Rotating surfaces

The Rotate Surface tool (prepare > Post-Processing Tools > Tools) can be used to (interactively) rotate surfaces around a user-defined rotation axis. It can be applied to Tri-mesh, Polyline set or Point Set surfaces in Data, Surface Sets, Fault Models, and Fault Stability Models. Several settings need to be set on the form to apply a surface rotation.

  1. General settings: The Model, Surface and Representation to rotate can be set at the top of the form. Note the selected surface does not automatically become active in the 3D View and should be activated manually if desired (it is advised to open a new 3D View and only display the surface to rotate for most clarity)
  2. Rotation axis: Specify the Origin X/Y/Z, Dip and Azimuth (GN) of the rotation axis. Values can be typed, and for Dip and Azimuth (GN) a slider is available (use the right/left arrow buttons on the keyboard for a +/- 1 granular control). For convenience, the rotation axis will be shown in the active 3D View as a red line, drawn symmetrically around the origin with the right dip and azimuth. The settings on the form can also be set interactively in the 3D View:
    • Click on a point in the 3D View to set the Origin X/Y/Z
    • Shift+Click in the 3D View to interactively set the Azimuth (GN)
  3. Surface rotation: Enter a Rotation value around the specified axis. Values can be typed, and a slider is available (use the right/left arrow buttons on the keyboard for a +/- 1 granular control).
  4. Preview: Next to the rotation axis, the rotation itself is automatically previewed in the 3D View (in black). For tri-meshes, the outline of the to be rotated tri-mesh is shown. For polyline sets and point sets, a preview of the entire rotated surface is shown.
  5. Applying the rotation: Press Apply or OK to apply the rotation. If the produced surface is not as desired, use the Undo button.

After closing and reopening the form, the previous settings are not retained. However, the previously applied rotation and settings can be restored by opening the form from the Audit Trail (Home > Audit Trail > Open). For more on the Audit Trail, see Using the audit trail.

When you want to apply the same rotation to multiple surfaces, use the Apply button (not the OK button) and keep the form open, then switch to the next surface at the top of the form. As long as no changes are typed and no clicks in the 3D View are done, the form will retain its Rotation axis and Surface rotation selection.
Important   Rotating surfaces is a powerful tool for (small) updates to models, and analyses on differently oriented surfaces. However, caution is advised when applying these surface rotations, in particular when done to models “later” in the workflow (e.g., the Fault Model). The tool can easily introduce deviations from the original input data, updates to surfaces are not automatically carried out through later models, and a poorly applied surface rotation, or skipping of required steps after, can all lead to issues later in modeling. For this reason, the tool is also only available on a limited set of inputs/models.