Introducing detailed contour maps and editable buildings in Workspaces

The nationwide contour maps in SCALGO Live have quickly become an immensely popular dataset. Last month, users explored contour lines for more than 140,000 minutes! We continue to regularly update them based on the newest available elevation data.

We are delighted to announce the next outcome of our work with contour maps. Contour lines are now generated as part of all Workspace computations. When you create your terrain design, the contours are updated to describe the new terrain accordingly.

Furthermore, we have improved the way buildings are included in Workspaces. Previously, buildings were implicitly included by raising their elevation in the terrain model, making them unmodifiable terrain edits. Now, they are regular edits that can easily be removed or modified. This has been done by introducing a new group of editing tools called Objects.

Check out the latest updates and let us know what you think!

Detailed contour lines in your Workspace

From now on, all new Workspaces will include contour lines when you press compute. These contour lines accurately depict the terrain in your Workspace. This means that when you modify the terrain, the contours are updated to reflect your latest terrain design. Check out the video below to see how it works.

Now you can start designing basins, drawing streams and placing roads using the well-known terrain editing tools. When you have created your initial terrain design, you can download the contours with your preferred contour interval and in various vector formats. Import the contours to your CAD, or other software, to continue designing your terrain.

Objects – a new set of editing tools

In SCALGO Live, buildings are raised by 10 meters in the terrain model to ensure that flow paths and flooded areas are described correctly around buildings. Buildings are essentially treated as terrain edits to the elevation model, but it was previously not possible to edit or remove them in Workspaces.

This changes with the new update. Now, we create Workspaces from the elevation model without buildings, and instead, add buildings as editable Workspace objects.

This allows buildings to be removed, added and modified more easily than ever before.

We are introducing buildings in Workspaces as part of a new group of editing tools that we call “Objects”. These tools model real world objects that can impact both the terrain and the land cover and, in addition, have other descriptive fields used by analyses performed on the Workspace. This means, for example, that editing a building will change the terrain and the land cover map of the Workspace. See how it works in the video below.

Did you notice that the subsurface tools are now also re-classified as Objects in Workspaces? If you work with the new DynamicFlood simulation engine, you can use these editing tools to set diameters for your culverts and volumes of your underground basins, and include this information into your hydrodynamic simulation.

Elevate your terrain design with these new possibilities

The introduction of detailed contour lines and Objects mark a great leap forward in Workspace capabilities. No matter whether you are a looking to communicate your landscape design or making more detailed surface water analyses, there are great improvements for you in this update.

We continue to explore new and exciting possibilities for contour lines and Workspaces. In the meantime, have a look at these new capabilities and don’t hesitate to send us your feedback.