Before Data Import

Check your system.

• Review System Requirements. Make sure your system satisfies or exceeds all system requirements.
• Check out our research on recommended Graphics Cards.
• Verify that you are using the correct graphics card (vs. Integrated Graphics).
• Also verify that your graphics drivers are up-to-date. If in doubt, download the latest driver from the manufacturer (usually AMD or NVidia).
• Plug in. If you are using a laptop or mobile workstation, running on battery can cause some graphics cards to run with reduced performance.

Review your data sources.

• Data quality is the most important aspect of building and maintaining an InfraWorks model. Be sure to source the best possible data that you can. Many countries have GIS datasets that are publicly available, in addition to open source GIS data repositories, and data from commercial vendors.
• Simplify your data sources as much as possible. If you don't need high-resolution data for certain layers, use the most basic data available.
• Simplify complex 3D model objects before import using Autodesk Navisworks.

Customize application options.

• Application OptionsGeneral:

  Make sure your Tile Cache folder is stored on a hard drive with sufficient space. Ideally, your model data and tile cache folders should be stored on the same high-capacity solid-state drive. 256 GB should be enough, but 512 GB is recommended for highly detailed models extra-large models that will generate large tile caches.

• Application Options3D Graphics:

  • Choose Optimize for Speed.
  • Specify a Low Display Detail. You can experiment with the slider to choose the best display detail setting for your project.
  • Specify Off for Antialiasing.
  • De-select Shadows, Water Reflections, and Realistic Water if they are not already de-selected.
  • Specify Off for Ambient Occlusion.
  • De-select Show Backfaces.
  • Application OptionsModel Generation:
    • Choose "No Facades" under Building Facade Detail.
    • If your terrain layer is large and/or complex, set a "Terrain Simplification" value, which reduces the number of triangles that are built into the terrain layer (you can specify maximum Terrain Simplification of 100%).
    • Turn on Delayed Road Regeneration

• Application OptionsPoint Clouds: Point Cloud data can quickly take up space. If you plan to add point cloud data to your model, make sure to adjust Point Cloud size and density settings, which you can do before or after import. Displaying fewer, larger points will improve display speed.

Define your model extent.

To improve performance and save space, define a specific, limited model extent when you create a new model (New Model dialog). If you do not explicitly define a model extent as you import data, the model extent will grow to include the extent of all imported data sources, which can increase disk space requirements for the model and may reduce performance if additional data sources have a larger extent than the base model. *This requires that you know the coordinates for the boundaries of your project area.

Simplify Feature Styles.

Create simplified styles (especially for roads). If you have large expanses of roads, railways, tunnels, pipelines, bridges, bikeways, or pedestrian walkways that use styles with 3D model decorations, you may want to simplify these styles. One way to do this is to use custom profiles in place of decorations whenever possible. If you do not need the more advanced vertical and horizontal geometry provided by component roads, use planning roads wherever possible.

Review LOD and Selectability Settings in the Model Explorer.

• Disable selectability in the Model Explorer for all Features and Subsets, Point Clouds, and Surface Layers. Features in a model are not selectable when the lock icon () is displayed next to the corresponding feature class in the Model Explorer.

• Make sure all Features and Surface Layers are using Adaptive LOD, not Maximum LOD. The default is Adaptive LOD (). When you select Maximum LOD () for the selected feature type or subset, its members will always display at the highest detail level available. Enable Maximum LOD only if there is a specific data layer or subset that you want to enforce visibility for.

  Note: Maximum LOD for a layer forces InfraWorks to render the entire layer at full detail. This may be okay for a layer that contains a few simple models, but for larger layers, it may quickly overload your graphics hardware and bring the performance down.

• If you disabled LOD intentionally to enforce visibility for one or more specific important objects, make sure that these objects are:

  • isolated to a unique layer. In this way, you make sure that the maximum LOD is only enforced where needed.
  • not too many or too complex to render. Otherwise, it’s not possible to achieve fast rendering without using LOD for these models.

Check view settings.

On the Visualization tab of the View Settings dialog, turn off “High Visual Quality” and “Animation.”