dialog box temporarily disappears, allowing you to indicate an height by picking a two points.
The distance between the two points becomes the text height and
you are returned to the dialog box. If you are unsure of the appropriate text height, pick it graphically, and the height you picked
will be displayed in the Height edit box. You may adjust it further in the edit box if required.
Text Rotation
The rotation angle of the posted text may be entered in the Rotation edit box or input graphically by clicking on the Pick rotation
button. Upon clicking on this button the dialog box temporarily
disappears, allowing you to indicate a rotation by picking one
point which anchors a rubber-band line with which you indicate
the desired rotation. The rotation angle you picked is placed into
the Rotation edit box. The direction and units of the angle measurements are based upon the AutoCAD Units settings.
Page 222
Configure Post
Text Justification
Text justification (left, center or right) only applies if a discrete
text offset is specified. These selections are grayed out if one of
the nine preset positions is selected. These settings are identical
to AutoCAD text justification conventions and justify the text relative to the offset point specified.

Read ASCII points supports alternate column order and scaling of
your input file. You may scale x, y, or z independently during
loading using the settings within the Set load options dialog box.
Note: These options

only effect the free-form
Read ASCII points command, not the Read
ASCII table command.
If there are additional columns, or the columns are not in x, y, z

order, or you want to scale the data, this command will allow you
to define the format. Select the following from the Quicksurf
menu:
Configure ASCII point load
This invokes the Read ASCII Points dialog box.
ASCII Load configuration dialog
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ASCII file
Specify the file containing the ASCII data to be loaded into the
results < . > surface. This command does not assume a default
extension for the filename; if the filename has one, you must
enter it. A full path name is allowed if needed.
Data column position
Specify the three data column position numbers by setting the
column numbers that contain the x, y and z data. For example: A
file contains four columns representing point number, northing,
easting and elevation. The x, y, z column numbers should be set
to 3, 2, 4 respectively.
If your ASCII file has missing data (i.e. blank fields), the Read
ASCII points command will not load your data as expected.
Because Read ASCII points is a free-form parser, when a value is
absent, the next valid value on a line is used. In such cases use
Read ASCII Table instead, which will tolerate missing data fields.
Scale factors
Next specify any scale factors you wish to use during data loading. X, Y and Z values may be scaled independently during
loading into surface memory. This is handy for data sets with X
and Y in units of feet and Z in units of meters or vice versa.
The options set in this command are preserved in the configuration file if you save one. This command only sets the options for
data loading by Read ASCII points. The Read ASCII Points command actually loads the points into surface memory.
Spreadsheets, database report generators, application programs,
surveying data collectors, laboratory data acquisition systems,
word processors and text editors can create ASCII input files suitable for use with Quicksurf.
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Configure Slopes
Setslope
The Intersect Slope and Apply Section commands both require
specification of projected slopes. The Intersecting Slope dialog
provides for setting the parameters for slope projection.
Slope projection
The Intersecting Slope dialog box is shown on the next page.
Configure Slopes
Page 225
Direction
When Quicksurf traverses a polyline path while projecting a
slope to intersect a surface, it determines whether the path is
above or below the surface and projects the slope down or up as
necessary to intersect the surface. This automatic determination
is made when the Both selection is selected.
Only in special cases will you need to select the Up or Down buttons to force the slope direction. For example, if you needed to
project a slope up against an embankment or high wall from a
control line running in front of and parallel to the wall, you would
use the Up option. If the control line was slightly above the surface, the Both option would project the line down to the surface,
rather than up to the wall.
Both
Projects the slope from the control polyline either up or down as
necessary to intersect the surface.
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Configure Slopes
Down
Forces the slope to be projected down only from the control
polyline.
Up
Forces the slope to be projected up only from the control
polyline.
Side Control
The slope may be projected on either side or on both sides of the
control line. If you were to stand on the first vertex of the control
line and look at the second vertex, the right side is to your right
and the left side is to your left. You may reverse the vertex order
in any line, 2D or 3D polyline using the Swap ends command.
The Select point option allows you to graphically pick the
desired side without reference to right or left.
Both Sides
Projects slopes from both sides of the control line.
Right Side
Projects slopes from right side only of the control line.
Left Side
Projects slopes from left side only of the control line.
Select Point
Allows you to graphically pick on which side to project the slope.
Configure Slopes
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No Slope Intersection
No slope intersections are calculated. This option is for use with
the Apply section command where the resulting 3D polylines
from sweeping the section template along a polyline path are
desired, but no surface intersection polylines are needed. This
would be analogous to extruding the cross section only.
Step Size
This intersect slope step size is different than other step sizes
within Quicksurf. The control line is incrementally stepped down
during slope projection and the slope is projected until it intersects the surface or the edge of the surface model. The point
where the projected slope intersects the surface becomes a vertex
of the 3D polyline being drawn. The step size represents the
maximum allowable distance between adjacent vertices on the
resulting 3D polyline (not the control line). If the new vertex
from projecting the slope is too far from the previous vertex, the
step along the control line is halved and the process is repeated
until the distance between adjacent vertices on the 3D polyline
being created is less than the specified step size.
The Auto button will attempt to set a reasonable step size, but if
you know your site, specify a reasonable step size. Specifying
too small a step size results in many more vertices being created
than are necessary.
Draw Slope Control Lines

Certain parts of the new surface when using Intersect slope and
Apply section require more control than just the slope-surface
intersection polyline to adequately describe the resulting geometry. This occurs most commonly at sharp angles on the control
line where a smooth radial sweep at the corner is desired. By
default, additional radial lines will be drawn from the control
polyline to the slope-surface intersection polyline. If these are
extracted as break lines when creating the surface, a smooth corner will result.
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Configure Slopes
Deselecting the Draw Slope Control Lines check box will cause
only the slope-surface intersection polyline to be drawn, with no
additional radial lines.
Intersecting Slope
The slope must be specified for both up and down slope projections for both the right and left sides of the control line. If a transition is being done, these slopes must be defined twice, once for
either end of the transition segment. In transitions, the slopes
may be different at either end of the segment.
Specify the slopes for the right and left sides of the control line
(Intersect Slope) or ends of the cross-section template (Apply
Section). Different slopes may be specified for projecting up versus projecting down. The current slope unit setting (degrees, percent, decimal percent) is indicated at the top of the slope section
of the dialog. If a transition is being used, the slopes must be
specified for the beginning section of the transition in the left set
of boxes and for the ending section of the transition in the right
set of boxes.
Transition
Transitions may be linear or smooth splined changes from one
section template to the next. The type of transition may be independently specified for the projected slopes; for the horizontal
(XY) positions of the section template vertices; and for the vertical (Z) positions of the section template vertices. For each, linear
or spline may be selected.
Linear
A linear change between the two section templates is drawn and a
linear change between the projected slopes is used.
Configure Slopes
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Spline
A smooth spline curve is fitted between the two section templates
to determine the transition geometry. The splines are tangential to
the path at either end of a transition. The projected slopes are
smoothly varied from the beginning slope to the ending slope for
each of the four slope pairs (up and down for both right and left
sides).
Slope transition
Controls linear or spline transition for the projected slopes.
Horizontal transition
Controls linear or spline transition for the horizontal aspect of the
section template vertices. This only affects the XY locations of
the interpolated transition between section templates.
Vertical transition
Controls linear or spline transition for the vertical aspect of the
section template vertices. This only affects the Z locations of the
interpolated transition between section templates.
Configure Section
The Configure Section dialogs control the scaling, labeling and
layers used when building 2D profiles and cross sections using
the cross-section command.
Configure Section first dialog
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Configure Section
The first dialog for Configure Section allows you to access either
the scaling and labeling settings via the Graph button or the destination layers for the section via the Layers button. An All
Defaults check box allows you to reset all section properties to
their default values with a single action.
Configure Section
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Graph button
Pressing the Graph button invokes this dialog box.
Configure Section sub dialog
The Graph button invokes this dialog box which controls the
components of your 2D sections such as horizontal or vertical
multipliers, tick marks, axis labeling and background grid.
Each element of the Graph dialog box is defined below.
Scaling parameters
The 2D sections drawn may be expanded or shrunk in the horizontal or vertical axes as specified by the multipliers in the following edit boxes.
Horizontal Multiplier
The value specified as Horizontal Multiplier is used to stretch or
shrink the cross section along the X axis (horizontally). The
default is 1.0, which results in the length of the section equaling
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Configure Section
the length of the selected line of section. Choosing a 0.5 would

result in the horizontal length of the drawn section being half as
long as the selected line of section.
Vertical multiplier
The value specified as Vertical Multiplier is used to stretch or
shrink the cross section along the Y axis (vertically). The ratio of
the vertical multiplier over the horizontal multiplier is the vertical
exaggeration. For example, if the horizontal multiplier is one and
the vertical multiplier is three, the drawn 2D cross-section will
have a 3:1 vertical exaggeration.
Scaled to fit
If the Scaled to Fit check box is checked, the Horizontal and Vertical Multiplier boxes are disabled and you are prompted to specify
a window in which to place the section at the time it is created.
The section will be scaled to fit in the specified window.
Vertical range
The vertical range allows you to control the maximum and minimum vertical values your 2D section includes. These are used
when you wish to limit the section to a specific vertical range.
Maximum
This value represents the maximum Z value represented on the
2D cross-section. Any Z values greater than this value are
clipped and the section is drawn at this maximum.
Minimum
This value represents the minimum Z value represented on the 2D
cross-section. Any Z values less than this value are clipped and
the section is drawn at this minimum.
Configure Section
Page 233
For example, with a set of surfaces that ranges in elevation from 0

to 500, if you want a cross-section covering only the interval
from 100 to 200 in elevation, you would set the minimum to 100
and the maximum to 200.
Auto
Selecting this check box will automatically scale your section so
the entire range of your data is included on the section. When
Auto is selected, the Maximum and Minimum edit boxes are disabled.
Graph Annotation
The central part of the Graph dialog box sets the properties of tick
marks and background grid on each 2D section. Ticks are the
interval marks on the axes. Grid is the background grid drawn
behind the section. Each of these have two check boxes and two
edit boxes described in groups below.
Ticks
Ticks are the tick marks drawn on each axis of a 2D section.
Ticks are drawn as 2D polylines in the current width. They are
placed on the layer qs_ticks by default, although you may change
this via the Layers button in the Configure Section dialog.
Grid
Grid is the background grid drawn behind the 2D section, similar
to graph paper. The grid is drawn as 2D polylines in the current
width. The polylines are placed on the layer qs_grid by default,
although you may change this via the Layers button in the Configure Section dialog.
Numeric Labels
Numeric labels may be placed along the axes of your section.
The labeling interval is determined automatically.
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Configure Section
Check Boxes
Checking these boxes control whether or not the element is created when the section is drawn.
Ticks
Grid
Numeric Labels
The left-most check box controls whether the item is drawn or

not. For example, checking Ticks, but not Grid, will produce a
2D cross-section with axes, tick marks, but no background grid.
These may be specified in any combination. Axes are always
drawn. For both the Ticks check box and the Grid check box you
may also control the elements spacing.
X Axis Interval Edit Box
The value in the X Axis Interval box represents the interval in
between tick marks and vertical background grid lines drawn
along the horizontal axis of the 2D cross-section. The interval is
specified in model space drawing units. Setting X Axis Tick Interval to 50 would place tick marks down the X axis every 50 feet.
Setting the X Axis Grid Interval to 200 would place vertical background grid lines every 200 feet along the X axis.
Y Axis Interval Edit Box
The value in the Y Axis Interval box represents the interval in
between tick marks and horizontal background grid lines drawn
along the vertical axis of the 2D cross-section. The interval is
specified in model space drawing units. For example, consider a
drawing in which drawing units are feet and your surface values
range from 2500 to 5000 feet. Setting Y Axis Tick Interval to 100
would place tick marks up the vertical axis every 100 feet. Setting the Y Axis Grid Interval to 500 would place horizontal background grid lines every 500 feet along the vertical axis.
Configure Section
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Auto check boxes

Checking the Auto check boxes to the right of the interval edit
boxes automatically sets the intervals for the selected items and
disables the associated interval edit box.
X origin edit box
By default the X axis labels start at zero at the left end of the section. If you want to start the labeling at a different value, put that
value in the X origin edit box. For example, if your labels are
automatically set up for every 500 meters along the horizontal
axis, normally they would be 0, 500, 1000, 1500, ... If the X origin were set to 3000, then the labels would start on the left with
3000, 3500, 4000, etc. If you give an irregular X origin, such as
300 , the labeling sequence would proceed 500, 1000, 1500, etc.,
with the left-most edge (300) not labeled.
Layers Button
The Layers button allows you to change the layers upon which
2D section axes, ticks, and text are placed. The profile polyline is
drawn to the current layer. By default the axes and tick marks are
placed on the layer QS_AXES, numeric labels are placed on the
layer QS_TEXT, and background grid is placed on the layer
QS_GRID. The layers are created as needed. The color of all
these entities is BYLAYER, so you may set the colors of these layers to create the section coloring of your choice. If you do not
want these layers created, you may select the Current radio button to have all axes, ticks, numeric labels and background grid
drawn to the current layer.
Current
Draw all axes, ticks, etc. to the current layer.
Named
Draw all axes, ticks, etc. to the layer names described above.
The profile curve itself is always drawn on the current layer.
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Configure Section
Configure Surf Ops

The sort order of the surface list displayed by the Surface operations dialog box and the internal computation sequence of all surface operations is specified in the following dialog box.
Configure Surface Operations dialog
Surface list sort

The order in which surfaces are listed in the Surface operations
dialog box is controlled by the Surface List Sort checkbox. When
enabled, surfaces are sorted alphabetically in the list. When disabled, surfaces appear in the order in which they where loaded.
Maximize Surface Operations

Mathematical surface operations function by draping the elements of each surface onto the other, then processing the resulting pairs of Z values. This bi-directional draping is controlled by
the Maximize surface operations checkbox. By default, this
option is enabled, causing the bi-directional drape. It is a good
idea to leave it enabled unless you have a specific reason to do
otherwise.
For normal use, leave
the Maximize surface
operations button
enabled.
If you deselect the Maximize surface operations checkbox, a

mathematical surface operation drapes the first surface onto the
second surface only. This means the resulting parts and the plan
view geometry of the results <.> surface is based solely on the
geometry of the first surface. If the second surface only has
points, then point to point operations only are performed.
Configure Surf Ops
Page 237
Consider the example of two surfaces overlying one another: one

with 1000 points and a TIN, and the other with 100 points and a
TIN. With Maximize disabled, the resulting surface will have
different numbers of points depending upon which surface is the
first surface in the surface operation. If the first surface is the
1000 point surface, the result will have 1000 points (assuming the
surfaces overlap perfectly). If the first surface is the 100 point
surface, the result will have 100 points (assuming the surfaces
overlap perfectly). The plan geometry of the result reflects the
first surface only. By contrast, if Maximize is enabled, the resulting surface will have 1100 points (assuming no points are coincident in XY).
Please read the Surface Operations chapter for further discussion
on the internal mechanics of surface operations.
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Quicksurf

Introduction
Surface operations allow you to perform mathematical calculations between surfaces. Surfaces may be copied, renamed,
deleted, and read from or written to disk. Individual parts of one
or more surfaces may be selectively cleared. Surface operations
allows inspection of detailed surface statistics for any surface.
Surface operations dialog box

DSOP
Surface management and surface algebra are accomplished by
invoking the surface operations dialog box from the menu.
Surface Operations
Surface Operations dialog
Introduction
Page 239
The surface operations dialog has three main divisions. The surface list is in the upper left quadrant, the mathematical controls
are in the upper right quadrant with the surface management buttons beneath them.
Surface list
The surface list displays the names and component parts of the
currently defined surfaces. The name of the current surface is
displayed above the surface list. The operation of the surface list
is the same as the Layer Control dialog box in AutoCAD. Surfaces in the list may be selected or deselected by picking them
with the mouse. When a surface is picked, it is highlighted.
Pressing any of the enabled surface management buttons along
the bottom of the dialog box will operate on the highlighted surfaces.
For example, selecting one surface and pressing the Current button makes that surface the current surface. Selecting several surfaces and pressing the Delete button deletes the selected surfaces
from surface memory.
Each line of the surface list contains the surface name and a list of
the component parts which currently exist. Some examples:
.
Existing
Proposed
P T
P TDG
PBTD
.PBT
The surface name is followed by letters corresponding to existing

parts. The letters represent the following parts:
P
B
T
D
G
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Points
Breaks
TIN
Derivatives
Grid
Parts listed after the period (such as the .PBT in the Proposed surface) represent parts of the triangulated grid (TGRD).
In the list above, the results surface <.> contains points and a
TIN. The Existing surface contains points, TIN, derivatives and
grid. The Proposed surface contains points, breaks, TIN, derivatives, as well as points, breaks and TIN in the TGRD.
Surface management buttons

The surface management buttons operate on the highlighted surfaces in the surface list. The buttons may be grayed-out if
unavailable for the selected surface(s). For example, if more than
one surface is selected, the Current button is unavailable because
you may only have one current surface.
Select All
Highlights all surfaces in the surface list.
Clear All
Clears the highlighted selections in the surface list. This is simply de-selecting any highlighted surfaces in the list. This command does not affect the contents of any surface.
Current
Sets the current surface. The current surface is offered as the
default surface name for any command involving a surface. The
Current button is only available when one surface is selected
from the surface list.
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Read QSB
SOP Read
Invokes the standard file dialog box to read a Quicksurf binary
QSB file which has been previously saved. QSB files are created
by the Write QSB command or the Load ASCII Table command
(QSML). All of the surfaces in the QSB file are loaded into surface memory. Any existing surface in memory with the same
name as a surface in the file is overwritten without comment. If
you wish to load only selected surfaces from the file, rather than
all surfaces, use the SOP Read command from the keyboard,
which will prompt you surface by surface for which surfaces to
load.
Write QSB
SOP Write
Writes selected surfaces to a binary QSB disk file. The highlighted surfaces will be written. Write QSB invokes the standard
file dialog box to write a Quicksurf binary QSB file. The QSB
file has a file extension of .QSB. A QSB file is a very efficient
way to store surface information. All surface parts and descriptions are stored in the file, but boundary and window information
(if any) are not. Reading a QSB file written with this command
restores all of the written surfaces to surface memory.
Clear Parts
SOP Clear
Invokes the Clear Parts dialog box, allowing you to remove any
or all parts from the selected surfaces. The Clear Parts dialog
lists all of the parts of the selected surface(s) and allows you to
pick which ones are to be removed. In this way specific parts,
such as the TIN, Grid or TGRD, may be removed from a surface.
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Copy
SOP Copy
Copies the contents of a selected surface into another surface.
With the surface to be copied selected, press Copy and a small
dialog pops up allowing you to enter the new surface name. If the
new surface does not exist, one will be created under the name
supplied. If it does exist, its contents will be replaced by the new
contents.
Delete
SOP Delete
Deletes the highlighted surfaces from memory. Deleting the
results <.> surface will produce an empty <.> surface; deleting a
named surface will eliminate it completely. AutoCAD drawing
entities that have been generated with the Draw option will not be
affected.
Detailed
Displays the detailed surface information for one surface, including surface description, associated AutoCAD layer, surface
method, and surface statistics including number of points; minimum and maximum of X, Y, Z, and slopes; plan and surface
area; and volume. The Detailed button is enabled only when a
single surface is highlighted in the surface list.
If more than 10,000
points are in a surface,
you will be given a
chance to skip area and
volume statistics calculation.
There may be a pause when invoking the detailed listing while

Quicksurf calculates the area and volume statistics. The areas and
volumes reported will be in square drawing units or cubic drawing units unless a user-specified units have been defined in the
Configure Units dialog box.
Pressing the Detailed button invokes the following dialog box.
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Surface Information dialog
Within the detailed surface information dialog, you may change

the name of a surface, add a detailed description for the surface,
or create a link between a surface in surface memory and a layer
in the AutoCAD drawing. The dialog box show above has all
parts shown for purposes of illustration, normally a TGRD and
Grid dont co-exist in the same surface.
Surface Edit Box

SOP REName
The surface edit box displays the surface name. You may change
the name of a surface by altering the name in the edit box.
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Description Edit Box

SOP DESc
You may enter a surface description (up to 100 characters) which
will be carried for the rest of the drawing session and included in
any QSB file you may save. The description field for the results
surface is automatically filled by the surface operation which created it with a description of the operation performed.
Layer Edit Box

SOP LAyer
Associates an AutoCAD drawing layer with a Quicksurf surface. Any Quicksurf-generated drawing entity related to this surface will be placed on this layer. When you select the Draw
option from the Points, Breaks, TIN, TGRD or Grid commands,
the entities drawn will be placed on the designated layer.
This operation overrides the current drawing layer as set by the
AutoCAD Layer command. If no layer is specified, Quicksurf
always draws to the current layer.
Surface statistics
Statistical information on each surface part is displayed in the
surface information dialog box. Number of points, minimum and
maximum values for X, Y, Z, and slopes are displayed. Plan
area, surface area and volumes are computed for TIN, Grid and
TGRD parts. All computations encompass the entire surface.
Note that the memory used by the surface is displayed at the
lower right of the dialog box. Deleting surfaces frees memory
and makes it available to AutoCAD and Quicksurf.
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Mathematical operation controls

Mathematical operations on or between surfaces may be performed using the Surface Operations section located in the upper
right portion of the dialog box. A wide variety of operations may
be performed on one surface, between one surface and a constant,
or between two surfaces. The result of any surface operation is
placed in the results <.> surface, sometimes called the "dot" surface.
The dialog layout contains entries for a 1st Surface, an Operator,
and optionally a 2nd Surface and a Constant.
These form the components of an algebraic expression which is
executed upon pressing the Run Operation button.
For example, if we wanted to calculate the difference between
two surfaces, Proposed and Existing, to determine cut and fill, the
1st Surface would be Proposed, the operator would be - (minus),
and the 2nd surface would be Existing. Pressing the Run Operation button would place (Proposed - Existing) into the results <.>
surface.
The 1st Surface and 2nd Surface selections consist of pop-down
lists of the surfaces currently in surface memory. The Operator
pop-down list contains all available surface operations. The Constant selection consists of a checkbox, to select using a constant,
and an edit box to specify the value of the constant. The Constant
and 2nd Surface selections may be grayed-out if the selected
Operator only functions on one surface (such as SIN or Absolute
Slope).
When the Run Operation button is pressed, the mathematical
operation is computed and the results are placed in the <.> surface, replacing any pre-existing contents. If you need to save the
contents of a pre-existing <.> surface, use the Copy button to
copy the <.> surface to a named surface. A prompt string in the
lower left corner of the dialog box reports when the operation is
completed. When the computation is complete, you are left in the
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Surface Operations dialog box, so you may compute chain calculations. The results surface itself may be specified as either the
1st or 2nd surface in any calculation, but realize that the result
will replace the <.> surface after the operation is complete.
The behavior of surface operations is affected by the setting in the
Configure Surface Operations dialog, described in the Configuring Quicksurf chapter. For the most accurate result, the Maximize Surface Operations checkbox should be selected within
this configuration. This is the default setting.
Surface management functions

Most surface management functions are accomplished via the
dialog box, but these are also accessible via the SOP keyboard
command. The keyboard commands contain some functions not
available directly in the dialog box. The keyboard SOP commands are summarized below. The minimum characters needed
to invoke the command are capitalized.
SOP CLear
Surface/* for all <.>: Enter surface name or * to delete all surfaces
ALL/Points/TIN/Derivatives/Grid/tgRid: select parts to clear
Clears parts of surfaces from memory. The first option selects the
surfaces to be operated on and the second selects the parts to be
cleared: points, TIN, derivatives, grid, TGRD or all parts. More
than one part may be cleared at once, for example, answering DG
to the second prompt will clear the derivatives and grid.
Clearing all parts of all surfaces is the same as deleting all surfaces.
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SOP DELete
Surface/* for all <.>: Enter surface name or * to delete all surfaces
Deletes surfaces from memory. The results <.> surface will

become an empty surface, or a named surface will disappear completely. AutoCAD drawing entities that have been previously
generated with the Draw option will not be affected.
SOP COPy
Surface <.>: Enter surface name to copy
To: Enter destination surface name
The specified named surface is copied to the specified destination

surface.
SOP MOve
Surface <.>: Enter surface name to move
Moves the contents of a surface into another surface. Similar to

Copy, but destroys the source surface instead of duplicating it.
The same net effect may be achieved with Rename, except that
Rename will fail if the destination surface name already exists or
the source surface is the current surface.
SOP REName
Surface <.>: Enter surface name to rename
Changes the name of a named surface to the specified name. The

results <.> surface cannot be renamed, and the new name must
not already exist.
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SOP LOad
Surface <.>: Enter surface name to copy to the <.> surface
Copies a named surface to the results <.> surface, replacing the

pre-existing contents. SOP Load is simply copying surfaces
within memory, it is not reading surfaces from disk. Disk operations are handled by the SOP Read and SOP Write commands.
SOP SAve
Surface <.>: Enter destination surface name to copy the <.> surface to
Copies the results <.> surface to a named surface, replacing the

pre-existing contents. SOP Save is simply copying surfaces
within memory, it is not saving surfaces to disk. Disk operations
are handled by the SOP Read and SOP Write commands.
SOP DESc
You may enter a surface description (up to 100 characters) which
will be carried for the rest of the drawing session and included in
any QSB file you save. The description field for the results surface is automatically filled in by surface operations. It will contain a description of the operation, such as Existing - Proposed.
SOP LAyer
Associates an AutoCAD drawing layer with a Quicksurf surface. Any Quicksurf generated drawing entity related to this surface will be placed on this layer. When you select the Draw
option from the Points, Breaks, TIN, TGRD or Grid commands,
the entities draw will be placed on the designated layer.
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This operation overrides the current drawing layer as set by the

AutoCAD Layer command. When you generate drawing entities
with Quicksurf, and the surface associated with them has a designated layer, they will appear on that layer; otherwise they will
appear on the current layer.
SOP LIst
Displays a listing of surfaces currently in surface memory to the
AutoCAD text screen and flips the display to the text screen. The
<.> surface will appear first, followed by named surfaces. The
parts are listed to the right of the surface name. If a TGRD is
present the surface listing consists of two lines, the second line
representing the parts of the TGRD. The number of points, the
grid cell count, the grid method and a description are also listed.
Pressing return will return you to the graphics screen.
Surface modification operations

Grid geometry operations
These functions modify the size, count, and geographic limits of
grid cells. These functions both change the settings as seen in the
Configure Grid dialog box, then delete and recalculate the existing
grid of the current surface using the new parameters.
The difference between using these functions and resetting the
parameters in the Configure Grid dialog is that these functions
delete and recalculate the grid, whereas changing the Configure
Grid setting only affect grids built subsequently.
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Cell size
SOP CSize
Redefines the grid cell size for the current surface and subsequent
gridding operations. This is the easiest way to resize a grid once it
has been generated. Your other option is to clear the grid from the
surface and manually set a grid cell size and recalculate it.
Surface options -> Cell Size
Current cell size is ## X ## (cell size in x, y)
Horizontal cell size <default>: value
Vertical cell size <default>: value
Set the horizontal and vertical cell sizes at the prompts or press
enter to accept the defaults. The cell size represents the X and Y
dimensions of one individual cell. Remember, this sets the cell
size permanently until you reset it to Auto (0.0) or to a new size.
If Cell Size is defined, Cell Count and Cell Factor are ignored.
Cell size may also be set from Configure Grid dialog box.
Cell count
SOP CCount
Redefines the number of grid cells for the current surface and
subsequent gridding operations if cell size is not defined. Cell
Count is only used if Cell Size is set to Auto (0.0). If a specific
cell size is specified, then this command has no effect. The order
of precedence in determining cell configuration is cell size, then
cell count, then cell factor.
Surface options -> Cell Count
Current cell count is ## X ## (cell count in x, y)
Horizontal cell count <default>: value
Vertical cell count <default>: value
This may also be set from Configure Grid dialog box.
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Set the horizontal and vertical cell counts at the prompts or press
enter to accept the defaults. The cell count controls the number
cells in the X and Y dimensions of the entire grid. For example, a
horizontal cell count of 40 and a vertical cell count of 30 will produce a grid with 1200 cells.
Remember that this cell count setting remains in effect until you
reset it to a new value or Auto (0).
Cell factor
SOP CFactor
Sets the cell factor, which is used for automatic determination of
cell count when Cell Size and Cell Count are not defined.
SOP CFactor
Current cell factor is 4.0 New cell factor <4.0>: value
This may also be set from Configure Grid dialog box.

When both the size and number of grid cells are not specified,
Quicksurf will set the number of grid cells to this factor times the
number of points, then adjust it up or down if necessary to bring it
within the CellMin and CellMax settings.
This command will set the cell factor variable to the specified
value and set the cell size and count variables to Auto.
Window
SOP WINdow
Redefines the geographic window within which grid calculations
will be performed. This command only effects the grid, not the
TGRD.
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Surface options -> Window

[Window is set to max...]
Define working window for current surface...
Select first corner/Max: enter point or enter for Max window
[Select second corner]: enter point
By default, the window is set to Max, the smallest rectangle that

contains all the control points. If this is in effect, you will receive
the message Window is set to max... followed by the Define window prompt. If a smaller window is in effect, you will receive
only the Define window prompt. Enter the two points defining
the rectangular window with the pointing device (or type the X
and Y coordinates) or press enter to set the window to Max. If
you entered a point, you will be prompted for the lower right
point.
This operation only works when in plan view. The grid is recalculated only within the specified window.
You can get into trouble
by forgetting you have
a window set.
Please note this command changes the window globally for all
grid surfaces generated subsequently. It is a good idea to reset the
window to Max once your are finished with a particular surface.
If the grid window is set improperly you may receive the Error:
grid undefined message or produce no contours due to the fact the
window and the surface data do not overlap.
The window option is useful for editing multiple small areas of a
large map. The grid is only calculated for a small area, allowing
iterations between edits to be short. When finished, set window to
Max and regenerate the entire grid.
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Set
SOP SET
Creates a surface consisting of the X, Y locations of the first surface and the corresponding Z elevations of the second surface or
constant. The result will contain data for the area in which the
two surfaces overlap. If a constant is specified, instead of a second surface, the plan geometry will be identical to the first surface.
If the selected surfaces does not overlap you will get the reply
No resulting surface. Otherwise the elevations in the first surface will be set as requested. This is the easy way to create a surface of constant Z with a grid cell size the same as another
surface. The first surface selected controls the grid cell size and
the second surface (or constant) controls the elevation.
Merge
SOP MErge
Merge will added the contents of two surfaces together in the
results surface. This will filter the data and not include any data
points from the second surface which also exactly occurs in the
first surface. The data areas may overlap or not match at all. The
resultant surface will contain only points and breaks.
Splice
SOP SPlice
Splice will copy the data from the first surface and add the nonoverlapping portion of data in the second surface. The convex
polygon containing all of the points of the first surface outlines
the area to be spliced. The resultant surface will contain only
points and breaks.
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Z rotation
SOP ZRot
Rotates the first surface about a specified center of rotation by a
specified angle of rotation. The X, Y location of the center of
rotation and the rotation angle (in degrees) is prompted for in a
small pop-up dialog box. The surface is rotated about the Z axis
by the angle specified in degrees. A positive angle rotates
counter-clockwise as viewed from above. The result is placed in
the results <.> surface.
Translate X
SOP XTrans
Translates the first surface in the X dimension by the Constant
value. The result is placed in the results <.> surface.
Translate Y
SOP YTrans
Translates the first surface in the Y dimension by the Constant
value. The result is placed in the results <.> surface.
Scale X
SOP XSCale
Scales the X dimension of the first surface by the Constant value.
The result is placed in the results <.> surface.
Scale Y
SOP YSCale
Scales the Y dimension of the first surface by the Constant value.
The result is placed in the results <.> surface.
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Mathematical surface operations

Understanding surface operations
These operations, forming the heart of the surface operations system, perform mathematical operations on one or two surfaces,
generate a new surface, and write it into the results <.> surface.
The key to surface operation between surfaces is knowing what is
actually happening when an operation is performed. We will
cover two distinctly different areas of surface operations:
Operations between surfaces containing points only
Operations between surfaces containing Points and one or

more other parts such as a Breaks, TIN, Grid or TGRD
Point to Point operations

All operations between surfaces containing only points perform
basic point to point arithmetic. Only points sharing exactly the
same XY coordinate in both surfaces will have the mathematical
operation performed. Points that do not have matching XY coordinates will not be operated upon. Thus the resulting surface will
only contain values for the points which existed in both surfaces
and were exactly coincident in X and Y. This special case is
commonly used for stacked geologic surfaces whose defining
points originated in vertical wellbores.
Surface operations between mixed surfaces

Surface operations between two surfaces containing different
parts produce a results <.> surface which may contain a TIN,
Grid, or TGRD in addition to Points. With the Maximize Surface Operations option selected (discussed below), any surface
part existing in either input surface will be created in the result
surface.
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In the point to point surface operations described above, only

points which were coincident in X and Y were used in the calculation. This meant that for each pair of coincident points, we had
defined Z values in both surfaces and performed the operation. In
the general case we will have two surfaces with some combination of points, breaks, TIN, TGRD and Grids that will overlap
each other. The elements of the two surfaces most likely will not
be registered to each other. Quicksurf must determine a Z value
for both input surfaces at each point within the area where the
surfaces overlap.
Surface operations internally rely upon the drape function, which
in its most basic form solves for the Z value of a surface given an
X, Y coordinate. Surface operations must drape the elements of
the first surface onto the second surface, then drape the elements
of the second surface onto the first surface. In this way, pairs of Z
values will be determined for each point or vertex in either surface within the area where the two surfaces overlap. The surface
operation is then computed on each resulting Z pair and a new Z
value is placed in the results surface for that location.
When a point is draped onto a surface, surface operations must
choose which representation of the surface to use. The choices
include draping to the planar faces of the TIN, TGRD or Grid, or
draping to the TIN using curvature (derivatives).
The following hierarchy determines which part is draped upon:
1. TIN using Derivatives.
2. TGRD, if present and TIN is absent.
3. Grid, if present and TIN is absent.
4. Point to point operations only, if only points are present.
If choice #1 (TIN and Derivatives) is used, the Derivative order
setting from the Configure Grid dialog is used. The setting
choices for Derivative order include None (uses the planar faces
of the TIN), 1st (continuous slope) or 2nd (continuous curvature).
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Derivatives are created if necessary. This drapes on the actual

mathematical surface, rather than a sampling of it such as the grid
or TGRD.
Draping to the grid is only used in the special case where the grid
has been modified (for example by MIN or MAX) such that the
grid does not necessarily follow the same surface as the surface
described by the TIN and Derivatives. Any surface operation
which causes this condition deletes the TIN, so the hierarchy
above always functions correctly.
Maximize Surface Operations

As described above, surface operations function by draping the
elements of each surface onto the other, then processing the
resulting pairs of Z values. This bi-directional draping is controlled by the Maximize surface operations button in the Configure Surface Operations dialog. By default, this option is
enabled, causing the bi-directional drape. It is a good idea to
leave it enabled unless you have a specific reason to do otherwise.
If you deselect the Maximize surface operations button, a surface operation drapes the first surface onto the second surface
only. This means the resulting parts and the plan view geometry
of the results <.> surface is based solely on the geometry of the
first surface. If the second surface only has points, then point to
point operations only are performed.
For normal use, leave
the Maximize surface
operations button
enabled.
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Consider the example of two surfaces overlying one another: one

with 1000 points and a TIN, and the other with 100 points and a
TIN. With Maximize disabled, the resulting surface will have
different numbers of points depending upon which surface is the
first surface in the surface operation. If the first surface is the
1000 point surface, the result will have 1000 points (assuming the
surfaces overlap perfectly). If the first surface is the 100 point
surface, the result will have 100 points (assuming the surfaces
overlap perfectly). The plan geometry of the result reflects the
first surface only. By contrast, if Maximize is enabled, the resulting surface will have 1100 points (assuming no points are coincident in XY).
Grid to Grid operations

Registered Grids
If the grids are perfectly registered, surface operations will not
perform a drape, it simply will do the operation between corresponding grid nodes, speeding up the operation significantly.
The results surface will contain a grid. Each point of a the first
surface is compared to every point in the second surface to determine if they are exactly coincident. For large point sets this comparison can be time consuming. If you are performing grid to
grid operations on large data sets and do not need the point information, clear the points from the first surface prior to operation
for vastly greater speed.
Non-Registered Grids
Operations between two gridded surfaces involves both grid surfaces grid nodes and points being draped to the other and solved
for a Z value. The results surface will contain points at the X,Y
location of both sets of original grid nodes, as well as the original
points. A TIN and Grid will then be computed for the result. In
this case, the grid is not a result of grid to grid math, rather a
regridding of the new surface. This assumes Maximize Surface
Operations is enabled in the Configure Surface Operations dialog.
If Maximize Surface Operations is not enabled, then the results
surface will contain a grid with the plan view geometry of the first
surface. In this case only the points and grid nodes of the first
surface are draped upon the second surface with the resulting
point set and grid placed in the results surface. The resulting grid
surface will cover the largest rectangle for which grid nodes were
defined by the after draping to the second surface.
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Mathematical surface operators

These operators calculate new surface Z values and place the
result in the results <.> surface. The X, Y geometry of the result
is dependent upon the geometry of the two input surfaces.
Addition (+)
SOP +
Calculates the sum of the first surface and the second surface (or
constant). The result is placed in the <.> surface.
Subtraction (-)
SOP Calculates the first surface minus the second surface (or constant). The result is placed in the <.> surface. Commonly used
for cut / fill or thickness maps.
Multiplication (*)
SOP *
Calculates the product of the first surface and the second surface
(or constant). The result is placed in the <.> surface.
Commonly used to exaggerate the relief of a relatively flat surface for emphasis. A surface may also be inverted by multiplying
by a constant value of -1.
Division (/)
SOP /
Calculates the quotient of the first surface divided by the second
surface (or constant). The result is placed in the <.> surface.
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Remainder (%)
SOP %
Calculates the modulus (remainder) of the first surface divided by
the second surface (or constant). The result is placed in the <.>
surface. Usually results in a surface with very little relief.
Minimum
SOP MIN
Calculates the minimum of the z values of the first surface and
surface.
A common use of this command is to separate cut and fill quantities for volume measurement or contouring. For example, calculating the minimum of an (Proposed - Existing) surface and a
constant of zero, would yield a planar surface with depressions
representing cut depths.
If the surface contains only points, the result will be points with
their z values modified as appropriate. A TIN, Grid or TGRD will
be modified to conform to the minimum constraint. Realize that
the Min and Max functions work on all parts of the surface. A
consequence of this is that the result may be order dependent in
certain cases. Starting with points only, gridding a surface then
taking the minimum will produce a different grid than taking the
minimum then gridding the result, due to differences in slopes
prior to gridding.
When the Max and Min functions are used on a TGRD or Grid,
individual grid nodes may have their elevations altered. This creates a condition such that the mathematical surface described by
the TIN with derivatives may disagree with the modified TGRD
or grid surface nodes. To avoid ambiguity, the TIN is deleted by
these two surface operations. This forces the modified TGRD or
grid to be used.
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The Max and Min functions force TGRD and Grid nodes to
exactly the value requested. This will cause contours drawn at
the clipped elevation to be angular. Adjusting the clipping elevation to just above or below the highest or lowest contour will produce smooth contours. Instead of these functions, you may
alternatively specify a specific list of elevations for contouring
using the elevation file option within the Configure Contours dialog box.
Maximum
SOP MAX
Calculates the maximum of the z values of the first surface and
surface. Please read the surface operations Minimum description
above which describes special considerations when using Min and
Max.
A common use of this command is to separate cut and fill quantities for volume measurement or contouring. For example, calculating the maximum of an (Proposed - Existing) surface and a
constant of zero, would yield a planar surface with elevations representing fill depths.
Absolute value
Sop ABs
Calculates the absolute value of the first surface. This operation
simply converts negative to positive values, leaving positive values unchanged. The result is placed in the <.> surface.
Square root
SOP SQrt
Calculates the square root of the first surface. The result is placed
in the <.> surface.
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Exponential
SOP EXP
Calculates the exponential ex of the first surface. The result is
placed in the <.> surface.
This can be extremely useful when used in conjunction with the
natural log (LN) command. When working with concentration
data sets which have extreme behavior you may elect to take the
natural log of the surface prior to modeling and normalize back
with the Exponent function afterwards. This causes the slopes to
be calculated in logarithmic space which has much better slope
behavior.
Natural Log
SOP LN
Calculates the natural log (ln z) of the first surface. The result is
This command is extremely helpful when dealing with data that
has spikes. When working with concentration data sets which
have extreme behavior you may elect to take the natural log of the
surface prior to modeling and normalize back with the Exponent
function afterwards. This causes the slopes to be calculated in
logarithmic space which has much better slope behavior.
Common Log
SOP LOG
Calculates the base 10 common log (log z) of the first surface.
The result is placed in the <.> surface.
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Power of 10
SOP POWER10
Calculates 10z for the first surface. This is the inverse of the Log
function. The result is placed in the <.> surface.
SIne
SOP SIn
Calculates the trigonometric sine (sin z) of the first surface. The
result is placed in the <.> surface.
Cosine
SOP COS
Calculates the trigonometric cosine (cos z) of the first surface.
The result is placed in the <.> surface.
Arctangent
SOP ATan
Calculates the trigonometric arctangent (atan z) of the first surface (in degrees). The result is placed in the <.> surface.
Floor
SOP FLoor
Rounds all z values in the first surface downward to the next
lower (or equal) integer. The result is placed in the <.> surface.
Reciprocal
SOP RECip
Calculates the reciprocal (1/z) of the first surface. The result is
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Absolute slope
SOP ASLope
Calculates the absolute slope of the first surface in decimal percent. The result is placed in the <.> surface. The absolute slope
z + z
x y
2
is defined by
This operation requires a grid to be present in the current surface.

If no grid is present it will return the message No grid and terminate.
The absolute slope function produces a surface with a Z value
representing slope in decimal percent (1.0 equals 45 degrees).
Contouring this slope surface produces contours of equal slope.
Invoking this command twice will produce a surface of second
derivatives, which is a representation of surface curvature. Such
a surface is useful in geology for locating areas of a surface with
the highest curvature, which may correspond to the most highly
fractured areas.
Degree slope
SOP DSLope
Calculates the absolute slope of the first surface in degrees. This
command is the same as the Absolute slope operation (above),
but the result is expressed in degrees rather than percent. The
result is placed in the <.> surface. The absolute slope is defined
z + z
x y
2
by the arctangent of

If no grid is present it will return the message No grid and terminate. Contouring this slope surface produces contours of equal
slope. The slope analysis chapter has more information on using
the absolute slope surface operation.
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XSlope
SOP XSLope
Calculates the X component of the slope of the first surface. The
z
result is placed in the <.> surface. X slope is defined by x .

YSlope
SOP YSLope
Calculates the Y component of the slope of the first surface. The
z
result is placed in the <.> surface. Y slope is defined by y .

Trend
SOP TRend
Calculates a polynomial trend surface of the first surface based
upon the current settings for the Trend method in the Configure
Grid dialog box. The resulting trend surface will contain only
points and a grid. The result is placed in the <.> surface. See the
Configure Grid section for information on trend theory.
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Residual
SOP RESidual
Calculates a trend surface of the first surface based upon the current settings for Trend method, then subtracts the trend surface
from the original surface to produce a residual surface. The residual surface is placed in the <.> surface.
The residual surface represents the local high and low areas of the
original surface relative to the trend surface.
The Residual operation combines the two steps of creating the
trend surface and subtracting it from the original into one operation. The trend surface used internally is not saved, but may be
re-created with the trend surface operation.
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Page 268
Quicksurf
You may limit the area in which Points, Breaks, TINs, TGRDs,
Grids, Contours or draped objects are displayed by specifying
one or more closed polylines as boundaries with the Set Boundary command. The boundaries may be nested. Boundaries are
very useful for presentation purposes and volumetric limitations.
Boundary smart commands

Set Boundary defines an arbitrary boundary defining the area
within which Quicksurf will display a surface. Boundaries affect

both draw and show operations. Using boundaries only affects
the display of a surface, the surface itself is not modified by the
presence of boundaries. The following boundary-smart commands will honor any boundaries in effect:
Points
Breaks
TIN
Grid
Contour
Drape
Post from memory
Surface region
A word of warning: Boundaries limit the display of Quicksurf

objects to within the boundary. If you forget and leave a boundary set in one area of your model, then move to a different area,
you may not be able to display contours, etc. If you attempt to
display parts of a surface and dont see anything, it may be due to
having set a boundary which does not overlap the surface.
Boundary smart commands
Page 269
Establishing boundaries
Boundaries may be extracted from closed 2D or 3D polylines in
the drawing or read from ASCII boundary files. Boundaries may
be read from and written to disk files with the Read ASCII
Boundaries and Write ASCII Boundaries commands as described
in the Command reference chapter.
Once a boundary has been selected, it is independent of the drawing entity used to create it. The parent polyline may be erased or
frozen with no effect on the boundary.
Prior to running the Set boundary command, the boundary must
exist as one or more drawn AutoCAD entities. They should be
either 3D or 2D closed polylines. Although the Set boundary
command will close polylines which are not closed, the result
may not be identical to the closed polyline if arc segments are
involved. Try to always use closed polylines as boundaries.
Once a boundary has been selected it stays in effect for the
remainder of the drawing session, even if the polyline it was created from is erased. Boundaries may be temporarily disabled or
permanently deleted with the Set boundary command.
A circle selected as a boundary is ignored completely if drawn as
a circle entity and not a polyline; a closed circular polyline arc
will be accepted as a circular boundary.
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Establishing boundaries
Nested boundaries
You may selectively include and exclude regions by drawing
nested closed polylines representing boundaries. The surface will
be shown or drawn in any area that is enclosed by an odd number
of boundaries, and not in any area enclosed by an even number of
boundaries.
Nested Boundaries
Nested boundaries are used extensively in site planning and volume calculations. Nested boundaries also may be used to prevent
dense contours from overlapping map annotations.
Boundaries and surface displays

When a grid or TIN is displayed with a boundary in effect, a grid
cell or triangle face may overlap the boundary. The Configure
boundary dialog provides for three options to determine whether
or not to show or draw a grid cell or TIN triangle. These options
are center, any point or all points.
Nested boundaries
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The center option displays the grid cell or triangle if the center of
the element is within the boundary. The any point option displays
the grid cell or triangle if any vertex of the element is within the
boundary. The all points option displays the grid cell or triangle
if all vertices of the element is within the boundary.
Boundaries and TIN displays
Note that grid cells and triangles are either displayed completely
or not at all; they are not clipped at the boundary. If you want the
TIN to follow the boundary exactly, extract the boundary
polyline as both a break line and a boundary. This will force the
triangulation to follow the boundary exactly, resulting in no triangles crossing the boundary. The Surface region command does
this automatically.
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Boundaries and surface displays

Break lines represent discontinuities in the slope of a surface.
Examples of breaks are the edges of ditches, walls and curbs in
civil engineering and faults in geology. Whereas a surface without breaks maintains continuous slope and curvature throughout,
a surface with breaks may have abrupt changes in slope at edges
where the surface crosses break lines.
Creating break lines

Break line data may be loaded to surface memory by the following commands:
Read ASCII Breaks (QSBL)
Read QSB File
The Extract Breaks command extracts break data from AutoCAD

drawing entities such as 2D and 3D polylines. Read ASCII
Breaks reads break data from disk files, such as survey data.
Read QSB reads break data from Quicksurf surfaces previously
stored to disk.
Extract breaks extracts break line data from drawing entities and
adds them incrementally to the results < . > surface. The following entity types are extracted and adaptively densified by Extract
Breaks:
Line
2D or 3D Polylines
Arc
Circle
3D Face
Edges become breaks
Trace
Solid
Non-extruded edges become breaks
Creating break lines
Page 273
All other entity types are ignored. The result of Extract Breaks is
dependent upon the settings in the Configure Extract dialog
The Extract breaks command is normally used after Extract to
surface or Merge extract have already put points into the <.> surface, but may be used by itself if the surface is composed only of
break lines with no points.
If the surface is created from data in the drawing, the typical
workflow sequence consists of :
Extract to surface (QSX)
Extract breaks (QSMX)
TIN or TGRD
Creates a new surface just with points

Incrementally adds breaks
Use a TIN or TGRD model with breaks
Extract breaks may be used several times sequentially and each
new set of breaks will be incrementally added to the surface and

resolved. Break line resolution is faster when Extract breaks is
run once on all break lines, rather than once for each break line.
If the surface is created from data from an ASCII file, the typical
workflow sequence consists of :
Read ASCII Table (QSML) Creates a new surface just with points
Read ASCII Breaks(QSBL) Incrementally adds breaks
TIN or TGRD
Use a TIN or TGRD model with breaks
Adaptive densification
3D polylines are the most common entities used for break lines.
Break lines must be densified by Quicksurf such that any subsequent TIN honors breaks exactly. New points are interpolated
along polyline segments as needed and are added to the surface.
The goal in break line densification is to add the minimum number of new points to the surface which completely describe the
break line geometry within the specified tolerance.
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Adaptive densification
This version of Quicksurf introduces adaptive densification,

which densifies break lines with a variable break step and produces a much smaller point set than the fixed break step densification of earlier versions. The earlier approach using a fixed
break step resulted in large surface models. If part of the surface
model required a small break step, it was applied to the entire
model.
Repeated triangulation
during densification is
normal on complex
models.
Adaptive densification uses a variable break step, which keeps

the model as small as possible. This results in faster execution of
all subsequent surface commands. The adaptive densification
used within Extract breaks automatically produces a TIN in the
results surface. The densification procedure may triangulate the
surface many times as it converges on the most efficient densified
TIN.
Resolving break lines

Extract Breaks resolves contradictory or redundant data between
adjoining break lines or between break lines and pre-existing

points in the following sequence:
Break line defining points coinciding with pre-existing points

are dropped.
Stacked or doubly selected points are dropped.
Break line intersections are resolved to a single new point.
Adaptive densification retriangulates and adds new points.
A final TIN is created honoring the new break lines.
Stacked data points (multiple control points at a given x,y location) along break lines are dropped. Quicksurf resolves stacked
data by arbitrarily deleting points from a stack until there is only
one. Break lines made up of multiple polylines with common
endpoints are treated as break line intersections, slowing processing.
Resolving break lines
Page 275
Intersecting break lines

When Quicksurf processes a single break line, the elevation of
the break line itself furnishes the elevation of all densified surface
points along it. This produces a potential ambiguity when two
break lines intersect over a common x,y point, yet differ in elevation. Intersecting break lines are representing the same surface,
therefore the elevation must be the same at any break line intersection. Quicksurf resolves this by setting the elevation of the
surface to the mean of the elevation values on the two lines. This
feature resolves small measurement and interpolation errors.
To resolve crossing break lines, Quicksurf must compare every
segment of every break line against every other segment. As the
number of break lines increases, the computation time increases
dramatically. Only extract entities as break lines if they represent
an edge with an abrupt change in slope. If the entity lies in the
surface, but is in an area of continuous curvature, extract it with
Extract to surface rather than Extract breaks. This will speed processing.
Always use the TIN or Triangulated Grid command, not the Grid
command when modeling a surface containing break lines, as a
TIN and TGRD honor break lines exactly and Grid only approximates break lines. Likewise, contours created from surfaces containing breaks should always be generated based on the TIN or
TGRD, not the Grid, to insure that the breaks are honored exactly.
When to use break lines

Break lines are needed only when the slope on either side of a the
break line must be different. Break lines should be used only
when necessary because they substantially increase processing
time. The following sequence of figures represent the same input
data and different resulting surfaces based upon whether
polylines were extracted as point data (Extract to surface) or as
break lines (Extract breaks).
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Surface points plus

three 3D polylines were
extracted with Extract
to surface. Note the
curvature-induced surface overshoots. Derivatives are set to 2.
TGRD with no break lines
The middle 3D polyline

was extracted as a
break line with Extract
Breaks, but the outer
two were not. Overshoot still occurs ar the
bottom of the low area
and on the right side.
Notice the densification
of the 3D polyline
selected as a break line.
TGRD with center 3D polyline only selected as break line

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Extracting all three 3D

polylines as break lines
creates the desired
result.
All three break lines used
3D polylines may be used either as break lines (Extract Breaks)

or simply as surface control (Extract to surface) depending on
whether abrupt slope changes or smooth curvature is the desired
result.
Page 278
Chapter 11: Drape

Drape is a very powerful tool. Any object may be translated vertically until its Z values conform to the current surface. Drape
creates a new draped 3D drawing entity and deletes the original

source entity. The command syntax and settings are covered in
the Command reference and the Configuring Quicksurf chapters.
Drape may be used to solve for the Z value of a surface at a group
of points such as construction stake-out plans, fluid flow or finite
difference model nodes. It is particularly useful for combining
2D maps and 3D models of the same area, by converting 2D map
data into 3D data draped on topography. Any line or polyline
draped onto the surface becomes a 3D profile. Exploded hatch
patterns may be draped on a surface to create 3D thematic maps.
Concepts
Drape alters drawing entities so they conform in elevation to the
current surface in surface memory. Draping a point entity is the
simplest case. The Z value of the point entity is changed such
that it lies in the surface. How this elevation value is solved for is
determined by the Configure Drape settings.
Drape basis
Within the Configure Drape dialog you may specify to drape to
the Planar TIN, TIN (using curvature), TGRD or Grid.
Draping requires a surface to contain a TIN,
TGRD or Grid. You
cannot drape to a surface containing just
points.
The Planar TIN represents the surface as the TIN with no curvature within any one triangular face. The elevation of a point or
node is calculated on the planar triangular face. If a linear entity
(line or polyline) is draped using this method, vertices are only
added where it crosses a triangle edge. This results in the least
number of vertices in the draped line, yet it honors the surface
exactly.
Concepts
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Chapter 11: Drape
Draping to the TIN uses the derivatives along with the TIN to
drape on the complete mathematical description of the surface,
including breaks if present. This is more accurate than draping
on the TGRD or Grid, which represent a sampling of the mathematical surface at an interval based on the cell size used. Because
derivative (slope and curvature) information is used, the settings
for Derivatives in the Configure Grid dialog are used. Specifying None is the same as Planar TIN above. Specifying 1st or
2nd uses continuous slope or continuous curvature respectively.
Draping to the TGRD or Grid interpolates between the triangle or
grid cell vertices, rather than solving the underlying mathematical
surface. Draping to the TGRD or Grid does make sense in cases
where the grid or TGRD nodes have been modified with surface
operations such as Max, Min, or Trend, which alter the node elevations without respect to the TIN and derivatives.
Drape step
When draping an object consisting of lines and arcs, each segment is subdivided based upon drape step size into smaller segments by adding vertices. Each of these densified vertices is then
draped onto the surface and becomes a vertex of a new 3D
polyline resulting from the Drape command. The Configure
Drape dialog controls drape step size. Drape step is ignored
when draping to the Planar TIN.
Draping off the edge of a surface
If an entity, such as a line or polyline, extends past the edge of the
defined surface, those parts of the line which do not overlie the
defined surface are set to a constant elevation referred to as drape
base. The elevation used for drape base is set in the Undefined
grid value edit box within the Configure Grid dialog. It is a good
practice to only drape entities which entirely overlie the surface
or to use a boundary to clip them during draping if needed.
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Concepts
Chapter 11: Drape
Drape and Boundaries

If a boundary is enabled using the Set Boundary command,
Drape only creates objects within the defined boundary. For
example, if a rectangular boundary is in effect and a line to be
draped extends outside of the boundary, the resulting 3D draped
polyline will only be created within the boundary. No entities
will be created outside of the boundary. As a consequence of
this, draping an entity which lies totally outside of a boundary
will not produce any resulting entity. This will have the same
effect as an erase, because Drape erases the source entity and in
this case produces no new entity.
Using Drape
Solving for an elevation
If you have experimented with the Track Z command, you have
seen that Track Z interactively returns the Z value of a surface at
the cursor x,y position. Track Z is simply calling Drape continuously to report the surface elevation. Drape can solve for the z
values of a surface at many points for specific x,y locations. This
is accomplished by drawing the desired x,y locations into the
drawing as points at any elevation, then draping then them onto
the desired surface. The Z values of these draped points will now
reflect the surface elevation. You may post these values with the
Post entities command or export them to an ASCII file with the
Export data -> Entity XYZ data (DWG2TXT) command.
Many simulation models require filling of initial condition values
for large numbers of model cells. This can be accomplished
quickly and efficiently by draping the x,y cell configuration
points to the initial condition surface, then exporting the draped
points back to the simulation model.
Using Drape
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Chapter 11: Drape
Creating a 3D profile
Draping a line, arc, 2D or 3D polyline will result in a 3D polyline
representing the 3D surface profile. The flatten command may
then be used to generate a 2D profile from the 3D polyline if
desired.
Constructing design elements (break lines)

When modifying a surface to reflect a design or interpretation
which includes break lines, proper placement of the break lines in
3D space is essential. Drape may be used in conjunction with
temporary construction surfaces to build 3D polylines for use as
break lines. Temporary construction surfaces may be made with
the Build surface command or by extracting a handful of points or
break lines to create a surface (such as a constant slope) upon
which to drape a polyline having the desired horizontal alignment. Complex 3D polylines may be created quickly and accurately in this way.
Converting 2D maps to 3D maps

Map information consisting of 2D line and polyline data such as
roads, property lines or utility locations may be draped onto
topography to create 3D models of the site. Hatch patterns representing the areal distribution of a mapped property may be
exploded and draped onto topography to build a 3D thematic
map.
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Using Drape
Chapter 11: Drape
Application examples
Drape and post points
Assuming you have a surface containing at least a TIN in the <.>
surface, the Z values at arbitrary locations on the surface could
solved for and posted as follows.
Workflow
Draw points at the desired x,y locations.

Drape the points onto the desired surface.
Post the Z values using Post entities
Command sequence
Draw points at the desired x,y locations.
Point
Point: enter desired X,Y; repeat for all desired locations
Drape the points onto the desired surface.

Surface<.>: press enter to accept the <.> surface
Select objects: select just the drawn points, using layer control if needed
Post the Z values using Post entities

Annotate -> Post entities
Select objects: select just the drawn points, or use the following shortcut:
(answer P at this prompt to get the previous selection set)
Text position: select
Text height: select
Text angle <0>: select
Align (Left/Center/Middle/Right) <best>: select
These points could also be exported to an ASCII file using the

Export data -> Entity XYZ data command.
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Chapter 11: Drape
Horizontal arc to vertical curve

Many civil engineering design problems require a plan view arc
of constant radius to follow a non-horizontal surface. Drape can
change the Z values without altering the plan view radius of the
curve.
Workflow
Draw the horizontal alignment arc or polyline entity

Create the vertical alignment surface to be draped upon
Drape the entity onto the surface.
Command sequence
Draw the horizontal alignment arc entity, in this case a ten unit
radius arc covering 90 degrees in the northeast quadrant.
Arc
Center/<Start point>: 0,0
Center/End/<second point>:0,10
End Point: 10,0
Create the vertical alignment surface to be draped upon. Lets

use Build surface to create a sloping planar surface.
Design Tools -> Build surface
In the Build surface dialog, select Plane - 3 Points, and specify a

window from (-100,-100) to (100,100) for the extents of the temporary surface. Upon clicking OK to exit the box you will be
asked for three points defining the plane. Answer (0,0,0) (0,10,3)
(10,0,0). A plane with these properties will be created in the <.>
surface ready for draping upon.
Drape the arc entity onto the surface.
Select objects: select the arc entity
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Chapter 11: Drape
The arc is transformed into a 3D polyline with a constant horizontal radius. Viewing from an oblique viewpoint or listing the entity
will allow you to see the differing Z values for the resulting vertices.
Hatch pattern draped on a surface

Lets assume we need a 3D model with a hatch pattern draped on
the surface. Hatch patterns are blocks in AutoCAD, unless specifically created as an exploded hatch pattern. If you drape a
block (insert entity) it is translated in its entirety until its insertion
point lies in the surface. To drape the elements of a block, it must
be exploded into its component parts prior to draping. In the following example, we will explode a hatch pattern then drape it.
Workflow
Create a surface upon which to drape

Draw or create the closed polylines to hatch
Hatch within the polylines
Explode the hatch pattern block
Drape the exploded hatch pattern
Command sequence
First lets load a surface upon which to drape. We will use the
internal terrain generator built into Quicksurf.
Utilities -> Quicksurf utilities -> Generate Terrain
Number of points to be generated <1000>: press return
Generating [Flat, Rugged, Rolling, Mountainous] Terrain
Finished Generating Terrain
This has created a 1000 point surface in the <.> surface, but has
not yet created any additional parts such as a TIN needed for
draping. Lets show the contours. This will build a TIN, derivatives and a grid automatically.
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Chapter 11: Drape
Contour
Surface <.>: press return
None/Show/Draw/Redraw <Show>: press return
Now that we see where the surface exists, draw the closed
polylines within which to hatch. Be sure that the polyline you
draw entirely overlies the surface and is closed.
Command: Pline
From point: pick
Arc/Close/Halfwidth/Length/Undo/Width/<Endpoint of line>: draw pline
Arc/Close/Halfwidth/Length/Undo/Width/<Endpoint of line>: Close
Hatch within the polyline.

Command: Hatch
Pattern(? or name/U,style) <default>: Line
Scale for pattern< default>: choose a scale, adjust if needed
Angle for pattern<default>: 45
Select objects: select closed polyline
Explode the hatch pattern block. This is not required if you used
the exploded hatch option of the hatch command.
Command: Explode
Select objects: select hatch pattern block
Next we will drape the exploded hatch pattern, but first lets
change to an oblique view where we can see the changes.
Command: VPOINT
Rotate/<View point> <(0,0,1)>: 1,1,0.5 (zoom extents if needed)
Select objects: select the exploded hatch entities and the closed polyline
All of these entities are now in 3D lying on the <.> surface.

Zoom to extents if needed to see you model. Show the grid to see
the draped hatch pattern relative to the surface.
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Typically you will use Quicksurf to generate a surface model
from a data set either loaded from an ASCII file or extracted from
AutoCAD drawing entities. After generating and displaying a
TIN, TGRD, grid or contours, you will often want to change the
shape of the surface to reflect a proposed engineering design or to
add interpretation is areas of sparse control. You accomplish this
by adding extra control points (edit points) or 3D polylines representing breaks. Merge extract and Break extract can add your edit
data incrementally to the <.> surface. In some cases you will use
the AutoCAD drawing to merge a subset of the original data
points with edit points and/or break lines.
Examining the raw data

The first step in working with any surface is to load the known
points and/or break lines and examine the surface visually. The
best way to look at your raw data is to display the TIN from an
oblique viewpoint such as (1,1,1). This example assumes your
surface is in the results <.> surface, as it would be after an extract.
VPOINT
Rotate/ <View Point> <0.0000, 0.0000, 1.0000>: 1,1,1
Zoom the viewport to register over the surface.

Surface name <.>: Press enter
Show the TIN to see the extents of the current surface.

TIN
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The TIN has no interpolated points or slope effects; it is just your

raw data. Examine it and investigate any spikes or irregularities.
This is where you will catch mistakes involving bad points, such
as those extracted unrelated entities from the drawing (text, title
blocks, etc.). The TIN is your base data set and you should correct any apparent errors before further modeling.
Although examining your data is best from an oblique view, you
will normally add edit points from plan view.
Display the contours to see the current surface model. Adjust the
contour interval as necessary.
Contour
Surface name <current>: Press enter
The contours represent the surface model (TIN, TGRD, grid)

selected in the Configure contour dialog. If you are contouring on
the grid, the properties of the grid are controlled by the Configure
grid dialog. The grid and TGRD models can depart significantly
from the basic TIN model you first looked at, because slopes and
curvature effects now shape the surface.
What is an edit point?

An edit point is an extra point used to guide the surface in areas of
sparse control or areas of rapid slope change. Edit points may be
extracted from drawing entities with any of the Extract commands. Typically edit points are point entities, but 2D or 3D
polylines are sometimes used.
You know much more about the expected behavior of your surface than Quicksurf does. Edit points are how you communicate
this to Quicksurf so the resulting surface reflects you design or
interpretation.
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What is an edit point?
Adding edit points

It is a good idea to place edit points and the original points each
on their own layer. This is for ease of subsequent selection for
Merge extract as well as keeping ground truth and interpretation
(or design) separate. If you are going to use all of the original
raw data points, there is no need to draw them into the drawing.
If you are going to use a subset of the raw data points (perhaps
excluding points in excavation areas) you will want to draw them
in on their own layer.
Before adding additional edit points to the drawing, you need to
know the Z values of the surface in the vicinity you wish to edit.
You can either use the show mode of Post from memory to post
the values of the original data points or use Track Z to investigate
the surface interactively. You can sample the elevation of any
surface which has a TIN, grid or TGRD by using the Track Z
command. Track Z returns the elevation of the surface part
selected in the Configure Drape dialog box.
Utilities -> Elevation Utilities -> Track Z
Surface name <current>: Press enter
As you move the cursor over the surface and the surface elevation
at the cross-hairs is displayed on the top status bar. Press a return
to exit the Track Z command. Once you have decided upon the Z
elevation for point(s) to be added, use the Elev command to set
the Z value of the added points.
Command: ELEV
New current elevation <231.0000>: Specify new elevation
New current thickness <0.0000>: Enter zero
Now draw the new point(s) using AutoCADs Point command.

Dont confuse Quicksurfs POINTS and
AutoCADs POINT command
Command: POINT
Point: pick location
Adding edit points
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You may add edit points as needed to the various areas of the surface you wish to modify. Other entities may also be used as a
source of edit points, such as 2D polylines (if you want to draw a
contour to control the surface). Most AutoCAD entities may be
extracted with Quicksurf and therefore may be used as edit entities, although points and polylines make the most sense.
Review the Concepts
chapter if you are fuzzy
on the difference
between surfaces and
drawing entities.
If the surface you are modifying in already in the results <.> surface, the next step is to use Merge extract to make a surface which
is the combination of the points in the <.> surface and the new
edit points. If the surface you are going to modify is in a named
surface, use surface operations to copy it to the <.> surface. The
reason is that Merge extract incrementally adds points to the <.>
surface only.
Extract from drawing -> Merge extract
Select objects: select your edit points
You may want to use the filters available via the Configure extract
dialog box to aid in your Merge extract selection. The results <.>
surface now contains the combination of the original points plus
your edit points. Now contour the current surface again.
Contour
...and you get a set of contours reflecting your changes. This

technique has the advantage of repeatability. You will typically
iterate through this several times refining your surface until it
meets your needs.
By keeping your original data and edit points on separate layers,
you may use your original data for posting using Post entities, yet
contour the surface containing your edit modifications.
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Adding edit points
Editing surfaces with break line data is similar in the sense that
you use Extract breaks to incrementally add new break lines to
the surface. Keep in mind, that if you alter a 3D polyline already
extracted as a break line, then re-extract it, you are creating a
stacked break line. The resulting break line in surface memory
will be an average of the two, not the last one extracted. In these
rare cases, recreate the surface from scratch.
Editing contour polylines

Manually editing the 2D polyline entities representing contours
has no effect on surfaces in surface memory. Changes made to
contour polylines are reflected in surface memory only if the
altered contours are extracted with Extract to surface and a new
surface created.
Editing contours
doesnt change surface
memory!
Drawn contour polylines may be edited with AutoCADs pedit or

stretch commands. Invoke the pedit command, select a contour
then select the Edit Vertex option.
Command: PEDIT
Select polyline: select contour polyline
Close/Join/Width/Edit vertex/Fit/Spline/Decurve/Undo/eXit _<X>: E
Next/Prev/Break/Insert/Move/Regen/Str/Tan/Width/eXit/ _<N>: select
AutoCAD displays an X at the first vertex of the contour

polyline. Press N (Next) or P (Previous) as necessary to move the
X to a vertex you want to move; then press M to select Move.
Pick a new location with the mouse; the vertex will move to that
location and the contour will be redrawn. Repeat as many times
as necessary to reshape the contour polyline as desired. The
Straighten option of PEDIT allows you to discard vertices that are
too close together. When you are done press X one or more times
to exit PEDIT.
Editing contour polylines
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Quicksurf may occasionally generate a contour with a kink in it

caused by three vertices very close to one another. Eliminating
one of the three vertices with the straighten option of pedit will
eliminate the problem.
Using the Stretch command together with grips is a convenient
way to alter contours, but care must be taken not to corrupt the
elevation of the contour. Using stretch with grips will move a
vertex in XY as you move the cursor. The Z elevation of the vertex will be changed to the current elevation if the entity allows.
For 3D polylines, this is a major problem, unless you constantly
adjust AutoCADs elevation setting.
Manually editing contour polylines can corrupt the elevation
information carried within the polyline. AutoCAD carries elevation data in two separate places for a given 2D polyline and manually editing polylines can cause these two elevations to be
inconsistent. Occasionally these corrupted polylines will cause
the Label Contours command to label the wrong elevation (typically zero). This only occurs on edited polylines.
These technique are simply hand modifications to the contour
drawings. Modified contours may be extracted as a source of edit
points, but generally just adding points is more efficient. If you
are going to build profiles, drape objects or calculate slopes or
volumes, you need to change the surface, not just the contours.
Correcting slope excursions

When modeling using the Standard method (continuous curvature) with Derivatives set to 2nd within the Configure Grid dialog,
Quicksurf enforces continuous curvature of the resulting surface. This means that the local slopes at each data point are projected into the areas between points in such a way that continuous
surface curvature is maintained. For most data sets, this produces
well behaved smooth surfaces.
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Slope-induced problems can occur when two points are close to

one another and have different elevations. If this occurs in an
area with little or no nearby control to constrain the surface,
Quicksurf extrapolates the surface into these areas honoring the
steep slope generated by the pair of points. This produces a artificial high on one side of the points and an artificial low on the
opposite side of the points.
The root of the problem is the steep slope generated by two
nearby points, not their absolute z values. Two points a distance
apart of 109 horizontally and 10 9 vertically still produce a 45
degree slope, even though the points are visually indistinguishable. This slope is honored by Quicksurf.
There are two choices in this situation. Either eliminate one of
the points (if they are redundant), or add edit points to constrain
the surface (if the points are valid).
Slope induced overshoot problems from one bad point
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Removing the bad point produces a normal map
The characteristic high-low pair of overshoots is a symptom of

two close points producing a steep slope. When you encounter
such cases, show the TIN to quickly determine the offending
point. The TIN line adjacent to the problem connects to the bad
point. Either correct the elevation, delete the point, or add edit
points or polylines to constrain the surface.
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Efficient use of Quicksurf for most site planning problems entails
creating a model representing the existing site, analyzing the
existing topography, then building your design by modifying the
existing model. By starting with the existing surface, you
develop a base model upon which to build. Slope analysis, drainage design and cut/fill volumes will all be dependent upon a valid
base model. This short chapter simply gives an overview of the
workflow and some of the possible commands used at each step
in a typical design process.
Workflow Overview
Create and save a surface of the existing site topography one

or more of these commands:
Read ASCII points or Read ASCII table
Read QSB
Extract to Surface or Merge Extract
TIN
Surface operations Copy
Correct any errors in the original surface data.
Analyze the surface, if necessary
ASCII file
Binary QSB file
Drawing entities
Use Color options -> Surface colors to color the surface

by elevation, slope, visibility, light or shadow as
required, then TIN or Grid and show the surface. Perspective views using Surface view can help in site visualization. The slopes may be contoured by using Surface
operations -> Degree slope to make a surface representing slope, then use Contour to display it.
Analyze existing drainage flowlines using 3D flowlines, if

needed.
Workflow Overview
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This design sequence

creates 3D polylines for
use as break lines.
Create your design elements, first drawing control lines, then

using Intersect slope and Apply section as needed to determine slope intersections. During this stage you will commonly use some of the following commands, mostly from the
Design Tools menu:
Build surface
Drape
Flatten
Cross-section
Vertical align
Intersect slope
Apply section
(for temporary surfaces to Drape upon)

(to place objects in correct 3D position)
(to build 2D profiles from 3D polylines)
(to build 2D profiles from 2D polylines)
(to adjust vertical profiles)
(to determine slope-surface intersections)
(to apply a 2D section to a 3D control line)
Create your proposed design surface using some of the following commands:
Extract to surface or Merge extract
Extract Breaks
TIN
TGRD
The design area and the existing undisturbed area are

separated by the daylight line, being the 3D polyline
which ties the existing surface to the design surface.
Your proposed design surface will consist of the existing
surface control points in undisturbed areas and your new
design break lines and points in the altered area. You
will be using layer management and perhaps Set Boundary to insure that you keep the original existing surface
control points and your newly drawn design points and
break lines separate.
Determine cut and fill volumes using Area volume.

Analyze final design surface drainage flowlines using 3D
flowlines, if needed.
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Workflow Overview

Fast, accurate volumes are very important in most surface modeling applications. Within Quicksurf, volumes may be computed
directly from surfaces residing in surface memory using the Surface volume, Area volume or Boundary volume command or
computed from a drawn TIN, TGRD or Grid using the Volume by
entity command. None of these volume functions use the current
boundary which may have been set with the Set Boundary command, rather they may prompt for one or more closed polylines
representing areas under which to calculate volumes.
TIN based volumetrics

Quicksurf calculates volumes of a surface by summing the volume underneath each face of the surface within the area specified.
A face may represent the either the triangles of a TIN or Triangulated Grid; or the rectangular grid cells of a Grid.
Volume under a triangle

For any surface with a TIN, calculating a volume consists of calculating the volume under each triangle in the desired area and
summing the result. Remember that regular TINs and Triangulated Grids are both types of TINs. First lets look at one triangle
of a TIN and determine its volume.
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Volume under one triangle
The volume under a triangle is measured relative to the zero (XY)

plane. The Z value of the surface used in a volume command
represents thickness. If you use the Surface volume, Area volume
or Boundary volume commands, you may also calculate the volume between two surfaces or the volume between a surface and a
constant. In these two cases, Quicksurf calculates the thickness
surface and places it in the results <.> surface. A Z value of zero
in this surface represents zero thickness. All volume calculation
is then performed on this thickness surface.
If you have subtracted an existing topographic surface from a
proposed topographic surface, areas of fill will have positive
thickness values and areas of cut will have negative thickness values. When volumes are then calculated, positive (fill) values are
calculated as positive volumes and negative (cut) values are calculated as negative volumes. Reversing the order of the surfaces
in the calculation will reverse the sign (+/-) of the resulting volumes.
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Volume under a surface

Calculating the volume under a surface consisting of triangles is
accomplished by summing the individual volumes of the component triangles within the area to be calculated.
Volume under part of a TIN
Entire surface
If we want the volume under an entire TIN, we may simply draw
the TIN and use the Volume by entity command and select the
drawn TIN. If the TIN was drawn as a polyface mesh, select the
one polyface entity. If the TIN was drawn as individual 3D faces,
select all of the 3D faces. It is easier to use the Surface volume
command which returns the same result, but does not draw any
AutoCAD drawing entities.
Partial surface volume

To determine the volume under a sub-area of a surface, we first
must be sure that the edge of the TIN we are drawing follows the
outline of the sub-area boundary. There are several ways to
accomplish this. For understanding how partial volumes are calTIN based volumetrics
Page 299
culated, we will manually step through the procedure used internally by Area volume and then use the Volume by entity
command to calculate the volumes. Once you are comfortable
with the method, you will use the Area Volume command for this
purpose, which is fast, automatic and does not draw drawing entities.
Understanding volume calculation

The following example proceeds step by step in calculating a TIN
volume beneath an irregular boundary. The Area volume command will do this in one command, but we will step through the
procedure manually and use the Volume by entity command for a
more complete understanding. Assume we have two surfaces
named Existing and Proposed and we need to determine the volume between the two within an arbitrary boundary polygon
which entirely overlies the TIN when viewed from plan view.
The boundary within which we want to calculate volumes is typically defined by a closed 2D or 3D polyline.
Volume within an irregular boundary
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Workflow
Normally you will use
the Area volume command which does this in
one step.
Create and TIN the Existing surface

Create and TIN the Proposed surface
Calculate thickness (Proposed - Existing) with surf operations
Drape the boundary polyline onto the thickness surface
Extract this draped polyline as both a break and a boundary
TIN the thickness surface and draw the TIN
Run the Volume by entity command on the drawn TIN
The actual command sequence to accomplish this follows. It

assumes that a boundary polyline and the data points are drawn
into the drawing and that appropriate layers are toggled prior to
extracting points.
Extract Existing points
TIN
Surface <.> : <.>
Rename <.> surface to Existing with Surface operations dialog

Extract Proposed points
TIN <.>
Surface <.> : <.>
Rename <.> surface to Proposed with Surface operations dialog

Calculate (Proposed - Existing) with surface operations
TIN
Creates the thickness surface
Surface <.> : <.>
Design tools -> Drape

Surface <.> : <.>
Select objects: Select boundary polyline
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Select objects: Select
draped boundary polyline
TIN
Draw the TIN
Surface <.> : <.>

None/Show/Draw/Redraw: Draw
Lines/3DFaces/Polyface: Polyface
Select invisibility...
All/Interior/None <None>: None
This TIN represents the thickness surface. Areas above the zero
(XY) plane represent fill and areas below the zero plane represent
cut. This is because we calculated Proposed - Existing. If you
reverse the order of the calculation, you will reverse the relationship of positive and negative areas versus cut and fill areas.
Creating a thickness TIN for volume calculation
Always examine the thickness surface by examining the TIN

from an oblique view, or displaying contours, prior to calculating volumes. Is the surface reasonable? Many common
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errors, such as incorrect boundaries or bad data points, will be

very apparent. If the thickness surface passes inspection, calculate its volume.
Volumetrics -> Volume by entity
Select objects: Select drawn TIN
The volume under each face is calculated and summed together to

result in the total volume within the irregular boundary.
The resulting volumes are reported in three parts:
Positive volume
Negative volume
Net volume
The volume above the zero plane (fill)

The volume below the zero plane (cut)
The sum of these two volumes (balance)
If the net volume is zero, then the cut volume equals the fill volume.
This was a fairly long sequence of commands, but you can
observe the calculation step-by-step. In practice, you would use
the Area volume command, select the two surface names and the
boundary polyline and the volumes would be automatically calculated and reported.
Volume by Entity
Volume by entity calculates the volume under AutoCAD drawing
entities. Unlike Surface volume, Area volume and Boundary volume which operate on surfaces in memory, Volume by entity only
operates on drawing entities such as meshes, polyface meshes and

3D faces drawn with the TIN, TGRD or Grid commands.
Volume by entity
Volume by Entity
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Select objects via the normal AutoCAD object selection methods.

Quicksurf will calculate the volume under the selected entities in
cubic drawing units. 3DFACEs, Polyfaces, and 3D polygon
meshes are the only entity types that will yield a volume; all other
entities are ignored. The status bar will be updated with the total
as it is calculated. Volume by entity computes three results: a positive volume for objects above the zero datum (x,y) plane, a negative volume for objects below the zero datum plane, and a net
volume.
Volume by entity always calculates volumes relative to the zero
plane (XY plane) of world coordinate system. If you want the

volume calculated with reference to a different plane from the
zero datum, use the AutoCAD Move command to move the
drawn TIN or GRID vertically to the desired level.
Either grid cells or triangles may be used to compute a volume
under a surface, but they generally yield slightly different results:
triangles are treated as flat faces, whereas the grid represents uniform sampling of a smoothed curved surface that passes through
all the control points. If the grid is a 3D polygon mesh, a single
value of volume for the entire mesh is calculated. If the grid consists of individual 3DFACEs or Polyfaces they are calculated for
all selected faces, then summed and reported.
If the resultant faces extend both above and below zero datum,
those faces above the zero plane are reported as positive volumes
and those faces below the zero plane are reported as negative volumes. If a single face penetrates through the zero plane, a single
net volume is calculated for that face, rather than separate positive and negative portions.
All of Quicksurfs volume commands will produce identical
results when run on the same surface parts. Volumes run on a
TIN, TGRD and Grid of the same surface will yield different
results, because of different amounts of curvature information
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Volume by Entity
carried by the different surface parts. TGRDs and Grids may

reflect surface curvature, regular TINs do not. Always visually
examine a surface prior to calculating its volume.
Volume calculation from surface memory

Volumes may be computed directly from surfaces residing in surface memory using the Surface volume, Area volume or Boundary volume command. None of these volume functions use the
current boundary which may have been set with the Set Boundary
command, rather they prompt for closed polylines representing
areas under which to calculate volumes if areas are required.
These three commands all invoke the same dialog box.
Surface Volume dialog box
Volume calculation options

Volume may be calculated between a surface and the zero plane
<.> will contain the actual thickness surface for which the volume
is calculated. You may show or draw this surface to confirm its
geometry. Always inspect the thickness surface prior to volume
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calculation by showing the TIN, TGRD or Grid from an oblique

viewpoint or by contouring it. In some cases the edges may contain anomalies; either correct the surface or exclude the edge
effect by using Area Volumes.
Within the dialog box you may specify the basis for the volume
(Planar TIN, TIN with derivatives, Grid or TGRD), the first surface, optionally a second surface or constant, and output file
name and type.
Basis for volume calculation
Planar TIN
TIN w/ Deriv
Grid
TGRD
Calculate volumes based on the planar TIN.

Calculate volumes using the TIN and derivatives.
Calculate volumes based on the Grid.
Calculate volumes based on the TGRD.
The volume will be computed on the selected surface part. If the

part does not exist, the selection will be grayed-out. The Planar
TIN selection will always be available and a TIN will be created if
required.
First surface name
Select the surface under which to calculate volumes from the surface pick list. If this surface represents thickness, the volume
should be computed between this surface and the zero (XY)
plane. In this case you would specify None for the second surface. If the volume to be computed lies between two surfaces or
between one surface and a constant elevation you will need to
specify the second surface or constant.
Second surface name
If the desired volume is between two surfaces, click on the check
box next to the surface pick list and select the second surface
from the pick list. A new surface representing the difference
between the two surfaces (first surface minus second surface) is
computed and placed in the results <.> surface and the volume is
calculated.
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Internally this computation uses the TIN, derivatives, grid and/or

TGRD with the Maximize option within the surface operation
subtract. This insures the most rigorous resulting thickness surface. If you want curvature used when calculating the volume
between two surfaces, use the TIN with derivatives option.
Two surface example

If you have two surfaces EXISTING and PROPOSED and select
PROPOSED as the first surface and EXISTING as the second surface, the results <.> surface will contain your cut/fill surface.
Positive areas (P - E > 0) represent areas of fill and positive volumes represent the fill volumes. Negative areas (P - E < 0) represent areas of cut and "negative" volumes represent the cut
volumes. Positive and negative volumes represent the volumes
above and below (respectively) the zero (XY) plane of the surface
being computed. The net volume reported is the sum of positive
and negative volumes. When the net volume equals zero, the cut
and fill volumes are the same.
Constant
If the desired volume is between a surface and a plane of constant
elevation, select the check box next to the Constant selection and
enter the constant value in the edit box. A surface representing
the difference between the first surface and the constant (first surface minus constant) is computed and placed in the results <.>
surface and the volume is calculated.
This option is convenient for determining reservoir volumes at
different water levels.
None
The volume between the first surface and the zero plane is computed. Select the check box next to None. Use this for computing the volume of a surface already representing thickness.
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File output
The resulting volumes are always displayed on the text screen,
but may be optionally written to a text file. Select the check box
of the desired option and press the File button and supply a file
name up to eight characters in file dialog. The appropriate file
type (.txt) will be appended.
ASCII
None
Writes an ASCII text file.

Does not write a file.
If a volume units conversion factor and units name has been specified in the Configure Units dialog, the volumes will be converted
and displayed in the specified units.
Label areas
Area volume and Boundary volume allow for the volumes under
multiple sub-areas of the surface to be calculated. When multiple
area polygons are selected, selecting the Label Areas checkbox
will cause each polygon to be sequentially labeled with area numbers. These area numbers correspond to the area numbering in
the volume report. The labels are placed on the current layer, in
the current text style, and at a text height equal to the grid cell
size, unless overridden by a current text style containing a fixed
text height. The areas are numbered in the order the are selected.
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Running a volume command

After selecting the options in the Surface Volume dialog box and
pressing OK, you are prompted to select area polygons (if
needed) and the calculated volumes are displayed on the text
screen. The volume results are written to the file or database
table if requested.
Volumes reported
The volume report produced looks similar to the following:
VOLUMES:
Reported in Cu.Yds.
Using 0.37037 cubic units/Cu.Yds.
Area
1
2
3
Positive Volume
15025.1
10215.3
982.5
Total
26222.9
Negative Volume
14215.5
9812.4
3402.5
27430.4
Net Volume
809.6
402.9
-2420.0
-1207.5
For each area three numbers are reported:

Positive Volume: The positive volume within the area polygon.
Negative Volume: The negative volume within the area polygon.
Net Volume:
The net sum of volumes within the area polygon.
A Total Positive Volume is reported representing the total positive volume of the entire surface. A Total Negative Volume is
reported representing the total negative volume for the entire surface. Positive volumes represent areas with Z values greater than
zero and negative volumes represent areas with Z values less than
zero.
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If you have selected a volume conversion factor and unit name in

the Configure Units dialog box, the volumes reported will have
the conversion factor applied and the units name will be displayed. There is no validity checking on user-supplied units conversion factors.
The three variations of the volume command are individually
described below.
Surface volume
The Surface volume command calculates the volume under an
entire surface in surface memory. If you are using this volume to
compare to a volume computed under a different surface, you
must insure that the area covered by the two surfaces are identical.
Area Volume
The Area volume command calculates the volume under one or
more sub-areas of surface in surface memory. Each sub-area is
defined by selecting a closed polyline representing the area under
which the volume is to be calculated. You may select as many
sub-areas as you wish.
Caution: Area polygons
should not overlap!
Be careful not to overlap or nest area polygons, or incorrect

results will be obtained. If your area polygons are adjacent to one
another use OSNAP when constructing the polylines to insure that
adjacent area polygons share vertices.
The surface part used for volume calculation (TIN, Grid or
TGRD) must be defined in the area covered by the area polygon.
If a surface is not defined under part of an area polygon, the undefined area contributes no volume to the reported volumes.
Volumes may be calculated between a surface and the zero plane
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<.> will contain the actual surface for which the volume is calculated. You may show or draw this surface to confirm its geometry.
Internally, Area Volume performs the same sequence as described
in the volume example earlier in this chapter. Each area polygon
is conceptually draped on the surface, densified and used as a
break as well as a boundary, then the volume is computed within
the area polygons boundary. This is done for all area polygons
selected and the report is written to a file or database file.
Boundary Volume
Boundary volume is a special case of Area Volume where the
thickness surface being calculated tapers to zero and the specific
"zero-line" polyline must be honored, even if it crosses TIN or
Grid boundaries. This command should not be used for general
volume calculation: use Area volume instead.
Boundary volumes was designed for petroleum industry calculation of "hydrocarbon pore volume" maps. In these situations a
negotiated zero-line representing the absolute tapered zero edge
of the hydrocarbon accumulation is determined and must be honored exactly by all volume calculation. The zero-line polygon
should be drawn at an elevation of zero. The Z value of the surface being calculated is forced to zero everywhere along this zero
line. This is quite different from the polygon area boundaries
which honor the Z value of the surface.
This command is for special cases such as stockpile volumes
where the toe of the pile is known exactly, or other volume problems where the surface being calculated tapers to a known zero
edge. For general volume problems, use the Area Volume command instead.
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Practical volume calculations

When calculating a volume, you must choose whether to base the
volume on the TIN, the Triangulated Grid or a regular Grid. The
choice depends upon whether break lines are present in your surface and whether surface curvature between data points is
desired. The differences are listed below.
Planar TIN
TIN w/ deriv.
Grid
TGRD
Planar faces, honors breaks, no curvature

TIN (using curvature for drape), honors breaks
No break lines, uses curvature if present
Break lines and curvature
Planar TIN volumes

Calculating the volume from a TIN uses the planar faces of the
triangles for volume calculation. Break lines are honored exactly
by the TIN. TINs are used for data sets in which there is sufficient control that inter-point curvature may be ignored or is not
desired. Examples include volumes on sites with dense control
(such as dense contours or points from a stereo-plotter) or sites
with mainly break lines such as benched pits.
Choosing TIN based volumes means that linear interpolation
between the points and densified break lines accurately describes
the surface.
TIN volumes using derivatives
Calculating the volume from a TIN with derivatives uses the planar faces of the triangles of the <.> surface for the actual volume
calculation, but uses curvature (derivatives) internally when draping one surface to the other to determine thickness. Break lines
are honored exactly by the TIN. TIN with derivatives is used for
volumes between two surfaces in which inter-point curvature is
significant. Examples include volumes on sites with sparse control on one surface where Quicksurf-supplied curvature is needed
to properly represent the surface.
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Grid volumes
If your surface contains
break lines use the TIN
or TGRD for volumes.
Calculating the volume from a Grid uses the average elevation for
each grid cell multiplied by its plan-view area for volume calculation. Grids are used for data sets which have no break lines and
inter-point surface curvature is desired. Examples include volumes on sites with sparse control (such as spot elevations on rolling topography) or sites with smooth rolling surfaces and no
break lines.
Choosing Grid based volumes means that a grid accurately
describes the surface, even though the grid will not have grid
nodes exactly at control points. If you choose Grid based volumes on a surface containing break lines, an error message will
result. Surfaces containing break lines should have volumes
based on either the TIN or TGRD, because a grid tends to average
across break lines.
TGRD volumes
Calculating volumes
using TIN with derivatives is usually more
efficient.
Calculating the volume from a TGRD (Triangulated Grid) uses

the planar faces of the triangles of the TGRD for volume calculation. Break lines are honored exactly by the TGRD. TGRDs are
used for data sets in which both inter-point curvature and break
lines are needed. Examples include volumes on sites with rolling
topography mixed with abrupt cuts, ditches or walls. A golf
course green together with its associated sand traps would be
such a case: Curvature is needed on the green and in the bottom
of the sand traps, but the edge between the sand traps and the
green will be break lines. The TGRD is a special type of TIN
which has densified vertices along break lines and vertices at grid
nodes away from the break lines which honor surface curvature.
The resulting surface honors both curvature and break lines.
Choosing TGRD based volumes means that both breaks and surface curvature are needed to accurately describe the surface.
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Boundary conditions
The surface must be defined everywhere underlying the area
polygon for which volumes are to be calculated. If the area polygon extends past the defined surface, only the part of the surface
within the polygon will be calculated. Any portion of the area
polygon without the surface underlying it is assigned a volume of
zero.
It is a good practice to display the TIN, Grid or TGRD (using the
Show option) in plan view and compare them to your area polygons prior to calculating a volume. This allows you to confirm
that the surface is defined everywhere beneath your area polygons. If your area polygon extends past the edge of your surface,
you have two choices: Alter the area polygon or extend the surface by adding additional control points.
Remember that Area volume and Boundary volume do not allow
nested or overlapping polygons. Nested polygon cases may be
accomplished using boundaries, draped polylines as breaks and
the Volume by entity command.
If you are using Volume by entity, you must drape the area polygon onto the surface, then extract it as both a break and a boundary, prior to drawing the TIN. In this case it is extremely
important that the draped polyline (now a 3D polyline) reflects
the correct Z value as it traces the area boundary. Always inspect
the TIN visually prior to calculating volumes.
Comparison to Average End Area volumes

Many users may be more familiar with Average End Area volume calculation, rather than TIN based calculation. Average End
Area calculations involve generating a series of sections across
the model, then multiplying the average area of adjacent sections
by the distance between them. The implicit assumption is that the
change in the surface between adjacent sections is linear and no
surface curvature occurs between sections. To approximate this,
many sections must be created. Yet in the end, the problem with
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Average End Area is the first word in its name: Average. The
accuracy of the result is variable, depending upon section spacing. The TIN honors every data point exactly and the volume
beneath each triangle of the TIN is a discrete fixed volume, not an
average. A TIN based model is faster, more accurate, and simpler to use.
Common volume calculation mistakes

The most common user mistakes in calculating volumes relate to
boundary conditions. The following guidelines should be
reviewed:
The thickness surface must be defined under the area to be

calculated.
If the difference between two surfaces is used, both original

surfaces must be defined under the area to be calculated.
Area polygons should not overlap or be nested.
Inspect the surface visually by contouring it in plan view or

viewing the TIN, Grid or TGRD from a perspective view
prior to calculating the volume. Is it reasonable?
Calculate the volume of the appropriate surface part based on

the guidelines in Practical volume calculations earlier in this
chapter.
If you are comparing resulting volumes calculated from different surfaces, they must be computed under exactly the
same area to have any meaning.
If you are using a volume conversion factor in the Configure

Units dialog box, a mistake in entering the conversion factor
will be reflected in all volumes reported.
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Quicksurf
Chapter 15: Surface estimation methods

Quicksurf supports many surface estimation methods. No one
method works perfectly for all data sets. This short chapter is
designed as a guide for selecting the method and settings which
are appropriate for different data sets.
Supported methods
Surface models may be built based on a TIN or a grid model.
Grid models may be created using many variations of curvature
based or variogram based algorithms.
Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN)
The TIN is the basis for all Quicksurf methods. The TIN by itself
represents the optimal triangulation of the input data set. Quicksurf honors the Delauney criterion for triangulation by adjusting
each triangle within the network to be as close to equilateral as
possible.
A TIN is the set of interconnected planar triangular faces connecting the input control points. The surface of the TIN represents the elevation computed by direct linear interpolation
between the control points. Contouring on the TIN or draping on
the Planar TIN solves for elevations based upon this linear interpolation surface.
The Quicksurf triangulation algorithm is extraordinarily fast.
Using the TIN for quick surface examination or draping upon is
very efficient. Due to the speed of triangulation, Quicksurf is
able to repeatedly triangulate to rapidly converge on complex
break line auto-densification problems.
Supported methods
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Chpater 15: Surface estimation methods
Slope-based methods
The Standard method of Quicksurf uses the TIN as a framework
and computes first derivatives (slope) and second derivatives
(curvature) at each vertex of the TIN. The slope calculation uses
neighboring points and a slope weighting factor based on distance. This results in slope and curvature values for the three vertices of each triangle. A mathematical surface is then calculated
describing the elevation (z value) anywhere within the triangle.
This surface may have different shapes based upon the Derivatives settings in the Configure Grid dialog. The choices include
using continuous slope and curvature (default), continuous slope
only, or using the planar faces of the TIN. Grids or TGRDs are
then computed by solving the mathematical surface at each grid
node.
Derivatives
The Derivatives setting
is used by many commands.
The derivatives setting controls the intra-triangle curvature used

when computing a z value. Grid, Drape, Cross-section and
numerical Surface operations all rely on these settings when
determining a surface elevation. These settings are in the Configure Grid dialog.
None
Setting Derivatives to None results in the planar face of the TIN
being used for z value calculation.
First
Derivatives to 1st results in first derivatives only (continuous
slope) being used for z value calculation within a triangle.
Second
Derivatives to 2nd results in first and second derivatives (contin-
uous slope and curvature) being used for z value calculation.
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Supported methods
Blend order
Using the slope and curvature constraints in the derivatives setting, Quicksurf generates a polynomial surface for each triangle.
Blend order controls how the transition between adjacent triangle
polynomials is handled. Generally blend order should be set to
the same value as used for derivatives. Blend order has no effect
with derivatives set to None, because no blending between curved
polynomial surfaces is done.
Constraining slopes
Selecting 1st or 2nd derivatives causes slopes to be projected
between control points. Generally this is desirable, but in certain
irregularly spaces data sets this can cause projected surface highs
or lows in areas with no points, but steep slopes on the perimeter.
In these areas the resulting surface may be higher or lower than
the input data set. These overshoots may be constrained with the
Honor local extrema option. This forces the slope to zero (flat) at
local highs or lows in the input point data, thereby eliminating
overshoot.
Geostatistical methods
Many variations of kriging are included in Quicksurf. Kriging
uses the statistical relationship between the variance of the surface versus inter-point distance to develop a surface model. Kriging does not use slope and curvature, therefore it works well with
data sets which exhibit curvature-based overshoots with Quicksurfs standard method. Kriging theory is beyond the scope of
this manual, but a brief overview is included the Variogram
Design section of the Command reference chapter.
Kriging builds a grid directly from the input points and the Nugget, Range, Sill and Variogram type specified during variogram
design. A TIN is constructed during kriging to be used for neighborhood determination. Kriging does not support break line discontinuities.
Supported methods
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Kriging is excellent for concentration data sets or very small data

sets in which there are not enough points for curvature based
methods to be meaningful. Small data sets do not provide enough
points for reliable variogram design, but if the variogram parameters are known they may be specified discretely in the Configure
Grid dialog, and a meaningful map produced.
Which method do I use?

Quicksurfs default method is to contour on a Grid created with
the Standard method and Derivatives set to 2nd. This produces
a surface with continuous slope and curvature. For most topographic data sets with uniform sampling this produces excellent
results. If the data sampling is very non-uniform (such as linebase geophysical surveys) or the slope changes are extreme (such
as concentration/contaminant data) different settings or method
may needed to produce the desired map.
Workflow
The following steps outline how to examine an unknown data set
and choose a contour and grid method.
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Load the points into surface memory
Use Surface Zoom to align the view and the surface
Show the TIN
Examine the data in plan view. Correct obvious data errors
Use VPOINT and Surface Zoom to establish an oblique view
Show the TIN
Examine the data. Correct any obvious elevation errors
Once any bad points have been fixed, revert to plan view
Set to contour on the TIN in the Configure Contour dialog
Set the contour interval to Auto using 20 intervals

Which method do I use?
Show the contours (Contour color by cycle helps visibility)

This is the linear interpolation of your data set. Any problems you see here relate to the raw data, not the method.
Select to contour on the Grid in the Configure Contour dialog.
Set Standard method, 2nd derivatives, Honor local extrema

in the Configure Grid dialog.
Show the contours (now based on continuous curvature)
If you have angular contours due to too large a grid cell size,
use Surface Options -> Cell size to adjust the cell size.
If you have overshoot problems, change derivatives to None

in the Configure Grid dialog.
Delete the existing Derivative and Grid surface parts using

the Surface operations dialog and the Clear parts button.
Show the contours (builds a new grid with your changes)
If this is still unacceptable try kriging. See Variogram Design

in the Command reference chapter.
Data types and surface methods

The following outline of data types and suggested methods
should be viewed with great skepticism. Each data set is unique
and has different requirements. These are just starting points.
Topography
Geophysical line-based
Concentration
Angular site plan
Surfaces with breaks
Isopach maps
Structure maps
Faulted structure maps
Standard method; 2nd derivatives

Standard method; None derivatives
Krige method; Spherical variogram
Contour on TIN; no grid used
Contouring on the TIN always shows the raw input data.

Data types and surface methods
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Quicksurf
Chapter 16: 3D Studio meshes

The combination of Quicksurf with Autodesks 3D Studio animation and rendering package provides for photorealistic rendered
still images or stunning fly-through/drive-through animations of
your model. Surfaces may be segregated into related patches for
ease of materials application. Quicksurf can create morphable
meshes, allowing you to display a surface changing shape over
time. Contaminant flow animations may be constructed which
show the movement of an iso-concentration surface over time.
Exporting mesh objects

The basic 3D Studio geometry entity is a mesh object. Quicksurf
can write any surface as a 3DS mesh object directly from surface
memory to a .3DS file, ready to be merged into any other 3D Studio file. Drawn polyface mesh entities within AutoCAD may be
exported to 3D Studio using DXFOUT, then imported into 3D Studio. Each method has pros and cons. All Quicksurf-generated
mesh objects or polyface mesh entities are rigorously created
with their face normals pointing up, thereby allowing you to use
one-sided materials within 3D Studio.
Direct surface export

Entire surfaces may be written directly from Quicksurf surface
memory to .3DS mesh files using
Export data -> Surface data -> Write 3DS file
This is very efficient because no AutoCAD drawing entities or

large DXF disk files are required. The mesh object which is written represents the entire surface and is identical to the object created by drawing the entire TIN, TGRD or Grid and transferring it
to 3D Studio using DXF.
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Chapter 16: Creating 3D Studio meshes
There is a 65,456 face limit on 3DS mesh objects. If you attempt

to export a surface with more than this number of faces, an error
message will result. In such cases, the Surface Region command
can be used to automatically partition large surfaces into polyface
mesh entities of acceptable size for DXF export. The command
is found under Design Tools -> Surface Region.
Subdividing surfaces
Quicksurf surfaces may be subdivided into smaller related
patches with the Surface Region command for ease of materials
application within 3D Studio. Surface Region is used for two
main functions: 1) Creating one 3DS mesh object representing
different surface patches which will have the same material
applied; and 2) Automatically partitioning a large surface into
smaller polyface meshes which fall within the face count limitations imposed by AutoCAD and 3D Studio.
Related surface patches

A Quicksurf surface may cover an area which has many different
types surface materials. Consider a golf course example.
Although a given hole is represented by a single surface model,
different parts of the surface will be covered by fairway, rough,
sand trap or green material in the final rendered model. Related
patches of a surface (such as all of the sand traps) may be created
as a single polyface mesh object for ease of materials application
within a rendering program. In this example, the closed polylines
representing the perimeters of the sand traps are selected within
the Surface Region command, and a single polyface mesh entity
is created consisting of just the sand traps. By creating and
exporting (via DXF) polyface meshes representing like objects
(green, fairway, sand trap, etc.), materials application within 3D
Studio or AutoVision is fast and painless.
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Chapter 16: Creating 3D Studio meshes
Partitioning large surfaces

Quicksurf surfaces (TIN, TGRD, Grid) can easily exceed the face
count limitations mentioned above. The Surface Region command creates polyface mesh entities representing the surface
within one or more closed polyline boundaries. If the boundary
polyline contains the entire surface, the whole surface is represented. If the surface would result in too many faces for a polyface mesh (32,768), multiple adjacent polyface meshes are drawn
each which fall within the face count limitation.
In such cases, simply draw a closed polyline which totally
encompasses the surface and select it when prompted by the Surface Region command. The partitioning is automatic.
Morphing Quicksurf surfaces

3D Studio allows morphing between 3DS mesh objects containing the same number of vertices. Quicksurf generated mesh
objects may be used for morphing, if care is taken to insure that
the meshes have the same number of vertices.
The safest way to insure morphable meshes is to create registered
grid models using the same grid cell size with grid registration
enabled. Use the same boundary and draw each different surface
grid into the drawing as a polyface mesh. Export each mesh to
3D Studio using DXF. Each polyface mesh will have the same
number of vertices in the same order, so 3D Studio will correctly
morph the successive grid meshes.
For rendering purposes, in this special case, you may create grids
even on surfaces containing break lines and get excellent results
in the animated result.
Although TIN and TGRD models theoretically can be made morphable, it is not recommended, because the number and order of
vertices is very difficult to control.
Morphing Quicksurf surfaces
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Quicksurf
Chapter 17: User coordinate systems

Extract commands and User Coordinate Systems
AutoCAD supports both a World Coordinate System (WCS) and
arbitrary User Coordinate Systems (UCS) which have rotated
and/or translated coordinate axes. All of the Quicksurf Extract
commands extract data in world coordinates by default, even if a
UCS is in effect. Any entities shown or drawn by Quicksurf are
displayed in the current coordinate system (UCS or WCS).
Under most circumstances with Quicksurf you will be extracting
entities and displaying surfaces from the world coordinate system
(WCS). If you display surfaces or contours from a UCS, they
will be translated and/or rotated by the UCS coordinate system.
This can be confusing if done by accident, but can be useful in
special circumstances. For example, drawing from a UCS is useful for drawing contours on vertical planes, such as in fence diagrams, or on the vertical exterior walls of block diagrams.
In special cases you may wish to extract drawing entities in UCS
coordinates rather than WCS world coordinates. Drawing entities
may be extracted in UCS coordinate space by using the COORSYS keyword.
Command: QSOPT
Keyword: COORSYS
Use world coordinates <Y>: No
Remember to set
COORSYS back to YES
for normal use.
Change into the desired UCS and extract the data using one of the
Quicksurf entity extraction commands, such as Extract to surface.
The data will be extracted in UCS coordinates.
Extracting and displaying while in the same UCS will place the
surfaces or contours where you expect them when COORSYS is
set to NO. If COORSYS is set to YES, entities are always extracted
in WCS coordinates.
Extract commands and User Coordinate Systems
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Quicksurf

Objective
Create a surface by extracting elevation data from contour
polylines in a drawing. Identify and correct surface irregularities
caused by the non-uniform spatial distribution of points extracted
from contour lines.
Existing contour polylines may be extracted from the drawing to
create a set of points defining a new surface. Contours by definition are lines of equal elevation and are normally represented as
2D polylines in the drawing. Each contour polyline must be at its
appropriate elevation. This means the 100 meter contour polyline
has Z = 100, the 200 meter contour polyline has Z = 200, etc.
Extract to surface creates a point set consisting of the vertices of
all selected contour polylines.
Workflow
Verify that the source contour polylines in the drawing are at

their appropriate elevations. The Quicksurf elevation utilities
commands will display or change 2D polyline elevations.
Use Extract to surface to create a surface by extracting the

contour polylines. Do not select extraneous drawing entities.
Choose an appropriate grid cell size. You may want to use

the automatic settings for the first pass, then adjust the cell
size later using the Surface options -> Cell size command.
Choose to contour on the grid in most situations or contour

on the TIN for dense contours using Configure contour.
Show the contours.
Objective
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Identify any problem areas. Common problems are slope

excursions due to very close points at different elevations,
gaps in the extracted contour polylines, or short-cutting contours in areas of tight V-shaped contours.
Correct any of the problems as described in the following

tutorial and recreate the surface.
Extracted contours tutorial

Extracting the contours
This tutorial assumes
you are starting with a
set of drawn contour
polylines.
First verify that the contour polylines in the drawing are at their
appropriate elevation.
Utilities -> Elevation utilities -> Display Z of entity
Select objects: select polyline and its elevation is displayed
Sequentially touch as many contour polylines as needed to confirm their elevations. Press a return to exit Display Z.
If you need to move one or more contour polylines vertically to
the proper elevation use Change Z of entity in the same utilities
menu.
Next extract the contour polylines to create a new <.> surface. It
is very important that all the entities you extract are at the proper
elevation. The most common mistake is to extract extraneous
entities such as text or labels which are not at the appropriate surface elevation. Either freeze or turn off all layers not containing
the contours or use the filter capabilities invoked by checking the
Entity filter check box in the Configure extract dialog.
Extract the contour polylines using
Extract -> Extract to surface
If entity filters are selected you will see the following dialog.
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Entity filter dialog before and after selection
By picking the polyline entity type, then pressing the Select button, only polyline entities will be processed during the extract.
Any combination of entity types may be selected. Pressing Reset
displays the complete entity list.
Correcting slope problems
Slope problems with extracted contours are no different than any
other curvature induced slope excursion. The root cause is two
points which are close together yet differ in elevation, producing
a steep local slope. With extracted contours this is commonly
due to digitizing errors or extracting entities which are unrelated,
such as text contour labels which may be at the wrong elevation
(typically zero). The surface editing chapter covers techniques on
correcting slope excursions. Most problems with extracted contours relate to mistakenly extracting the wrong entities.
Correcting short-cutting contours
In areas of V-shaped contours, Quicksurf may produce contours
which short-cut the V-shape of the original contour. This will
occur along sharp stream valleys or sharp ridges, or on data sets
with widely spaced original contour polylines. The reason for
this has to do with the point distribution fed to Quicksurf as input
data.
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At the apex of the V-shape, all of the nearby data points are at the
same elevation because they came from the vertices of the same
contour polyline. This results in all of the vertices of the TIN triangles being at the same elevation, hence producing a flat triangle. The figure below illustrates flat spots.
Potential flat spot problems with extracted contours
The problem results from the fact that each contour polyline is
highly sampled (at each vertex), but the distance between adjacent contour polylines is comparatively huge. The clusters of
points at V-shaped are all at the same elevation, resulting in a
locally flat area.
The solution is to add data points between contours in these areas
to give Quicksurf additional slope control. This would be tedious
if you had to specify elevations for each point. There is a relatively easy technique supply the required slope information.
Consider the V-shaped contours of a stream drainage which
exhibit local flat spot behavior. The missing information to correct the problem is the 3D path of the stream bottom. By snapping
a 3D polyline vertex to vertex from one contour to the next contour along the bottom of the drainage, you can supply the 3D path
of the stream bottom. By using ENDpoint object snap mode on the
original drawn contour polylines, you can build the 3D polyline
without keying in any elevation data.
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A snapped 3D polyline corrects the surface
If we used Merge extract directly, we would just extract the vertices of the 3D polyline we drew. We need to add additional
points along the 3D polyline to the surface, not just its defining
vertices. This is accomplished by using the Densify during extract
option selected in the Configure extract dialog. This will interpolate along the 3D polyline, providing the points we need to accurately describe the surface.
Command: OSNAP
Object snap modes: Endpoint
Command: 3DPoly
From point: select the contour vertex at the apex
Close/Undo/<Endpoint of line>: select each contour at the apex
Close/Undo/<Endpoint of line>: press enter to finish the command
Command: OSNAP
Object snap modes: None
Configure Extract
Select the Densify during extract check box and specify a step size.
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Extract -> Merge extract

Select objects: select the new 3D polyline(s)
Contour
The new surface will now honor the stream valley or ridge line
properly. Notice that we did not select the 3D polyline as a break
line, so we maintained surface curvature through the stream bottom. Using Extract breaks, rather than Merge extract, would
have produced a knife-edged valley (or ridge line).
Edge effects
Anomalous behavior is common at the very edge of a surface. If
you need a well behaved surface to the absolute edge of your data
or beyond, supply a few additional data points to extend the surface. Use Track Z to estimate surface elevation for the points and
draw new points with the AutoCAD POINT command. Short distance extrapolation may also be accomplished with the Extrapolate command. Add the new points to the surface with Merge
extract. Refer to the surface editing chapter for step by step commands to merge the new data points.
You may want to use a boundary to limit the display of the surface to within the area of the original control points. The Tin
Edge command found under the Quicksurf utilities menu can
draw a polyline which follows the TIN edge for use as a boundary, if desired. The TIN edge boundary should be drawn prior to
merging the new data points into the surface.
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Objective
Create a building pad cut into a hillside. Starting with the pad
perimeter, construct the daylight lines representing the head of
the cut and the toe of the fill. Create a contour map of the finished design. Calculate the volume of cut and fill based on your
new design.
Finished contours for building pad
The pad perimeter refers to the 2D or 3D polyline which

describes the control line for slope projection. The daylight line
is the 3D polyline where the projected slopes from the pad perimeter intersect the existing topography. In this example we will
only calculate volumes within the daylight line, because this is
the only area where the existing and proposed design surfaces differ in elevation.
Objective
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Workflow
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Create a surface representing the existing topography in the

area where the pad will be placed. Show the contours.
Use surface operations to save the surface to Existing.
Create a new current layer for your design.
Determine the design elevation for the pad using Track Z.
Draw the pad perimeter as a polyline at design elevation.
Use Intersect slope to draw the daylight lines based upon the
perimeter polyline and the slopes you specify.
Draw an outer boundary rectangle containing the entire site.
Select the outer boundary rectangle and the daylight line as

nested boundaries using Set boundary.
Draw the points using Points / Draw. This will draw the
points of the existing topography outside the disturbed area.
Disable the boundary using Set boundary / Disable.
Turn off all but the design layer. This layer should contain
points of the undisturbed topography, the pad perimeter
polyline and the daylight line created by Intersect slope.
Use Extract to surface to extract the points only. The filters

of Configure extract can make this easy to do.
Use Extract breaks to extract all of the pad and daylight

polylines.
Use TGRD to create your new design surface.
Show the contours the design surface. Be sure that Configure

contour is set to contour on the TGRD.
Use surface operations to save the surface to Proposed.
Use Area volumes to calculate the volume between Existing

and Proposed surfaces, selecting the daylight line as the area
polyline.
Workflow
Pad construction tutorial

We will use the Existing surface in the \QS51\DEMO5.QSB file as
our base topography on which to build the pad. Load the file
using the Read QSB button in the Surface Operations dialog.
Zoom the view so it overlies the surface and show the contours:
View options -> Surface view
Surface <.>: Existing
Contour
Surface <Existing>: enter
None/Show/Draw/Redraw <Show>: enter
Create a new current layer named PAD for your design.

Determine the design elevation for the pad using Track Z.
Surface <Existing>: Existing
Draw the pad perimeter control line at the design elevation
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Investigate the surface elevations on the gentle slope in the lower

right quadrant of the contours as shown in the previous figure.
Note the elevation at which to place the pad perimeter outline.
Draw the pad perimeter as a 2D polyline at the chosen design elevation.
Command: ELEV
New current elevation <0.00>: 540 (use the design elevation)
New current thickness <0.00>: 0
Command: PLINE
From point: draw a closed polyline representing the pad perimeter.
The pad perimeter polyline intersects the surface as shown.
Oblique view of pad perimeter outline
Use Intersect slope to draw the daylight lines based upon the
perimeter polyline and the slopes you specify.
Surface name <Existing>: press enter
Select objects: select pad perimeter polyline you drew
The slope specifications from this configuration dialog control

the behavior of the Intersect slope command.
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Select Both in the Direction box to project up or down from the

control line as necessary to intersect the surface. Select the
Select point potion in the side control box to interactively pick
from which side of the control line to project the slope. Use the
defaults of auto step size and 45 degree slopes as shown. Press
OK to exit the dialog.
Resulting 3D polylines from Intersect Slope
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Show the TIN if needed to determine surface extents.
Command: RECTANG
First corner: encompass entire surface
Select the outer boundary rectangle and the daylight line as

nested boundaries
Boundary Options -> Set boundary
Select objects: select both rectangle and daylight line drawn by ISLOPE
Draw the points. This will draw the points of the existing topography outside the disturbed area.
Points
None/Show/Draw/Redraw <Draw>: enter
Delete the boundary from memory. Remember, once a boundary

is selected it is independent of its parent entity, so we must use
the Boundary command, not just delete the parent polyline.
Boundary Deleted
Turn off all but the design layer. This layer should contain points
of the undisturbed topography, the pad perimeter polyline and the
daylight line created by Intersect slope.
We will Extract to surface to extract the points only. The filters
of Configure extract can make this easy to do. Select the Configure Extract dialog and select the Filter by entity check box and
exit.
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The Entity filter dialog pops up. Highlight Point in the pick list
then press Select. Only point entities will be extracted.
The Extract to surface command will continue with
Select objects: select by crossing all points and break lines.
Use Extract breaks to extract all of the pad perimeter polyline and
the daylight polyline.
Extract -> Extract Breaks
The Entity filter dialog pops up. Press Reset to bring back the
complete entity list then press OK. Extract Breaks will not use
the points, so no entity filtering is required. The Extract Breaks
command will continue with
Select objects: select the daylight line and the pad perimeter polyline

Triangulated grid
Surface <Existing>: enter a period . to select the results <.> surface
Invoke the Configure contour dialog and set it to contour on the

TGRD. Now show the resulting contours.
Contour
Surface <.>: enter
Use Surface operations to invoke the dialog, then highlight the

<.> surface and press the Copy button and enter Proposed in the
new surface name edit box.
You may want to use VPOINT or DVIEW to view the TGRD of the
Proposed surface from various oblique angles.
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Use Area volumes to calculate the volume between Existing and

Proposed surfaces, selecting the daylight line as the area
polyline. Area volumes will subtract (Proposed - Existing) and
report the volumes of the resulting <.> surface.
Area volumes dialog box
After specifying the surface names in the dialog, press OK and

you are prompted to select an area polyline within which to calculate the volume. Select the daylight line which was drawn by
Intersect Slope. This represents the edge of the disturbed area in
which the volume needs to be calculated. The volumes are displayed on the text screen and optionally written to a text or database file.
The positive volumes represent fill and the negative volumes represent cut. You should always visually examine the resulting
thickness surface which is left in the <.> surface. This can be
done quickly by showing the TIN from an oblique angle. If you
enable the current boundary (set by area volume), just the areas
which were calculated will be displayed upon displaying the TIN.
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Chapter 20: Pond construction tutorial

Objective
Create a small pond sunk into existing topography. Starting with
the pond surface perimeter and the estimated pond bottom elevation, create the perimeter of the bottom of the pond. Create a contour map of the finished design. Calculate the volume of earth
removed. Calculate the volume of the pond at various water elevations.
Pond triangulated grid
Pond finished contours
Objective
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Chapter 20: Pond construction
In this case we are just sinking the pond into the surface and
removing the earth. This example demonstrates the use of drape
to convert a 2D plan view outline into a 3D polyline pond perimeter daylight line. This is used as the control line for slope projection to determine the perimeter where the projected slopes
intersect the sloping bottom of the pond.
Workflow
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area where the pond will be placed. Show the contours.
Draw the pond perimeter as a 2D polyline.
Drape the pond perimeter polyline onto the Existing surface.
Use Build surface to create a sloping pond bottom surface.
Use Intersect slope to draw the pond bottom perimeter

polyline by projecting a slope down from the surface perimeter polyline to the pond bottom surface.
Select the outer boundary rectangle and the pond surface

perimeter as nested boundaries using Set boundary.
Draw the points using Points / Draw. This will draw the
points of the existing topography outside the disturbed area.
Disable the boundary using Set boundary / Disable.
points of the undisturbed topography, the pond surface
perimeter and bottom perimeter polylines.
Use Extract to surface to extract the points only. The filters

of Configure extract can make this easy to do.
Use Extract breaks to extract the two perimeter polylines.

Workflow

contour is set to contour on the TGRD.

and Proposed surfaces, selecting the pond surface perimeter
as the area polyline. This is the volume of earth removed.
Use Area volumes to calculate the water volume between

Proposed surface and a constant elevation representing the
water level, selecting the pond surface perimeter as the area
polyline. Repeat for other water level elevations.
Pond construction tutorial

We will use the Swale surface in the \QS51\DEMO5.QSB file as
our base topography in which to build the pond, but we will
rename it to Existing for consistent terminology. Load the file
While still in the dialog box, highlight the Swale surface name
and press Copy button and copy the swale surface to Existing
because it is our existing topography.
Contour
Create a new current layer named POND for your design.
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Draw the pond perimeter as a 2D polyline as shown.
Location of pond outline
Drape the pond perimeter polyline onto the Existing surface. This
surface must have at least a TIN to drape upon. When we showed
the contours, we created a TIN, Derivatives and Grid automatically.
Select objects: select the pond perimeter polyline
The pond perimeter is now a 3D polyline lying on the surface.

Use Track Z to determine the existing surface elevation so you
can estimate the desired pond bottom elevation.
Move the cursor over the surface to determine the original elevation and decide on the pond bottom elevation. Press return to exit
Track Z. We will use Build surface to create a sloping pond bottom surface. Build surface requires a few points or lines for input,
so we will draw three points on the pond bottom to define the
sloping pond bottom plane. Draw three defining points for the
pond bottom. Use the .xy filter to graphically pick the point
location, then enter the z value at the prompt.
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Command: POINT
Point: .xy <enter> of <pick point>
(need Z) enter pond bottom elevation
Repeat for other two pond bottom defining points.
Pond perimeter and bottom defining points
Now build a temporary construction plane representing the pond

bottom.
Design Tools -> Build surfaces
Build surfaces dialog
Press the Select Window button and graphically pick a window

in which to create a temporary sloping planar surface representing the pond bottom. Be sure the surface is much larger than the
pond perimeter you have drawn. This surface will be used by
Intersect slope to project the slope from the perimeter polyline to
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create the pond bottom polyline. Select Plane - 3 points and

click on OK. You will be prompted to select the three defining
points. Use the NEArest object snap when prompted for each
point. This allows you to snap exactly to each point you have
drawn. Build surfaces will now create a planar surface within the
window you specified which passes through the points you
selected. The surface will already have a TIN and reside in the
results <.> surface. Erase the three points, so you dont accidentally select them later.
Use Intersect slope to draw the pond bottom perimeter polyline
by projecting a slope down from the surface perimeter polyline to
the planar pond bottom surface in the <.> surface.
Surface name <Existing>: press . to use the results surface, then enter
Select objects: select pond perimeter polyline you drew
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Select either Both or Down in the Direction box to project down

from the control line to intersect the temporary planar pond bottom surface. Select the Select point potion in the side control
box to interactively pick from which side of the control line to
project the slope. Use the defaults of auto step size, but select 30
degree slopes as shown. Press OK to exit the dialog.
The resulting 3D polyline is shown on the next page. Your result
may look different depending upon the elevation of your pond
bottom and the slopes you used. If your pond bottom is too deep
or your slope too shallow, the resulting polyline may cross itself
and be useless. Increase the slope or raise the pond bottom in
such cases.
Pond perimeter and 3D polylines created by Intersect slope
We need to draw the points representing the undisturbed existing

topography back into the drawing. Draw an outer boundary rectangle containing the entire site. Show the TIN, if needed, to
determine surface extents.
Command: RECTANG
First corner: encompass entire surface
Select the outer boundary rectangle and the daylight line (pond
perimeter) as nested boundaries.
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Select objects: select both rectangle and pond perimeter polyline
Draw the points. This will draw the points of the existing topography outside the disturbed area.
Points
Delete the boundary from memory. Remember, once a boundary

is selected it is independent of its parent entity, so we must use
the Boundary command, not just delete the parent polyline.
Boundary Deleted
Turn off all but the design layer. This layer should contain points
of the undisturbed topography, the pond perimeter polyline and
the pond bottom polyline created by Intersect slope.
exit.
then press Select. Only point entities will be extracted.
The Extract to surface command will continue with
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Use Extract breaks to extract all of the pond perimeter polyline

and the pond bottom polyline.
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Select objects: select the two pond defining polylines

Triangulated grid
Invoke the Configure contour dialog and set it to contour on the

TGRD. Now show the resulting contours.
Contour
Surface <.>: enter
This should look similar to the first figure in this chapter showing
the contoured pond.
You may want to use VPOINT or DVIEW to view the TGRD of the
Proposed surface from various oblique angles.

Proposed surfaces, selecting the pond perimeter as the area
report the volumes of the resulting <.> surface.
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Area volumes dialog box
After specifying the surface names in the dialog, press OK and

you are prompted to select an area polyline within which to calculate the volume. Select the pond perimeter polyline. This represents the edge of the disturbed area in which the volume needs to
be calculated. The volumes are displayed on the text screen and
optionally written to a text or database file.
The negative volumes represent volume of earth removed to create the pond. You should always visually examine the resulting
thickness surface which is left in the <.> surface. This can be
done quickly by showing the TIN from an oblique angle. If you
enable the current boundary (set by area volume), just the areas
which were calculated will be displayed upon displaying the TIN.
Use Area volumes to calculate the water volume between Proposed surface and a constant elevation representing the water
level, selecting the pond perimeter as the area polyline. This is
accomplished by selecting the Constant check box in the Area
volumes dialog and entering the water level elevation in the adjacent edit box. The negative volume represents the water volume
for the different water levels. This is due to (Proposed - Constant) being a negative number. Proposed represents the pond
bottom and Constant represents the water level. The positive volPond construction tutorial
Page 353
ume is meaningless, as it represents the volume of earth between

the water level elevation and the earth surface inside the pond
perimeter polyline.
Repeat for other water level elevations.
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Quicksurf

Objective
Create a ditch cut into existing topography. Starting with the
ditch centerline and create a narrow flat bottomed ditch. Create a
contour map of the finished design and calculate the volume of
earth removed.
Triangulated grid of ditch
In this example, we are simply sinking the ditch into the surface
and removing the earth. This example demonstrates the use of
offset, drape and move commands to create the 3D polylines of
the ditch edges (daylight lines) and ditch floor. A different drape
step will be used when creating the ditch edge and ditch floor
polylines.
Objective
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Workflow

area where the ditch will be placed. Show the contours.
Draw the ditch center line as a 2D polyline in plan view.
Offset the centerline for the ditch edge and bottom polylines.
Drape these onto the Existing surface.
Move the ditch bottom polyline vertically down to depth.
Draw the points using Points / Draw.
Erase any points within the ditch borders ( Erase using the
window polygon option)
points of the undisturbed topography and the ditch polylines.
Use Extract to surface to extract the points only
Use Extract breaks to extract the ditch polylines.

Contour is set to contour on the TGRD.
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and Proposed surfaces, selecting the ditch perimeter as the
area polyline. This is the volume of earth removed.
Workflow
Ditch construction tutorial

our base topography for a flat-bottomed ditch. Load the file
Contour
Create a new current layer named DITCH for your design.

Draw the ditch center line as a 2D polyline in plan view as
shown.
Plan view of proposed ditch centerline
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Offset the centerline for the ditch edge and bottom polylines.
Command: OFFSET
Offset distance or Through <Offset> : 8 (8 foot offset)
Select object to offset: select centerline
Side to offset: pick a point on one side of the centerline
Select object to offset: select centerline
Side to offset: pick a point on the other side of the centerline
Select object to offset: press return to exit offset command
Repeat with a 3 foot offset for the ditch bottom polylines, then
erase the centerline.
Offset polylines for the ditch edges and bottom

Drape the outer two polylines onto the Existing surface.
Select objects: select the outer two ditch polylines
These two polylines are draped using the Auto setting for drape
step. Lets investigate the effect of manually setting a relatively
large drape step. Recall that drape step is segment length that a
line or polyline is divided into when creating a draped 3D
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polyline. The Auto setting densifies the draped lines so they follow the surface closely. By setting a large drape step we can
cause linear segments in the ditch bottom equaling the drape step
length. Invoke the Configure Drape dialog and select the Drape
on the TIN with Derivatives and set a drape step of 50. Exit the
dialog.
Select objects: select the inner two ditch bottom polylines
Move the draped ditch bottom polylines vertically down to depth.

Command: MOVE
Select objects: select the inner two ditch bottom polylines
Base point or displacement: 0,0,-10 (this is the displacement down)
Second point of displacement: press enter
Now the break lines are at their proper positions in space.
Ditch bottom and end lines
To minimize edge effects, draw a lines (or 3D polyline) connecting the ends of the four ditch polylines.
Command: OSNAP
Object snap modes: ENDPOINT
Command: LINE
From point: select end of one outer ditch edge polyline
To point: select end of nearest ditch bottom polyline
To point: select end of other ditch bottom polyline
To point: select end of last ditch edge polyline
To point: press enter to exit
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Draw the points of the existing surface into the drawing.

Points
Erase any points within the outer daylight lines of the ditch. This
is important, because you do not want any of the existing control
points within the area disturbed by your design.
Command: ERASE
Select objects: enter WP for window polygon selection
First polygon point: select
Undo<Endpoint of line>: pick multiple locations following the ditch edge
(dont erase the polylines, just the points)
Undo<Endpoint of line>: press enter when done
Turn off all but the design layer. This layer should now contain
points of the undisturbed topography, the four draped ditch
polylines and the end break lines.
exit.
then press Select. Only point entities will be extracted. The
Extract to surface command will continue with
Use Extract breaks to extract all of the ditch polylines.

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Select objects: select the ditch and end polylines

Triangulated grid
Use the Surface view command to examine the TGRD.

Set the camera height to 40 and press OK to exit the dialog.

Surface <.>: enter
Viewing position: pick a point at one end of the ditch
Viewing direction: pick a point at the other end of the ditch
The view will change to a perspective view using DVIEW. Show

the TGRD again.
Triangulated grid of ditch
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If you wish to contour the surface, set Configure contour to contour on the TGRD, then show the contours from plan view.
Proposed surfaces, selecting the daylight line as the area
report the volumes of the resulting <.> surface. This sequence is
identical to that used in the preceding tutorials.
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Occasionally in site design you will need to represent vertical
walls or curbs. A surfaces containing a wall may either be represented in three pieces (upper surface, vertical wall, and separate
lower surface) or represented a single surface with the wall top
and base offset by a very small distance.
Nearly vertical surfaces

Page 363
Recall that the Quicksurf definition of a surface is a single-valued
function of the independent variables x,y. This means that no part
of a surface may be vertical, since it would have more than one
elevation value at a given x,y point.
However, the steepest surface Quicksurf can model is one in
which the upper and lower edges are displaced by approximately
9
drawing units, which is indistinguishable from vertical in

most cases.
10
For example, assume you draw a 3D polyline, then copy it with a

displacement of (0,0,5) to create the top and base of a proposed
wall. If you extract these polylines with Extract Breaks, the
resulting vertices will exactly above one another and therefore
one set will be dropped as stacked points. This will not yield the
desired surface. Instead, offset the polyline laterally a small
amount as well as vertically. When extracted as break lines, these
polylines avoid stacked points and produce one continuous surface which properly represents the wall and the surfaces on either
side. In practice, offsetting the top and base of the wall by 0.1
foot works well and is volumetrically insignificant.
If you are creating designs containing stone, concrete or wood
walls, the Imagine Detailor series of tools from Schreiber Instruments, inc. can speed your geometric design and rendering significantly.
Page 364
Workflow
To model a vertical object (like a building wall), follow these
steps:
Draw a 2D or 3D polyline representing the upper edge of the

vertical surface at the desired elevation.
Use the 3D Offset command to make a copy of the polyline

displaced very slightly in an appropriate horizontal direction
and vertically by the wall height. Move, Drape, and Offset
may also be useful tools here.
Load the defining points for the surface (not including the
wall) to create a new surface.
Extract both 3D polylines as break lines with Extract breaks.
Use TGRD to create and display the surface.
Workflow
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Page 366
Quicksurf

Objective
Create a road across existing topography. Starting with the road
centerline and a road cross-section, create all of the break lines
for the road, ditches and daylight lines. Create a triangulated grid
reflecting the new design. Create a contour map of the finished
design and calculate the cut and fill volumes.
Triangulated grid of a roadway
In this example, we are starting with an existing topographic surface, and a plan view road centerline. This example demonstrates
the use of the drape, flatten, vertical align and apply section commands to create the 3D polylines of the roadway components and
the edge of the disturbed area (daylight lines).
Objective
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Workflow

area where the road will be placed. Show the contours.
Use Points / Draw to draw the existing control points.
Draw the roadway center line as a 2D polyline in plan view.
Drape this onto the Existing surface.
Use Flatten to create a 2D centerline vertical profile.
Draw new vertical road profile on the above profile graph.
Use Vertical align to apply the new vertical profile to the

draped line which represents the horizontal alignment.
This new 3D pline will be the control line for Apply section.
Draw the road cross-section template(s) as 2D polylines.
Use Apply section to build the road break lines.
Use Extract to Surface for the undisturbed topo entities.
Use Extract breaks for the road break lines.
Use TGRD to build the new surface.

Contour is set to contour on the TGRD.
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and Proposed surfaces, selecting a road perimeter polyline as
the area polyline.
Workflow
Road construction tutorial

Loading the existing topography
our base topography for building a road. Load the file using the
Read QSB button in the Surface Operations dialog. Press OK.
Next invoke the Configure Grid dialog box and set Cell count to
50 for both X and Y directions.
Contour
Drawing the topo control points

Create a new current layer named ROAD for your design. Draw
the points of the existing surface into the drawing. Apply Section
will automatically move the original points in the disturbed area
(between the daylight lines) to another layer. To take advantage
of this feature the points defining the existing topography must be
drawn into the drawing.
Points
None/Show/Draw/Redraw <Show>: Draw
Drawing the plan view road

Draw the road centerline from left to right as a 2D polyline in
plan view as shown. Be careful not to draw the centerline off the
edge of the defined surface (the contoured area).
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Plan view of proposed roadway centerline
Creating the 3D centerline polyline

Drape the road centerline polyline onto the Existing surface.
Select objects: select the road centerline 2D polyline
The draped polyline represents the horizontal alignment of the

road as a 3D polyline at the elevation of the existing topography.
The next step is to display, then adjust the vertical profile of this
centerline to reflect the design profile.
Creating the 2D centerline profile

Next Flatten the draped 3D polyline to create a 2D profile of the
existing topography along the proposed road. Flatten expects
polylines drawn left to right. You may use the Swap ends command to reverse any 3D polylines which are drawn in the wrong
direction prior to using Flatten.
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Design Tools -> Flatten

Select objects: select horizontal alignment (draped centerline polyline)
Vertical multiplier <2>: enter
Text size for labeling <15>: enter
Base elevation for grid / Auto <Auto>: enter
Draw grid background <Yes>: enter
Vertical spacing <20>: enter
Vertical labeling interval <2>: enter
Horizontal spacing <40>: enter
Horizontal labeling interval <5>: enter
Origin: select point representing the lower left corner of the profile to be
drawn. Place this above your map area.
Flattened 2D profile of the road centerline (2X vertical)
Drawing the new vertical alignment

Next we will draw the proposed vertical alignment of the roadway centerline right on top of the flattened 2D profile.
The road grade has been
exaggerated for clarity.
New vertical profile of the road centerline
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Applying the vertical alignment to the 3D centerline

Vertical align will adjust the horizontal profile (the draped roadway 3D polyline) to reflect our new design vertical profile we
have just drawn in the above figure.
Design Tools -> Vertical align
Select vertical alignment...
Select objects: select adjusted vertical profile 2D polyline
Select base point: snap to lower left corner of 2D profile graph axes
Set elevation of base point <default>: enter elevation (460) of base point
Vertical multiplier <1>: 2
(factor used when creating 2D profile)
Select horizontal alignments for applying vertical alignment...
select centerline
Erase original horizontal alignment polyline? <Yes>: enter
Applying new vertical alignment...
At the first select prompt, select the newly-created 2D adjusted

vertical profile polyline that will provide the vertical alignment.
At the base point prompt, snap to the point representing the origin
of the vertical alignment graph created by Flatten. Supply the
elevation of this point (460 in this example). At the vertical multiplier prompt, enter the same vertical multiplier (2) used when creating the flattened profile.
Finally, select the horizontal alignment polyline which is the
draped roadway centerline. A new 3D polyline will be created
having the original horizontal alignment with the Z values of its
vertices adjusted to reflect the new vertical alignment. You are
prompted whether to erase the original horizontal alignment
polyline. Answer Yes to delete the original, leaving just the
design 3D polyline centerline.
We are in plan view, so we cannot see the changes to the road
centerline because they are all in the Z dimension. Apply section
will sweep a road cross-section template along this design centerline and create all necessary break lines. Each vertex in the crosssection polyline creates one break line, similar to extrusion.
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Creating the cross-section template

A cross-section template is a 2D polyline, drawn in the XY plane,
representing the road cross-section. This polyline is swept along
the control line to produce a set of 3D polylines, one for each vertex of the cross-section. Two additional 3D polylines are created
representing the intersection of the slope projected from the end
points of the cross-section polyline and the topographic surface.
These 3D polylines will be used as break lines when creating the
new design surface.
Cross-section template of roadway
Command: PLINE
From point: select a point to the side of your map
Arc/Close/Halfwidth/Length/Undo/Width/<Endpoint of line>: @3,-1
Arc/Close/Halfwidth/Length/Undo/Width/<Endpoint of line>: @3,1
Arc/Close/Halfwidth/Length/Undo/Width/<Endpoint of line>: enter
Running Apply Section

The complete command dialog sequence is show on the next page
for Apply section. Each part is described individually in the text
which follows.
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Design Tools -> Apply section

Invokes Configure Slopes dialog to set slopes and transitions.
Surface <current>: select or press ? to pick from surface list
Control line point on starting cross-section: select point using osnap
Use a different ending section <N>: enter
Select control line: select
Apply to entire Control line or Segment <C>: enter
Finished
Apply section invokes the Configure Slopes dialog box to control
the slope behavior on either side of the road and transitions (if
any) between different road cross-sections.
Setting the slope angles

At either end of the cross-section template, user-specified slopes
are projected up or down until they intersect the surface. A 3D
polyline is drawn representing this slope-surface intersection.
These are commonly called daylight lines. Slope and transition
control is specified in the Configure Slopes dialog box which is
automatically invoked by Apply section. The complete description of this dialog is Chapter 7 (page 225) on Configuring Quicksurf. For this tutorial set the slopes a shown below.
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Intersect slope dialog for Apply section
Selecting the surface

Apply section will prompt for the surface name representing the
existing topography. This surface is used to determine the daylight lines by projecting slopes from the ends of the cross-section
template.
Selecting the cross-section template

Select the 2D polyline cross-section template you drew.
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Attaching the cross-section to the control line

To sweep the cross-section along the control line we must specify
how to attach the template to the control line. You are prompted
to select a attachment point on the cross-section.
If you are unfamiliar with
transparent zooms, consult
your AutoCAD manual.
Control line point on cross-section: zoom

All/Center/Dynamic/Extents/Left/Prev/Vmax/Window/<Scale(X/XP)>: W
First corner: pick window containing cross-section template
Other corner: pick
Control line point on cross-section: Endpoint of (pick center point)
Conceptually, this represents the point on the cross-section which

is "connected" to the control line as the cross-section is swept
down the control line. Typically this will be a vertex or a midpoint on the 2D cross-section polyline. If so, use OSNAP to ENDpoint or MIDpoint to insure proper alignment. Although the attachment point is normally on the cross-section polyline, this is not
required. The relative position between the cross-section polyline
and the attachment point is used when applying the section.
If you were creating a transition between different cross-sections
you would indicate so and select a second cross-section. In this
example we will only use a single cross-section for the entire
road.
Use a different ending section <N>: enter
Applying the cross-section

Apply section prompts for the control line, then creates the break
lines and draws them to the current layer.

Select control line: Zoom
All/Center/Dynamic/Extents/Left/Prev/Vmax/Window/<Scale(X/XP)>: P
Select control line: select roadway centerline
Apply to entire Control line or Segment <C>: enter
Finished
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We are applying the section to the entire control line, so we

answer C for Control line. If we only wanted to apply the section
to a segment of the control line we could answer S and specify a
segment graphically (by pointing) or numerically as beginning
and ending distances from the beginning of the control line.
Break lines created by Apply section
The break lines are drawn by Apply section and any original
(drawn) defining points of the existing topography within the disturbed area are moved to a new frozen layer called OLD_DATA.
These break lines will be used in creating the new design topography. Apply section uses the step size in Configure Drape internally, so if it seems to be running very slowly, insure that you
have not set an unreasonably small step size. This tutorial is
assuming the default configuration is being used.
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Creating the new design surface

Turn off all but the design layer (Road). This layer should now
contain points of the undisturbed topography and the break lines
created by Apply Section.
We will use Extract to surface to extract the points only. The filters of Configure extract can make this easy to do. Select the
Configure Extract dialog and select the Filter by entity check box
and click OK to exit the dialog. The entity filter will pop-up
every time you perform an extract.
then press Select. The list reduces to contain only Point entities.
Press OK to exit the pop-up list. Only point entities will be
extracted. The Extract to surface command will continue with
Use Extract breaks to extract all of the roadway break polylines.

the points, so no entity filtering is required. Select all break lines.
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The Extract Breaks command will continue with

Select objects: select the break lines created by Apply Section
On complex break line

sets, Auto densification
will repeatedly triangulate as it converges.
Using curve error of 0.963

9 Break lines extracted
3838 triangles built
...
2317 additional points added to current surface

Triangulated grid
Be sure to select the
<.> surface!

Adding break line points...
Creating grid points...
The triangulated grid of the new surface is displayed. The plan

view is not very informative, so lets try some other ways to see
the result.
Examining the new design surface

Use the Surface view command to examine the TGRD.
Set the camera height to 40 and press OK to exit the dialog.
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Surface <.>: enter
Viewing position: pick a point on the surface at the left end of the road
Viewing direction: pick a point at the other end of the road
The view will change to a perspective view. Because the change

of view performed a redraw, the shown TGRD disappeared.
Show the TGRD again.
Triangulated grid
Surface <.>: enter
Triangulated grid of road
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Contour the surface, but first set Configure contour to contour on

the TGRD, then show the contours from plan view.
Contour
Contours on the triangulated grid road surface
Calculating volumes
We will use Area volumes to calculate cut and fill volumes. Our
design surface is in the <.> surface which will be overwritten by
any surface operation. We need to save this surface to a named
surface so we can use it for later display and calculation. Use
Surface operations to invoke the surface operations dialog, then
highlight the <.> surface by clicking on it, then press the Copy
button and enter Proposed in the new surface name edit box.
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We will calculate the cut/fill volumes under the disturbed area.

To do so we must create a closed polygon (to use with Area Volume) encompassing the design area between the outer daylight
lines of our road. We will use the Create boundary polyline command, which assembles lines and 3D polylines into one closed
3D polyline.
Creating the design area bounding polygon
At each end of the road, draw a line (not 2D polyline) from the
endpoint of the outer left daylight line to the endpoint of the outer
right daylight line. Use OSNAP to ENDPOINT to be sure you snap
exactly to the endpoints of the outer daylight lines. After doing
this you will have the two outer daylight lines and the two lines
you just drew ready to create a bounding 3D polyline encompassing the design area.
Use Create boundary polyline to create the closed 3D polyline
around the design area.
Utilities -> Polyline utilities -> Create boundary polyline
Select entities to create boundary...
Select objects: Select two outer daylight lines and two end lines
This will draw a new 3D polyline to use as an area polygon for

use with Area Volumes.
Calculating cut and fill

Proposed surfaces, selecting the 3D polyline you just drew as the
area polylines. Area volumes will subtract (Proposed - Existing)
and report the volumes of the resulting <.> thickness surface.
You may show the TIN or contour this thickness surface. This
sequence is identical to that used in the preceding tutorials.
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Perspective view of resulting thickness <.> surface
The figure above shows the thickness surface computed by Area

volume. The two long sides of the road design area are at an elevation (thickness) of zero because the existing surface and proposed surface are at the same elevation along this line. Positive
areas represent fill and are reported as positive volumes. Negative areas represent cuts and are reported as negative volumes.
Contour map of cut/fill thickness surface
By creating closed 2D or 3D polylines containing only portions

of the roadway (such as between two stations), cut and fill volumes may be calculated with Area Volumes for any segment or
group of segments.
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Quicksurf

Objective
Analyze and display the slope distribution of a topographic surface. Create a surface display coloring each part of the surface by
its slope. Create an iso-slope contour map and hachure areas
within certain slope ranges.
Workflow
Surface slope display
Create a surface representing the existing topography using a

grid model. Use a TGRD if the surface contains breaks.
Show the contours.
Examine the surface by showing the TIN or TGRD from an

oblique view using VPOINT and Surface zoom.
Choose color by Slope in the Surface colors dialog.
Select the Drawing legend check box.
Press the Configure colors button to setup colors.
Select the Use range check box and specify the slope range
by specifying minimum and maximum slope values.
Set the Number of colors to the number of intervals you

would like to divide the slope range into
Press the Set Interval button and confirm your intervals.
Show or draw the grid. It will be colored by the slope intervals you specified.
Objective
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Iso-slope contour map
Create a surface representing the existing topography using a

grid model. Use a TGRD if the surface contains breaks.
Show the contours from plan view.
Use surface operations to save the surface to Topo.
Use surface operation Degree slope to create a new <.> surface whose Z value is slope in degrees.
Use Contour interval to set an appropriate contour interval.

An appropriate contour interval would then be 1.0 for 1
degree contours; 5.0 for 5 degree contours, etc.
Use Contour / Draw to draw the contours. Answer Yes to the

Close all? prompt to allow for subsequent hatch filling. The
Close all option is only available when contouring on the grid.
Use AutoCADs Hatch command and select adjacent contours to hatch areas within that slope interval.
Slope analysis tutorial

Surface slope display
This command sequence will create an isometric display of a
topographic surface colored by slope. First load the standard QS
configuration file so we have the same starting point:
Configuration -> Read Configuration
Read options from file <drawingname>: QS
Reading options from file QS.QCF
We will read and use the Existing surface from the included file
\QS51\DEMO5.QSB.
Surface operations
Page 386
Select Read QSB and select DEMO5.QSB from the file dialog.
This file is located in the \QS51 directory. This will load all of the
example surfaces into surface memory. Next use Surface zoom
to align the view over the surface.
Contour the surface to see the general shape.

Contour
Surface<.>: Existing
None/Show/Draw/Redraw <Show>: Show
Now examine the surface by showing the grid from an oblique

view using VPOINT and Surface zoom.
Command: VPOINT
Rotate/ <View Point> <0.0000, 0.0000, 1.0000>: 1,-1,1
View Options -> Surface zoom

Grid
By default the surface is colored by elevation, use The color

options dialogs to choose color by slope in degrees.
Color options -> Surface colors
Within the Surface colors dialog, choose the color by Slope in

Degrees checkbox. Press the Configure colors button to invoke
the Surface Color Sequence dialog. The current color sequence
is displayed. Select the Use range check box and specify the
slope range by specifying 0 degrees as the minimum and 20
degrees as the maximum slope values. Set the Number of colors
to 10, to divide the slope range (20 degrees) into 10 intervals of
Page 387
two degrees each. Press the Set Interval button to confirm your
intervals. This will invoke the Surface Color Intervals dialog
which displays the current interval settings. These are evenly
spaced two degree intervals because we set a maximum and minimum (0 and 20) and a number of intervals (10). Had we not set
the maximum and minimum discretely, the actual range of the
data is used which usually results in an odd interval. Press OK
several times to exit the nested dialog boxes.
Grid
The grid will be colored by the two degree slope intervals you
specified. You may want to experiment with changing the Number of Colors setting to divide the slopes into finer intervals (try
20) or coarser intervals (try 5).
Enable the drawing legend check box.
Color options -> Surface colors
Within the Surface colors dialog, enable the Drawing Legend

checkbox which will cause a legend to be displayed when the grid
is shown or drawn. Press OK to exit the dialog.
Finally change back to plan view and display the grid with a
smaller cell size
Grid
Reducing the cell size of the grid makes the visual display appear
more solid.
Surface options -> Cell Size
Page 388

Current cell size is <37.21 x 36.86 >
Horizontal cell size/Auto <default>: 10
Vertical cell size/Auto <default>: 10
111 x 81 grid built
Grid
You may want to experiment with other surface color options

while you have this example surface loaded. Surface coloration
is a very powerful visualization tool.
Iso-slope contour map

An iso-slope contour map is another way of displaying a slope
analysis. If you do not have the Existing surface loaded from the
previous example, please load it as described in the Surface slope
display tutorial a few pages back. We will create a new surface
whose Z value is slope in degrees, rather than elevation, then contour it.
Surface operations
In the upper right quadrant of the Surface operations dialog,

select Existing as the first surface, and Degree slope as the operation, then press Run Operation. This will compute a new results
<.> surface whose Z value is slope in degrees. Now set an appropriate contour interval and draw the iso-slope contours.
Contour Interval
Contour interval/Auto <Auto>: enter 2 for a 2 degree contour interval
Contour
Close all? <N>: Yes
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Answering Yes to the Close all? prompt produces contour

polylines which are closed around the edge of the grid. This
allows for subsequent hatch filling. The Close all option is only
available when contouring on the grid.
Areas representing a range of slopes may be hachured by selecting the two slope contours on either end of the slope range. In
our example, we contoured using two degree slope increments, so
selecting two contour polylines, such as the 8 degree and 10
degree contours, would hatch the area of the surface with slopes
in that range.
Command: Hatch
Pattern (? or name/U,style) <>: Line
Scale for pattern <>: 100
Angle for pattern <>: 45
Select objects: select two adjacent contour polylines
Repeat as necessary to hachure different slope areas with different hatch patterns. Hatch patterns are placed in the drawing as
blocks at the current elevation. If you are creating a 3D model,
you may wish to explode the hatch patterns blocks and drape
them on the Existing topography surface (not the slope surface).
Some of the elevation utility routines supplied with Quicksurf
such as Display Z of entity and Select by Z can be very useful in
selecting contours to hatch between.
Iso-slope contour maps and colored surfaces (TIN, TGRD, Grid)
(by slope) may be used alone or in combination to create effective
slope analysis displays.
Page 390

Overview
Contaminant data sets are commonly characterized by a large
range of z values. Many low concentration values may exist outside of the contaminated area and a cluster of very high concentration samples may exist within the contaminated area. Several
factors make these data sets different:
Exponential surface behavior
Large range in z values
Extremely steep inter-point slopes
Non-uniform spatial sampling (clustered samples in highs)
Relatively small number of points
Contaminant data is expensive to acquire, so sites typically have

a minimum number of samples. The small number points combined with the very steep inter-point slopes are not compatible
with the default method of Standard and Derivatives set to 2nd
(continuous curvature). Depending on the input data set several
techniques can help build meaningful surfaces for these data sets.
Mapping contaminant iso-concentrations

If the data set you are working with has z values which range over
several orders of magnitude, use Surface operations to take the
natural logarithm (Ln) of the data points before creating a surface.
This normalizes the z values into a more workable range and
reduces the extreme slopes. Many times, simply taking the log
prior to surface creation allows Quicksurfs default continuous
curvature to produce acceptable concentration surfaces, but kriging generally produces better concentration surfaces than curvature-based methods.
Overview
Page 391
After creating a surface in logarithmic space, you may exponentiate it back to its original values if you need the actual concentration contour labels, rather than Ln concentrations. Logarithmic
contour labeling of 0.01, 0.1, 1.0, 10, 100, etc. may be accomplished using and Elevation list file described in the Configure
Contour section of the Chapter 7.

It is a good idea to examine the raw data set prior to creating any
grid surface. Contouring based upon the TIN or showing the TIN
from an oblique view displays the geometry of the data set using
only linear interpolation. Once you have confirmed that the input
data looks reasonable, you can proceed to design a variogram and
create a grid by kriging.
Kriging
Kriging works well for modeling many concentration data sets.
A very elementary background of kriging is discussed in the Variogram design command description in Chapter 6. Kriging creates a grid based upon the input data set and a variogram which
defines the relationship between surface (z value) variance and
horizontal distance. The resulting grid from kriging is utterly
dependent upon proper variogram design. Without a proper variogram, meaningless grids may be created.
Variogram design
Variogram defining parameters such as variogram type, nugget,
range and sill may be specified in the Krige parameters section of
the Configure Grid dialog or determined interactively using the
Variogram design command. The shape of the variogram curve is
reflected in the shape of the surface surrounding data points.
Kriging works better than curvature based methods because the
variogram may be designed incorporating knowledge about the
behavior of the contaminant being mapped.
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There is an inherent Catch-22 in designing variograms for small

concentration data sets: The interactive design of a variogram is
based upon building a histogram of variance versus distance, then
defining the shape of the variogram curve based upon this graph.
Many contaminant concentration data sets consist of only a few
dozen points, not enough to provide an adequate statistical basis
to design a variogram. In practice, the variogram may be defined
incorporating your knowledge of the contaminant transport
behavior and the medium it is travelling through, rather than
solely on the variance histogram alone.
Creating a Kriging-based grid

Once you have specified the variogram parameters either by
entering them in the Configure Grid dialog or by using the Variogram design command, the grid may be created normally. Either
the Grid command or Contour command (with Configure Contour
set to contour on the Grid) will display the kriged surface.
The most common error using kriging is to use too short a range,
which results in flat areas in between data points at the mean elevation of the data set. Kriging is very effective when properly
applied, but is very prone to misuse due to lack of understanding
by the user. If you plan to use kriging, take the time to read and
understand the underlying theory. A simple tutorial and a few
references are offered in the next chapter.
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Page 394
Quicksurf

Introduction
This chapter is an introduction for the practical use of kriging to
build grids and contour maps. Kriging is a geostatistical method
of surface estimation which was originally developed in the mining industry for ore reserve estimation. Proper use of kriging
requires a conceptual understanding of the underlying statistical
methods which is beyond the scope of this manual. There is considerable literature on kriging. Two good introductory references
on kriging are
J. Davis. Statistics and Data Analysis in Geology. John Wiley
and Sons, New York, NY. 2nd Edition, 1986.
E. Isaaks and R. Srivastava. An Introduction to Applied Geostatistics. Oxford University Press, New York, NY. 1989.
Independent study of the underlying theory will allow you understand how surface shape varies with different variograms.
The relation between variance and statistical distance is
expressed as a semi-variogram, which plots semivariance ( h )
along the Y axis and distance ( h ) along the X axis.
Range
( h)
Sill
Nugget
Distance (h)
A gaussian semi-variogram
Introduction
Page 395
Variogram design consists of fitting a function which describes

variance versus distance for the data set being mapped. The variogram is created and temporarily displayed using the Vario command which displays a histogram of variance versus distance
based upon the points in the current surface. The controlling
parameters of the variogram curve shape are termed the nugget,
range and sill. These are defined under Variogram design in the
command reference chapter.
As you explore the technique, you will find that kriging can produce excellent results or absolutely meaningless maps depending
upon the variogram used. Effective use of kriging is absolutely
dependent upon a properly defined variogram.
This version of Quicksurf supports isotropic kriging. The underlying assumption is that the data structure is isotropic and that
variograms utilizing the direction as well as distance between
points would be the same.
Kriging works well on data sets representing the distribution of
concentration, porosity, or permeability. Because the surface
shape is highly influenced by the variogram, rather than just the
data points themselves, kriging can produce smooth maps for
small or sparse data sets. In cases such as mapping contaminants
from leaking storage tanks, it is common to have only a dozen or
so data points from monitoring wells. Kriging will generally produce nicer maps than the curvature-based standard Quicksurf
method in such cases.
This introduction explores the mechanics, but not the theory, of
creating surfaces with kriging.
Page 396
Introduction
Objective
Design a variogram based upon the points in the current surface
and determining the nugget, range and sill. Create a grid and
contours based on the kriged grid. Investigate the effects of
changing variogram type and variogram parameters on the shape
of the resulting surface.
Workflow
To create a grid or set of contours by the krige method, use the
following steps:
Load points into the current surface by extracting them from

the drawing or by reading them from an ASCII or QSB file.
Invoke the Configure Grid dialog and select Krige as the

method and set the Neighborhood if needed.
Design a variogram based on the points in the current surface

by using Utilities -> Quicksurf utilities -> Variogram design.
Choose variogram type and graphically design the variogram

to set nugget, range and sill. Accept the variogram to exit the
variogram design loop.
Contour or grid your data. The new variogram will be used

to create a new grid, as long as any pre-existing grid has been
cleared from surface memory.
Using kriging
Loading the data set
We will load points and generate surfaces based on the kriging
method. First load the standard QS configuration file so we have
the same starting point:
Objective
Page 397
Configuration -> Read Configuration

Read options from file <drawingname>: QS
Reading options from file QS.QCF
We will read and use the Contaminant surface from the included
file \QS51\DEMO5.QSB.
Surface operations
Select Read QSB and select DEMO5.QSB from the file dialog.
This file is located in the \QS51 directory. This will load all of the
example surfaces into surface memory. Press OK to exit the dialog. Next use Surface zoom to align the view over the surface.

Surface <.>: Press ? to invoke the surface pick list, select Contaminant
Show the TIN to see the distribution of the data set.

TIN
Surface<Contaminant>: press enter to choose Contaminant
The raw data points are at the vertices of the triangulated irregular
network. Viewing the TIN from an oblique view is a quick way
to detect spurious points. The command sequence of VPOINT,
Surface zoom, TIN, and Surface plan view will accomplish this.
Selecting Kriging as the grid method

Invoke the Configure Grid dialog box to select the Krige method.
Configuration -> Configure Grid
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Using kriging
Krige section of Configure Grid dialog
Click on the Krige method button and the Krige parameter section is enabled. Pull down the Variogram pick list and select
Exponential variogram type by clicking on it. Set the Neighborhood to six rings. The neighborhood considered is based upon
the number of rings of the TIN around the grid node elevation
being calculated. One ring is equivalent to using the nearest
neighbors only, two rings includes the neighbors neighbors, etc.
Computation time increases as the cube of the number of rings, so
set this number only as high as needed to produce a smooth surface. Setting the number of ring to four is a good starting place
for general use. Too small a neighborhood results in surface discontinuities. Press OK to exit the dialog. We will use the Variogram design command to determine the Nugget, Range and Sill
values.
Designing the variogram

A variogram must be designed or the variogram parameters must
be specified prior to creating a grid. The Variogram design command does both. This command should only be run from plan
view.
Using kriging
Page 399
Utilities -> Quicksurf utilities -> Variogram design

Surface name <Contaminant>: press enter
Number of histogram intervals: <24>: press enter
Select Variogram window first corner: pick lower left corner for variogram
Select second corner: pick upper right corner for variogram
The histogram of variance versus distance is shown in this window. It will disappear at the next redraw.
Typically small data
sets do not have enough
points to form a reliable sill on the histogram. The horizontal
gray line on the screen
represents the mean
variance of the data set
and may be used as the
sill.
Variogram for Contaminant surface
This graph represents the variance (y axis) versus inter-point distance (x axis) of the points in the selected surface. The command
continues:
Variogram type <Exp>: press enter (you set Exponential in the dialog)
Point at y=nugget: <0,0>: press enter to accept a zero nugget
Point at range, sill <previous range, previous sill>: pick range and sill
Select variogram point below sill <previous>: pick guide point
Variogram OK <N>: enter Yes to accept the variogram; No to try again
This command is designed to allow you to pick the Nugget,

Range and Sill graphically or enter them numerically on the keyboard. The values determined are global variables and are avail-
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Using kriging
able to view or edit in the Krige section of the Configure Grid

dialog box. When entering variogram type, you may specify Linear, Exponential, Spherical, Gaussian, Piecewise or Hole.
The Nugget is the y-intercept of the variogram curve. This represents the variance at a range (distance) of zero. A zero nugget
means the surface must pass through each data point exactly. A
non-zero nugget means that the surface may miss any point by as
long the error falls within the nugget variance. You may graphically pick a point on the graph and the Y value of the picked point
will become the Nugget value. If you key in a value at the keyboard in the Variogram design command, specify both an x and y
value (such as 0,0), even though only the y value is ultimately
used.
The Range and Sill may be specified by graphically picking a single point on the variogram ( x = range and y = sill). The range
represents the distance beyond which the variance is constant,
meaning that the z values of points beyond this distance have no
influence on the elevation being estimated. The sill represents
the variance at a distance equal to the range. The grey horizontal
line shown on the variogram represents the mean variance of the
data set and may be used as a sill estimate for small data sets
which do not exhibit an obvious sill on the histogram curve.
For Gaussian or Exponential variogram types, you are prompted
for an extra guide point to help determine the shape of the variogram curve. This point is picked between the origin and the
<range, sill> point and shapes the resulting curve. The range and
sill are recomputed to reflect this exact curve shape.
The variogram curve is shown as a red line on the histogram
graph. If the curve is acceptable, answer Yes to the Variogram finished? <N>: prompt. If not, answer No and the screen will be
refreshed, the histogram redisplayed and you will loop back
through the variogram design sequence. Answering Yes exits the
Variogram design command.
Using kriging
Page 401
In this example the following parameters were used:

Variogram:
Nugget:
Range:
Sill:
Neighborhood:
Exponential
0
150
300
6 Rings
Using these parameters produced the following surface:
Contaminant surface using Kriging
Display the new grid

We will examine the new surface from an oblique view point. We
will draw the points into the drawing so AutoCAD can have entities when changing viewpoints. Use the VPOINT command to
establish a viewpoint.
Points
Surface <Contaminant>: press enter
Page 402
Using kriging
Command: VPOINT
Rotate/<View point> <0,0,1>: -2,-2,1
Create and display the new grid

Grid
Surface<comtaminant>: press enter
Leave this display on your screen as we explore the effect of

changing the kriging parameters.
Oblique view of kriged grid and contours
Exploring Range effects

For a given variogram type, the range has the most dramatic
effect on the resulting surface. When using too short a range,
each point will be surrounded by a roughly conical surface that
represents a surface of revolution formed by the variogram curve.
This is encountered when the inter-point distance is larger than
the range. The surface value at a distance from a point which is
greater than the range converges on the mean of the data set. The
following figure reflects changing the range from 150 down to 15
which is much too short.
Using kriging
Page 403
Effect of kriging with too short a range (15)
Invoke the Configure Grid dialog and change the Range to 40

leaving everything else the same. Press OK to exit the dialog.
Now we will rebuild and display the grid.
Same surface with range equal 40

Page 404
Using kriging
Rebuilding a grid with different parameters

As with any grid, changing a parameter does not alter a grid
which has been previously built. To see the effect of changing a
parameter, the grid must be cleared and recreated. If you just
show the grid without clearing it first, you will just redisplay the
old grid made with the previous settings. Building the new grid
may be accomplished in several ways:
1) Use Clear Parts from the Surface operations dialog box to
clear the grid.
2) If the points are drawn into the drawing, re-extract the points
with Extract to surface to create a <.>surface with just points.
3) Use Cell Size or Cell Count command from the Surface options
menu. These two commands clear and recalculate the grid even
if the cell size/count is not altered.
For this example we will use the Cell Count option and view the
new grid from an oblique angle. Rebuild the grid with the new
settings:
Note: Surface Options
menu selection, not Surface Operations
Surface Options -> Cell Count

Surface name <contaminant>: Press enter
Current cell count is <26 x 19 >
Horizontal cell count/Auto <default>: 50
Vertical cell count/Auto <default>: 50
50 x 50 grid built
Now display the new grid:

Grid
Surface<comtaminant>: press enter
Using kriging
Page 405
Notice that with the shortened range, the surface is at the mean
value of the data set between points and reflects the shape of the
variogram in the vicinity of a data point. This is a misdesigned
variogram and the resulting surface is not valid.
From this same oblique view try the following sets of kriging
parameters. Enter each set in the Configure Grid dialog box then
use Cell count and Grid / Show (as you did above) to recreate the
display each new grid.
Type
Nugget
Range
Sill
Neighborhood
Different variograms
for the same parameters affect surface
shape.
Linear
Exponential
Spherical
Piecewise
0
0
0
0
40
40
40
40
300
300
300
300
6 Rings
6 Rings
6 Rings
6 Rings
Changing the range

affects surface behavior
between points.
Spherical
Spherical
Spherical
Spherical
0
0
0
0
400
40
20
10
300
300
30
3000
6 Rings
6 Rings
6 Rings
6 Rings
Experimenting with variogram design will allow you to create a

surface which accurately describes the phenomenon you are mapping. A poorly designed variogram will create meaningless surfaces.
Page 406
Using kriging

Introduction
A wide variety of faulting styles may be modeled using Quicksurf. A fault represents a discontinuity in a stratigraphic horizon
where it has been broken and offset. Faulted horizons which do
not have repeated section (normal faults, growth faults, etc.) may
be modeled as a single continuous surface. Faulted horizons
which contain repeated section (reverse faults, thrust faults, etc.)
must be modeled as two surfaces, one for the hanging wall and
one for the foot wall. This is because Quicksurf models singlevalued surfaces, having only one z value at a given x,y location.
Contours of faulted surface
Faults are modeled using break lines. 3D break lines are created
representing the intersection of the fault plane surface and the
faulted horizon for both the up-thrown and down-thrown sides.
For a normal fault, the resulting surface follows the stratigraphic
horizon on the up-thrown side to the upper fault trace (break
line), then down the fault plane surface to the lower fault trace
Introduction
Page 407
(break line), then follows the down-thrown stratigraphic horizon. The display of contours or triangulated grid on the fault
plane surface itself may be optionally suppressed.
Triangulated grid of faulted surface (oblique view)
The illustration above shows the same faulted surface from the
previous page in an oblique view. The TGRD has not been
drawn on the fault surfaces themselves, but the surface held in
memory is continuous across the faults. If a drill hole actually
intersected the fault surface, this point may be used a a defining
point for the surface. The edges where the horizon intersects the
fault are break lines. Creating 3D polylines for break lines is the
key to effective fault modeling.
Much of this manual speaks in civil engineering terms about
topographic modeling with break lines. Once the geologist realizes that a faulted surface model is no different than an engineering topographic model containing break lines, it becomes
apparent that the tools of drape, flatten, vertical align and intersect slope may be used in a similar fashion for fault break line
construction and editing. Examining Chapter 22 (page 363) on
wall construction will reveal that a retaining wall is analogous to
a normal fault at least in terms of how it is created.
Page 408
Introduction
Constructing fault break lines

The basic work flow when constructing break lines for faults consists of drawing the plan view orientation of the fault traces and
converting them into 3D polylines using Drape or Extrapolate to
get a starting point. The resulting 3D polylines will have the correct horizontal alignment and a rough first pass on the vertical
alignment. The vertical alignment of both the upper and lower
fault traces are then plotted on the same 2D profile using Flatten.
If you flatten the upper fault trace first and supply a low base
point elevation, the resulting graph will be tall enough to accomodate the second flattened profile.
New vertical alignments for both fault traces are drawn (or the
originals edited) on the 2D profile. This allows both absolute
structural position for both fault traces and fault throw to be controlled simultaneously. Each of the adjusted fault profiles are reapplied to the 3D fault traces in the model using Vertical Align.
Now the 3D polylines representing the fault traces are at their
correct position in 3D space, ready to be extracted as break lines.
Many times you may already have the 3D position of the fault
trace from other sources such as seismic workstation output or
pre-existing mapping. These may be loaded using Load ASCII
Breaks or by drawing the 3D polyline by snapping to the points
where pre-mapped contours intersect the fault. In the latter case,
the x,y location of the intersection of the contour line and the
fault is used in combination with the z elevation of the contour
line itself as 3D polyline vertices.
A step by step summary of the workflow when creating a normal
fault is presented on the next page.
Constructing fault break lines
Page 409
Workflow
Page 410
Load the existing surface control points
Draw 2D polylines in map view representing the fault traces.

Remember a normal fault has two break lines: one where the
upthrown block is cut by the fault and one where the
downthrown block is cut by the fault. As the angle of the
fault surface approaches vertical, these break lines may be
very close to each other in map view.
Turn the 2D polylines into 3D polylines using Drape or

Extrapolate for a rough 3D positioning. Alternatively you
may actually draw the 3D polyline if you have independent
position information about the fault location.
Flatten both 3D polyline fault traces onto the same 2D profile

by running Flatten twice and using the same origin and base
point when flattening the second fault trace.
Adjust both fault traces on the 2D profile to reflect both

structural position and throw. You may either edit the existing 2D polylines or drawn new ones.
Use Vertical align to apply the new vertical alignment of the

adjusted fault profiles back to the 3D polylines in the model.
Use Extract to surface to extract build a new surface with just

the control points (not the break lines).
Use Extract breaks to extract the break lines representing the

fault traces.
Set to contour on the TGRD in the Configure Contour dialog.
Show the contours using Contour / show.
View the TGRD from an oblique view.
Adjust the fault break lines if necessary and recreate the surface starting at the Extract to surface step above.
Workflow
Surface with no faulting
The figure above is contoured on the data points only (no break
lines) using the standard (continuous curvature) method. Many
curvature artifacts may be seen as anomalous highs and lows.
The location of the first pass break lines are shown. These break
lines have been flattened on the same 2D profile graph below.
New vertical profiles have been drawn for both the upper and
lower fault traces.
Flattened profile with adjusted faults

Workflow
Page 411
Preliminary fault break lines
The figure above shows the position in 3D of the original fault

break lines and also shows the original surface created just with
the control points (without break lines). The figure below shows
the same view with the adjusted break lines having been incorporated into the surface. The adjusted break lines from the 2D
graph were re-applied to the actual break lines using the Vertical
align command.
Final faulted surface
Page 412
Workflow
Contour map of final surface
The above figure shows the resulting contours (based on the

TGRD) when the faults are incorporated as break lines. The contour lines appear to merge in the fault due to the 10 foot contour
interval and approximately 160 of throw on the fault.
If you do not want to have the fault plane contoured, use a nested
boundary polygon covering the plan view area of the exposed
fault plane. This closed polyline may be easily created by snapping a line to join the ends of the upper and lower fault break
lines, then using the Create Boundary Polyline command from the
utilities menu.
Workflow
Page 413
Using Drape and Extrapolate

Building the break lines representing the fault traces is the most
difficult part of fault modeling. While Flatten and Vertical align
allow for precise fine-tuning of fault geometry, creating the first
pass rough 3D polyline representing the fault is a challenge.
Three approaches are commonly used.
Draw the 3D polyline manually
Drape a 2D polyline onto the (unfaulted) surface
Create a 3D polyline from a 2D polyline by Extrapolating just

the wells in the fault block to create the fault trace
Each of these will be discussed separately.
Manual break line construction

The first pass for a fault does not need to be overly complex.
Many times you can simply draw a 3D polyline representing the
fault trace using a dozen points or less. The detailed geometry of
the fault may be added to the flattened 2D profile and re-applied
using Vertical align. Careful use of filters (such as .xy) and object
snaps allow you to quickly build a 3D polyline representing the
first pass of a fault trace.
Drawing the fault trace can incorporate outside data such as seismic or pre-mapped fault positions.
Draping break lines

The Drape command is a powerful tool for creating 3D polylines.
With subtle normal faults, you may create a surface from the
existing well control without using any break lines and drape a
2D polyline (representing the map view of the fault trace) onto
the planar TIN to get a 3D polyline starting point. In such cases,
be sure to drape onto the planar TIN, because typically faulted
areas have locally steep slopes and using curvature-based surfaces in ill-advised until the break lines have been determined.
Page 414
In many cases it is easy to create a temporary surface for draping.

This is accomplished by using only the control points within the
fault block and adding additional points on the "other side" of the
fault to extend the fault block surface through the fault plane.
Creating a smooth surface under the 2D fault trace then allows
you to drape the 2D fault polyline and create an excellent smooth
3D polyline for the fault break line. The same sequence is
repeated for the adjacent fault block.
When draping a fault trace polyline, remember that the surface
must have at least a TIN and be defined under the polyline. If
your fault trace polyline extends off the edge of the defined surface, those vertices off of the surface will be assigned the Undefined grid value elevation from the Configure Grid dialog box. To
avoid unnecessarily dense vertices on draped polylines, you may
manually set Drape step size in the Configure Drape dialog to a
discrete value.
Extrapolating break lines

If sufficient control exists within a fault block to extrapolate gradients, the Extrapolate command may be used to create a 3D
polyline from a 2D or 3D polyline which does not necessarily
overlie the surface. Extrapolate functions like Drape in the sense
that it adds new vertices, and only adjusts the z values of the vertices, leaving the horizontal alignment the same. The spacing
between added vertices is controlled by the Drape Step setting in
the Configure Drape dialog box.
Extrapolation should never be relied on without careful inspection of the result. The Extrapolate command uses the gradients
from the local neighbors to determine elevation values at a point
off of the surface. The result is highly variable depending on the
distribution of points within the surface and the horizontal distance between the surface edge and the polyline being adjusted.
Because different algorithms are used, Drape and Extrapolate
may produce different results for entities which overlie the surface.
Page 415
To use Extrapolate, follow this general workflow.
Create and TIN a surface containing only the points in the

fault block being considered. Insure that there are sufficient
points from which to extrapolate gradients. Nearly linearly
distributed point sets (in map view) will not work.
Draw the 2D polyline representing the fault trace for the edge
of this fault block only.
Use Extrapolate to convert the 2D polyline into a 3D

polyline.
Examine the resulting 3D polyline in from a 3D view.
Extract this 3D polyline as a breakline (adding it to the TIN

you created above), then create and display the TGRD for
just this fault block.
Each fault block has its bounding fault trace created separately in this way.
If you only have a handful of points in a fault block, you may

want to utilize Build surface command to build an inclined plane
upon which to drape your fault trace polyline.
Step by step examples of working with break lines are shown in
the earlier application examples, such as pad and ditch construction. Constructing faulted surfaces is identical once the fault
break lines are built.
Page 416
Chapter 28: Architectural uses
Quicksurf has obvious application in site design and lighting

studies, but several of the surface modeling tools can save considerable time when applied to polyface mesh creation. Complex
wall polyface meshes may be quickly built using the TIN and
TGRD commands together with break lines and boundaries. Site
design, slope analysis and surface coloration by light, shadow or
visibility are covered elsewhere in this manual. The objective of
this short chapter is to raise the architects awareness of the ability to build polyface meshes covering surfaces with curved openings.
Creating polyface meshes using breaks and boundaries
By selecting wall openings and perimeter polylines as both

breaks and boundaries, you may use the TIN command to create
polyface meshes for the wall. All of the defining polylines may
be 2D polylines at the same elevation. If the wall is modeled vertically, which is the normal case, you will need to establish a UCS
in the plane of the wall and both extract the entities and TIN the
wall while in this UCS. You must also set the COORSYS variable
as described in the User Coordinate Systems chapter on page 327.
Page 417
Page 418
Quicksurf
Configuration files are ASCII text files which contain the current
configuration of all global Quicksurf variables. Configuation
files may be read and written using the Read Configuration and
Save Configuration menu commands. The List configuration
command displays the configuration file to the AutoCAD text
screen one page at a time.
Each Quicksurf variable has an associated keyword which is
listed on the left side of the configuration file. Any variable may
be set from the keyboard with the QSOPT command. For example, the contour interval may be set to 25 with the following command sequence.
Command: QSOPT
Keyword: Interval
Contour Interval/Auto <Auto>: 25
Any Quicksurf variable may be similarly set from the keyboard.

Configuration files with the same name as the drawing are automatically read upon opening the drawing. If such a configuration
file is not found, the QS.QCF configuration file is read. If no configuration file is found, the internal defaults are used. A configuration file may be created with the current settings at any time by
selecting Save Configuration from the menu.
A typical configuration file is listed on the next few pages.
Page 419
; File: \qs51\qs.qcf
;
Quicksurf 5.xx Options
;
;Keyword = Value(s)
; Description
;--------------------------------------------------------curname =
; Current surface name
surfsort = Yes
; Use sort in surface list
window = Max
; Current working window
acute
= 0.0000
; Triangulation constraint
cellsize = Auto
; Cell Size
cellcnt = Auto
; Grid Count
cellfac = 4.0000
; Cell count factor
cellmin = 500
; Minimum Grid Cells
cellmax = 50000
; Maximum Grid Cells
usegreg = No
; Use grid registration
pingrid = 0.00,0.00
; Grid registration point
meshbase = 0.0000
; Base Elevation for Mesh
interval = Auto
; Contour Interval
levels = 20
; Contour Levels
elevfile =
; Elevation list file name
rough
= No
; Use frame points only
color
= Yes
; Color Contours
colcont = Cycle
; Color contour method
c1split = 5
; Low Contour Color Split
c2split = 15
; High Contour Color Split
cesplit = 0.0000
; Contour color elevation split
c1intvl = 5
; Base Contour Color
c2intvl = 15
; Highlighted Contour Color
chintvl = 5.0000
; Interval for highlighted contour
scolcyc = 1
; Starting Cycle Color
ncolcyc = 20
; Number Cycle Colors
cmapfile = C:\QS51\STDQS ; Color mapping file name
howcolor = Elevation
; Paint method
slmeth =
; Slope method
startcol = 1
; Starting Surface Color
ncolors = 20
; Number of Colors
colintvl = 1.0000
; Contour color cycle interval
Page 420
blnkcolor = 251
usecrange = No
cmaxv
= 10000000.000
cminv
= -1e+007
viewpnt = 0.00,0.00,0.00
targetpnt = 1.00,1.00,0.00
uselegend = No
showcolor = XOR
verbose = 1
gmethod = 1
dorder = 2
border = 2
weight = 2
honor
= No
neighmethod = 1
coorsys = Yes
rings
=2
ttype
=2
torder = 4,4
cmethod = Grid
usecntrg = No
mincont = -1
maxcont = 1.0000
bmethod = 1
maxsop = Yes
ptonbrk = Yes
drbase = TIN
drorder = 1
drstep = Auto
stackfac = 1e-014
brkcrverr = 0.0000
brkacc = 0.0010
curvefac = 0.0005
leanleft = No
avoid
= No
showhi = No
usedstep = No
denstep = Auto
; Blank surface color

; Use the color range for paint
; Maximum value for paint
; Minimum value for paint
; Surface paint view point
; Surface paint target point
; Surface paint legend
; Show Color Method
; Verbose Mode
; Grid Method
; Derivative Order
; Blend Order
; Weighting power
; Honor local extrema
; Neighbor selection method
; World coordinates
; Number of Rings
; Trend Type
; Trend Order
; Contour Method
; Use contour range
; Minimum contour value
; Maximum contour value
; Boundary Method
; Maximize SOP data
; Use points on breaks
; Drape Base
; Drape Order
; Drape Step Size
; Stacking constraint
; Break line curve error
; Break accuracy tolerance
; Curve error factor
; Lean left
; Avoid Redrawing
; Show Highlighted
; Use densifying step
; Densify Step Size
Page 421
usefilter = No
; Use extract filter
uselayer = No
; Use layer filter
filtlayer =
; Data layer name
userange = No
; Use Z range filter
minelev = -90000
; Minimum Z value
maxelev = 90000.0000
; Maximum Z value
npmax
= 2000000
; Max number of extracted points
fname
= <none>
; Loading points file name
colpos = 1,2,3
; Column Positions for reading data
scalefac = 1.00,1.00,1.00 ; Scale Factor
bldtype = 0
; Build surface type
extents = -1000000000000.000,-1000000000000.000 x
1000000000000.000,1000000000000.000
postoff = 1.00,1.00,0.00 ; Posting offset
camheight = 10.0000
; Camera Height
camlens = 30.0000
; Camera Lens
slpunit = 0
; Units for slopes
volconv = 1.0000
; Conversion for Volumes
volunit =
; Volume unit string
arconv = 1.0000
; Conversion for Areas
arunit =
; Area unit string
boundtol = No
; Boundary tolerance prompt
intstep = Auto
; Intersect Step Size
intslpupr = 1.0000
; Right Initial Slope Up
endslpupr = 1.0000
; Right Ending Slope Up
intslpdnr = 1.0000
; Right Initial Slope Down
endslpdnr = 1.0000
; Right Ending Slope Down
intslpupl = 1.0000
; Left Initial Slope Up
endslpupl = 1.0000
; Left Ending Slope Up
intslpdnl = 1.0000
; Left Initial Slope Down
endslpdnl = 1.0000
; Left Ending Slope Down
genseed = Auto
; Seed number for terrain generator
variotype = 0
; Variogram type
histintvl = 24
; Histogram intervals
nugget = 0.0000
; Nugget
range
= 1.0000
; Variogram range
sill
= 1.0000
; Variogram sill
Page 422

Commands which have keyboard equivalents are listed below.
The menu automatically loads commands if they are not yet
loaded, so if you receive an UNKNOWN COMMAND error when
attempting a keyboard command, select the command from the
menu once to load the command. Subsequent keyboard access
will work normally.
Data input
From the drawing..
QSX
QSBX
QSMX
Extract to surface
Extract breaks
Merge extract
From ASCII...
QSL
QSML
QSBL
RBOUND
QSLDEM
Load ASCII single surface

Load ASCII multi-surface
Load ACSII breaks
Load ASCII boundary
Load DEM data
QSXPORT
DWG2TXT
WBOUND
Export ASCII from memory

Extract ASCII from drawing
Write ASCII boundary
Data Export
To ASCII..
To 3D Studio..
QS3DS
Export to 3DS from memory
Data input
Page 423
Surface commands
Boundaries
BOUND
Boundary
Create / Display
PNTS
BREAKS
TGRD
TIN
GRD
CONT
IDWG
IDWO
Points
Breaks
Triangulated grid
TIN
Grid
Contour
Inverse distance by gradient
Inverse distance by observation
CSURF
DSOP
SOP
EXTEDGE
TINEDGE
Current surface
Surface management
Surface operations (no dialogs)
Extend edge
TIN edge
SVIEW
SETCAM
SPLAN
SZOOM
Surface view
Configure camera
Surface plan view
Surface zoom
POST
SETPOST
DPOST
SMOO
INDEX
LABEL
MLABEL
TICK
Post from memory

Configure post
Post entities
Smooth contours
Index contours
Label contours
Auto-label contours
Hachure contours
Modify
Viewing
Annotation
Page 424
Surface commands
Color control
PAINT
PFILL
DCMAP
LCMAP
RCMAP
Surface colors
Screen fill
Remap Colors
Load Color Map
Reset Color Maps
AVOL
BVOL
SVOL
VOLUME
Area volume
Boundary volume
Surface volume
Volume by entity
QSBLD
TGEN
APSEC
DRAPE
FLATTEN
ISLOPE
SETSLOPE
ISURF
SECT
SECT_SETUP
REGION
VALIGN
Build surfaces
Generate terrain
Apply section
Drape
Flatten
Intersect slope
Configure intersect slope
Intersect surface
Cross-section
Cross-section setup
Surface region
Vertical align
Volumes
Design Tools
Utilities
Elevations
TRACKZ
DELEV
CELEV
SETZ
SELZ
SCALEZ
Trackz
Display Z of entity
Change Z of entity
Set Z
Select by Z
Scale Z of entities
Color control
Page 425
Quicksurf
QSOPT
QS
QSVER
FLOW
GPED
MAVG
VARIO
VOR
Set option by keyword

Command list
Version
Draw 3D flowlines
Grid pedestal
Moving average
Variogram
Voronoi diagram
3DOFFSET
SWAPPOLY
CBND
MK2DPOLY
3PEDIT
DENSIFY
POLYDASH
XSEIS
3D polyline offset
Swap ends
Create boundary
Make 2D poly
3D polyline merge
Densify vertices
Dash a polyline
Export comma-delimited 3D poly
WELD
LINER
Weld 3D faces
Normal offset 3D mesh
TD
ESEL
SETL
MAP
WRAP
UNWRAP
SCALESYM
NUMBER
RARIFY
Toggle dialogs
Erase selected
Set layer
Rubber sheeting
Wrap to sphere
Spherical to rectangular
Scale symbols
Sequentially number
Rarify points
Polylines
Polyfaces
General
Page 426
Utilities
Surface operations
Surface management
SOP CLear
SOP DELete
SOP COPy
SOP MOVe
SOP REName
SOP LOad
SOP SAve
SOP DESCription
SOP LAYer
SOP LIst
SOP CS
SOP CC
SOP CF
SOP WINdow
SOP SET
SOP MErge
SOP SPlice
SOP Zrot
SOP XTrans
SOP YTrans
SOP XSCale
SOP YSCale
Cell size
Cell count
Cell factor
Z rotation
Translate X
Translate Y
Scale X
Scale Y
File operations
SOP READ
SOP WRITE
Read QSB
Write QSB
Surface operations
Page 427
Mathematical operations
SOP +
SOP SOP *
SOP /
SOP %
SOP MAX
SOP MIN
SOP ABslope
SOP SQrt
SOP EXP
SOP POWER10
SOP LN
SOP LOG
SOP SIN
SOP COS
SOP ATan
SOP FLoor
SOP REC
SOP ASL
SOP DSL
SOP XSLope
SOP YSLope
SOP RES
SOP TRend
Page 428
Add (+)
Subtract (-)
Multiply (*)
Divide (/)
Remainder (%)
Min
Max
Absolute value
Square root
Exponential
Power10
Ln
Log
Sine
Cosine
Arctangent
Floor
Reciprocal
Absolute slope in decimal percent
Absolute slope in degrees
Slope in X
Slope in Y
Residual
Trend
Surface operations

Commonly encountered problems and their remedies are listed
below.
Program doesnt run
Unknown command error
If you receive an Unknown command error, either the command

is not loaded or the directory with the Quicksurf programs is not
in the ACAD search path. At the AutoCAD Command: prompt
type QS followed by a return. This should echo the Quicksurf
command list to the text screen. If you receive an Unknown command error, then the main Quicksurf parent program is not
loaded. Quicksurf is loaded by invoking the Quicksurf menu.
Load the Quicksurf menu using the AutoCAD MENU command,
see page 43. If the problem persists, you have an incorrectly
specified AutoCAD path statement, see page 12.
Some LISP routines are loaded by the menu as they are selected.
If you are typing the command at the keyboard and receive an
Unknown command error, select the command from the menu the
first time to load it. Subsequent use from the keyboard will work
normally. This is the case with all utility commands.
Menu misbehavior
If menus or dialog boxes do not function properly, you have not
loaded all of the component parts to Quicksurf or you have
installed the Windows version of Quicksurf on the DOS version
of AutoCAD or vice versa. You also could have two different
versions of Quicksurf on the same machine.
Page 429
In such cases, the fastest remedy is to delete all Quicksurf files

and reinstall the proper version of the program. Use a file-find
program to locate all copies of any of the following files and
delete them from your disk.
qs.exp (DOS executable)
qs.exe (Windows executable)
qs.dcl
qs.lsp
qs.hdx
qs.hlp
qs.qcf
qs51.mnu
qs51.mnl
qs51.mnx
qsedit.lsp
qsopts.lsp
qsopts.dcl
bonus.lsp
msgfile.qlb
sikey.exe
txt.exp
After deleting any copies of these files, re-install the proper version of Quicksurf for your version of AutoCAD see Installation
on page 10.
Data import problems

Occasionally files imported from other platforms will contain
non-printing characters or non-standard line terminations. A
quick fix is to load the data file into a word processing program,
then save the file again as an ASCII text file (not in the word processors format!). Most of these programs automatically strip
offending characters.
Page 430
Extract problems
If you are using one of the Extract commands and are not getting
any entities selected, you may be using one of the Extract filters
improperly. Invoke the Configure Extract dialog and correct the
problem by de-selecting all filters.
If you are extracting entities and the display of them (Points, TIN,
etc.) is in a different place than expected, or you do not see them
at all, you may be displaying in a UCS. Change to world coordinates or if you need to be in the UCS, see Extract commands and
User Coordinate Systems on page 327.
Display problems
If Quicksurf commands do not display properly, or you do not see
any display at all, one of the following may be the cause.
SOP Window
If you have a window set which does not coincide with your
view, the grid may not exist in your view area. Use Surface
Options -> Window to set the window to Max.
User Coordinate System set
If you have a UCS set, Quicksurf will display relative to that
UCS. Quicksurf extracts in World coordinates and displays in
User coordinates unless overridden by the COORSYS variable.
Change to World coordinates and try again.
Displaying in background color
You may be showing or drawing in the background color. This
can be due to Set SHOW color being set to the background color
or using a misdesigned color (.CLS) file. Set surface and contour
colors to None and try again.
Page 431
Elevations out of range

If contours are not showing, you may have a Z range set within
Configure Contour that does not overlap the data being contoured.
Single pixel display
If your view is zoomed back from your surface by a large
amount, the entire surface may be represented by one pixel. Use
View options -> Surface Zoom to register the view with the surface.
Speed problems
Step size or cell size
If the program is running a very long time on a problem, you may
have set a very small grid cell size, drape step size, break tolerance or break curve error. Quicksurf will do as instructed if given
a very small grid cell size, step size, tight tolerance, but this may
take a long time and result in very large files. Set the size or tolerance manually in the appropriate configuration dialog.
Undo list
AutoCAD maintains an Undo list which records every action
from the beginning of the drawing session. This file can grow to
be many times larger than the drawing if you are adding and erasing large entities such as polyface meshes. When this file grows
to a certain size, you machine will start swapping and slow down
considerably. Eventually the swap file can fill your entire hard
disk and AutoCAD will abort with an AFPAGER error.
You may disable the undo list by typing
Command: UNDO
Auto/Back/Control/End/Group/Mark/<Number>: Control
All/None/One<All>: None
This will disable UNDO and henceforth AutoCAD will not create
a list, but it will not reclaim the room taken by any pre-existing
undo list file until you exit AutoCAD entirely. If you wish to
Page 432
leave undo enabled and are drawing and erasing large entities,
periodically (every few hours) save your drawing and surfaces,
then exit and reload AutoCAD.
Grid problems
If you receive a grid undefined error, you have the probably used
surface operation Window improperly or set a cell size larger
than the X, Y range of your data. If the current window and your
data set do not overlap, when viewed from plan view, a Grid undefined error may result. Setting the window while in a UCS will
cause further confusion as the window will be set using UCS
coordinates and your data will more than likely be in world coordinates (WCS).
AF pager error
If you receive this error, you ran out of space on your hard disk
drive. AutoCADs swap file grew larger than your available disk
space. See the Undo list entry above.
Annotation Problems
Label, Post and Post Entities all rely on certain AutoCAD settings
such as text style (including font, text height, width factor), object
snap modes, and pickbox size. Problems may result with very
small fixed text heights, with pickbox size set to zero, or with
object snaps set to anything other than None.
If you encounter problems, use undo to undo the error, then verify
OSNAP is set to None, PICKBOX is set to greater than zero, and
use the Style command to set a variable text height (specify 0.0)
and a width factor of 1.0.
Page 433
Lengthy Auto Densification

Auto densification re-triangulates a surface with break lines until
no triangle of the TIN crosses a break line. Normally this is quite
fast, converging in two or three iterations. In certain rare geometries, this process may iterate many times. If left alone, it will
complete the auto densification, but the time required may be
unacceptably long on large models. Auto densification is controlled by two setting: Break tolerance and Curve break error,
both found in the Configure Breaks dialog box. Increasing either
of these values will cause Auto densification to converge sooner.
For quick-look approximations of the surface, you may avoid
auto densification altogether by selecting Densify during extract
and an appropriate Densify step size in the Configure Extract dialog box. Then use Extract to surface to extract both points and
break lines together, then immediately TIN the result. In this
case, bypassing Extract breaks skips auto densification. The
resulting TIN may have triangles which cross break lines, but
they will be smaller than the Densify step size used. If you use
this trick, remember to deselect Densify during extract in the Configure Extract dialog when through.
Page 434
Quicksurf
Index
3D polylines
Vertical adjustment 152
3D Studio 323
Creating surface patches 164
Direct surface export to .3DS file 323
Exporting mesh objects 323
Materials segregation 165
Morphing Quicksurf surfaces 325
Partitioning large surfaces 325
Subdividing surfaces for different materials
3DS files 323
A
Absolute value of a surface 262
ACAD path variable 12
ACADR12.BAT 12
Adaptive densification 274
Addition (+) 260
Annotation 57, 102
Common posting problems 107
Configuring Post from memory 221
Contour labels 112
Contour tick marks 113
Posting drawing entities 105
Text properties 103
Apply section
Command 155
Cross-section template example 373
Example 367
Slope configuration 225
Slope control lines 228
Vertical transition 230
With no slope intersections 228
Area calculation
Units 219
Area volume command 139
ASCII files 65, 68
Assigning surface names 70
Boundaries 75, 80
Break lines 73
Configuration 223
Delimited 69
Delimiter and quote characters 71
Exporting 79
Exporting numbered 3D polylines

Fixed length 72
Scale factors 224
Aspect surface analysis 120
AUTOEXEC.BAT 12
183
B
324
BBS 19
Blend order 202
Block models 175
Boundaries 54, 99
ASCII files 75, 80
Boundaries and Drape 144, 281
Boundaries and surface displays 271
Boundary smart commands 269
Boundary tolerance prompt 218
Configuring 218
Create polyline utility 182
Creating and deleting 100
Establishing boundaries 270
Example 340, 349
Nested boundaries 271
Break lines 63, 273
Adaptive densification 274
ASCII files 73
Configuring break extract 213
Constructing 149, 155
Creating 273
Curve error 214
Definition 30
Example 277, 341, 352, 360, 379
Geologic faults 407, 414
Intersecting break lines 33, 276
Resolving break lines 275
Tolerance 213
Using 276
Break lines and Drape 213
Breaks
Definition 25
Breaks command 84
Building pad example 335
Index
Page 435
Index
Drape 143
Erase selected (ESEL) 185
Export 3D polyline (XSEIS) 183
Export ASCII from memory (QSEXPORT) 79
Export to 3DS from memory (QS3DS) 81
Extract ASCII from drawing (DWG2TXT) 80
Extract breaks (QSBX) 63
Extract to surface (QSX) 62
Extrapolate (EXTSURF) 165
Factory Configuration 197
Flatten 145
Generate terrain (TGEN) 171
Grid (GRD) 87
Grid pedestal (GPED) 175
Hachure contours (TICK) 113
Index Contours (INDEX) 110
Intersect slope (ISLOPE) 149
Intersect surface (ISURF) 164
List Configuration 196
Make 2D poly (MK2DPOLY) 183
Merge 3D polyline (3PEDIT) 183
Merge extract (QSMX) 63
Moving average (MAVG) 175
Offset 3D mesh (LINER) 184
Points (PNTS) 83
Post entities (DPOST) 105
Post from memory (POST) 102
Quicksurf Version (QSVER) 172
Rarefy points 192
Read ASCII Boundaries (RBOUND) 75
Read ASCII Breaks (QSBL) 73
Read ASCII Points (QSL) 65
Read ASCII Table (QSML) 68
Read Configuration 197
Read DEM file (QSLDEM) 76
Remap colors (DCMAP) 127
Rubber sheeting (MAP) 185
Save Configuration 197
Scale symbols (SCALESYM) 190
Scale Z of entities (SCALEZ) 169
Screen fill (PFILL) 131
Select by Z (SELZ) 170
Set Boundary (BOUND) 99
Set layer (SETL) 185
Set SHOW color 129
Set Z (SETZ) 169
C
Cell count 199, 251
Example 405
Cell factor 252
Cell size 198, 251
Close all option on contours 92
CLS files 128
Color control 114
Colors
ASCII color map files 128
Contour colors 130, 210
Remapping 127
Saving and loading color maps 128
Screen fill 131
SHOW Color 129
Slope analysis 385
Surface color intervals 125
Surface color sequence 122
Surface colors 114
XOR show color 129
Command list display command 172
Command reference 61
Commands
3D flowlines (FLOW) 173
3D polyline offset (3DOFFSET) 182
Apply section (APSEC) 155
Area volume (AVOL) 139
ASCII to QSB (ASC2QSB) 73
Auto-label contours (MLABEL) 112
Boundary volume (BVOL) 140
Breaks (BREAKS) 84
Build surface (QSBLD) 161
Change Z of entity (CELEV) 168
Command list (QS) 172
Configure Camera (SETCAM) 98
Configure post (SETPOST) 103
Configure slopes (SETSLOPE) 150
Contour (CONT) 91
Contour colors 130
Contour Interval 93
Create boundary (CBND) 182
Cross-section (SECT) 147
Current surface CSURF) 94
Densify vertices (DENSIFY) 183
Display Z of entity (DELEV) 168
Page 436
Index
Index
Smooth Contours (SMOO) 108

Surface area (SAREA) 184
Surface colors (PAINT) 114
Surface operations (DSOP) 93
Surface operations without dialogs (SOP) 94
Surface plan view (SPLAN) 96
Surface region (REGION) 164
Surface view (SVIEW) 97
Surface volume (SVOL) 138
Surface zoom (SZOOM) 96
Swap ends (SWAPPOLY) 182
Tilt 187
TIN 84
TIN edge (TINEDGE) 172
TrackZ 167
Triangulated grid (TGRD) 86
Untilt 188
Unwrap to plane (UNWRAP) 189
Variogram design (VARIO) 177
Version (QSVER) 197
Vertical align (VALIGN) 152
Volume by entity (VOLUME) 141
Voronoi diagram (VOR) 181
Weld 3D faces (WELD) 184
Wrap to sphere (WRAP) 188
Write ASCII Boundaries (WBOUND) 80
Cone construction 162
Configuration files
About 195
File contents 419
Listing 196
Reading 197
Saving 197
Configuration, resetting defaults 197
Configure ASCII Load 67, 223
Configure Boundary 218
Configure Breaks 213
Configure Camera 98, 220
Configure Colors 115, 122
Configure Contour 207
Configure Contour messages 210
Configure Drape 211
Configure Extract 214
Densify during extract 215
Configure Grid 198
Configure Post 103, 221
Configure Section 230

Configure Slopes 150, 225
Configure Surface Operations 237
Configure Units 219
Constructing fault break lines 411
Construction surfaces 161
Example 347
Contaminant modeling 391
Continuous curvature grid method 201
Contour colors
Cycle option 130
Interval option 130
Split option 131
Contour command 91
Contour interval
Setting 93, 208
Contours 26
And hatch patterns 390
Basis 207
Color control 130
Colors 210
Configuration 207
Constraining to a Z range 208
Contouring specific elevations only 209
Correcting short-cutting contours 331
Definition 34
Edge effects 334
Hachure marks 113
Indexing 110
Labeling 112
Logarithmic contours 209
Of slopes 385
Smoothing 108
Working with extracted contours 329
Control line for Apply Section 160, 370
Converting 2D maps to 3D maps 282
COORSYS variable 327
Copying surfaces 243
Create boundary polyline 382
Cross-section command 147
Cross-section templates in Apply Section 159
Cross-sections
Background grid 234
Configuration 230
Horizontal scale 232
Labeling 234
Index
Page 437
Index
Layer control 236

Scaling 230
Setting vertical range 233
Vertical scale 233
X origin offset 236
Current surface 94, 241
Curvature 27
Curvature and Drape 279
Curvature control 201
Curve error for break lines 214
Customer support 19
D
Data export 79
Data input 61
Default settings 197
Deleting surfaces 243
DEM projection 78
Demo mode 44
Densify during extract 215
Densify step size 215
Derivatives concepts 27
Derivatives setting 201
Design Tools 143
Detailed surface information 243
Digital elevation models (DEM) 76
Directory for Quicksurf files 11, 15
Display problems 253, 269
Displaying a surface 46
Ditch construction example 355
Division (/) 260
Dongles 17
Drainage 173
Drape 51, 279
And break lines 213
And curvature 279
Concepts 279
Configuration 211
Constructing break lines 282
Converting 2D maps to 3D maps 282
Drape and Boundaries 281
Drape and boundaries 144
Drape basis 279
Page 438
Drape order 212

Drape step 212
Draping fault break lines 414
Draping hatch patterns 285
Draping off the edge of a surface 280
Draping to the grid 212
Draping to the TGRD 212
Draping to the TIN with Derivatives 212
Example 346, 359
Results of draping different entities 143
Step size 280
Surface for draping 211
Undefined areas 200
Using 281
Drape command 143
Draw versus Show 23, 82
Drawing legend for colors 121
E
Edit points 288
Editing contour polylines 291
Editing surfaces 287
Elevation determination using TrackZ
Elevation list file 209
Elevation utilities 167
Entity filter dialog box 216
Entity filters during extract 215
Erase selected command 185
Examples
Changing grid cell count 405
Ditch construction 355
Extracted contours tutorial 330
Flatten 371
Geologic faults 409
Kriging 397
Pad construction 335
Pond construction 343
Road construction 367
Variogram design 399
Vertical align 371
Exponential of a surface 263
Exponential variogram type 179
Exporting data 79
Extract
Index
167
Index
And User Coordinate Systems 217

Extracting smoothed polylines 217
Filter by entity type 215
Filter by layer 216
Filter by Z value 217
Maximum number of points 217
Extract Breaks 273
Example 360
Repeated triangulation 275
Extract commands and user coordinate systems
Extract configuration 214
Extracting contour polylines 329
Extracting drawing entities 62, 64
Extrapolate and faults 414
Extrapolate command 165
Extrapolating break lines for faults 415
F
Faulting 165
Faults 407
Building fault break lines 414
Constructing fault break lines 409
Using Drape and Extrapolate 414
Using Flatten and Vertical align 411
Vertical 363
Fax number 19
Filter by entity
Example 340, 360, 378
Filter by Entity during extract 215
Filter by Layer during extract 216
Filter by Z 217
Flatten
Example 371
Using with faults 411
Flatten command 145
Flowlines 173
G
Gaussian variogram 179
General utilities 185
GENSEED variable 171
Geologic faults 407
Gradient flowlines 173
327
Graph properties for 2D cross-sections 232

GRD command 87
Grid 24, 26
And boundaries 218
As polyface meshes 90
Blend Order 202
Cell count 251
Cell Factor 199
Cell factor 252
Cell size 251
Configuration 198
Contouring on the grid 207
Definition 28
Draping upon 212
Drawing a pedestal 175
Grid Methods 201
Grid Registration 200
Honor local Extrema 203
Krige method 205
Number of cells 199
Registered Grids 259
Setting cell count 199
Setting cell size 198
Setting Derivatives 201
Trend method 203
Undefined Grid Value 200
Volumes 134
Volumes under a grid 306
Weighting factor 202
Grid cell count 199
Grid cell size 198
Changing 49
Grid command 87
Grid methods
Continuous Curvature (Standard method)
Kriging 36
Standard method 201
Trend surfaces 35
Grid undefined error 88
35
H
Hardware keys 17
Hardware requirements 9
Hatch pattern draped on a surface
Index
285
Page 439
Index
Hatch patterns and contour

Example 390
Hierarchy of surface parts 257
Honor local extrema 203
Horizontal arc to vertical curve using drape
Horizontal scale for cross-sections 232
Howsmooth 109
Hydrocarbon pore volumes 140
I
Index contours 58
Indexing contours 110
Installation 10
For DOS AutoCAD R12 10
For Windows AutoCAD R12 14
From CD ROM 10
Intersect slope
Example 338, 348
Step size 228
Intersect slope commands 149
Intersecting slope control 229
Introduction 9
Invisibility 86
Invisible show color 129
TIN 85
Iso-slope contours 386
K
Keyword options 171
Kriging 36, 177, 205
Contaminant data 392
Example 397
Introduction 395
Range effects 403
References 395
References for further reading
Small data sets 400
284
Labeling contours 58, 112

Layers and surfaces 245, 249
Lighting surface analysis 116
Limitations of surface size 22
Linear variogram 179
Logarithm base 10 of a surface 263
Logarithm of a surface 263
Logarithmic contours 209
M
Mathematical surface operations 246, 256
Mathematical surface operators 260
Maximize surface operations 237, 258
Maximum of two surfaces 262
Menus 37
Merging data 63
Merging data sets 254
Mesh grids 90
Minimum of two surfaces 261
Moving average of a surface 175
Multiplication (*) 260
N
Natural Logarithm 263
Negative volume 303
Neighborhood for kriging 205
Network considerations 18
Non-printing characters in data files
Normal faults 407
Nugget 180, 401
O
Offset example 358
Overshoot control 203
181
P
Partitioning surfaces 164
Parts of a Surface 24
Perspective view 97, 220
Page 440
Index
66
Index
Camera lens 99
Example 361, 379
Height above surface 98
Phantom points 288
Phone numbers 19
Plane construction 162
Point to Point surface operations 256
Points 24
Definition 25
Posting points from memory 102
Posting Z values of drawn points 105
Points command 83
Polyface meshes
Creating from 3D faces 184
Grids 90
Normal offset 184
Surface area 184
Polyface utilities 184
Polylines
Densification 215
Extracting smoothed polylines 217
Make 2D utility 183
Merging 3D polylines 183
Offsetting in 3D 182
Reversing vertex order 182
Vertex densification utility 183
Polynomial trend surfaces 203
Pond construction example 343
Positive volume 303
Posting drawing entities 105
Posting Z values 102
Posting Z values from memory 102
Configuration 221
Posting Z values of points 59
Profiles 52, 145, 147, 230
Example 370
Projecting slope 149
Q
QCF files 195
QSB files
Creating from ASCII files
Reading 242
Writing 242
69
QSOPT command 171, 196, 419

Quicksurf utilities 171
Quicksurf variables 171
R
Range 180, 401
Reading ASCII data files 65
Reciprocal of a surface 264
Registered grids 200, 259
Remainder 261
Removing Quicksurf for Windows 16
Required knowledge 9, 10
Residual surface operation 267
Residual surfaces 267
Results surface 23
Reverse faults 407
Revolved section construction surfaces 162
Road building 155
Road construction example 367
Rubber sheeting drawn entities 185
S
Scale factors during data loading 68
Scaling entities in Z 169
Scaling inserted blocks 190
Scaling surfaces 255
Schreiber Instruments 19
Screen color fill 131
Select by Z
Using 106
Selection sets 170
SET ACAD= statement 12
Shadow analysis 117
Show color control 129
Show versus Draw 4, 23, 82
Sill 180, 401
Site design 295
Slope
Configuration dialog 225
Slope - surface intersections 151
Slope analysis 265, 385
Example 386
Slope calculation 27
Index
Page 441
Index

Slope control 201
Slope intersections 149
Slope projection 225
Slopes
Absolute slope 265
Contouring 385
Correcting slope excursions 292
Direction 226
Linear slope transitions 229
Projected slopes 229
Projection Side Control 227
Splined slope transitions 230
Transitions 229
Units 219
Smoothing
Contour polylines 108
Surfaces 175
Software requirements 9
Solving for an elevation 281
Spherical variogram type 179
Splicing surfaces 254
Splinesegs 109
Square root of a surface 262
Standard grid method 201
Step Size
Intersect slope 228
Step size
Drape step 280
Stock pile volumes 140
Subtraction (-) 260
Sun positioning for lighting studies 117, 118
Surface colors
Blank color 124
By another surface 120
By lighting 116
By shadow 117
By slope in degrees 116
By slope in percent 116
By viewing direction 120
By visibility 119
By Z Elevation 116
Configuring 122
Dialog box 115
Disabling 121
Page 442
Drawing legend 121

Example 387
Low and high colors 125
Method 115
Number of colors 124
Remap colors command 127
Sequence 122
Setting a Z value range 124
Setting specific color intervals 125
Starting color 124
Surface estimation methods 317
Choosing the appropriate method 320
Geostatistical methods 319
Slope-based methods 318
Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN) 317
Surface information dialog 45, 53
Surface memory 4, 22
Surface modification operations 250, 254
Surface operations
Absolute slope 265
Absolute value 262
Addition(+) 260
Between mixed surfaces 256
Calculation sequence 237
Cell count 251
Cell size 251
Clear parts 242, 247
Configuring 237
Copy 243, 248
Degree slope 265
Delete 243, 248
Description 245
Dialog box 239
Division (/) 260
Exponential 263
Floor 264
Grid to Grid operations 259
Horizontal translation 255
Invoking dialog 93
Layer 245
Ln 263
Load (to results surface) 249
Log 263
Maximize 237, 258
Maximum 262
Mechanics of 257
Index
Index
Merge 254
Minimum 261
Move 248
Multiplication (*) 260
Power of 10 264
Read QSB 242
Rename 244
Residual 267
Run Operation button 246
Save ( to named surface) 249
Scaling in X and Y 255
Set 254
Splice 254
Square root 262
Subtraction (-) 260
Surface management functions 247
Trend 266
Trigonometric functions 264
Understanding 256
Window 252
Write QSB 242
Surface list 240
Surface management buttons 241
Surface operations without dialogs 94
Surface view
Example 361, 379
Examples 157
Surface volume command 138
Surface zoom
Using 46
Surfaces 3, 21
Analysis of 295
Associating layer names 245, 249
Changing grid cell count 251
Changing grid cell size 251
Clear parts 247
Clearing parts 242
Coloration 114
Conical 162
Constant surfaces 254
Controlling overshoot 203
Copying 243, 248
Creating patches 164
Creating similar geometries 254
Deleting 243, 248

Description field 245
Detailed listing 243
Determining surface-surface intersections
Editing 287
Estimation methods 317
Exponential 263
For draping upon 211
Horizontal translation 255
Listing to text screen 250
Logarithmic 263
Merging surfaces 254
Moving average 175
Naming 249
Of revolution 162
Parts 21
Parts of 24
Perspective view 220
Perspective views 97
Pick list pop-up 46
Planar 162
Renaming 244, 248
Results surface 23
Rotation about Z axis 255
Rounding down 264
Saving 23
Scaling 255
Setting the current surface 241
Simplification 192
Splicing 254
Surface for contouring 207
Surface list sort 237
Surface statistics 245
Trend surfaces 203
Viewing 95
Zooming relative to 96
164
T
Technical support 19
Telephone numbers 19
Temporary surfaces 161
Terrain Generator 171
Text
Height for Post from memory
Index
222
Page 443
Index
Height in Post from memory 104

Justification for Post from memory 223
Justification in Post from memory 104
Position for Post from memory 221
Position in Post from memory 103
Posting problems 107
Rotation for Post from memory 222
Rotation in Post from memory 104
TGEN command 171
TGRD 24, 26
And boundaries 218
Contouring on the TGRD 207
Definition 28
Draping upon 212
Example 341, 352, 361, 379
Volumes 134
Volumes under a TGRD 306
TGRD command 86
TIN 24
And boundaries 218
Contouring on the TIN 207
Definition 26
Draping to the planar TIN 211
Draping to the TIN using derivatives 212
Drawing the TIN perimeter 172
Repeated triangulation 275
TINs following break lines exactly 272
Volumes 134
Volumes under a Planar TIN 306
Volumes under a TIN with derivatives 134, 306
TIN command 84
TIN invisibility 85
TINEDGE command 172
Transitioning between slopes 229
Transitions
Between cross-sections 158
Slope 158
Translating surfaces horizontally 255
Trend surfaces 35, 203
Trend order 204
Trend surface operation 266
Trend Type 204
Definition 28
Triangulated grid command 86
Triangulated Irregular Network 84
Page 444
Trigonometric functions 264

Troubleshooting
Common volume calculation mistakes
Installation 12
Typeface conventions 8
U
Unit conversions 219
User coordinate system and extract
Utilities
Elevation utilities 167
Utility routines 167
327
V
Vario command 177
Variogram
Exponential 179
Gaussian 179
Histogram intervals 178
Hole 180
Linear 179
Nugget 180
Piecewise continuous 180
Range 180
References for further reading
Sill 180
Spherical 179
Types of 400
Variogram type 179
Variogram window 178
Examples 399
For contaminant data 392
Version of Quicksurf 172, 197
Vertical align
Examples 371
Vertical align command 152
Vertical discontinuities 33
Vertical exaggeration
cross-sections 233
Vertical profiles
Adjusting 152
Creating 145, 147
Index
181
315
Index
Vertical scale for cross-sections 233

Vertical surfaces 363
Viewing surfaces 95, 96
Viewpoint 98, 220
Examples 157
Visibility surface analysis 119
Visualization of two surfaces 120
Volumetrics 133, 297
Area volume command 139, 310
Basis for volume calculation 134
Boundary conditions 314
Boundary Volume 311
Boundary volume command 140
Common volume calculation mistakes 315
Comparison to Average End Area volumes 314
Example 342, 352, 381
File output 136, 308
Labeling sub-areas 136
Partial surface volume 299
Positive versus negative volumes 137
Practical volume calculations 312
Sub-area labels 308
Surface volume command 138, 310
Surface volume dialog box 133
TIN based volumetrics 297
Two surface example 135, 307
Understanding volume calculation 300
Units 219
Volume between a surface and a constant 135
Volume by Entity command 303
Volume calculation 133
Volume calculation from surface memory 305
Volume of a drawn TIN or grid 141
Volume reports 137, 309
Volume under a surface 299
Volumes between a surface and a constant 307
Volumes between surfaces 134
Volumes under an entire surface 138
Volumes under part of a surface 139
Voronoi diagrams 181
Windows installation
14
X
XOR show color
129
W
Wall constructions 363
Window for grid creation
252
Index
Page 445

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Quicksurf

Copyright 1998 Schreiber Instruments, Inc.

Chapter 4: Quicksurf menus

Chapter 5: Quick Start

Loading the Quicksurf menu................................................43

Chapter 6: Command Reference

Utilities .............................................................................. 167

Chapter 7: Configuring Quicksurf

Chapter 8: Surface Operations

Mathematical operation controls .................................246

Chapter 10: Break lines

Chapter 11: Drape

Horizontal arc to vertical curve................................... 284

Chapter 12: Surface editing

Chapter 13: Site planning workflow

Chapter 14: Volumetrics

Chapter 15: Surface estimation methods

Chapter 16: 3D Studio meshes

Chapter 17: User coordinate systems

Chapter 18: Working with extracted contours

Chapter 19: Pad construction

Chapter 20: Pond construction tutorial

Chapter 21: Ditch construction

Chapter 22: Wall construction

Chapter 23: Road construction

Chapter 24: Slope analysis

Chapter 25: Contaminant modeling

Chapter 26: Using Kriging

Chapter 27: Geologic faulting

Chapter 28: Architectural uses

Chapter 29: Configuration files

Chapter 30: Keyboard equivalents

Mathematical operations ............................................. 428

Chapter 31: Trouble shooting

ASCII files of X,Y,Z point data

X,Y,Z point information may be extracted from AutoCAD points,

ASCII point files

Surfaces in memory will not be saved with the drawing when an

Triangulated Irregular Networks (TIN)

Contours may then be generated from the TIN, TGRD or Grid

Surface estimation methods

Surface algebra and surface manipulation is performed within the

to a 3D polyline path to automatically create all of the breaklines

fied horizontal and vertical distance.

productively. We cannot cover everything, so consider attending

Using this manual

User response to prompt

System hardware requirements

80486 or Pentium processor

The available AutoCAD releases are shown, with the potential

the files in a different place, be sure to alter your ACAD path

Remember that the maximum length of a SET statement is 126

You can confirm the setting of the ACAD variable as seen by

The available AutoCAD releases are shown, with the potential

Convertible demonstration software

or use the Saveimg command to make a GIF file and utilize

Basic parts of a surface

The Extract Breaks command extracts break data from AutoCAD

Triangulated irregular network (TIN)

The 1st derivatives of a

When Quicksurf generates a surface where surface curvature is

Triangulated Grid (TGRD)

Grid (TGRD). This TGRD is a TIN which honors breakline data

Triangulated Grid (TGRD)