3D Drive View

Use the 3D Drive View to visualize and check for accurate topography of a surface by simulating a drive along a selected alignment or on the surface itself.

This topic includes the following sections:

To drive along an alignment - This workflow allows you to drive along an alignment with both a horizontal and vertical component (HAL/VAL) to check for accurate topography of the surrounding surface.
To drive across a surface - This workflow allows you to drive in any direction across a selected surface to check for accurate topography. Optionally, you can select to drive across one of two selected surfaces to identify cuts and fills. For example, you can drive across a final graded surface to identify cuts and fills related to the original ground surface. In addition, you can select to "self-drive" along an existing line or alignment in your project.

Prerequisites:

See the Subscription Plans page. For a license matrix by command, see the License page in the TBC Community. Also see View and manage licensed features.
Alignment with both a horizontal component (HAL) and vertical component (VAL)
(for the alignment-based 3D Drive View)
Surface, which can be of any type: generalized, corridor, planar, layer-based, depth-based
(for the surface-based 3D Drive View)

For an automated drive through, there is a setting to control the driving speed. An optional heads-up, textual display in each view shows the current station/location, surface/alignment elevation, and surface/alignment slope.

The 3D Drive View can be floated and moved to a second monitor by selecting Float Viewor by clicking in the view and selecting Float View from the context menu. Where the 3D View is an orthographic view, the 3D Drive View is a perspective view.

View Filter Manager settings enable you to control the visibility of the surfaces and objects that are displayed, and you can edit objects to see the results while driving through the model. When driving, you can also 'look' in any direction; the direction of the vehicle is controlled independently. A car icon is used when driving along an alignment and a bulldozer icon is used when driving across a surface.

To 'drive' along an alignment in a 3D view:

Select the alignment in the Project Explorer or a graphic view, and do one of the following:
- Right-click and select New 3D Drive View from the context menu.
- Select 3D Drive View in Corridors > Corridor.
A 3D Drive View opens with the viewpoint set at the point of beginning (POB) of the alignment.
In the Plan View, your 3D Drive View location and direction is represented by the blue vehicle icon. When you change your view from facing straight ahead, the direction of the viewpoint is indicated by the red line emanating from the center of the vehicle icon.
Move along the alignment by:
- Clicking and dragging the slider next to the Station box.
- Clicking and dragging the Speed slider.
- Typing a speed (in kilometers or miles per hour, depending on your current unit settings) in the box next to the Start button and clicking Start. This speed may exceed the upper limit on the Speed slider.
- Pressing the [Up Arrow] and [Down Arrow] keys keys on your keyboard to change the speed by smaller increments (when focus is on the Speed slider).
- Pressing the [Page Up] and [Page Down] keys to change the speed by larger increments (when focus is on the Speed slider).
To view a specific location along the alignment, type a station value in the Location box and press [Enter].
The drive stops when it reaches the end of the alignment. When driving along an alignment, the elevation reported is that of the alignment object at the current station. However, the elevation of the view point is affected by the viewpoint height, normally established above the vertical alignment, as described further below.

To 'drive' over a surface in a 3D view:

Select the surface (or cut/fill map) in the Project Explorer or a graphic view, and do one of the following:
- Right-click and select New 3D Drive View from the context menu.
- Select 3D Drive View in Corridors > Corridor.
A 3D Drive View opens with the viewpoint set to an arbitrary location on the surface.
In the Plan View, your 3D Drive View location and driving direction is represented by a yellow bulldozer icon: When you change your view from facing straight ahead, the direction of the viewpoint is indicated by the red line emanating from the center of the bulldozer icon.
Specify a starting location on the surface by:
- Clicking in the Location box and picking a new location in a graphic view.
- Typing a new coordinate in the Location box and pressing [Enter].
Move across the surface by:
- Clicking and dragging the Speed slider.
- Typing a speed (in kilometers or miles per hour) in the box next to the Start button and clicking Start. This speed may exceed the upper limit on the Speed slider.
- Pressing the [Up Arrow] and [Down Arrow] keys on your keyboard to change the speed by smaller increments (when focus is on the Speed slider).
- Pressing the [Page Up] and [Page Down] keys to change the speed by larger increments (when focus is on the Speed slider).
Change the direction of travel across the surface by:
- Clicking the and arrow buttons to turn in 10° increments.
- Pressing the [Back] and [Forward] keys (also labeled [Home] and [End]) to turn in 5° increments (when focus is on the turn arrows).
The drive stops when it reaches the edge of the surface. When driving over a surface, the elevation reported is that of the surface at the currently reported location. However the elevation of the view point is affected by the viewpoint height, normally established above that surface, as described further below.

Values displayed in the view:

For the 3D Drive View along an alignment, the station, location (coordinate), alignment elevation, and VPI alignment slope are shown.
For the 3D Drive View across a surface, the location (coordinate), surface elevation, and surface slope (of the current triangle) are shown in the upper left of the graphic view.

Values are only shown when they are valid/applicable.

To hide/show the values, click the Project Settings icon. In Project Settings, set Show alignment statistics and Show surface statistics to Yes or No.
To change the font used for the display, select Options in the Quick Access Toolbar and select Startup and Display > Gridline and scalebar labels.

To change the perspective of the 3D Drive View:

The 3D Drive View is a modified 3D View, so any settings that affect the 3D View also affect the 3D Drive View. The default viewpoint is vertical (parallel to the horizon), not perpendicular to the vertical alignment or surface triangle the viewpoint is currently above. The viewpoint's eye height is set from the surface or the alignment, depending on the object selected for the view. You can rotate the viewpoint and exaggerate the vertical scale using the 3D View Settings or the gestures below.

Note: Panning actually only rotates the view and zooming only skews the perspective. The viewpoint does not actually change.

To adjust the height of the viewpoint above or below the alignment, click the Project Settings icon and change the Alignment or Surface viewpoint height in Project Settings.
Note: You can also access this setting by selecting 3D Drive View.
To change the view, use any of the standard 3D view tools, such as:
- To zoom in and out, roll the mouse wheel.
- To increase the vertical exaggeration, press [Ctrl] + [Shift] and roll the mouse wheel.
- To move the viewpoint in any direction, press [Ctrl] and click and drag the mouse wheel or middle mouse button.
- To rotate the view angle vertically, press [Ctrl] and roll the mouse wheel.
- To rotate the view angle horizontally, press [Shift] and roll the mouse wheel.
  Tip: This enables you to turn the viewpoint around to 'drive' the alignment in the opposite direction when in an alignment-based 3D Drive View, or to look to the side as you drive along in either an alignment-based or a surface-based view.
To reset the view/realign the view with the vehicle icon's direction of travel, select Zoom Extents.

Scenario:

If you select a corridor for the view, the values displayed are for the surface. To see values for the alignment on which the corridor is based, select that alignment for the view.