2011

5 To specify what type of surface to create, click the Parameters field. The
Grid Parameters dialog box (page 1901) appears. You can:
■ Specify a GeoTIFF or ESRI ASC surface.
■ Specify a file name and save location for the grid file.
■ Specify parameters for cell size, cell units (meters, US feet, Survey feet,
International feet), and search radius. These settings affect the
resolution of the grid file only.
■ Fill gaps: when you check the Fill Gaps check box, you can select how
AutoCAD Map 3D fills gaps in your surface. Choose a fill method from
the drop-down list: Nearest Neighbor, Normal Distribution, Normal
Distribution Smooth, Square Distance, or Square Distance Smooth.
6 To specify an output file name and save location other than the one
assigned by default, click the Output field, then click
. The Save As
dialog box appears. Enter the file name and save location, then click Save.
7 Click Generate Surface. AutoCAD Map 3D begins to create the surface.
8 To cancel the surface creation process, click Cancel Processing.
9 When AutoCAD Map 3D is done creating the surface, a green check mark
appears next to the file or merge group name. Do one of the following:
■ To add the surface to your map, click Add to Map. AutoCAD Map 3D
adds the surface to your map, and a raster layer to the Display
Manager. It also creates a raster connection in Data Connect.
■ To add a surface group to your map, shift-click or control-click to
select a group of files, then click Add to Map. AutoCAD Map 3D adds
a new raster connection to Data Connect. Select the new raster
connection, then select the surfaces you would like to include and
click Add to Map. If your surfaces are all the same file type, you can
select Combine Into One Layer and specify a layer name.
NOTE You can also connect to surfaces created from point cloud data using
Data Connect as you would for any other raster data. For more information
on connecting to raster data through Data Connect, see Adding Raster-Based
Surfaces to Your Map
(page 441).
Creating Surfaces From Point Cloud Data | 1023