Demonstration Video

Surfer Part 1 Introduction

PART 1 1. Introduction 2. Plot Window 3. Object Manager 4. Worksheet Window 5. Grid Node Editor Window

1. Surfer is a grid based Graphics program used for Mapping XYZ data into grids. These grids can be used to create many map types including Contour maps, Vector Maps, Wire frame maps, and surface maps. 2. The Plot Window is where maps are displayed and created. Maps can be edited by double clicking on the map to open the properties dialog box. a. Maps can be rotated by selecting the trackball tool and clicking on the map and dragging it in the direction you wish to rotate it. 3. The object manager window displays a list of all the objects located in the Plot Window. Objects in the Object Manager window can be modified by double clicking on the name of the object, or by right clicking on the name and selecting properties. a. Double-clicking on the "grip bar" at the top of the Object Manager window converts the window to a floating window, which can be moved. b. Dragging the Object Manager window to the edge of the Surfer window docks the window. c. The size of the object manager can be changed by clicking on the gray line between the object manager and the plat window and dragging it to the new size.

4. The toolbars at the top show links to many commonly used menu commands such as New, Open, Save and print. When the mouse is moved over these buttons Y yellow hint box opens showing the name of that tool. a. These toolbars can be docked on a side or can be floating tool bars. This can be changed by clicking on the toolbar and dragging it to the place you want it. 5. The Worksheet Window is where data can be viewed and edited and transformed. The worksheet window contains one billion rows and columns that can hold data. Data can be edited in the worksheet window just as any other spreadsheet. a. Math Functions can be applied to the data by selecting the data and going to Data | Transform. b. The transform dialog box will open, type the function into the transform equation box or use the built in functions by clicking on function, selecting the function and clicking insert. c. Click ok when finished to complete the math function.

6. The Grid Node Editor Window shows z values for a selected grid and allows you to make changes to these values. To open the grid node editor go to grid | Grid Node Editor a. To change a node click on the node and enter the new Z value you wish to use. 7. This concludes Part one of the surfer demonstration video. Part 2 will demonstrate Opening data, creating grid files, creating contour maps, changing contour properties, and saving a file.

Demonstration Video
Surfer Part 2 Opening data, Creating grid file, Contour maps, Contour Properties, and Saving
PART 2 1. Introduction 2. Opening Data 3. Creating A Grid File 4. Creating a contour map 5. Changing contour map properties 6. Saving data and Map 1. In this Part I will Demonstrate how to open a Data File, Create A Grid file, Create a contour map, Change the properties of the contour map, and Save the project file. 2. To view the data in the worksheet, go to File | Open, navigate to the samples folder, select the data you wish to load from the list; I will select the file Tutorws.dat from the Surfer Samples folder, and click on Open. a. The data can now be edited in the worksheet window. b. When you are done viewing and editing the data in the worksheet, close the worksheet by choosing File | Close 3. Surfer takes scattered data and grids it to create a grid file for use in contour maps, 3D surface maps, and several other map types. To create a grid file go to Grid | Data, select the data from the appropriate file, and click Open. Once again use the Tutorws.dat file located in the Surfer Samples folder. a. The Grid Data dialog box will open, this box allows you to choose the Gridding Method, The destination for the file, and the Grid Geometry. b. If the Grid Report checkbox is checked Surfer will generate a report containing information about your data and the grid generated. c. For this demonstration the default settings will be fine, so click on OK.

4. A Contour map can now be generated based on the grid that was just created. a. To create a contour map first go to Map | Contour Map | New Contour Map b. Select the appropriate file from the list and click open, for this demonstration I will select the Tutorws.grd file. c. The contour map will now be visible in the Plot window.

d. To get a better view of the map I will click view | fit to window. 5. Now I will demonstrate how to change the properties of an object. a. To edit the properties of the contour map you can double click on the map in the plot window, double-click on the name in the object manager window, or go to edit | Properties.

b. In the properties dialog box you can change properties such as the contour levels, the view, the scale, the limits of the data, and the background properties. c. I will start by changing the contour levels. To change the contour levels I will click on the levels tab in the properties dialog box. You can change Contour Interval, Contour line styles, Contour fill colors, and Hatch settings in the levels tab.

d. Clicking on the level heading on the left hand side allows you to change the minimum contour value, maximum contour value, and the contour interval. I will leave the minimum and the maximum at the default settings, change the interval to 10 and click ok and click apply to update the map and view the changes. e. Now I will change the fill color of the contours by clicking on the fill heading in the middle of the levels tab. f. The Fill Pattern allows you to change the way the contours are filled either solid or by a pattern. The foreground box allows you to change the foreground color; the background box allows you to change the background color that would show through if a pattern is selected.

g. In the Foreground color box you can select the new color you wish to use, more than one color can be used to create a color spectrum. h. To insert another color node in the color spectrum box hold the ctrl key while you click where you want the node. i. j. k. To delete a node select the node and press the delete key. To move a node select the node and drag it to the left or right. I am going to create a 3 color spectrum from blue to green to red, and then click apply to view the changes. Now I will change the scale properties by selecting the scale tab. In the scale tab you have options to change the scale of both the x and y axis. The z axis scale can be changed if the map is a wire frame or surface map. To change the scale click on the number in the x scale box and type in the new number you wish, I will use 2. if the proportional xy scaling box is checked the y axis will be updated automatically.

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6. Now I will demonstrate how to save a file. a. Go to File | Save b. Select the location where you wish to save the file, and type the name of the file in the Filename Box, and click Save. I will save it as surferpart2.srf c. This concludes part 2 of the surfer demonstration videos. Part 3 will demonstrate Modifying contour labels, creating post maps, and overlay maps.

Demonstration Video
Surfer Part 3 Contour Labels, Post Maps, and Overlaying Maps.
PART 1 1. Introduction 2. Contour labels 3. Post Maps 4. Overlay maps

1. In this part I will demonstrate how to change Contour Labels, add Post Maps and Overlaying maps. 2. To start go to File | New, and select Plot Document and click OK a. Now go to Map | Contour Map | New Contour Map. Select Tutorws.grd and click on Open. b. To show the map better I will Zoom the map so that it fits in the window by going to View | Fit To Window c. To edit the contour labels start by right clicking on the contour map and selecting Edit Contour Labels. Labels can be added, deleted, and moved while editing contour labels.

d. To add a label click on the contour line that you wish to label while holding the Ctrl key on the keyboard. A plus sign will appear underneath the black cursor. e. To delete a label select the label and press the Delete key on the keyboard. f. To move a label select the label and drag it to the new location, the label will follow the contour line automatically.

g. Make changes to contour labels after all other changes to the contour map, since other changes eliminate the custom labels. h. You can zoom in or out on an area of the map by either clicking on the double arrow magnifying glass and dragging it up or down to or by selecting the + or magnifying glass and clicking on the area you wish to zoom. 3. I will now discuss Post Maps. Post Maps are points placed on a map that can be labeled with data and placed over another map, to show data distribution and information about specific points. a. To create a post map first go to Map | Post Map | New Post Map b. The open window will pop up, navigate to the file you wish, select the file, and click on open. c. The post map will be placed over the contour map automatically. The map can be moved by clicking on the map and dragging it off of the other map.

d. Open the Post Map properties by right clicking on Post in the Object Manager and selecting Properties. e. The General properties tab is open when you first open the properties dialog. In this tab you can change the worksheet columns, and the Symbol settings for the points on the Post Map. f. To change the symbol click on the picture of the symbol and select the new one from the window.

g. To change the size of the symbol use the up or down arrows nest to fixed size in the symbol size box or click on the number and type in the new size. h. I will now click on the labels tab to discuss post map labels. The labels tab allows you to label the points on the post map and change the properties of the labels. i. The Worksheet Column For Labels pull down bar allows you to select which column of data is used to generate the labels. I will select Column C: Elevation The position of the label can be changed by selecting the Position Relative To Symbol pull down bar and selecting the new position you wish. The format button allows you to change the way the numbers are displayed including the number format, the number of significant digits. The Compact option displays the labels in either fixed or exponential fashion, whichever requires fewer digits. Enter the maximum number of digits to display in the Significant Digits box. When the settings on the properties window are the way you want them click on ok to make the changes

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4. Notice the two maps are separate maps and can be moved apart from each other by clicking and dragging one of the maps in any direction. a. The maps can be combined by using the overlay function. Overlay combines the to maps into one map with the same scale. b. First go to Edit | Select All to select all the maps c. Now go to Map | Overlay Maps

d. After you overlay the maps you can still edit the properties of the individual maps by right clicking the map name in the Object Manager and selecting properties. e. To break apart an overlay select the map in the project manager and go to Map | Break Apart Overlay.

5. This concludes part 3 of the Surfer demonstration video. Part 4 will demonstrate how to create Surface Maps, and Wireframe maps.

Demonstration Video
Surfer Part 4 Wire Frame and Surface
PART 1 1. Introduction 2. Creating a Surface Map 3. Creating a Wireframe

1. Welcome to the Surfer Demonstration Video Part 4. In this part I will demonstrate how to create a Surface Map and a Wireframe Map. 2. Surface Maps are three-dimensional shaded renderings of a grid file. a. To create the surface I will select Map | Surface. Select the file you wish to use and click on Open. I will use the file HELENS2.GRD located in the surfer samples folder. b. To get a better view of the map I will fit it to the window by going to View | Fit to window c. To Change the orientation of the Surface Map click on the surface to select it, then click on the Trackball icon

d. Click on the map and drag it in the direction you wish to rotate the map, a blue bounding box will appear to show the outline of the map and will change orientation as you drag the mouse. The bounding box will be replaced with the new orientation of the Surface Map after the mouse button is released. e. To stop using the trackball tool either press the escape key or click on the select tool. f. To change the properties of the surface right click on the surface in the object manager and click on properties.

g. Under the General tab you can change the Input Grid File Location and the Material color. To change the color click on the sample of the colors. The color Spectrum Properties dialog box will open. h. This color spectrum can be change the same way the color spectrum was changed in part 2. i. j. k. You can click on a color node in the color spectrum and change its color, To delete a node select the node and press the delete key. You can also move the color nodes by click on them and dragging them to the new position. You can add color nodes by holding the ctrl key on the keyboard and clicking where you wish to add a node Then select the color for that node..

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m. When done click on the ok button and click on apply to apply the changes to the surface. n. You can change the Lighting Properties by clicking on the lighting tab. The lighting Tab allows you to change settings such at the light position angle and the light color. o. To change the light Position click and drag the sun to move the light source p. You can also change the Light Position by clicking on the Up or down arrows on the Horizontal and Vertical Position. q. The light color can be changed by clicking on the example of the color and selecting the new color from the colors below. r. s. t. Click on apply to view these changes when done. I will change the light color back to white. The orientation of the Surface can also be changed in the properties window by selecting the view tab and adjusting the tilt and the rotation and the Field of view.

u. To do this select the up or down arrows on the Field of view or tilt bars or click on the box in the slider bar and drag it up or down. v. To change the rotation either click on the left or right arrows or move the box in the slider bar to the left or right.

w. To view the changes made once again I will click on apply. x. When done changing the surface properties click on ok to close the properties dialog box.

3. Wire Frames Are the 3D representation of a grid file. Lines are drawn representing the X and Y values. Where these X and Y lines meet, the height of the line represents the z value in the grid file. a. I will first start a new Plot document by going to File | New and select Plot document and click on Ok. b. To create the wireframe select the Map | Wireframe c. Select the file demogrid.grd from the surfer samples folder. And click Open

d. A Wireframe Map will appear in the Plot Window, to view it better go to View | Fit To Window e. To change the properties of the Wireframe right click on the Wireframe in the object manager and select properties. f. The X, Y, and Z scales can be changed by selecting the scale tab and changing the Map Units and the length.

g. I will change the X Map units to 2

h. Because the Proportional XY Scaling checkbox is checked the Y Map units will be updated automatically. i. To add color zones select the color zones tab. To change the color zones click on the line heading. To select the colors you wish to use click on the example color under minimum line and select the new color I will select Red, Then Click on the example color under Maximum and select the new color. I will select Blue Click OK. Click on the check boxes in the Apply zones to lines of constant XYZ section to specify which lines to use for the color zones. I'll click X and Y. Click Apply to view the changes.

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m. The individual values can have their own color to change this select the example line next to the value you wish to change and double click to open the line properties dialog box and select the new color. I will change the level 85 to yellow, click apply when finished. n. This concludes part 4 of the surfer demonstration video.