Camera and Visibility

This article covers all Camera and Visibility controls for the Verity Viewer.

The Verity Viewer

Color Codes

Once a Verity analysis is completed, the Verity Viewer will display geometry and point data for the element selected in the Verity Item Table. The types of geometry are colored as noted below to differentiate between the original As-Designed geometry, the best-fit As-Built geometry, and neighboring geometry.

Keep in mind that if you are using Verity for As-Built model checking, then your “As-Designed” geometry in the Verity viewer is your previously modeled “As-Built” geometry, while the “As-Built” geometry is what Verity creates to best fit to the point cloud. If you are performing a normal construction verification workflow, then “As-Designed” and “As-Built” are already labeled correctly.

Figure 1: Verity 3D View with As-Built and As-Designed Geometry

  • As-Designed – The As-Designed geometry represents the original location of the element in the Host project. This geometry displays in a Magenta color.
  • As-Built – The As-Built geometry represents where Verity’s algorithms best-fit the cloned geometry to the point cloud. This geometry displays in a Cyan color.
  • Neighbors – Neighbor geometry is any geometry that Verity has analyzed and is visible within the search box around the selected item. This geometry displays in a Gray color with a Magenta or Cyan wireframe according to whether the item is neighboring an As-Designed element (AD Neighbors) or As-Built element (AB Neighbors).

If an elements installation status is Occluded, Not Found, Not Enough Data, or No Data, Verity can’t confirm the fit from the point data around that element to place the As-Built geometry. If you would like to have Verity to attempt to place the element, refer to the Adjusting the Installation Status article.

Camera and View Frames Control

Figure 2: Camera and View frame controls

These tools help you control the camera in the Verity Console. These will not affect the view settings in the host application unless the Match Verity View tool is active. If active, changing the view frame will update the camera position in the host application as well.

Split View and Single View Controls

Figure 3: Split View

Change between two viewing modes using the Split View button located within the Camera tools.

  • Single View – The default view in Verity, an isometric view of the element oriented to set the camera down the long axis for most elements. You can pan using your middle mouse button or use shift+middle mouse button to orbit the view.
  • Split View – The isometric view moves to the top left corner and orients so that the two adjacent sides of the item with the most point coverage are facing the camera. You can pan and orbit using the same controls above. A projected plan view placed in the upper right (top view). Two corresponding projected elevation views in the lower two panes (the front view is lower right, the side view is lower left). The projected views provide access to additional functionality, such as manually moving the as-built geometry. You can pan the projected views just like the isometric view, but cannot orbit them.

Verity does its best to guess the long axis of the geometry based on its dimensional characteristics. The face that is closest to vertical defines the “Top” of the geometry. The view parallel to the long axis defines the “Front” of the geometry. The view perpendicular to the long axis defines the “Side” of the geometry. In cases where the long axis is near-vertical (e.g. columns), Verity chooses the next longest axis to define the “Front” of the geometry.

In cases such as a beam that is deeper than it is long or geometry that is roughly the same length as width, Verity may not choose the correct long axis. In these instances, the views generated by Verity may be incorrect.

View Frames

We have three view frames that determine the angle at which the camera is looking at the items to help you evaluate the results and compare them back to the host application:

Figure 4: Zoom to As-Built button

  • Zoom As-Built will align the camera’s frame to the as-built geometry. This is the default setting for views if an As-Built location is found.
*Figure 5: Zoom to As-Designed button*
  • Zoom As-Designed will align the camera’s frame to the as-designed geometry. This is the default setting for views if no As-Built location is found.

Figure 6: Align to Project

  • Align to Project will align the camera’s frame to the host project’s coordinate system.

Camera Style Drop-Down Control

The camera style setting configures how the camera views the items and controls how the navigation works. These settings affect the primary isometric view only.

Figure 7: Camera style drop-down menu

  • Orthographic – This is the default option. In Orthographic mode, you will be able to pan the geometry by pressing your middle mouse button then dragging, orbit the geometry by holding shift while pressing your middle mouse button then dragging, and zoom in/out by scrolling the mouse wheel.
  • Perspective – This mode will change to a perspective projection in the isometric view and behaves similarly to the Orthographic mode.
  • Scanner – This mode will lock the camera position to the location of the scanner with the most coverage on the selected item, with the camera navigation in a “look” mode. Pressing the middle mouse button then dragging will allow you to change the look direction, but not the camera position. Holding down shift while pressing the middle mouse button and dragging will behave the same. The scroll wheel will allow you to zoom in and out on the item.
  • Lock Z Checkbox – allows you to toggle between a locked Z-axis and three axes of freedom when orbiting around the object. This is on by default.

Element Visibility control

Figure 8: Visibility control check boxes

The visibility of all types of geometry and the points can be toggled on and off using the Visibility controls in the View Control Panel. You may also toggle on/off a legend that shows how each type of geometry is displayed.

Element Opacity control

Figure 9: Opacity control

In addition to toggling the visibility of each type of geometry, you can change the opacity of the surface geometry and the points. This is represented as a percentage (0-100) and increases or decreases the opacity for each type of geometry independently. If you want to achieve a wireframe style view for any kind of geometry, you can set the opacity to 0%.

View Point Visualization Control

Figure 10: Point visualization controls

The colorization of the points within the geometry’s section box can be controlled using the Point Color drop-down in the Point Visualization drop-down. There are three different display options that can be selected. Single Color is chosen by default to stand out on the Verity background. Colors From Host which will be either RGB or Intensity values depending on your point cloud. Scan Location. colors the ten scans with the most coverage on the element to be mapped with unique color values, and any remaining scans will remain white. You can also choose the rendering size of the points on the screen, which is particularly helpful on a high-DPI monitor. Point Size will adjust the sizing of the points up to a maximum of 10.