Geometry Annotation Guide

Version 1.05 draft - 01 Jun 2020

PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL © Nearmap Ltd
References
Keystrokes and Edge Types
General Basic General Advanced Guide Mode (g) Elevation Mode (e)
c toggle comments i toggle guides a rotate guide angle 90° d drop facets from draw plane
e elevation mode r toggle roof ↑ increment guide angle u raise facets to draw plane
f facet mode t toggle pitches ↓ decrement guide angle shift disable snapping
g guide mode q toggle vertices shift disable snapping select facet
b edge mode y toggle areas ctrl left-click delete guide ctrl left-click Note: drag one of the selec-
m toggle model 2 view 2D imagery left-click drag draw a guide centroid ted facet's vertices to sep-
n post a chat message 3 view 3D imagery arate (unsnap) that vertex.
l Use guides to achieve right angl;es and left-click drag rotate the view
p position mode ← view older imagery
parallel lines toggle vertex selection.
s save and submit geometry → view newer imagery
l Ensure there is a guide intersection for left-click ver-
v save but do not submit - enlarge map Drag a vertex to adjust elev-
each facet vertex tex/centroids
z undo + shrink map ations
right-click drag pan view x clear the roof model Facet Mode (f) left-click home
deselect all vertices
↑ increment elevation level model
mouse wheel zoom o indicate problem
↓ decrement elevation level toggle guides. If map is
left-click and hold on an image thumbnail
ctrl left-click delete facet rotated pressing will return
hold to enlarge it i
to top view and reshow
left-click view location in Google left-click add vertex
Edge Types guides.
address Maps add vertex and close the cur-
Eave disconnected, horizontal right-click
rent facet l Ensure that all facets are planar
l Yellow sphere indicates requested Rake disconnected, angled shift left-click
toggle draw holes mode (centroid cylinder is green)
address location Valley connected, low centroid l Ensure edge types are appropriate
l Zoom thumbnails out only if you cannot
Ridge connected, high, horizontal
see the entire structure l New vertices snap to existing facets
Hip connected, high, angled and guides
connected, pitch change, l Use levels to vertically separate ver-
Bend
Edge Mode (b) horizontal tices that have the same overhead loc-
↑ cycle edge type Continuous connected (facet to wall), ation
↓ cycle edge type Flashing horizontal
apply selected edge type connected (facet to wall),
Step Flashing
left-click edge (click again to revert to ori- angled
ginal edge type) Invisible ignored for classification
Parapet parapet (facet to parapet)

Note: Commands are case-sensitive (check that you do not have Caps Lock on)
Checklist
Starting Before you submit

□ Check property type □ Check no red centroids

□ Check if obstructed □ Check model lowered to roof correctly
□ Check 3D is not outdated □ Check eaves and ridges are level and aligned to roof
edges
□ Check map size
□ Check pitches match
□ Check property marker
□ Check area of matching roof facets
□ Check notes
□ Check extra structures are included or not included as
□ Check reviewer comments appropriate
□ Check annotated image Bay windows included
Detached garages
□ Check guideline angles Sheds
Decks

Build Date: 01 Jun 2020

□ Check colours of edge types to ensure they are cor-
rect including that ridges are red, eaves are black, val-
leys are blue etc.

□ Ensure all reviewer comments have been acknow-

ledged and corrected.

Property Type
If there are no instructions to the contrary the following rules apply.

Feature Single Family Commercial/Multi Unspecified

Shed No Yes Yes
Multiple main buildings No Yes Yes
Parapets No Yes (use guideline copy/paste) Yes (use guideline copy/paste)
Parapet Width and Height No No Yes (use ruler)
Penetrations No Yes Yes
Dormers - cut in under roof No No Yes
Duplex Whole roof n/a Yes - whole roof
Whole Roof unless there is a Whole Roof unless there is a
More than two properties Just roof over selected prop-
clear break in roof line near clear break in roof line near
under one roof erty
parcel boundary parcel boundary

Common actions
Action All Property types
Detached Garage Yes
Chimney Crickets No
Chimneys No
Corner Returns - Medium/Large Detached No
Corner Returns - Medium/Large Attached & Wrap around Yes
Roof decks - house structure underneath Yes
Decorative decks - no access Yes
Normal decks - no house structure under and has access No
Terminology

Terminology Object Description

Facet A flat section of roof.
Edge A Facet side.
Vertex A Facet point.
Centroid A cylinder marking the center of a Facet.
Marker A sphere indicating the roof geometry's location.
Edge Types
Note: The colors of the borders around the descriptions represents the displayed color of the edge.

Color
Terminology Edge Type Description
Code
Disconnected, horizontal.

Eave Black The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of
a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building.
They are only connected to one facet and are level (horizontal).
Disconnected, angled
Rake Green
The sloped sides of a gable.
Connected, low
Valley Blue The "V" shaped angle between two sloping facets (roof
planes).
Connected, high, angled
Hip Yellow Hips are angled edges that run from external corners up to a
ridge.
Connected, high, horizontal
Ridge Red The horizontal line at the top edge of two sloping facets (roof
planes).
Connected, pitch change, horizontal
Bend Pink A horizontal edge between two facets (roof planes) with dif-
ferent slopes.
Horizontal facet edge touching wall
Continuous Flashing Orange
Where a horizontal roof plane (facet) meets a wall.
Light Angled facet edge touching wall
Step Flashing
Blue Where an angled roof plane (facet) meets a wall.
Invisible White An invisible edge tells the system to ignore that edge for
 Color
Terminology Edge Type Description
Code
edge type classification purposes. This is useful for curved sur-
faces where the curve has been created using multiple facets
and we do not want to count any of the internal edges as
ridges or bends.
Parapet Purple Facet edge touching a parapet.
Terminology Roof Structures
A gable is the portion of a wall (generally triangular) between
Gable
the edges of intersecting facets (roof planes).
A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that
Dormer
projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof.
A parapet is usually a low protective wall along the edge of a
roof, bridge, or balcony. They also occur in the middle of a
roof, crossing the roof from one side to another.
l Exterior Parapet: the portion of an exterior wall that
continues above the edge line of the roof surface (an
exterior parapet) - one side is wall, one side is roof
Parapet and the parapet looks like a raised edge on the sides
of the building.
l Interior Parapet: A continuation of a vertical feature
beneath the roof such as a fire wall or party wall (we
will call this an interior parapet) - both surrounding
sides are roof and the parapet looks like a dividing
barrier in the middle of the roof.
A penetration or protrusion are building objects that pen-
Penetration/Protrusion
etrate the roof surface into the building below.

Flashing
Flashing is where a facet edge touches a wall
User Interface
The Roof Geometry appllication opens in a browser.

Note: Pending Queue is not visible for Trainees

Information Section
Video Tutorials
Links are to videos on Dropbox. Password to view is: PKud<W4U.\+kZC5'

General walkthough the major steps in roof geometry annotation (4589 Briarcliff Rd NE,
Walkthrough
Atlanta, GA 30345)

Correcting Facets How to adjust facets (2032 McAfee Rd, Decatur, GA 30032)

Facet Levels Using different facet levels (2905 Greenoaks Cir NE, Atlanta, GA 30345)

Example of a house model that is too obstructed to create a viable roof geometry model (1005
Obstructed
S 48th St, Omaha, NE 68106)

Split Facets How to split facets over different levels (1611 Reserve Cir, Decatur, GA 30033)

How to manually drop the roof model onto the house model (1001 W High St, Edwardsville, IL
Manual Drop
62025)

Invisible Edges How to mark edges as invisible (29 Nursery St, Salem, MA 01970)

Parapets and Pen-

How to model parapets and penetrations (no password required)
etrations
Assumptions
The main aim of building a roof geometry is not to match the 3D model perfectly, but to use the 3D model as a guide, and
apply a number of agreed assumptions to build a roof geometry that likely represents the real world.

The following assumptions should be applied to every roof:

l Most roofs only have 2 guideline angles, and those guidelines are at 90 degrees to each other.
l If you have more than 2 guideline angles, and the guideline angles differ by less than 10 degrees; that is almost cer-
tainly a mistake.
l Most roofs have ridges and gutters that are straight and parallel to the ground.
l Most roofs are symmetrical, and so any facets that are mirror images of other facets should have equal pitch and area.
l Most roof facets are flat; and roofs should be described in the minimum number of facets. Eg: if a roof is basically flat -
that's one facet; don't split it into multiple facets.

You should assume all roofs follow these assumptions and build the roof geometry with those assumptions, unless there is
overwhelming evidence from the 3D model and the source images that this roof is different.
Walkthrough
Pre-Qualification
Check the following:
1. Property is classified correctly - single family home or commercial. If single family property is set as commercial then:
a. check notes to see if deliberately set as commercial due to complexity
b. search for the address in the Completed list to see if it was previously rejected for being too complex when
set as a Single Family (visually check that buildings are the same).
If classification is incorrect, press o and select wrong property type).
2. Property Marker is over the correct property (press p key to relocate marker). Click annotation link to bring up annot-
ated boundary image.
3. If property is not fully shown not then enlarge the map using the - key. Do not enlarge the map unless you can not see
the whole building. Only enlarge the map out as far as you have to.

Note: Enlarging/shrinking the map adjusts what map tiles are used. It is different to simply zooming the view in and
out using the mouse wheel.

Figure 4-1: Map area at 40m report size

Figure 4-2: Map area at 160m report size

4. Property not obstructed (if obstructed, press o and select obstructed).

5. The 3D model lacks features that are visible in the 2D model, then it could be outdated. Check historical imagery and
dates. (If obstructed, press o and select outdated model).
6. Check customer notes, sometimes you will need to render additional facets (sheds, pool/guest house)

Research
Before placing your first guideline for a property, spend a few minutes to find out more about the property and roof structure.
l Assess the features on the roof and how they should be rendered (dormers, bay windows).
l If there are multiple levels to the roof, evaluate the way you will render these using different levelled vertices.
l Ensure you completely understand edge type terminology.
Resources available:
l 3D imagery (Examine the 3D model by viewing it from many angles, making sure you understand the shape of the
roof).
l Thumbnails (click to enlarge, adjust browser zoom level to view larger image).
 l 2D imagery (press 2 to view 2D image).
o Note, the property position in 2D maybe slightly offset from the 3D position. Base your roof geometry model
off the 3D position only.
l Historical 2D (use left arrow and right arrow to view different dates).
o Images would have been taken at different times of the day so the shadows may be different allowing you to
see details previously hidden.
o Imagery could even be from different times of the year so if tree foliage is covering parts of the roof geometry,
you could try looking for historical imagery that was taken when trees had less foliage (leaf-off).
l Google Maps - Streetview and 3D if available.
Watch the video: Walkthrough which will give a quick demo of the following steps.

Draw Guides
a. Press g to enter guide mode.
b. Use the ↑(up) and ↓(down) arrows to set the guide angle (you usually only need to do this only once per roof geo-
metry).
c. Press a to rotate guide angle 90° (do this to switch between horizontal and vertical guides).
d. Left-click and drag to draw a guide.
e. Ctrl Left-click to delete a guide.
f. Ensure there is a guide intersection at each vertex location.
g. Take care when placing guidelines, ensure they are positioned correctly.

Figure 4-3: Guideline positioning

Tips
Guideline Pair
Guide angles should be placed in sets of 2. Each angle should have a coresponding perpendicular pair.
The guide angles are displayed in the top left of the screen and the currently selected angle is highlighted. Where there are
multiple sets of guide angles they are displayed in numerical order.

Figure 4-4: Two sets of guide angles displayed

The pairs in this example would be:

1) -7°, 83°
2) 0°, 90°
The a key will switch between angles in a pair. To change to a different pair, use the ↑and ↓arrows to manually rotate the act-
ive angle to match one of the angles you want to switch to.
Common Mistakes
Missing guide intersections
Ensure there is a guide intersection wherever there will be a facet vertex. Even though it is possible, do not place vertices free-
hand.

Drawing diagonal guides

Use horizontal and vertical guides only—do not draw diagonal guides. There will be a few situations where you should use
multiple sets of guidelines, but they should always be in pairs where one guideline is perpendicular to the other. See here for
more information.
Note: Do not create a one-off guideline angle to line up an off-angle section of a property.

Figure 4-5: Guideline pair

Guideline/centerline snapping
Moving the cursor between two parallel lines will snap to the mid point between them, indicated by a while line joining the
parallel lines.
Use this where you can, it helps with symmetry and improves geometry, particularly pitch and area.

Figure 4-6: Centerline snapping

Outline Facets
a. Press f to enter facet mode.
b. Outline facets; snap vertices to guide intersections.
c. Left-click to add a vertex.
d. Right-click to add a vertex and close the current facet.
e. Ctrl hover over centroid or vertex to highlight which facet is marked for deletion.
f.Ctrl Left-click on a centroid or vertex to delete the selected facet.
g. Shift Left-click on a centroid or vertex to toggle Draw Holes mode for that facet (see here for more information).
h. Use the ↑(up) and ↓(down) arrows to adjust the level.
i.Use different levels to draw detached roof sections.
j.Keep facet count to a minimum. Do not break up a facet into smaller parts, build connected roof sections that are on
the same plane into one facet.
k. Press z to undo a vertex placement.
l Ensure all edges are correctly placed, if they do not look right you might need to adjust the guidelines.
 Figure 4-7: Facets

Tips
Facet levels
Buildings often have sections that are at different elevations and not connected to each other. Use different facet levels to
maintain that separation.
Look here for more information.
Take extra care before dropping multi-level roof facets, it is important that the vertex colours are correct, doing this the right
way in 2D view will save you time and effort.

Drop Facets
a. Press e to enter elevation mode.
b. Press d to drop facets to the home model.
c. Press u to raise facets back to the drawing plane.
d. Left-click and drag the model to rotate.

Figure 4-8: Before dropping facets

 Figure 4-9: After dropping facets to home model

Adjust Facets and Edges

Levelling Vertices
a. Left-click a vertex to select and then drag vertically to adjust their elevation. A selected vertex will appear larger. Add
vertices to the selection by Left-clicking them.
b. Dragging a group of vertices will align all the selected vertices to the same elevation. This is a very useful feature and
you will use it regularly, Watch the video - Correcting Facets password: PKud<W4U.\+kZC5' for examples.
c. Pressing Shift while dragging up or down will disable snapping to the roof 3D model and allow finer vertical adjust-
ments.
d. To clear the selection Left-click anywhere else in the roof model.
e. Typical areas to level include:
l Lower roof edges.
l Ridges
l Dormer corners
l intersection of the upper and lower roof planes on a mansard or gambrel roof.
f. If the 3D model is blocking the view to a vertex, press m to toggle the 3D model.
g. Ensure centroids are green (indicating that the facet is flat).

Figure 4-10: Levelling corners of roof

All vertices on the lower edge of the roof (shown connected by a red line) should be on the same level. Select them and shift
one vertex up or down to align them all.

Pitch
a. Press t to view pitch. The pitch should be the same for symmetrical sections of the roof.
b. Try raising or lowering ridge lines to get the pitch to match.
Inconsistent pitches
Before you submit your model, press t and review the pitches to ensure they are consistent.
 c. If dormer sides are showing different pitches, try levelling the corners. If that doesn't help then the dormer ridge may
not be on the midpoint, redo guidelines and rebuild the dormer facets.
d. Ensure centroids are green (indicating that the facet is flat).

Area
a. Press y to view facet areas. Areas of matching roof facets (eg 2 dormer roof facets) should be within 10% of each other,

Tips
Raised roof model
You may find that the roof model sits above the 3D model. You should shift all vertices down so that they lie closer to the 3D
model.

Figure 4-11: Vertices raised above 3D roof.

Figure 4-12: Roof model levelled and lowered to lie closer to the roof model.

Rebuilding sections of roof

If you use the u key to raise the facets back to the drawing plane, you will lose any vertical adjustments to vertices that you
have made when you redrop the facets. If you have not yet made any adjusts to the vertices, then it may be easier to raise the
facets back to the drawing plane before making any changes.
If you add/redo parts of the roof model without first raising the facets, then when you drop the new facets there may be some
vertices that are separated when they should joined (see image to the right). To fix this, left-click one of the vertices and move
it slightly up or down. This should snap it to the position of the other vertex. This will also ensure the edges are allocated the
correct type.
 Figure 4-13: Circled vertices should not be separated.

Check Edge Types

Check that edges have been allocated the correct edge type. Learn the edge types and associated colours that should apply.
(see the Terminology section for more information).
Where necessary override the assigned type with the correct one using the following procedure.
a. Enter edge mode by pressing the b key.
b. Press i to turn off the guidelines. You can also press q to turn off vertices if they are in the way.
c. Use the up and down arrows to select the correct edge type
d. Left-click the edge to reassign to the selected type (Left-click again to return the edge to the original computed edge
type).
e. If the selection overflows to other lines, then simply Left-click the edge to return it to it's original state.

Save / Save and Submit

a. Press v to save but not submit. You can continue to work on the roof model.
b. Press s to save and submit the roof model for review.

Before you submit

l Use the checklist (found here) to make sure you have checked the roof model.

Obstructed Example
The property shown in the image below is heavily obscured by the trees. It is impossible to see what the roof structure actu-
ally is.