Blogs

TBC Tip #225: Reference Key of Reserved Classes When Training Models

By Anna Zapel posted 24 days ago
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Hello TBC’ers! For those of you who are accustomed to training your own point cloud classification models, you may have wondered how to check what classification codes you can use for training your custom point clouds regions. TBC has a number of pre-trained classifiers such as outdoor (terrestrial), railway, etc. Each of these models classifies points into certain point regions. These regions have names and classification codes that are reserved for them. When you train your own classification model in TBC it is not recommended to use the reserved codes so that you do not overwrite existing classifications and maintain consistency in your projects. Below is ...
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TBC Tip #224: Tagging Imported Files to Group Relevant Files

By Anna Zapel posted 07-26-2024
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Hello TBC’ers! This week, let’s dive into a handy feature in TBC: Tagging Imported Files. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by a long list of imported files, this tip is for you! The Tag property allows you to 'rename' and reorder files in the Project Explorer, making it easier to manage and find what you need. For some context, the Project Explorer lists all data files you bring in alphabetically under the Imported Files node. However, sometimes when importing field data you need a different organization method to find your files. Therefore, you can use the tags to help you group similar files together, like topo files or cross-sections, without actually ...
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TBC Tip #223: Create an IRI Report

By Anna Zapel posted 07-12-2024
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Hello TBC’ers! This week we’ll be running through TBC’s International Roughness Index (IRI) report workflow. An IRI report is used to evaluate road pavement roughness and its impact on vehicle ride quality. The report helps identify sections of the alignment that may require corrective action to improve smoothness. To begin this workflow, click on the “Point Clouds” tab on the top ribbon and then click “IRI Report” in the Measure group. This workflow may also be accessed by clicking on the “Mobile Mapping” tab on the top ribbon and then click “IRI Report” in the Analysis group.This will bring up the “IRI Report” pane where you can decide ...
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TBC Tip #222 - TBC Version 2024.00 Release

By Cole Schubert EXT posted 05-10-2024
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Hello TBC’ers! This week’s TBC tip is an announcement and celebration of the new TBC V.2024.00 release! With this new release we are pleased to announce a variety of new features and improvements that have been added to TBC. These new features What's New in TBC 2024.00 , What's New in TBC 2024.00 Power Hour , and 2024.00 Release Notes . Some of the exciting new features include: Embracing AI Technologies: Enhanced Data Processing with Advanced Point Cloud Classification Technological Integration: Streamlining Pavement Inspection Processes Connected Workflow Optimization: Seamlessly Integrating Data Across Platforms Advanced Aerial ...
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TBC Tip #221 - Road Corridors - Visualizing and Quality control

By Cole Schubert EXT posted 03-19-2024
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Hello TBC’ers! This week's tip is a series of tricks on view settings, controls, and verifying attributes for corridor data. Using these tools should make working with corridor data a much more efficient process! With some corridor data, it can be hard to see what is going on in the different view types (plan view, cross section, profile view). With the “Layer Manager” tool open, change the line weight (1A) to any value above 0 to thicken the line work in each view type. This is especially useful for making the data easier to see when presenting it or on a video call. This is also where users can individually color the lines. If you select a surface ...
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TBC Tip #220 - Training Custom Classification Models

By Cole Schubert EXT posted 02-15-2024
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Hello TBC’ers! This week’s TBC tip is a guide to help users understand training of custom 3D deep learning models, specifically focusing on training the validation files. While TBC has offered classifications for many common objects, such as buildings and powerlines, there are countless other objects that users might want to create custom point cloud classification models for. Before getting started on this workflow, users are going to need to understand two things: training files and validation files. Training and validation files are point cloud files with a classified region that represents a new class that you want to train the model for. For example, ...
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TBC Tip #219 - Advanced Point Cloud Filtering

By Cole Schubert EXT posted 12-10-2023
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Hello TBC’ers! With the release of Trimble Business Center v. 2023.1 loads of new features have been added to help improve user workflows and the capabilities of TBC. Check out this link here to learn more about these new features, but this tip is going to focus on just one new tool for manipulating point clouds. This new tool is the “Advanced Point Cloud Filtering” tool, which can be applied to any point cloud to create a new point cloud region using elevation as the defining parameter. This is especially helpful for creating a “ground” class from a point cloud that excludes all grasses and low lying vegetation. Here are the basic steps for this workflow. ...
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TBC Tip #218 - Manhole Extraction

By Cole Schubert EXT posted 12-10-2023
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Hello TBC’ers! Feature extraction is one of my favorite tool sets within TBC, and there are so many ways to incorporate it into your workflow. This week’s tip is focused on one type of point feature extraction, specifically manhole, which was released in TBC version 5.80. Read the release notes here to learn more, or check out this video walkthrough! 1. To start this workflow, select the “Point Clouds” tab (1A) and click on the “Extract Point Feature” (1B) in the extraction section. 2. This will open up the “Extract Point Feature” pane where you can select which type of extraction you want (2A). There are two different ...
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TBC Tip #217 - Trimble Business Center V.2023.10 Release

By Cole Schubert EXT posted 11-10-2023
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Hello TBC’ers! This week’s TBC tip is an announcement and celebration of the new TBC V.2023.10 release! With this release, TBC has moved from the traditional versioning system (5.8, 5.9, 6.0) to the new year-based model (2023.10, 2024.0). There have also been quite a few new improvements added to TBC which can be checked out at the TBC 2023.10 Release Notes , TBC Power Hour , and the TBC 2023.10 Read Me . Many of these new features will have their own tip in the coming weeks, but for now I am going to highlight my new favorite features and important changes. One of the coolest new features is the pavement condition inspection, which allows users ...
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TBC TIP #216 - Drape Geometry Enhancement

By Cole Schubert EXT posted 11-07-2023
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Hello TBC’ers! The “Drape Geometry on Point Cloud” command has been a popular command since its release in TBC v.5.90. Using this feature, users are able to elevate the vertices of CAD lines to points in a point cloud. We are happy to announce that with the release of TBC v.2023.10 the “Drape Geometry on Point Cloud'' feature is getting a set of enhancements! This update includes features such as: In addition to lines, you can now select to elevate one or more CAD points to the point cloud using all of the available search strategies. Apply a specified horizontal offset to CAD linear objects during the elevation process. Select to ...
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TBC Tip #215 - File Types

By Cole Schubert EXT posted 10-13-2023
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Hello TBC’ers! TBC is able to read and write to so many different types of files that it can sometimes be overwhelming. This week’s tip is a list of nearly all the different types of file that TBC can work with, and a brief explanation of what they are. Some files are only used by specific commands or from specific field software so be sure to double check the tools you are using! Importable Data Formats Exportable/Uploadable Data Formats File Format Description File Format Description .06o RINEX (GPS base files) .12dxml 12d files .12da, 12dxml ...
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TBC Tip #214 - Terminology and Symbols

By Cole Schubert EXT posted 10-06-2023
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Hello TBC’ers! Within TBC, there are loads of symbols and terms that, while useful, can be difficult to understand at first. This week’s tip is a collection of symbols, terms, acronyms, and abbreviations used within TBC and all of these can be found in the “Help” section Node Type Description This is the imported files node. This is a station node. The icon represents the survey instrument type. It is followed by the point ID and an "S" number in parenthesis that uniquely identifies the station. This is the station setup node. The icon is followed by the setup ...
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TBC Tip #213 - Contours Continued

By Cole Schubert EXT posted 09-15-2023
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Hello TBC’ers! Contours are a staple in mapping, and are a useful way to visualize elevations in both plan and 3D view within TBC. A previous tip (Tip #114) covered creating contour lines over a surface using the “Create Contours” tool. This tip is a continuation of that and dives further into the contour tools available in TBC. The first tool is “Quick Contours” and can be found under the “Surfaces” tab and in the “Contours” section (1A). Clicking on it will open up a new “Create Quick Contours” pane. From this pane (2A) select the surface you want to create contours for, or create a new surface (2B). Name the contour layer, select the interval, frequency, ...
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TBC Tip #212 - Background Maps

By Cole Schubert EXT posted 09-01-2023
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Hello TBC’ers! When working with any type of spatial data, it can be incredibly useful to have a frame of reference or spatial context for your data. There are countless ways to get spatial context for your data, but fortunately TBC has several methods built in! With one click, your data will automatically be visualized with an accurate background map showing street, satellite, or terrain imagery in seconds. However, keep in mind that this will only work with data that has been georeferenced. Attempting this workflow on data that has not been georeferenced will result in an error. To start off, TBC has a default quick action button in the bottom right corner ...
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TBC Tip #211 - The Measure Distance Command

By Cole Schubert EXT posted 08-25-2023
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Hello TBC’ers! Have you ever been working on a point cloud and suddenly wanted to know the distance between two points in your dataset? Good news! TBC can resolve this curiosity with the “Measure Distance” tool. At a moment's notice, an assortment of spatial data can be collected to help the user generate more meaningful insight from their dataset. First, Click on the “Point Clouds” tab, and then click the “Measure Distance” button (1A) in the “Measure” section (1B). This will open up the “Measure Distance” pane (2A). From here, the user can select what type of distance measurement they want (between two points, sequential, or radial) (2B). Lastly, ...
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Trimble Business Center | Recent Releases, Bulletins & Updates

By Vyom Kaushik posted 08-23-2023
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Trimble Business Center: Recent Release Check out the features and enhancements now available in our most recent release. Recent Releases - PDF Download Link v2023.11 Warranty Date – February 1, 2024 Download the latest software version here . Contact your local Trimble Distributor for earlier versions. On behalf of the TBC Product and Engineering teams, we are pleased to share that TBC version 2023.11 is now available. This patch release was engineered in continuation of v2023.10. This TBC patch includes the latest ...
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TBC Tip #210 - Point Cloud Rendering Options

By Cole Schubert EXT posted 08-18-2023
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Hello TBC’ers! When working with point clouds in TBC, there are a variety of useful settings available to change how your point cloud dataset is rendered. Each of these settings can be applied to a variety of workflows to make navigating the data more efficient and help generate deeper insights. This week’s tip will be a breakdown of all the settings in the “Rendering” section of the “Point Clouds” tab to help make these settings more accessible. The first setting here is the “Color by” tool (1A) which allows the user to visualize their data based on the chosen parameter. These options are: scan color, region color, gray-scale intensity, color-coded ...
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TBC Tip #209 - Feature Extraction Tree

By Cole Schubert EXT posted 08-11-2023
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Hello TBC’ers! This week’s tip is a breakdown of the new feature extraction tree. With the recent TBC 5.90 release, the whole interface for stockpile extraction from point clouds was added to the "Project Explorer" view to improve the user experience and increase usability! One of the tools that takes advantage of this new interface is the automated stockpile extraction (TBC Tip #202) , but more is coming soon! Feature Extraction is an exciting area of development at Trimble, so keep an eye out for any new updates here to stay up to date! 1. The best place to start this tip is naturally at the beginning, which would be how you interact with the data ...
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ARCHIVED: Trimble Business Center | Tutorials

By Vyom Kaushik posted 08-07-2023
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This page is now archived: for a full list of Tutorials please go to this Tutorials page in the Library. Tutorials PDF Summary Click the Download link for any of the tutorials below to download a ZIP file containing the tutorial package. When you extract the ZIP file to the location of your choice, a new tutorial folder is created containing tutorial instructions in a PDF document and, as applicable, a VCE project file, a project folder, and a data folder. Just open the PDF tutorial document and follow the instructions. Looking for more TBC learning resources? - Check out the TBC section on our learn.trimble.com platform. From self-paced ...
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TBC Tip #208 - Create a Surface and Surface Info Report

By Cole Schubert EXT posted 07-28-2023
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Hello TBC’ers! This week’s tip is a walkthrough of a general surface workflow. When working with spatial data, it may be necessary to alter your data from imagery or point clouds into a 3D topography made by a contiguous triangular mesh. This altered form of the original data enables new tools and workflows which can generate additional insight into the dataset! 1. To begin this workflow, click on the “Surfaces” tab on the top ribbon (1A) and then click “Create Surface” (1B). 2. This will bring up the “Create Surface” pane where you can decide how you want your new surface to be created. These parameters include the name, surface classification, ...
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