A design surface represents the target topography for a construction site. By uploading a design file, you can compare your current drone maps against these targets to perform a cut-fill analysis. This allows you to quantify how much material has been moved or how much is required to reach the final grade
Availability: Who has access?
Advanced and Enterprise account types have access to upload design files and perform cut-fill analysis.
Supported File Types
- Elevation Geotiff (.tif)
- DXF (ASCII) - ideally including 3DFACE surface triangulation
- DXF (ASCII) - including POLYLINE & LWPOLYLINE - will be triangulated automatically
- LandXML - ideally include surface triangulation
- 3D DXF - see more information about this feature here
How to upload your design file
Follow these steps to add a design surface to your project:
Open your project in DroneDeploy.
Click Add next to Layers in the side panel.
Click Design Surface.
Select Select File and choose your design surface from your computer.
Click Upload. Processing typically takes 10-20 minutes, though complex files may take up to one hour. You will receive an email notification once the processing is complete.
Limitations and considerations
Coordinate Systems: Ensure your design file is exported in the same published coordinate system (EPSG code) as your DroneDeploy project to ensure automatic alignment. If no coordinate reference system is set, uploaded design surfaces inherit the EPSG code specified in your Project Settings
Elevation Data: Files must contain actual embedded elevation data. Files containing only elevation labels cannot be processed into a surface.
Large Files: If you are exporting a very large DEM, increase the grid spacing to reduce the file size while maintaining coverage.
Resolution: The resolution of your uploaded file affects how far you can zoom in when viewing the cut-fill layer.
FAQs
Q: Why is my file not uploaded correctly?
A: Missing uploaded files are often caused by missing elevation or coordinate reference system data
Q: Can I use a 2D DXF for cut-fill analysis?
A: No, the file must be a 3D design surface or contain triangulated data to be used for elevation comparisons.
Additional Resources
- How to Create 2D/3D Visualization DXFs and Design Surfaces in Civil 3D
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AutoDesk Support Guides:
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