3D General Geometry Import

Slide3 supports the import of model geometry from many different file formats, including:

• RS Geometry Object (*.rsgeomobj)
• OBJ Files (*.obj)
• STL Files (*.stl; *.stlbin)
• Autodesk Files (*.dxf; *.dwg)
• DTM Files (*.dtm)
• STEP Files (*.step; *.stp)
• IGES Files (*.iges; *.igs)
• TIN Files (*.tin)
• OFF Files (*.off)
• ASC Files (*.asc)
• LAS Files (*.las)
• LUSAS Files (*.mdl)

The Slide3 Import Geometry function now includes the following improvements:

• A Usage Selection screen to guide the initial assignment of geometry type (i.e. Geology / Construction, Surface / Volume, etc).
• Improved geometry selection and filtering options.
• A Geometry Repair feature, to automatically detect and repair problems such as holes, narrow triangles, near degenerate features, self intersections and non-manifold geometry.

2. Usage Selection Panel

When you select Import Geometry, you are first presented with a Usage Selection panel, to help you with the initial assignment of geometry type.

Select: Geometry > Import/Export > Import Geometry or select Import Geometry from the toolbar.

In the Usage Selection panel, select the Surface option.

Navigate to File > Recent > Tutorials > Import geometry and open the file Open the file pit_with_defects.stl.

Note: the intended use of a piece of geometry affects the suitability criteria used to evaluate the geometry. If the intended use is unknown, simply use ‘Unassigned’ to handle this case. You can change the purpose of a piece of geometry at various points in the modelling process.

3. Geometry Selection

The next step in geometry import is geometry selection. This step encourages you to examine the geometry in the file(s) and select the pieces of geometry for use in a Rocscience model.

Key features include:

• Import multiple files in one session
• Explicit list of selected geometry
• Search capabilities to help you find pieces of geometry
• Duplicate removal. Selection by mouse swept box only selects one copy of a piece of geometry that has multiple copies
• Basic transformation functions (Move to Origin, Orientation, Translate, Rotate, Scale)

This example only contains one geometry entity. Select either the file, the Default layer or the Mesh entity (since there is only a single entity it does not matter which you select).

Select the post-processing button to add the entity to the selected geometry list, then select the Next button.

4. Geometry Repair

The next dialog allows you to detect and repair defects on the selected geometry.

The tool will search the geometry for defects. The more complicated the geometry, the longer this will take. The defects discovered by the validation check will be highlighted on the entity(s) and color‐coded according to defect type.

For this example, the imported surface has geometry defects in all 5 categories, as displayed in the summary

If you wish to exclude some of the categories, you can toggle the corresponding checkbox.

5. View Options - Zoom, Pan, Rotate, Magnify

At the top of the geometry viewport, you will notice controls for manipulating the view: Home, Magnify, Zoom Window, Zoom, Pan, Rotate, Zoom Fit

These functions can also be carried out directly using the mouse:

• Rotate mouse wheel to zoom
• Press and hold mouse wheel to rotate
• Ctrl key + press and hold mouse wheel to pan
• Shift key + press and hold mouse wheel for dynamic zoom

The magnify feature is particularly useful for magnifying details such as highlighted geometry defects in order to assess problem areas.

6. Repairing Geometry

Click the Repair button to automatically repair the geometry. For more information regarding repair, refer to Geometry Repair Tool. Tutorial for geometry repair feature is available in 20 - Geometry Repair Tool tutorial.

Click OK to import the geometry.