Simple 3D survey programmes ? Advice please

[Cris Ebbs]

There seem to be several cave surveying programmes out there but can anyone
advise one suitable for this particular application (or should I say
'use')..........
Having access to a mine system of 20-30 miles in length with most of the
mine surveys, we would like to have this info on a programme that would let
us 'walk around' the system, view it from any angle and zoom in or out.
There's no raw survey data available but could we input one passage at a
time from the surveys i.e. Passage 1 = 1.23 miles: bearing 030deg:
declination 2deg. ? Great accuracy is not required as it's only to end up
with a working plan to give an impression of the place as a whole.
Any advice at all would be much appreciated. Thanks, Cris.

[Paul Brooks]

"Cris Ebbs" <cr...@ebbs2.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:9hvafh$71q$1...@newsg3.svr.pol.co.uk...

Try Survex. You can use it to generate the coordinates, then view them with
Caverot which is a 3d viewer. It takes a bit to get used to the programmes
(and particularly messing around in DOS or setting up file associations to
get it going), but is essentially very simple. You can also add on some pipe
generator type thing which can be used to view 3d passages with passage
shapes, but I haven't ried it.

http://www.survex.com/

HTH.

--
Paul Brooks

Swaledale Outdoor Club
http://www.swaledaleoutdoorclub.org.uk

[Spidey]

I have the games Unreal and Unreal Tournament, which come with a level
editor. It's a 3d 1st person perspective game, like Doom was, but only much
better!
I use that for modelling caves. Pretty good, and you can even add monsters
to fight U while you're looking around ;o)
Here's a link to a tutorial site that explains how to use UnrealEd (if
you're interested) http://unreal.gamedesign.net/utc.shtml

TonyM

Cris Ebbs <cr...@ebbs2.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:9hvafh$71q$1...@newsg3.svr.pol.co.uk...

[James Gregory]

Spidey <Spi...@SPAMFREEamantonSPAMMERSGOHOME.co.uk> wrote in message
news:9hvned$o9p$1...@taliesin.netcom.net.uk...

> I have the games Unreal and Unreal Tournament, which come with a level
> editor. It's a 3d 1st person perspective game, like Doom was, but only
much
> better!
> I use that for modelling caves. Pretty good, and you can even add monsters
> to fight U while you're looking around ;o)
> Here's a link to a tutorial site that explains how to use UnrealEd (if
> you're interested) http://unreal.gamedesign.net/utc.shtml
>

Can it really cope with maps over 30 miles in length?

All the same, the image of a super hardcore caver asking his caving
companion, on being shown a 3D map of their 10 mile caving expedion, "So,
are these multi dimensional beasts of hell things in the real cave as well?
And if so, where do we get all these cool space age guns from?" amuses me.

James

[Nig Rogers]

Suggest you try WALLS (available for download from the web, don't have
URL handy), works under Windows 98 etc and is much more user friendly
than Survex.

Nig Rogers
Grwp Ogofeydd Garimpeiros

[Spidey]

I don't know what the max size of a single map is, but you can link maps
together so that leaving one map automatically takes you to the next.

There's nothing better than being able to take the lift out of a 150ft
pothole ;o) or having to blast your way past a few mercenary Nali WarCows to
enter the master cave, lol
The guns are (obviously) found on the ledge above the Snapper Fish infested
water filled sink-hole ;o)

TonyM

James Gregory <james....@deletethis.btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:9hvpmd$g4pe7$1...@ID-34718.news.dfncis.de...

[roger gosling]

I do not know much about 3D surveying, but Dr Keith Russ from the Camborne
School of Mines, demonstrated at the NAMHO2000 conference in Truro a
fascinating computerised interactive mine model.

Look at his website on www.ex.ac.uk/~kdruss for details.

You can even see a beam engine working in his model . . . .

Also the BCRA Surveying Group has very good page on surveying software on
http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk/~arb/surveying/software.html
This has gives the details of much of the software available plus links to
other sites.

Roger

"Cris Ebbs" <cr...@ebbs2.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:9hvafh$71q$1...@newsg3.svr.pol.co.uk...

[Martin Laverty]

If you want to see some caves (rather than mines and pumping engines) in 3D
you could investigate
http://www.laverty.freeserve.co.uk and links from it. This has 3D models in
VRML2 (needs a
viewer, such as CosmoPlayer - details on site) and X3D
(http://www.laverty.freeserve.co.uk/X3d/x3d.htm - no add on software
required, but Java applets will be downloaded). The caves range from
Dan-yr-Ogof in S Wales, to all the caves explored by OUCC in the Picos de
Cornion, N Spain, including Pozu del Xitu, to the largest surveyed cave in
the S of Sarawak.

The data for the surveys was calculated using Walls, which actually outputs
VRML (albeit VRML1 with non-standard axes) and has a built in 3d viewer..

"roger gosling" <rgbr...@cableinet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:DV117.2528$Kl3.2...@news1.cableinet.net...

[Mark Shinwell]

In article <3b447de7...@newshost.netscapeonline.co.uk>, "Nig Rogers"
<pwll...@netscapeonline.co.uk> wrote:

> Suggest you try WALLS (available for download from the web, don't have
> URL handy), works under Windows 98 etc and is much more user friendly
> than Survex.

In fact, if you look at the latest version of Survex, you'll see that it
is significantly more user-friendly than previous versions. It now has a
Windows-based installer and a survey viewer (Aven) which works natively
under both Windows and Unix environments. File associations are
automatically set up and there is no need to resort to the DOS prompt
under Windows.

Mark

--
Mark Shinwell -- http://mrs30.quns.cam.ac.uk/ -- Mark.S...@cl.cam.ac.uk
Theory and Semantics Group, University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory

[Martin Laverty]

"Mark Shinwell" <Mark.S...@cl.cam.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:20010710.152725...@cl.cam.ac.uk... in reply to Nig Rogers'
suggestion that WALLS was much more friendly than Survex

>
> In fact, if you look at the latest version of Survex, you'll see that it
> is significantly more user-friendly than previous versions. It now has a
> Windows-based installer and a survey viewer (Aven) which works natively
> under both Windows and Unix environments. File associations are
> automatically set up and there is no need to resort to the DOS prompt
> under Windows.
>

That may be so but Survex (Cavern, Chasm, Aven, etc) is still not as
friendly as WALLS and nowhere near as feature rich.

WALLS has an editor that is a joy to use for survey input; magnetic
declination corrections can be made automatically; blunder detection is
there and works; surveys can have sections defined for display independently
of the input data organisation; annotation and a limited range of symbols
can be applied to printed surveys ... and more.

Try it, or just see the examples at http://davidmck.home.texas.net/walls
unless you're a Windows refusenik of course when Survex's multi-platform
capabilities may come into their own..

[Nig Rogers]

I agree with Lav.
Survex sucks!
Use WALLS!

Nig Rogers
Grwp Ogofeydd Garimpeiros

[Aidan Karley]

In article <20010710.152725...@cl.cam.ac.uk>, Mark Shinwell
wrote:

> It now has a
> Windows-based installer and a survey viewer (Aven) which works natively
> under both Windows and Unix environments.
>

That's a neat trick. TCL/TK?

--
Aidan Karley, CPC
Aberdeen, Scotland
Written at Mon, 30 Jul 2001 11:38 +0100, but posted much later.

[Aidan Karley]

In article <20010710.152725...@cl.cam.ac.uk>, Mark Shinwell
wrote:

> It now has a
> Windows-based installer and a survey viewer (Aven) which works natively
> under both Windows and Unix environments.
>

[Aidan Karley]

In article <20010710.152725...@cl.cam.ac.uk>, Mark Shinwell
wrote:

> It now has a
> Windows-based installer and a survey viewer (Aven) which works natively
> under both Windows and Unix environments.
>

[Aidan Karley]

In article <9hvned$o9p$1...@taliesin.netcom.net.uk>, Spidey wrote:
> I have the games Unreal and Unreal Tournament, which come with a level
> editor. It's a 3d 1st person perspective game, like Doom was, but only much
> better!
> I use that for modelling caves.
>

I was thinking about doing that one bored month on the rigs, but
couldn't ever figure out a way to actually put in numerical data into the
Doom editors I was playing with. Do newer games include editors with
numerical layout facilities?
Got a frag fest looming on the horizon - GG to Ingleborough might be fun
<G>.

--
Aidan Karley, CPC
Aberdeen, Scotland

Written at Mon, 30 Jul 2001 11:41 +0100, but posted much later.

[Mark Shinwell]

Aidan Karley <ai...@karley.go-and-spam-me-you-sweaty-toads.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
> In article <20010710.152725...@cl.cam.ac.uk>, Mark Shinwell
> wrote:
>> It now has a
>> Windows-based installer and a survey viewer (Aven) which works natively
>> under both Windows and Unix environments.
>>
> That's a neat trick. TCL/TK?

Goodness no. It uses wxWindows (http://wxwindows.org/).

[Spidey]

Yes, the UT editor has numerical input for both "room" and object sizes. You
can also "drag" the objects to size by mouse/keyboard.
The texture mapping enables you to use "real" textures on the walls, but
unless you want to spend weeks creating the wall surface mesh, it ends up
looking a lot like a mine without pit props ;o)

tonyM

Aidan Karley <ai...@karley.go-and-spam-me-you-sweaty-toads.freeserve.co.uk>
wrote in message
news:VA.0000020...@karley.go-and-spam-me-you-sweaty-toads.freeserve.c
o.uk...

[samwis...@gmail.com]

Dear Michael,

i Am a director working on the one show BBC 1 and i'm trying to get hold of a 3d model of the caves. I believe from this thread that one might exist somewhere and would appreciate any help you could give me,

If you think that there may be one I could use to help model the cave in my film I would really appreciate it.

My work email is sam.cha...@iconfilms.co.uk

regards,

Sam Challenger