Raster Manager in MicroStation V8i [FAQ]


 

  Product: MicroStation  
  Version: V8i  
  Environment: N\A  
  Area: Raster  
  Subarea: Raster Manager  

Raster Manager is the name of the module which allows you to open or attach raster files in MicroStation. It is best known for its non-destructive editing capabilities, meaning that most of its functions will only modify the DGN's raster attachment while leaving the original raster data intact.  Other useful functionalities include:

Basic FAQs

Opening multipage files in Raster Manager

Starting with MicroStation V8i, there are two ways to visualize the content of your multipage raster files in MicroStation:

  1. You can open them directly from the MicroStation Manager or within the MicroStation Open File menu by using the Common Raster Formats, Common Geo Raster Formats, or All Files of type filters. This will open all the pages of your raster document as read-only into a MicroStation view.
  2. You can open a DGN, go to the Raster Manager dialog box, do File - Attach Raster ensuring the Open Settings Dialog toggle is set on, then select your multipage raster and click Open so it gets listed in the Raster Attachment Options menu. Once in that menu, right-click over the raster attachment and select the page you want to display, then click the Attach button. This allows you to pick the exact page you want displayed from your raster attachment.

Raster reprojection

Starting with MicroStation V8i, you can reproject rasters just like any other referenced DGN onto a master DGN with a Geo Coordinate System definition. Please consult the MicroStation Help for more information under the Managing References and Raster Images > Modifying Raster File Attachments > Reprojecting Images topic.

Image Server attachments

It is possible to use Raster Manager to open up images stored on the ProjectWise Publishing Server. Information about the Raster Manager Image Server menu can be found under the MicroStation Help > Menus > Raster Manager > Image Server Settings dialog topic.  You will find more information on the ProjectWise Publishing Server at the following link: http://www.bentley.com/en-US/Products/ProjectWise+Integration+Server/Services-Modules.htm

Display plane and display priorities of rasters

When handling display priority of rasters in a model, we first have to determine whether we are in a 2D DGN, a 3D DGN or a DWG file. Although they have a few things in common, raster display priorities are handled differently in 2D and 3D space.

In a 2D DGN/model:

The rasters all are stored in the same XY plane, also known as the Top view in 3D terms, therefore their display priority is managed relative to the other raster attachments and to the vectors found in the same model. In the Raster Manager dialog box, the raster attachment can be stored on the Background plane, the Design plane, or the Foreground plane.

Rasters stored on the Background plane will redisplay behind the vectors in the model.

Rasters stored on the Design plane will honor MicroStation's Display Priority values (from -500 to +500) and can be displayed in front or at the back of existing vectors in the model.

Rasters stored on the Foreground plane will redisplay in front of the vectors in the model.

In a 3D DGN/model:

Rasters can be placed in any direction of the 3D space, just like vectors (top, bottom, left, right, front, back, isometric...). Therefore their position in the 3D design cube will honor the same display rules that apply to vectors: their relative 3D position to the other elements in the model will be respected and they will comply with the definition of the View Volume, Active Depth and Perspective Projections just like for any other equivalent filled vector element.

Now if you would like your 3D drawing to adopt a 2D display scenario, it is possible to revert to a legacy display mode by using the MicroStation Settings > Display Styles > Wireframe render mode and set the Use File Order for Display toggle ON.

Bring Element to Front

Since rasters are also being handled like standard vector elements, it is possible to modify their display priority relative to other elements using the MS Edit - Bring to Front menu.  This will place the raster in front of all other vector or raster elements.

Georeferencing and location

Geopriorities

When using raster's default positioning in a DGN, there are three possibilities:

  1. The raster contains no georeference information in its header. In that case the only geopriority available is "Attachment" and by default it gets attached at origin 0,0 and at pixel size = 1, unless a DPI tag scales the pixel size to a value that will honor the DPI value (common DPI values range from 0 to 300, but 600 or 1200 DPIs are also possible, mostly for printing purposes). Example raster formats of this sort are: JPG, GIF, PNG, etc.
  2. The raster contains georeference information in its header. In that case it can be assigned the "Raster Header" geopriority and the raster will be attached at the origin and pixel size indicated in its header information. Example raster formats : Geotiff, JPG2000, ITIFF...
  3. The raster contains no georeference information in its header, but it comes with a worldfile or an HGR file, which are text files containing the raster's origin and basic positioning factors. The geopriority of these files can be set to "Sister files" and the raster will be attached as though it was georeferenced. Example raster formats : TIF raster with TFW worldfile, JPG raster with JGW worldfile, BMP raster with HGR worldfile, etc.

Batch convert vs Save As output raster location

It is important to note that when rasters do not contain georeference info in their headers (e.g. JPG, BMP, etc.) and are not assigned a worldfile or HGR file for positioning, batch converting them to a georeferenced format like Geotiff will not allow assigning them a georeferenced location, even though the JPG or BMP could be attached at a precise location in your DGN.

For a raster's georeference to follow through, it either needs to be accompanied by a worldfile or HGR file when you batch convert it, or you can save it using the Raster Manager Save As command. You can either save it to an output georeferenced file (like Geotiff) or to a non-georeferenced file with worldfile (like BMP + BPW).

Raster Format specific information

What is a XWMS file ?

XWMS files are special XML - like structured text files which send queries to WMS servers. These are internal to Bentley and allow attaching the map layer query results as Raster Manager attachments. There are restrictions on these attachments : they are read-only and cannot be moved, scaled, rotated... like other raster formats. But they will maintain their location info and map layer data integrity. For more info please see the MicroStation Help document under Menus > File Menu > Raster Manager > WMS Map Editor dialog topic.

What is an ECWP attachment ?

ECWP attachments are the result of URL queries sent to servers containing ECW rasters, known as ECWP Image Servers.  For additional info please see the MicroStation Help document under Menus > File Menu > Raster Manager dialog > File > Attach > ECWP Image Server.

Geo PDFs

Raster Manager can now georeference PDF files containing location header information.  For more info on how to create GeoPDFs in MicroStation, see the MicroStation Help document under the Working with Complete Designs > Printer Driver Configuration Files > PDF Printer Driver > Enable Georeferencing topic.

DEM and DTM Raster formats

Some DEM and DTM raster formats can now be attached by Raster Manager, but they will only be properly displayed once Bentley Descartes is loaded.  The formats that fall into this category are USGS DEM ASCII [*.dem] and USGS SDTS DEM [*catd, *.ddf].  

Supported raster file formats in MicroStation V8i:

Adobe PDF [*.pdf]
Apple  PICT [*.pct, *.pict]
Esri BIL [*.bil]
Type 29 [*.c29, *.t29]
Type 30 [*.c30]
Type 31 [*.c31]
CALS Type 1 CCITT4 [*.cal]
CIT Type 24 [*.cit]
Type 2 COT [*.cot]
Type 10 [*.crl, *.tpe, *.lsr]
Compuserve GIF [*.gif]
Digital Terrain Elevation Data [*.dt0, *.dt1, *.dt2]
USGS Digital Ortho Quad [*.doq]
ERMapper Compressed Wavelets[*.ecw]
Erdas IMG [*.img]
FLI Animation format [*.fli, *.flc]
GEOTIFF [*.tif, *.tiff]
Bentley HMR [*.hmr]
Img (24bit) [*.a]
Img [*.p]
Ingr. TIFF [*.tif, *.tiff]
Internet TIFF [*.itiff]
Internet TIFF64 File Format [*.itiff64]
JPEG (JFIF) [*.jpg, *.jpeg, *.jfif]
JPEG 2000 [*.jp2, *.j2k]
Anatech LRD [*.lrd]
Ingr. MPF [*.mpf]
MrSID [*.sid]
National Imagery Transmission Format [*.ntf, *.nsf]
PCX [*.pcx]
Portable Network Graphics [*.png]
Ingr. Type 27 [*.rgb]
Ingr. Type 28 [*.rgb]
RLC [*.rlc]
Ingr. Type 9 [*.rle] SPOT CAP Image [*.fil]
Sun Raster [*.rs, *.ras]
TG4 [*.tg4]
TIFF [*.tif]
Targa [*.tga]
Landsat TM FastL7A [*.fst]
USGS NDF [*.h1]
Wireless BitMap [*.wbmp]
Web Map Server File Format [*.xwms]
Windows BMP [*.bmp]

See Also

 

Other language sources

 

  Original Author: Bentley Technical Support