Creating the boundary

After assigning data to your structural model, and cleaning up the horizons, you can optionally define a boundary that will limit your model extent (model > 3D Structure > Create Boundary).

On the Create Boundary form, you can create a new model boundary or select an existing model boundary. If you do not use a boundary, your input surfaces will be used to define the extent of the model. See Lateral extent of the Structural Model and 3D Grid for all factors influencing the lateral extent of the structural model.

To use an existing or create a new boundary

  1. Select a structural model. The associated stratigraphic and fault models are listed on the factsheet for reference only.
  2. Check the box for the Use boundary option to activate the boundary drop-down list.
  3. Select an existing boundary or create a new boundary (select Create New). If you select Create New, the new boundary will appear as a polyline set under Data > Boundaries in the JewelExplorer. You can edit it numerically by using the context menu (right-click on the boundary and select Edit) or by dragging it's edges in the 3D View (to do this, select the new boundary in the JewelExplorer, then go to Workspace > Tools > Editing Tools and use, for example, the Move Node option).
    4. Use the area context menu option Create Boundary to create a boundary based on an area. For more information about boundaries, see Boundaries and Feature Sets.
  4. Click OK to move on to the Edit Model form where you will proceed with gathering the details on the 3D structure zonation and the parameters for building it.

After you create a boundary, you can further refine or edit the boundary in the 3D View by using the editing tools (see Graphically editing polylines). Within the JewelExplorer, the created boundary is stored as a boundary polygon under the Data folder. Alternatively, you can create a boundary from scratch using the editing tools to draw a new polyline. Once created, you need to classify it as a boundary.

Alternative way to create a boundary

An alternative way of creating a boundary, outside of any workflow, is to go to the editing tools (Workspace > Tools > Editing Tools) and create a polyline set (it will by default be added to the Data folder under the 'Faults' item). Make sure the polyline is closed by using the option 'Close/Unclose Polyline'. To make the polyline a 'boundary', go to the JewelExplorer and select the Polyline Set (not the polyline itself), then change the 'Surface type' to 'Boundary' in the Property Inspector. Once the polyline is set to type 'boundary', the polyline will automatically be added to Data > Boundaries folder in the JewelExplorer.