Feature Spotlight, VentusAR

VentusAR Feature Spotlight: Terrain Masking


Another useful feature, that is often overlooked, is the ability to switch on and off terrain masking when in the wireline view. Terrain masking causes objects that are behind hills or other terrain features not to be shown (as they would not be visible!). This makes sense as, if you are at a viewpoint, you would not naturally be able to see the obscured turbines.

However, you may find yourself in the situation where you know that there are turbines behind a ridge-line, but you’re not sure where exactly they are. How much bigger could I make the turbines before they would skyline above this ridge – i.e protrude above the horizon.

Wirelines showing the ridge line
Wirelines showing the ridge line

If you disable masking from the calibration panel, non-visible terrain can be seen through the terrain features. (The calibration panel is the left hand panel with the red background available in My View or Gallery).  There is a switch to enable or disable masking behind the terrain. When masking is turned off, the view shows all the terrain grid lines and features, including those that are hidden behind the other side of the hill. Typically, this creates a more confused view as a lot of the wirelines will merge together into one thick coloured line, however you should be able to get an idea of the location of objects.

Masking disabled, turbines visible behind ridgeline

Masking disabled, turbines visible behind ridge line

Real World Use

There are a few real-world uses for being able to enable and disable this terrain masking feature:

  • Seeing where turbines are when they would not be visible – we can’t see them from this viewpoint, but we know they are behind that bit of the hill
  • Assessing how much of a bigger turbine you could place without it becoming visible
  • Understanding which turbine you can see the tip of and how it fits into the rest of the scheme