Hi all.

Just curious, what is folks preferred program for drawing maps, and why?

Cheers.

Leif.

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Well I've not produced much in the way of published maps yet, but i'm doing everything in GIS (ArcGIS / QGIS)

That's allowing me to combine actual new surveying data from a Distox/Survex with tracings from georeferenced mine plans (although the latter is generally missing exact z-dimensions)

As all my 'drawings' are just shapefiles, they can be overlayed onto modern/historic/lidar mapping and also used in 3D models.

I had a initial meeting with the Cave Surveying Group about a month ago where we looked at combining all sort of things such as surveys from Survex / Therion / Lidar scans. Its early days but we made some really good progress just in the first day.

I'm the same as christwigg, I do everything in GIS. It is great because you can bring in all sorts of other data and things are positioned how they are in space. I add Z values to the shapefiles and display this with LIDAR and draped satellite imagery to make lovely 3D models.

This is my rough method in QGIS

1 Georeference the survey
2 Digitise the passages as a polyline shapefile (adding width and height attributes to each section where there is a change in height or width)
3 Digitise points of altitude from the survey as a point shapefile with the altitude as a Z value field
4 Interpolate a surface from the altitude point shapefile
5 Use v.drape to drape the cave passage shapefile onto the interpolated surface to give each section a 3D height value
6 Display in QGIS2threejs and assign each section the original height and width dimensions and display as a cube
7 Add LIDAR data with draped imagery

If I am just drawing out a plan with no geospatial data, I use InkScape.

I’ve drawn my plans in photoshop, at the time (over 15 years ago) this was convenient for me as I knew the package very well.

Each level is a layer, and the drawing of the levels was carried out by defining actions. So, I can draw a simple path, hit a defined action key, and the level colour, width and black border would be drawn automatically along the path. Sumps / rises where copied and pasted from a set of standard plan features I had defined. I’m a user of AutoCAD as well and should have maybe done it in that.

However, all this aside, in hindsight I wish I had gone down the route of one of the cave surveying / drawing packages. At the moment I don’t have much time for such jollies and so rather than learning a new package I will probably carry on with Photoshop just to shoot myself in the foot.

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I liked your 3D model, Chris, very impressive. I’d love to know how it’s done (in more detail.) so I can have a pop myself.

I use Adobe Illustrator for my drawings, Mike. If you can use photoshop it’s very very similar. May be worth thinking about in the future?

Leif.

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+1 for illustrator. there's not many file types you can't incorporate (including DXF from ACad) and the vector tools are the best out there IMHO.

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I liked your 3D model, Chris, very impressive. I’d love to know how it’s done (in more detail.) so I can have a pop myself.
Leif.

My method was virtually identical to that described by John_Smith.

There were some slight differences depending on the type of mine.

For the ironstone mines where everything is on single level(ish) seam, I did an interpolation of 'Base of Seam' measurements from the original plans, which also let me drape the full plan itself over (too many passages to trace easily)

On the multi-level lead mines for a first stab I traced the leverls and just made them the altitude of the adit at surface (a simplification obviously) then added/subtracted known internal shaft measurement for levels without a surface adit.

Also used QGIS, QGIS2threejs and LIDAR data with draped imagery.

I use a number of packages, AutoCad, Surpac, 3D Max being the most used along with QGIS.

All plans I've drawn have been with AutoCad.

The 3D models are created from plans or digital data in either Surpac or AutoCad. All animations in 3D Max.

I have also used survex and other cave survey software.

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Is anyone still using pencil paper and drawing board? I've not surveyed a mine before but I still draw plans with a pencil at work.....

I'm using anything from ink and watercolour on cardboard to various CAD and GIS.

Always just Illustrator for me, in its various incarnations.
Currently using CC2019.

Leif.

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Is anyone still using pencil paper and drawing board? I've not surveyed a mine before but I still draw plans with a pencil at work.....

Just me... and only when I really have to!

MARK

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Is anyone still using pencil paper and drawing board? I've not surveyed a mine before but I still draw plans with a pencil at work.....

For preference, I still draw up on draftsman's film in ink, as does John Barnatt. That's probably down to our archaeological training but it's also the most robust long-term means of preserving the data.

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