distance to surface
distance to surface receives any 3D field into its left input port and it receives a surface (from create tin, surface from horizons, slice, etc.) into its right input port. It adds a data component to the input 3D field referencing the cutting surface. With this new data component you can use a subsetting module like plume to pass either side of the 3D field as defined by the cutting surface, thereby allowing cutting of structures along any surface. The surface can originate from a TIN surface, a slice plane, or a geologic surface. The cutting surface can be multi-valued in Z, which means the surface can have instances where there is more than one z value for a single x, y coordinate. This might occur with a wavy fault surface that is nearly vertical, or a fault surface with recumbent folds.
distance to surface recalculates when either input field is changed or the “Execute” button is pressed.
The general approach with distance to surface is:
- Create a cutting surface representing either a fault plane, a scouring surface (unconformity), or an excavation.
- Create a 3D model of the object you wish to cut.
- Pass the 3D model into the left port of distance to surface, and the cutting surface to the right port of distance to surface and press Execute.
Ports
| Direction | Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input | Input 3D Field | Field | The field to map data onto. |
| Input | Input Surface | Field | The field to use for adding data to the 3D field. |
| Output | Output Field | Field | The subset field. |
Properties
| Property | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Allow Run | Boolean | This toggle can prevent the module from running. Allowing the user to make changes to large data sets without waiting for updates. |
| Execute | Button | This button will force the module to run even if the Allow Run toggle has been turned off. This allows the user to make a number of changes before updating. |
| Reverse Cutting Surface Normal | Boolean | The Reverse Cutting Surface Normal toggle flips the normal vector of the cutting surface. In other words, this changes the sign of the surf_cut data component. This is useful for certain applications where you want the distance from the surface to be positive on a particular side. |
GPU Options
| Property | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Use GPU For Fast Calculations | Boolean | The Use GPU For Fast Calculations toggle will allow the graphics card of the computer to make certain calculations which can greatly increase the speed of the module. Not all graphics cards can support this. The default for this option can be changed in the options menu. |
| Force Emulated GPU | Boolean | The Force Emulated GPU toggle will allow the system to emulate a more functional graphics card if the computer doesn’t have one which allows certain calculations. The default for this option can be changed in the options menu. |
| Max Block Size | Integer | The amount of nodes which will be processed on each GPU pass. Larger numbers run faster, but cause interruptions. Smaller numbers are more likely to succeed on lower end graphics cards. |