Virtual Surveyor includes multiple drawing tools. The drawing tools are available in the Drawing group of the HOME tab. The Drawing Tools allow you to add survey items such as points, polylines (breaklines), or boundaries to your project. You can use these survey items to create a topographic surface, or export them into a CAD format to use in CAD.


Overview


Drawing Tools

You can change drawing modes through the dropdown menus. The Polyline and Arc tools are grouped in the same dropdown menu. Boundary, Circle, and Rectangle are grouped in another dropdown menu. The drawing mode you are using stays enabled (highlighted) in the ribbon until you disable that mode by right-clicking anywhere in the Viewport, or by clicking on the icon again. 


You can access the additional drawing modes by left-clicking the arrow below the drawing tool icon to see the dropdown menu options.


Point

  1. Enable Point drawing mode in the HOME tab.
  2. Left-click in the Viewport to add points.
  3. You can enable/disable Geometry Snapping in the pop-up dialog box next to the Project View.


Polyline

  1. Enable the Polyline tool in the HOME tab.
  2. Choose the Line Drawing Mode:
    • Free: regular vertex to vertex straight polyline.
    • Arc: curved polyline. Can be turned on/off while drawing to apply the arc mode to a part of the polyline.
    • Guided Breakline: semi-automatic topography line extraction.
  3. Choose if you want to use Geometry Snapping.
  4. Left-click in the Viewport to add polyline vertices.
  5. Right-click to finalize a polyline.



Arc

Ridge and Peak feature.


  1. Enable Arc drawing mode in the HOME tab (Polyline dropdown menu).
  2. Choose if you want to use Geometry Snapping.
  3. Draw an arc; an arc is defined by three clicks:
    • First click = arc starting point.
    • Second click = arc ending point. 
    • Third click = arc radius and completes the arc.


Boundary

  1. Enable Boundary tool in the HOME tab.
  2. Select the Line Drawing Mode:
    • Free: regular vertex to vertex straight boundary.
    • Arc: curved boundary. Can be turned on/off while drawing to apply the arc mode to a part of the boundary.
    • Guided Breakline: semi-automatic topography line extraction. 
  3. Choose if you want to use Geometry Snapping.
  4. Left-click in the Viewport to draw the boundary vertices.
  5. Right-click to finalize the boundary.


Circle

Ridge and Peak feature.


  1. Enable Circle drawing mode in the HOME tab (Boundary drop-down menu).
  2. Draw the circle; each circle is defined by 2 clicks:
    • First click = point on the circle perimeter.
    • Second click = another point on the radius to complete the circle.
  3. You can enable/disable Geometry Snapping.


Rectangle

Ridge and Peak feature.


  1. Enable Rectangle drawing mode in the HOME tab (Boundary drop-down menu).
  2. Draw the rectangle; each rectangle is defined by 3 clicks:
    • First click = one of the rectangle's corners.
    • Second click = first rectangle dimension. 
    • Third click = second rectangle dimension and completes the rectangle.
  3. You can enable/disable Geometry Snapping.


When to Use Drawing Tools

  • You can use the drawing tools to place survey items on your drone data and export those items as CAD files.


  • Combined with the Offset tool, the Polyline and Arc tools are useful for tracing curbs and gutters.


  • Use the Polyline tool to draw breaklines. Polylines are usually required for mine surveys and are very useful for creating a Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN).


Tips and Tricks 

  • You can always edit your created or imported lines via the TOOLS tab when an item is selected. 
    • Click on the Edit Vertex button in the TOOLS tab to begin your edit modes.
  • Project item vertices are draped on the Elevation Terrain and you can edit item vertices if you want them all to be on the same elevation. 
    • Draw the item with one of the tools described in this article. 
    • Select the object and enable the Edit Vertex tool in the TOOLS tab. 
    • Set the Edit Vertex Mode to Z. 
    • Select all the vertices (Ctrl+A) and set the Z value in the item menu box.