With the Help of MicroStation VBA Macros and GEOPAK, AAMHatch Generated in Minutes What Would Have Taken 400 Hours Using Manual Plotting AAMHatch, a leading dedicated spatial information provider, has won a 2007 BE Award in the “Geospatial 3D GIS” category for its development of a true orthophoto and 3D model of the City of Melbourne, Australia, whose population of 3.8 million is the country’s second largest. With the help of MicroStation VBA macros and GEOPAK, AAMHatch was able to generate in minutes what would have taken 400 hours using manual plotting.
“The integration of Bentley 3D capture and editing software with the production workflow was critical to our productivity improvement on this project as well as other quality improvements,” said AAMHatch General Manager Brian Nicholls. “In addition, all further local government models that we produce will benefit from this investment, yielding even greater savings. Efficiency ratios are expected to increase by several orders of magnitude for upcoming 3D urban models that use the same Bentley-based methodology.”
The true orthophoto of Melbourne produced by AAMHatch provided a perfect plan view without the effects of building lean that typically impact the aerial photography of urban corridors. Rather than being rectified at ground level only, as is the case with a standard orthophoto, a true orthophoto is fully rectified, from the top of the buildings down to ground level.
The orthophotography was used to support planning and event management for the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and will serve strategic planning and operational city management into the future. For example, the city staff will use the imagery to assess site conditions, reducing or even eliminating the need for site visits. In addition, it will be used to underpin a variety of functions, including:
Mapbase and valuations
Asset management of the Docklands precinct
Site services
Events planning
“The orthophotography and 3D model are of an order of accuracy commensurate with the city’s Digital Property Mapbase, which has a survey accuracy of 0.1 meter,” said AAMHatch Project Manager John Blackburn. “This means the Digital Property Mapbase, the orthophoto, and the 3D model all align extremely well. The rigor, accuracy, and flexibility of Bentley tools helped AAMHatch meet this challenge.”
For more details about AAMHatch’s winning project and all of the other 2007 BE Award projects, visit www.be.org/awards. For more details about the Bentley products used in this project, visit www.bentley.com/en-US/Training/Learning+MicroStation+VBA and www.bentley.com/en-US/Markets/Civil/Product+Lines/GEOPAK.
