So then you measure every point (POI) on the rocks from to stations/locations, and then triangulate/calculate the position related to the stations, with no need for the stick man after first measuring those two points?
Do you put stickers on the POIs on the rocks then, or just remember (or sketch?) where they were?

This is how I often make quick terrains from detailed contour lines.

Not really a WIP, but a test:
I'm having great fun experimenting with PhotoScan from tgi3D.
It can be very similar to vacuum forming in plastic, where the soft sheet/mesh just clings to the mold.
This one was made from 4 photos of a 800+ year old medieval strange looking stone head on the outside of a local church - very, very coarse.
Increasing the density of the mesh makes it show every detail, but making a coarse, photo textured model is probably more useful for everyday use

Thanks for the tut link. There was a lot of videos on YouTube (never searched for videos...)
Looks like a lot of work even for measuring one point/angle?
Regarding the use of stadia techniques for measuring distances, doesn't that require that you use a meter stick, with measurements on it? Which may be a bit difficult when finding 3D positions of points on a rock?

Regarding photogrammetry software it's true that they are quite pricey.
I used mainly ImageModeler (which is no longer freely available) because of its much better "free" modeling vs PhotoModeler where all 3D models had to be built from control points. In PhotoScan there's no need to use any of the control points at all if you don't want to, and you can still easily make a lot more detailed and precise models.

I hope you will post your experiences and progress here!
Sounds like a fun project.

Here's a few ways to make the connection between body and neck.
For your simple neck FollowMe should work OK?

I'm looking forward to when USA will follow the rest of the world and go metric.
AFAIK there are now only 3 countries in the world that uses Imperial units, Burma, Liberia and USA...
At least you're driving on the right side of the road

Why don't you just add a shortcut then?
I use Shift+N to show/hide construction lines, N for measure and Ctrl+Shift+N to delete all construction lines.
And H to toggle visibility of other objects while editing group/comp, and Shift+H for showing instances,
I use those all the time, along with Shift+X to toggle hidden lines on/off and X for X-ray.

@jarynzlesa said:

please, look a little bit closer to ansys outputs and you find out that the situation, you draw with red color, could not happen.
Well, all commments here disagree with Ansys.
Did you tell Ansys that these ribs are fixed with 2 small points/bolts at the ends of the rib, made of laminated wood with fibers mostly following the curve, and that constant flexing/twisting may also eventually lead to water penetrating into the wood around the bolt holes and maybe cause rot?
There are no indicators on the Ansys charts to show where the fixed points are located?
Have you had an engineer or carpenter look at the design?

I'm very interested in this reconstruction type of work, mainly using photogrammetry programs like Canoma, Photomodeler, ImageModeler, and now that amazing PhotoScan SU plugin from tgi3d.
I have downloaded the GeoCam app for Android (filed under Entertainment - no wonder I didn't find it first..
And I have searched the net for good tutorials on how to survey terrain using a theodolite. Not found much of interest though. I remember from my youth that it was a popular summer job to assist surveyers - just standing there in the terrain holding a red/white reference stick
Do you know any good resources for such theodolite tuts?
If it is accurate enough I can see a use for it combined with PhotoScan, to get some fixed 3D reference points to start from, which should make it easier to align the models with the real world, and also in correct scale without any other reference measures?

I asked before if you had considered photogrammetry software, but never got a reply.
Would you for instance be able to use a theodolite to reconstruct a sculpture like this one on my local airport, shot when I drove my daughter there a few days ago, and reconstructed in PhotoScan/SU in a few hours. Accurate down to a few mms, and so far untextured.

Here's an example of a similar concept, the Scandia chair.

As you can see - lots of lateral support.

I don't know how those stress programs works, but it looks like everybody else here thinks that the construction will not work very well without any lateral/sideways support.
Like on this little image.

@jarynzlesa said:

thank you all very much for your consideration .

@unknownuser said:

every single element screwed to footing<<<

actually, every single element will be fixed by bolt and nut with washer. this is not the place of the system where could occur any problem

I'm afraid that's exactly where you will encounter big problems. The problem isn't down/backwards forces, but sideways. With such narrow bands, and no sideways support/bracing of any kind, there will be a lot stress and twisting around those two bolts, and the wood will break very soon. Try with a small cardboard ring and see how very little force it takes to make it fall over sideways when you fix/hold it flat only at the bottom. Making the ribs 25-30cm wide, and fastened with 4 bolts, would help a lot.
Looks nice though

I don't understand this - why is it amazing rendering a spherical HDRI?
Is it the HDR part, the spherical part, or that they can be combined and "re-used" as background/IBL in a new rendering?
That's how spherical HDRs have been used all the time, and AFAIK still one of the main reasons why you photograph a HDR spherical.

I hope you will keep us posted on this project?
I have not heard of anyone using such techniques/tools to make a 3D model of objects/rocks, and can't see how you're planning to do it. Will you have to put lots of stickers on the rocks for triangulation, or can you measure a 3D point from one single position? How many points will you survey, and how long will it take? Thousands/days? And how will you get that point cloud into a (photo textured?) model with faces?
Lots of questions - as you can see

@gaieus said:

If you just "Save as...", it will not reload and you need to manually reload it in the Material browser.

I usually just use "Save", but won't it also reload in SU if you use SaveAs with the same filename (just to be able to control compression)?

(still) Interesting
Are you actually planning to use an iPhone with gps and theodolite app to generate/"scan" 3D models from stones?
I would be very interested in reading a "report" on how this works. Somehow I can't see how the (lack of) precision with a standard phone/gps will be able to generate anything close to accurate? I have never used a theodolite, but AFAIK it measures angles, which can be used to calculate distance or elevation? So if the position is accurate to +-10m what will that do to the precision of the models? None of my 4 gps's have been able to stay fixed on a location even when standing still - always a slight wandering. But that may be better closer to equator than up here in Norway?
Any reason why you'll use a phone/theodolite instead of a photogrammetry app? Sounds like a lot of work..

Why don't I get any of those interesting jobs?
Here's a very quick test with no plugins.
Made a stack of single-faced (2D) squares - grouped.
Put a tube inside - grouped.
Selected all squares and used 'Intersect with model'
Removed all "holes" and smoothed some corners.
Extruded a few of them downwards, contoured the lower face and extruded again.
Added another stack and intersected it, to get extra steps for the staircase (slid to the right here).
Could also have used FollowMe to make the height/steps.
Or TIGs Slicer - which looks pretty useful.

BTW, if "for real" I would probably have intersected the rooms/walls at the same time?

Just a little warning...
Before you use the Stamp tool on your huge terrain you should select an area slightly larger than your bunker, and group it (temporarily). Then you stamp the bunker into that group and do your adjustments, and finally ungroup the area again.
This will save you a lot of time, and also probably from memory/crashing problems..

Another option is to use the Drape tool, and/or Tools on Surface with Offset etc.
Drape often causes lots of unwanted/unnecessary edges/ngons, which may be avoided by using the ToolsOnSurface tools.

Sounds like an interesting project
I even did a check on Android market, but couldn't find any theodolite apps there.
What exactly are you planning to do with a theodolite (app or not) in this context?
Sounds like a photogrammetry project to me?
I have recently spent a lot of time exploring the PhotoScan plugin from tgi3D, and it could certainly be able to make a very precise model of your petroglyphs and surroundings. If you have some precision reference points/measurements (made with a theodolite?) for aligning and measuring the model it will also be suitable for sun/shadow simulations.
There is a free 30 day trial of it.
If you have a few photos of it I'd love to give it a try.

In case you didn't know - behind the .wrl format there are two different VRML standards, VRML (VRML95) and VRML2(VRML97). Many programs can write both, but only read VRML, so I suppose the VRML2 is quite different, and more difficult to parse.
Maybe you should check what version you're getting?