The last piece of the Model View is the iModel Window – where the iModel resides. Other than the basic functions that come with any 3D Window, the iModel Window offers you a wide range of tools that help you get in depth understanding of your iModel. In the next chapter, we are going to take a look at the iModel Window in detail.

1.  Civil Tools : Civil-based tools include Profile, Perpendicular cross-sections, 2 points cross-sections, Station Offset, Civil Quantities, Compute Quantity Area, Taper Angle, and Drive.
   
   
   1. Profile: The profile tool allows users to view the profile of an alignment or other linear geometry.
      
      
      

      i. After selecting the tool, the user needs to select the alignment or linear geometry they want to view. After selection, a 2nd viewport will open which displays the vertical curve information of the selected element.

      Within the 2nd viewport the user can see Stations, Slopes, K/R Values, Intersect and Tangent points and more. When your cursor is in the profile view the elevation and station will also be displayed along with a match line in the plan view to show where you are in both profile and plan.

      Note: In order to have this level of detail in the profile view the design must be loaded from OpenRoads Designer. Loading from an older Civil product or through an i.dgn file will not include the alignment.

      ii. On the left side of the profile view the profile button will show if there are additional profile associated with the alignment you selected. Those can be turn on or off.
      

      iii. The gear icon in the upper right of the profile view “Profile view options” will allow you to turn on or off crossing geometry and text associated to the profiles.
      

   2. Perpendicular cross-section: The Perpendicular Cross Section tool allows users to take a 2D slice of the model and view the elements in a 2nd viewport.
      
      
      

      1. The user snaps the slice line to an alignment or other linear geometry then the slice can then be moved down the alignment or a specific station can be entered.

      2. Measurements can be taken within the cross-section to view distances and slopes. The first icon working left to right allows you to measure a horizontal distance and the slope between the two points you measure between. The middle icon will measure the vertical distance between two points. The last icon on the right will measure an area on the cross-section. All these measurements will stay on the cross-section as long as the element originally selected continues to be shown on the following cross-section.

      3. The user can also select the alignment from the drop-down list. They can select the station in the drawing.

      4. The gear icon in the middle of the cross-section view, “Section Navigation Options,” lets you adjust the station increment that you move through the cross-sections with the navigation arrows in the middle of the view.

      5. The gear icon in the upper right of the cross-section view, “Section View Options,” lets you display cut graphics from the linear geometry as well as scale the line weight to display it more prominently.

      Note: Loading from an older Civil product or through an i.dgn file will not include the alignment. The Cross Section tool can still be used without an alignment, but the stationing information will not be available.

   3. 2 points cross-section: It serves the same purpose of Perpendicular cross-section as a cross-section. The only difference is this cross-section is created by separately defining two points on iModel, instead of selecting an alignment.
      
      
   4. Station Offset: The Station Offset tool allows users to measure an offset distance from a linear element or alignment. First, the user must select the linear element. The tool will then take a perpendicular measurement from the specified element to a desired point. If an alignment is selected, the tool will also show the station location of the measurement. An alignment can be selected from the Alignments drop-down list as well. The Station Offset can be taken At a Point, or Between Points.
      
      
      
   5. Civil Quantities: The civil quantities tool allows you to select an element that have civil data attached to the element from OpenRoads Designer. Quantities include Top Slope Area, Planar Area, and Volume. If the element doesn’t have any civil data associated with it the element cannot be selected. Note: Loading from an older Civil product or through an i.dgn file will not include civil data.
      
      
      
   6. Compute Quantity Area: This tool is enabled by selecting two points to draw an area, and SYNCHRO Control will calculate and display quantities within the created area. Quantities include the Number of elements, Volume, Planar Area, Sloped Area, and Length.
      
      
      
   7. Taper Angle: This tool is enabled by selecting two points input and the resulting measurement is a result of taking instantaneous bearings from the two points on their elements, extending those as construction lines and presenting the resulting “construction triangle” in the graphics.
       
      
      Note: This feature is only available to roles having Cost/Perform/4D Access.
      
      
   8. Drive: Drive is a fun and useful feature for roadway design. This command provides simple drivers eye view through the model relative to reference geometry with user defined offsets and a surface mesh, that can be animated at a user-defined speed to help validate simple line-of-sight model integrity. Note: The command requires linear geometry, where the mode is Alignments (default). All alignments are highlighted in the model to aid the selection of the control.
      
      
      Targets can be added and displayed in the model as colored crosshairs on the drive path using the distances/offsets/height defined and can be used to check simple line of sight. Where any target is not visible an obstructed in the model by any surface mesh or solid, the drive animation will pause, provide a message that the target is not visible and open a TargetZoom view window that provides a slider zoom control in the model to help in the identification of the line of sight analysis failure.
      
      Note: This feature is only available to roles having Cost/Perform/4D Access.
      
      

2.  Section : Sectioning lets you cull the model to focus on a certain spatial area. This is different than hiding an individual item in the view or turning off the display of a category because only part of the item displays if it falls on the cutting plane. This allows you to see inside a building without having to manage large lists of hidden items.

You can navigate, turn off individual items or categories as well as use Data Visualizations while a section is enabled. Once the section tool is activated, it can be adjusted by clicking on and moving the section handle arrows.

3.  Measurement Tools : The suite of measurement tools was designed to allow you to verify and validate that objects are designed to the intended specifications. This section covers the different ways you can measure.

 

4.  Select Elements: This tool activates the selection mode to select elements. This also opens the Select Elements menu. For more details, please refer to chapter 5.1 – Header on Page 17.

Note: the following commands, 5 to 10, are available when some elements are selected and belong to Element View Options.

5. Clear Selection : un-select any selected elements.
   
   
6.  Focus Selected Elements : focus on and center the selected element in the middle of the screen.
   
   
7.  Change Visibility : Displays additional settings letting the user change the visibility of the selected element.
   
   
   
   These settings can be reset by clicking on the Clear Selection  tool.
   
   
8.  Hide : Hide selected Elements, Categories, and Models.
   
   
9.  Isolate : Provides options to isolate the selected Elements, Categories, and models.
   
   
10.  Emphasize : Emphasize selected elements while greying out the other elements.
    
    
11.  Rotate About Point : This allows the user to rotate the model at the selected point.
    
    
12.  Pan : Allows the user to move or pan around the model. Select any point on the model pan in the direction you want to move.
    
    
13.  Fit View : Fits model or selected elements into the center of the screen.
    
    
14.  Window Area : This lets the user create a window and zoom in on the created window.
    
    
15.  View Previous/Next : Allows the user to select between different camera positions previously viewed.
    
    
16.  Search Address : Allows users to search for an address worldwide.

Note: commands 11 to 16 belong to View Options.

17.  View Cube : this allows you to click on the cube and rotate the view. The cube and the 3D model will rotate around the center of the 3D view window. Selecting one of the View cube options (Front, Back, Top, Bottom, Left, Right) sets the camera to show the scene from the selected option.
    
    
18.  Set up walk camera : Sets up the camera position and direction for the Walk Around.
    
    
19.  Walk around : Used to interactively "walk" through a 3D view of a model.
    
    
20.  Turn camera on/off : Gives the option to view the model in Isometric or Perspective view.
    
    
21. Compare : Activates a slider bar to compare the model to a Reality data underlay. Refer to this wiki for more information.