Display 3D Symbols

From the Add to 3D menu in the 3D Viewer, select the 3D Symbols option to place coloured symbols into your 3D view. Symbols can be of a single colour, or can be variably coloured based on a selected channel and zone file. Symbols can also be of a fixed size, or variably sized in proportion to data values. Both colour and size can be varied based on two different data channels, if desired.

The option is also available with the Grav/Mag Interpretation extension under the menu Euler 3D > Plot Solution Symbols > 3D Colour Range Symbols.

Display 3D Symbols dialog options

Elevation channel

The elevation channel name. Defaults to the current ‘Z channel’ of the active database.

If there is no current Z (Elevation) channel in the active database, the first channel from the list will be auto-selected.

The list contains all numeric channels with the exception of the current X and Y channels.

  • This option is disabled when the dialog is opened in edit mode.

    • Script Parameter: DISPLAYSYMBOLS3D.ELEVATION_CHANNEL

    Mask channel

    The mask channel name. Select a channel from the drop-down list to act as a mask (or filter) channel. Only locations that have a non-dummy value in the mask channel will be plotted.

    Script Parameter: DISPLAYSYMBOLS3D.MASK_CHANNEL

    Shape

    Select a symbol shape type from the drop-down list. Choices are: sphere, cube, cylinder, cone and dot. All symbol shapes except for the last (dot) create 3D symbols. Dots are best used for very large datasets (over 1 million points).

    Script Parameter: DISPLAYSYMBOLS3D.SHAPE

    Colour

    Option

    The symbol colour can be Fixed or Variable according to the selection here.

    Script Parameter: DISPLAYSYMBOLS3D.VAR_COL (0:Fixed Colour, 1:Variable Colour, default "0")

    Colour

    The colour of all symbols if the Fixed colour option has been selected. To edit, click on the field and the Colour selection dialog will be displayed.

    Script Parameter: DISPLAYSYMBOLS3D.COLOUR

    See Application Notes below for a list of COLOUR values

    Channel

    If the Variable colour option has been selected, choose a channel to colour the symbols by. Select a channel from the drop-down list to be used for the colour zones. The list contains all numeric channels from the active database. Disabled if the dialog is opened in edit mode.

    Script Parameter: DISPLAYSYMBOLS3D.COL_CHANNEL

    Colours

    Select the colour scheme file for rendering the 3D symbols. If you mouse over the Colours field, a tooltip will display the name of the colour table in its folder. To modify the selection, click on the colour scheme, and in the selection dialog navigate through the colour scheme categories.

    Script Parameter: DISPLAYSYMBOLS3D.COLOURTABLE

    Method

    Specify the colour zoning method for rendering colour distributions. Select one of the options below:

    • Histogram equalization: your data values are evaluated, and the zones are statistically determined, such that data is equally divided among the histogram bins.
    • Normal distribution: your data is assumed to be normally distributed, and the zones are determined based on the standard distribution for a standard bell curve.
    • Linear: the range of data values are divided linearly into even increments.
    • Log-Linear: the zone values are updated based on the log distribution of the data, and the data is displayed using the log-linear colour distribution.

    If the selected colour scheme is an .itr file or a .zon file, the colours are already attributed to data ranges, and this entry is not available.

    Script Parameter: DISPLAYSYMBOLS3D.COLOURMETHOD (1: Linear, 2: Normal distribution, 3: Histogram equalization, 5: Log-Linear)

    Reverse colour distribution

    Check this box to reverse the distribution order of the selected colour scheme.

    Script Parameter: DISPLAYSYMBOLS3D.COL_REVERSE

    Size

    Option

    The symbol size can be Fixed or Proportional.

    Script Parameter: DISPLAYSYMBOLS3D.VAR_SIZE (0:Fixed Size, 1:Proportional Size, default "0")

    Size ()

    The Fixed symbol size in View units. The Calculate button resets the field to the default estimated value. See Application Notes below for more information.

    Script Parameter: DISPLAYSYMBOLS3D.SIZE

    Channel

    Select a channel from the drop-down list to be used for sizing the symbols. Enabled if the Proportional size option has been chosen. The list contains all numeric channels from the active database. Disabled if the dialog is opened in edit mode.

    Script Parameter: DISPLAYSYMBOLS3D.SIZE_CHANNEL

    Minimum ()

    The minimum symbol size in View units. The Calculate button resets the field value to the default estimated value.

    See Application Notes below for more information.

    Script Parameter: DISPLAYSYMBOLS3D.MIN_SIZE

    Maximum ()

    The maximum symbol size in View units. The Calculate button resets the field value to the default estimated value.

    See Application Notes below for more information.

    Script Parameter: DISPLAYSYMBOLS3D.MAX_SIZE

    Use log scale

    Select this option if log distribution is desired for plotting proportionally sized symbols. Auto-selected if the Channel is of “Assay class”.

    Script Parameter: DISPLAYSYMBOLS3D. LOG_SCALE

    Application Notes

    • The current database must have defined X and Y channels in order to display 3D symbols.

    • The 3D symbols are plotted to your current 3D view in the 3D Viewer and added to the 3D Objects group in the 3D Manager tree.

    • A 3D Symbols group will take on the name of the database, without any prefixes or suffixes appended; the group name can be modified afterwards in the 3D Manager.

    • Plotting 3D Symbols into an empty 3D view will assign the coordinate system and units from the current database to the 3D View. Adding Symbols to a 3D View that has a different defined coordinate system (or units) from the current database will first reproject the locations of the symbols into the coordinate system (or units) of the 3D view.

    • 3D Symbols groups created in versions newer than 9.0 will not rescale if Axes Scaling is modified (3D View Settings dialog).

    • If you have a map with a 3D view, you can select the 3D view in the Map Manager tree and click the Open 3D View () button located on the Map Layers tab toolbar. The 3D view will be displayed in the 3D Viewer. When you close the Viewer, the view will appear on the 2D map just as it last appeared in the 3D Viewer.

    Default Symbol Size Estimates

    The default size estimation takes into account the XYZ extents of the source database as well as the number of data points. The following formulae (with results rounded to 1 significant digit) are being used in determining a fixed size estimate, as well as minimum and maximum estimations for the proportional size option:

    divFactor = Max(20, sqrt(nDataPoints);

    Size = lengthOfDiagonalXYZ / divFactor

    Minimum = 0.5 * Size

    Maximum = 1.5 * Size

    Setting Colours using Scripts

    For batch processing using the Fixed colour option (VAR_COL="0"), choose COLOUR values from the list below:

    Value Colour
    K black
    N none
    R red
    G green
    B blue
    C cyan
    M magenta
    Y yellow
    K127 grey
    K63 lightgrey
    R127 lightred
    G127 lightgreen
    B127 lightblue
    C127 lightcyan
    M127 lightmagenta
    Y127 lightyellow
    K0 white