Surfer.pdf

7/27/2019 Surfer.pdf

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Demonstration Video

Surfer Part 1

Introduction

PART 1

1. Introduction2. Plot Window3. Object Manager4. Worksheet Window5. Grid Node Editor Window

1. Surfer is a grid based Graphics program used for Mapping XYZ data into grids. Thesegrids can be used to create many map types including Contour maps, Vector Maps, Wireframe maps, and surface maps.

2. The Plot Window is where maps are displayed and created. Maps can be edited bydouble clicking on the map to open the properties dialog box.

a. Maps can be rotated by selecting the trackball tool and clicking on the map anddragging it in the direction you wish to rotate it.

3. The object manager window displays a list of all the objects located in the Plot Window.Objects in the Object Manager window can be modified by double clicking on the name ofthe object, or by right clicking on the name and selecting properties.

a. Double-clicking on the "grip bar" at the top of the Object Manager windowconverts the window to a floating window, which can be moved.

b. Dragging the Object Manager window to the edge of the Surfer window docks thewindow.

c. The size of the object manager can be changed by clicking on the gray linebetween the object manager and the plat window and dragging it to the new size.

4. The toolbars at the top show links to many commonly used menu commands such asNew, Open, Save and print. When the mouse is moved over these buttons Y yellow hintbox opens showing the name of that tool.

a. These toolbars can be docked on a side or can be floating tool bars. This can bechanged by clicking on the toolbar and dragging it to the place you want it.

5. The Worksheet Window is where data can be viewed and edited and transformed. Theworksheet window contains one billion rows and columns that can hold data. Data can beedited in the worksheet window just as any other spreadsheet.

a. Math Functions can be applied to the data by selecting the data and going toData | Transform.

b. The transform dialog box will open, type the function into the transform equationbox or use the built in functions by clicking on function, selecting the function andclicking insert.

c. Click ok when finished to complete the math function.


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6. The Grid Node Editor Window shows z values for a selected grid and allows you to makechanges to these values. To open the grid node editor go to grid | Grid Node Editor

a. To change a node click on the node and enter the new Z value you wish to use.

7. This concludes Part one of the surfer demonstration video. Part 2 will demonstrateOpening data, creating grid files, creating contour maps, changing contour properties,and saving a file.


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b. In the properties dialog box you can change properties such as the contour

levels, the view, the scale, the limits of the data, and the background properties.

c. I will start by changing the contour levels. To change the contour levels I will clickon the levels tab in the properties dialog box. You can change Contour Interval,Contour line styles, Contour fill colors, and Hatch settings in the levels tab.

d. Clicking on the level heading on the left hand side allows you to change theminimum contour value, maximum contour value, and the contour interval. I willleave the minimum and the maximum at the default settings, change the intervalto 10 and click ok and click apply to update the map and view the changes.

e. Now I will change the fill color of the contours by clicking on the fill heading in themiddle of the levels tab.

f. The Fill Pattern allows you to change the way the contours are filled either solidor by a pattern. The foreground box allows you to change the foreground color;the background box allows you to change the background color that would showthrough if a pattern is selected.

g. In the Foreground color box you can select the new color you wish to use, morethan one color can be used to create a color spectrum.

h. To insert another color node in the color spectrum box hold the ctrl key while youclick where you want the node.

i. To delete a node select the node and press the delete key.

j. To move a node select the node and drag it to the left or right.

k. I am going to create a 3 color spectrum from blue to green to red, and then clickapply to view the changes.

l. Now I will change the scale properties by selecting the scale tab. In the scale tabyou have options to change the scale of both the x and y axis. The z axis scalecan be changed if the map is a wire frame or surface map. To change the scaleclick on the number in the x scale box and type in the new number you wish, I willuse 2. if the proportional xy scaling box is checked the y axis will be updatedautomatically.

6. Now I will demonstrate how to save a file.

a. Go to File | Save

b. Select the location where you wish to save the file, and type the name of the file

in the Filename Box, and click Save. I will save it as surferpart2.srf

c. This concludes part 2 of the surfer demonstration videos. Part 3 will demonstrateModifying contour labels, creating post maps, and overlay maps.


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Demonstration VideoSurfer Part 3

Contour Labels, Post Maps,and Overlaying Maps.

PART 11. Introduction2. Contour labels3. Post Maps4. Overlay maps

1. In this part I will demonstrate how to change Contour Labels, add Post Maps andOverlaying maps.

2. To start go to File | New, and select Plot Document and click OK

a. Now go to Map | Contour Map | New Contour Map. Select Tutorws.grd and clickon Open.

b. To show the map better I will Zoom the map so that it fits in the window by goingto View | Fit To Window

c. To edit the contour labels start by right clicking on the contour map and selectingEdit Contour Labels. Labels can be added, deleted, and moved while editingcontour labels.

d. To add a label click on the contour line that you wish to label while holding theCtrl key on the keyboard. A plus sign will appear underneath the black cursor.

e. To delete a label select the label and press the Delete key on the keyboard.

f. To move a label select the label and drag it to the new location, the label willfollow the contour line automatically.

g. Make changes to contour labels after all other changes to the contour map, sinceother changes eliminate the custom labels.

h. You can zoom in or out on an area of the map by either clicking on the doublearrow magnifying glass and dragging it up or down to or by selecting the + or magnifying glass and clicking on the area you wish to zoom.

3. I will now discuss Post Maps. Post Maps are points placed on a map that can be labeled

with data and placed over another map, to show data distribution and information aboutspecific points.

a. To create a post map first go to Map | Post Map | New Post Map

b. The open window will pop up, navigate to the file you wish, select the file, andclick on open.

c. The post map will be placed over the contour map automatically. The map canbe moved by clicking on the map and dragging it off of the other map.


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d. Open the Post Map properties by right clicking on Post in the Object Manager

and selecting Properties.

e. The General properties tab is open when you first open the properties dialog. Inthis tab you can change the worksheet columns, and the Symbol settings for thepoints on the Post Map.

f. To change the symbol click on the picture of the symbol and select the new onefrom the window.

g. To change the size of the symbol use the up or down arrows nest to fixed size inthe symbol size box or click on the number and type in the new size.

h. I will now click on the labels tab to discuss post map labels. The labels tab allowsyou to label the points on the post map and change the properties of the labels.

i. The Worksheet Column For Labels pull down bar allows you to select whichcolumn of data is used to generate the labels. I will select Column C: Elevation

j. The position of the label can be changed by selecting the Position Relative ToSymbol pull down bar and selecting the new position you wish.

k. The format button allows you to change the way the numbers are displayedincluding the number format, the number of significant digits.The Compact optiondisplays the labels in either fixed or exponential fashion, whichever requiresfewer digits. Enter the maximum number of digits to display in the SignificantDigits box.

l. When the settings on the properties window are the way you want them click onok to make the changes

4. Notice the two maps are separate maps and can be moved apart from each other by

clicking and dragging one of the maps in any direction.

a. The maps can be combined by using the overlay function. Overlay combines theto maps into one map with the same scale.

b. First go to Edit | Select All to select all the maps

c. Now go to Map | Overlay Maps

d. After you overlay the maps you can still edit the properties of the individual mapsby right clicking the map name in the Object Manager and selecting properties.

e. To break apart an overlay select the map in the project manager and go to Map |

Break Apart Overlay.

5. This concludes part 3 of the Surfer demonstration video. Part 4 will demonstrate how tocreate Surface Maps, and Wireframe maps.


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Demonstration Video

Surfer Part 4

Wire Frame and Surface

PART 1

1. Introduction2. Creating a Surface Map3. Creating a Wireframe

1. Welcome to the Surfer Demonstration Video Part 4. In this part I will demonstrate how tocreate a Surface Map and a Wireframe Map.

2. Surface Maps are three-dimensional shaded renderings of a grid file.

a. To create the surface I will select Map | Surface. Select the file you wish to useand click on Open. I will use the file HELENS2.GRD located in the surfersamples folder.

b. To get a better view of the map I will fit it to the window by going to View | Fit towindow

c. To Change the orientation of the Surface Map click on the surface to select it,then click on the Trackball icon

d. Click on the map and drag it in the direction you wish to rotate the map, a bluebounding box will appear to show the outline of the map and will changeorientation as you drag the mouse. The bounding box will be replaced with thenew orientation of the Surface Map after the mouse button is released.

e. To stop using the trackball tool either press the escape key or click on the select

tool.

f. To change the properties of the surface right click on the surface in the objectmanager and click on properties.

g. Under the General tab you can change the Input Grid File Location and theMaterial color. To change the color click on the sample of the colors. The colorSpectrum Properties dialog box will open.

h. This color spectrum can be change the same way the color spectrum waschanged in part 2.

i. You can click on a color node in the color spectrum and change its color,

j. To delete a node select the node and press the delete key.

k. You can also move the color nodes by click on them and dragging them to thenew position.

l. You can add color nodes by holding the ctrl key on the keyboard and clickingwhere you wish to add a node Then select the color for that node..


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m. When done click on the ok button and click on apply to apply the changes to thesurface.

n. You can change the Lighting Properties by clicking on the lighting tab. Thelighting Tab allows you to change settings such at the light position angle and thelight color.

o. To change the light Position click and drag the sun to move the light source

p. You can also change the Light Position by clicking on the Up or down arrows onthe Horizontal and Vertical Position.

q. The light color can be changed by clicking on the example of the color andselecting the new color from the colors below.

r. Click on apply to view these changes when done.

s. I will change the light color back to white.

t. The orientation of the Surface can also be changed in the properties window by

selecting the view tab and adjusting the tilt and the rotation and the Field of view.

u. To do this select the up or down arrows on the Field of view or tilt bars or click onthe box in the slider bar and drag it up or down.

v. To change the rotation either click on the left or right arrows or move the box inthe slider bar to the left or right.

w. To view the changes made once again I will click on apply.

x. When done changing the surface properties click on ok to close the propertiesdialog box.

3. Wire Frames Are the 3D representation of a grid file. Lines are drawn representing the Xand Y values. Where these X and Y lines meet, the height of the line represents the zvalue in the grid file.

a. I will first start a new Plot document by going to File | New and select Plotdocument and click on Ok.

b. To create the wireframe select the Map | Wireframe

c. Select the file demogrid.grd from the surfer samples folder. And click Open

d. A Wireframe Map will appear in the Plot Window, to view it better go to View | FitTo Window

e. To change the properties of the Wireframe right click on the Wireframe in theobject manager and select properties.

f. The X, Y, and Z scales can be changed by selecting the scale tab and changingthe Map Units and the length.

g. I will change the X Map units to 2


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h. Because the Proportional XY Scaling checkbox is checked the Y Map units willbe updated automatically.

i. To add color zones select the color zones tab. To change the color zones clickon the line heading.

j. To select the colors you wish to use click on the example color under minimumline and select the new color I will select Red,

k. Then Click on the example color under Maximum and select the new color. I willselect Blue

l. Click OK. Click on the check boxes in the Apply zones to lines of constant XYZsection to specify which lines to use for the color zones. I'll click X and Y. Click

Apply to view the changes.

m. The individual values can have their own color to change this select the exampleline next to the value you wish to change and double click to open the lineproperties dialog box and select the new color. I will change the level 85 toyellow, click apply when finished.

n. This concludes part 4 of the surfer demonstration video.

Documents

Surfer.pdf