With the Material Editor, you can create a material catalogue/library for Stockpile items. The material types can be set to have a density and value per unit, which automatically converts the volume of the pile to weight (tonnage) and gives you its monetary value.


The Material Editor can be found in the VIEW Tab, the TOOLS for Stockpile tab (when a stockpile is selected), or as a quick button in the Status Bar.


View Tab - Material Editor


TOOLS for Stockpile Material


Status Bar - Material Editor

 

Overview


Material Editor Panel

The Material Editor Panel is where you edit your stockpile materials and their associated information.

 

The Settings section of the panel controls properties for all stockpile items and allows you to set an Undefined Material Color, change the Currency Symbol, and enable/disable Show Fill. 


The Materials section of the panel defines specific materials and allows you to add or delete materials in your catalogue as well as identify the materials by Name, Density, Value, and Color.


  • Select the Material Editor button to display the Panel to the right of the Viewport.



Materials Panel - Sections & Definitions

Settings

  • Undefined Material Color - Use for cases where stocks may be composed of unknown material, or nonrevenue generating materials (sludge, waste, etc.). Any calculated stockpile that is not assigned a material is set as Undefined. 
  • Currency Symbol - Simply type in your currency symbol or abbreviation to have it designated in the program or PDF report. This is applied to all materials that have the Value enabled. For example: for US Dollars you can type USD or $.
  • Show Fill - Tick the box to show the color of the fill over the stockpile. When unticked, the stockpile is only outlined by the material fill color until you hover over the stockpile with the mouse. When you hover over the stockpile, it will highlight the pile with the set fill color. 

Materials

  • Add Material - Click to add a new material.
  • Name - Name of your material type.
  • Density - Tick the box to enable. Shows the density, which is weight per cubic unit. If your data Display Units are in metric, the density is in tons per cubic meters (t/m³); when imperial, they are in tons per cubic yards (t/yd³).
  • Value - Tick the box to enable. The Value should be the value of your stock/aggregate in tons per cubic meters/yards. For instance, the value of Sand in the image is 1.25 Euros per ton. Your value for the whole pile is calculated by combining volume, density, and value. 
  • Color - Assign a color to each material to help you identify and distinguish the stockpiles at a quick glance. 


Add, Remove, and Edit Materials

You can add, remove, and edit types of materials at any time. 

  1. Select the Material Editor button.
  2. Go to the Materials Panel.
  3. Click Add Material to create a new type of material; or alternatively:
    1. Click the Wrench icon to edit a material.
    2. Click the Trashcan icon to remove/delete a material.
  4. Fill in the desired information fields for that material:
    1. Name
    2. Density
    3. Value
    4. Color
  5. Click Add (or Update) to create the new material.



View Stockpile Information

When you select a stockpile you can view its related properties, along with any assigned material, in the Selection Box.

  1. Select a stockpile.
  2. Look at the Selection Box.



The Selection Box includes all the information you entered in the Material Editor Panel for the selected stockpile and allows you to see all the information at a quick glance.

  • You can copy the stockpile information by clicking on the clipboard icon at the top right of the Selection Box.



Undefined Material

Any undefined material can be given a category and colored to your specification, just remember that it is considered undefined because it does not have an assigned weight or value. The undefined material for this example project can be found at the northwest corner of the project's site. 


 

Using the Show Fill Feature

Use the Show Fill function to quickly identify where materials are on the project site.

  • Tick the box to enable Show Fill - Leave Show Fill enabled to help you easily identify groups of stockpiles and where they are on the project site. 
  • Untick the box to disable Show Fill - Keeping Show Fill disabled makes it easier to see the actual image of the pile and can help you identify the type of material in detail.



Tips and Tricks 

  • Materials can be exported or saved as a Template to be reused in other projects. These templates can either be reused by yourself or by other users.
    • Use Save as a Template to store your materials template to your Virtual Surveyor ID, which can be reused with any of your projects at any time as it follows you on whatever machine you log into.
    • Export your materials as a template (.vsmt file) that is easy to share within your own team or outside your organization. These templates can be loaded into any Virtual Surveyor project at any time.
  • If you are trying to obtain cut/fill information over a site, make sure you are using the Cut/Fill Tools, instead of the Material Editor and Stockpile tools.
  • Disable fill to be able to identify the material in a Stockpile PDF report. 
    • Because Virtual Surveyor works as a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) concept, whatever your terrain looks like in the Viewport will export with the same visuals.


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