A site model is a three-dimensional model which clusters information by assigning meaningful names to clearly defined areas in the space of a site. With a site model, you can define and name the buildings, floors, rooms, or even more fine-grained spaces of a site.
This process should be used in cases where precise site model definition is required. If you do not require a precise site model, you can create it automatically.
Tip: In order to see any changes reflected in your site model such as adding or removing floors, adding rooms, or editing your building outline, you must always click Save in the Datasets section of your menu.
Hide all the aligned datasets except the ones you want to be a part of your building by clicking the eye icon next to them.
Go into the Top View by clicking on the red label and click +Building from the Editor Options menu. This will begin the process of defining the walls of your building.
Click on the corner of your building. This will be the first spot you start drawing your building from, and where you will need to click to complete the outline of your building.
Start drawing the perimeter of your building around the datasets, using the underlying map as a guide. Try not to exclude any of the point clouds, as this may affect your floor plan. Extra points far outside of your building, or "noise," can be left out.
In case you make a mistake, you can right click on a point and delete the last placed point.
When you are finished defining the shape, close the outline by connecting the last node to the first node. The node will turn green to indicate that the building outline is closed.
Now that you have a rough outline of your building, you can continue editing the shape of your building by dragging the white points around the perimeter until you are satisfied.
Click Save.
Add a building name by clicking the Pencil icon next to Building.
Follow these steps to align the datasets to the ground floor:
Important: Since you have already aligned your datasets, it is important that you do not adjust this alignment. This step is simply to ensure that your site model knows where the ground floor is located, so make sure you only move your building as a whole.
Go to Site Setup > Dataset Alignment.
Unhide the aligned datasets that you want to be a part of your site model by clicking the eye icon next to them.
Use the Side Views at the bottom of your screen to check if the datasets aligned on the ground floor are sitting on the gray line. If they are, move onto Defining a Floor.
If the ground floor datasets are not on the gray line, unlock the whole building by clicking the Lock icon.
Use the Transformation menu to adjust the alignment of your ground floor so that it is sitting on the gray line.
Once you have matched your building to the gray line, lock the datasets.
Use the View Configuration panel to select either Side View (N ->S) or Side View (E->W) or both.
Use the rectangular area that appears in the Top View panel to adjust the content visible in the Side View below, depending on which side you have selected. Do this by moving your mouse over the rectangle and scrolling out with your mouse to adjust the size. Drag and drop the rectangle to where you would like it to be placed.
Note: You can rotate the view area by moving the rectangle on the top left panel while holding the Shift key.
Once you can clearly see the outlines of the floors, go into one of the Side Views by clicking on its label. Then click + next to your building name to create the ground floor of your building.
The ground floor is named Floor 0 by default. You are able to change this by clicking on the pencil icon next to Floor 0 and editing the name.
If the floor is a mezzanine floor, turn on the Mezzanine toggle.
Click OK to save the settings.
Note: It is also possible to change your floor polygon (outline of the floor's vertical walls) from the Top View. In most cases, editing or defining a new floor outline is not necessary and should only be done in special cases, since this will increase the complexity of the site model and make it more error-prone.
You will now see that a yellow mesh rectangle has appeared around your ground floor. You can adjust the height of the floor by dragging the floor and ceiling so that the entire floor is covered.
Make sure that the limits cover the ceiling and the floor, and that the floor does not cut into the floors above and below.
Click Save and your ground floor dataset will automatically be assigned to this floor.
A solid yellow box around the ground floor is displayed when the floor defined.
Click + next to the building name to add another floor. The next floor can either be added above or below the ground floor you just created.
Continue adding floors and defining their heights until your site model includes all the floors of your building.
Note: When you are adjusting the height of one floor, this will adjust the adjacent floors as well. Always avoid cutting into adjacent floors and never cut into the floor above.
Now that you have a basic site model, you are able to add more attributes to your building, such as rooms.
Follow these steps to define rooms in your site model:
Unhide the floor and specific dataset with the room that you want to add by clicking the eye icon next to it. It is much easier to add a room when you are only viewing the floor that it is on.
Using the View Configuration menu, select Top View.
Use the red rectangular area that appears in the Side View screens (either Side View is fine), you can adjust the content visible in the Top View above. Do this by moving your mouse over the rectangle and scrolling out with your mouse to adjust the size. Drag and drop the rectangle to where you would like it to be placed.
Note: You can rotate the view area by moving the rectangle on the top left panel while holding the Shift key
Once you can clearly see the outlines of the rooms from the top view of your building, go into the Top View by clicking on its label.
Click the + button next to the floor you want the room added on.
Draw the outline of the room, similar to how you outlined your building in the beginning. The room outline must stay inside the floor and building outline.
Using your cursor, click the corner of the room which you want to define. This will be the first spot you start drawing your room from, and where you will need to click to complete the outline of the room.
Start drawing the perimeter of the room, using the underlying building as a guide.
When you are finished defining the room, close the outline by connecting the last node to the first one. The node will turn green to indicate that the outline is closed.
Now that you have a rough outline of your room, you can continue editing the shape of the room by dragging the white points around the perimeter until you are satisfied.
Rename the room by clicking on the Pencil icon next to the room you just defined. Click OK when you are done.
When your room is defined and named, click Save. You will now see the room as a part of your building. Repeat steps 5-12 to add more rooms to your site model.
If you need to connect neighboring buildings, select Snap to lines and vertices in the menu. This will "glue" your mouse to the first building you defined when creating another building.
