Contour Options

The Contour Options dialog contains a variety of options for customizing the display of contours in the Plan/3D View. The Contour Options apply to:

• contours in a horizontal plane (computed from the field point grid results)
• contours in a vertical plane (computed from a line query) in the 3D View
• bar graph displayed along a point query in the 3D View
• query planes

Contour Options is available in the View tab, the default right-click menu, or by right-clicking on the Contour Legend in the Sidebar.

The Contour Options are described below.

Contour Range

Settle3 automatically calculates a default contour range for each data type (e.g. total settlement), based on the actual minimum and maximum values of the computed data. Furthermore, for multi-stage models, a default range is calculated for each individual stage, and for all stages combined, for each data type. The Contour Range options are as follows:

Auto-Range (this stage)

Each stage will have its own default contour range (for each data type)

Auto-Range (all stages)

All stages will use the same contour range, determined from the maximum range of data at all stages

Custom Range

To customize the Contour Range of any data type, select the Custom Range option and enter either:

• Minimum value, Maximum Value and Number of Intervals, OR
• Minimum Value, Interval Value (select the Interval checkbox), and Number of Intervals
A shortcut to quickly apply the Contour Range options is to right-click on the Contour Legend and select an option from the popup menu

Auto Format

Several pre-defined Auto Format options are available:

• DOS-style – uses the same 7 colours and number of intervals as the original Rocscience DOS-based programs (e.g. Examine2D v. 6.0)
• 16-colour display – uses 14 colours and intervals (black and white are not used, which is why only 14 instead of 16 are actually used)
• Hot to Cold – uses a blue to red range of contouring, simulating a "hot to cold" effect
• Cold to Hot - uses a red to blue range of contouring, simulating a "cold to hot" effect
• Hot Spots – uses a white to red range of contouring, simulating a "hot spot" effect
• Photo-E – uses alternating white and black intervals, simulating a "photoelastic" effect
• Black to white – uses black to white (grayscale) contouring, and 7 intervals
• Black lines – uses black lines, mode is automatically changed to Lines
• EX3 - uses the same 7 colours and number of intervals as EX3 (3D boundary element stress analysis program)

You may find the "Black to white" or "Black lines" options useful for black and white screen captures.

Creating a Customized Auto Format

For maximum flexibility you can define a customized Auto Format contour option, as follows:

1. Select the New button in the Contour Options dialog.
2. In the Define Auto Format dialog, create a new Auto Format style using the options provided.
3. When you are finished, select the Save button in the Define Auto Format dialog.
4. The name of your newly defined Auto Format will appear in the Auto Format list in the Contour Options dialog, and can be selected and applied like any of the default Auto Format options.
5. If necessary you can Edit or Delete a user defined Auto Format by selecting the format name and selecting the Edit or Delete buttons in Contour Options.

Mode

The contour Mode options are:

• Filled (contours displayed as filled regions, this is the default setting)
• Lines (contours displayed as lines)
• Filled + Lines (combination of filled regions and lines)
• Off (contours are hidden)

TIP: The Filled + Lines mode highlights the contour intervals very well.

Number Format

The Number Format option in the Contour Options dialog, allows you to choose the Number Format for the Contour Legend. The following options are available:

• Auto (number format is automatically determined based on the data)
• Scientific (e.g. 1.5e+004)
• Decimal

For the scientific or decimal options, you can specify the number of decimal places.