After completing your Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN) surface work in Virtual Surveyor, use the Export Survey feature to export the contour lines as a lightweight CAD or GIS file. 



Export Survey is available in the EXPORT tab.


Quick Usage Guide

Hint! Your current active items (what you see) set up what you can export (what you get). Therefore, you can only export contour lines when you have set your surface TIN to be displayed as contours.


  1. Select the surface and go to the TOOLS for Surface tab.
  2. In the Styling group, click on Show Contours.

  3. Turn all survey items (except your surface TIN) off in the Project View.

  4. Go to the EXPORT tab.
  5. In the Survey group, select the export format (.dxf, .xml or .shp).
  6. Click on Export Survey.
  7. Specify a filename and a disk location and click Save.


Tips and Tricks

  • Only the contours created from a surface item can be exported. It is not possible to export contours displayed from the Contours Terrain Lens.
  • All visible project items in the Viewport will be exported. If you want to only export the contours,  you need to turn off all other survey items (points, lines, boundaries, etc. ). 
  • The DSM and orthomosaic may remain active because they are not exported when using Export Survey.
  • Click Turn All Off and re-enable the check box for your surface TIN to only display the surface.
  • The exported files (.dxf, .xml or .shp) contain 3D polyline geometries.


Notes for Shapefile

  • Multiple files are created when you export your contours to a shapefile.
  • The file with the contours is appended with "contourlines". Example: 
    • When the filename was set to "survey" or "survey.shp", then your contour lines can be found as "survey_contourlines.shp"
  • The attribute table contains a column with the elevation attribute for each contour line.