With the Material Editor, you can create a material catalogue/library for Stockpile items. The material types can be set to have a density and value per unit, which automatically converts the volume of the pile to weight (tonnage) and gives you its monetary value. 


The Material Editor can be found in the VIEW Tab, the TOOLS for Stockpile tab (when a stockpile is selected), or as a quick button in the Status Bar. 


View Tab


TOOLS for Stockpile


Status Bar

 

Overview


Material Editor Settings 

The Material Editor Settings is where you edit your stockpile materials and their associated information. The Settings panel allows you to add or delete materials in your catalogue, identify materials by color, name, and material type, and set properties for density and type of currency for each stockpile.

  • Select the Material Editor button to display the Settings to the right of the Viewport.



Material Settings Panel

  • Undefined Material Color - Use for cases where stocks may be composed of unknown material, or nonrevenue generating materials (sludge, waste, etc.). Any calculated stockpile that is not defined is set as Undefined. 
  • Currency Symbol - Simply type in your currency symbol or abbreviation to have it designated in the program or PDF report. This is applied to all materials that have the Value enabled. For example: for US Dollars you can type USD or $.
  • Show Fill - Tick the box to show the color of the fill over the stockpile. When unticked, the stockpile is only outlined by the material fill color until you hover over the stockpile with the mouse. When you hover over the stockpile, it will highlight the pile with the set fill color. 
  • Add Material - Click to add a new material.
  • Name - Name of your material type.
  • Density - Tick the box to enable. Shows the density of your material per cubic unit. If your data Display Units are in metric, the density is in tons per cubic meters (t/m³); when imperial, they are in tons per cubic yards (t/yd³).
  • Value - Tick the box to enable. The Value should be the value of your stock/aggregate in tons per cubic meters/yards. For instance, the value of Sand in the image is 1.25 Euros per ton. Your value for the whole pile is calculated by combining value, density, and volume. 
  • Color - Assign a color to each material to help you identify and distinguish the stockpiles at a quick glance. 


Add, Remove, and Edit Materials

You can add, remove, and edit types of materials at any time. 

  1. Select the Material Editor button.
  2. Go to the Material Settings panel.
  3. Click Add Material to create a new type of material; or alternatively:
    1. Click the Wrench icon to edit a material.
    2. Click the Trashcan icon to remove/delete a material.
  4. Fill in the desired information fields for that material:
    1. Name
    2. Density
    3. Value
    4. Color
  5. Click Add (or Update) to create the new material.



View Stockpile Information

You can view stockpile information when you select a stockpile with an assigned material in the Selection Box.

  1. Select a created stockpile.
  2. Go to the Selection Box.



The Selection Box includes all the information you entered in the Material Settings panel for the selected stockpile and allows you to see all the information at a quick glance.



Undefined Material

Any undefined material can be given a category and colored to your specification. The undefined material for this example project can be found at the northwest corner of the project's site. 


 

Using the Show Fill Feature

Use the Show Fill function to quickly identify where materials are on the project site.

  • Tick the box to enable Show Fill - Leave Show Fill enabled to help you easily identify groups of stockpiles and where they are on the project site. 
  • Untick the box to disable Show Fill - Keeping Show Fill disabled makes it easier to see the actual image of the pile and can help you identify the type of material at a glance.



Tips and Tricks 

  • You can save your Materials as a Template to be used in other projects. Read more about saving to Project Templates.
  • If you are trying to obtain cut/fill information over a site, make sure you are using the Cut/Fill Tools, instead of the Material Editor and Stockpile tools.
  • Disable fill to be able to identify the material in a report. 
    • Because Virtual Surveyor works as a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) concept, whatever your terrain looks like in the Viewport will export with the same visuals.