This is the biggest update to the program since Kubla Cubed 2017 was launched with a lot of new features that many users have requested.  The biggest changes are :


A) Support for direct import of triangulations (from CAD or LandXML).

B) Big Improvements to CAD Export and new LandXML export (for potential use in machine control systems).

B) Enhanced visualisations with a 'skirt' around the model and vertical exaggeration slider.

C) Improved export of project data with new spreadsheet export and export of 'user input' data including boundary areas, perimeters etc... (this information is often required by quantity surveyors).


Tip : To calculate an area create a spread element with 0 depth and export user input data to find it's boundary area.  The same trick can be done with paths with 

Full list of updates below : 
___________________________________________
14:00 22/05/2018 - Kubla Cubed Version 4.6
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New Features

+ Added a presentation mode that can be used when presenting Kubla Cubed projects to a group on a big screen or projector.
+ Created a spreadsheet export of user input data and estimation summary. 
+ Added a new element 'Triangle Surface' which can be used to add triangulated meshes into the program.  Supports Kubla project files as well as .DXF and LandXML files.
+ Added new 'Export to LandXML' option which can be used to export project data into machine control systems and CAD programs when .DXF is not supported. LandXML is widely supported by machine control systems as an import.  
+ Added ability to export labelled gridded data in the CAD export.  This can be used to analyse the cut\fill details especially by site teams accustomed to working with gridded data plans than CAD files.  It also can provide a good way to import surfaces into programs that do not support TIN import.
+ Enhanced the visualisation with a new 'vertical exaggeration' control which allows users to exaggerate the visualisation of their project in the Z-axis.  Vertical exaggeration is useful for viewing sites that have fairly minor elevation changes over a large area and is widely used in topography modelling programs.

Improvements 

+ Improved behavior of slope when switching between different options ensuring all options have more meaningful starting values.
+ Amended disturbance area calculations to remove areas that had been returned to their original elevations by subsequent elevation adjustments within the same phase.
+ Added 'User Input Data' to the report and the new spreadsheet export.  This is useful to validate user inputs and for creating bill of quantity (BOQ) reports.  Importantly element boundary areas and perimeters are calculated which can be useful for estimating material and curbing costs using the area and perimeter of strips that have been used to adjust for construction thickness.
+ Included an offset option for the existing element.  This can be useful for analysing volumes at different depths.
+ Achieved significant performance improvements in general and especially with projects many construction phases and projects with feature surfaces with automatic outline levels.  Average load time improvement across all test files is over 4x faster compared with 4.5 release.
+ Improvements to calculation of automatic outline levels to resolve unrealistic levels in certain unusual scenarios.
+ Added 'back a step' feature into take-off form and element boundary creation.  This allows users to correct mistakes by pressing back space if they make a mistake whilst creating (contours, outlines, platforms, strips etc...)
+ Updated triangulation code to only include elevation features within an outline.  This aids with clarity and allows for validation to only take place within the outline.
+ Added labels to the generated contours in the CAD export.
+ Added 'skirts' around 3D models to give them a more solid appearance and to give a greater awareness of depth with elevation colours now running down the sides of the model.

Fixes

+ Resolved activation issue caused by the license file being saved into the users roaming profile which could then overwrote the license file with incorrect information on their second device.
+ Fixed issue which was causing the varying levels outline elevations to display as vertical bars '|' in the take-off form.
+ Resolved issue whereby a feature surface boundary would only display the outline of the first island.  Also fixed rendering issue where the outline was rendered with many different line segments rather than as a smooth path.
+ Resolved issue with the image exporter that was showing the wrong range in the colour key when 'absolute shading' was selected as an option.
+ Resolved problem with image exporter which was causing the level shading to shade incorrectly as a single colour.
+ Resolved a bug which caused PDF's to fail to load when computers were set to language cultures that use a comma as a decimal point. Swedish users reported this problem.
+ Resolved minor bugs in phases tab control.  This included improvements to the selection of tabs.  Previously tabs were selected only when you clicked on the text, rather than the tab itself.  Also included ensuring that the selected tab was scrolled into view when a file is loaded with one of the later tabs selected.


Please post any feedback below.

Good afternoon,

V4.6 has landed and wow has it speeded up the calculation process 
The Export to Excel is fantastic and will save vast amounts of time.

Still playing, but this appears to be even better than expected.

Well done KC 

Cheers

Tim

This would help a lot.  I am often zooming in to make a point close to another one. I miss having a scale in the lower part of the screen showing if I am at 100 M, 1 m or a couple of mm close to something. It of course changes as you zoom in or out.

Seaking

I am currently using an i5 processor and 8 GB ram, I know it will be better with more RAM and a faster more capable processor. Does the software use the multithreading of a processor or do I need the fastest processor I can get. Also what screen resolution works best and size of monitor, I want to get 24 inch monitors at 1920 x 1200. That is what I used previously , what are your recommendations.


Thank you 
Seaking

I am measuring a camp site and need help with plotting proposed features with offsets (roads for example).

I have a drawing which contains existing contours and proposed contours. I have plotted the existing as normal but am having difficulty with the proposed levels. Usually, when measuring a road for example, I am provided with point elevations to the road perimeter. I use these to draw out the road using the Surface Feature element (the path element is often not suitable) and then add a negative offset. However, I only have proposed contours for this job so this will not work.

I have plotted the proposed contours, but now want to draw the roads, paths, pads, etc over this and apply offsets. Kubla would need to use the contours to calculate the proposed levels.

Can anyone help?

I found that if I used the Surface feature element for the proposed contours and then used the Strip element afterwards for the road this appeared to work.

Hope that makes sense, feel like I have made this more complicated than it needs to be.

Can Kubla reveal if there will be an updated Kubla Cubed 2018 coming soon and if so, what might the new features be?

Someone looking at Kubla Cubed recently said that it would be useful to have a feature in the program whereby you could shade the surface according to the incline of the surface.

I thought this was quite an interesting idea and wouldn't be too difficult to do.  The Cut\Fill map is shaded based on comparison of two surface so having another shading scheme using the incline on each triangle of the proposed should be to difficult either.

He said it was critical on some of his projects that no inclines were more than 1:15 on the site.   

Has anyone else got any input on this ? Is it something that would fine widespread interest.  

Something like this I am guessing is what it would look like : https://www.stratiformllc.com/blog/moder...lope-angle

I often get asked how to work with point files by new users as in Kubla Cubed it isn't obvious straight away.  Basically there is no "Point Cloud" object instead you have to import your points into a "Feature Surface" which is made up of points, contours, breaks and a boundary.  You will also have to create a boundary around the points for the program to triangulate, you can either do this buy hand or use the automatic outline tool.

I have made a video about this as point clouds are one of the easiest data types to work with, they are fast and also accurate (as long as you have a high density and an even distribution of points).

Check it out : https://youtu.be/P9Er2t9jApM

Good afternoon All,

Firstly, I can't believe I'm posting on the survey part of this forum, but since starting to use Kubla Cubed I've become fascinated with obtaining survey points and contours for all my cut and fill projects.
My question is, to all you land surveyor types is, how accurate do you find LIDAR data?
I've managed to find a way of converting the LIDAR data into xyz points then producing a dxf of the contours, chopping the resulting file to the required area of the site, then importing into Kubla Cubed.
It would be quite comforting to know if the data is reasonably accurate and suitable for estimating applications.

Cheers

Tim

Hi Ted,

I am recently taking off earthwork/pavement/rock pitching qty for a road project of 1.9km length and using Kubla Cubed to form up the model from pdf drawings provided. I used a total of 23 construction stages to simulate the construction process and the model file is about 9.8MB in size. Whenever I call up the Kubla program to start the project file it would take about 30 minutes or so to load the project. Is it possible for the program to have a faster loading time instead of re-calculating every construction stages up to the last stage during start up. Can the program jump straight into last construction stage (Stage#23) whenever I start up the program by bypassing all recalculation from existing stage onwards ? This will definitely speed up the project file loading time.


Please advise.

Thanks and regards,
Bernard