DEM Surface creating large file reference?

[itsnathanblake]

Hi guys,

I have recently just made a Triangulated DEM surface using lidar information which was working fine and now for some reason, the surface has a reference file that is 96000 kb making the file barely possible to open?

luckily I have a .bak file but is there a way i can create this surface without such a large reference file?

Thanks!

[itsnathanblake]

[ChicagoLooper]

Yes, working with 96,000KB is too big, way too big. Here are two options:

1. When creating your surface, if possible limit it to a specific area of your point cloud, don’t use the entire point cloud. Ignore the parts of the point cloud you don’t need. 
2. Go back to your point cloud and reduce the number of points per square foot so it’s not too dense. Start your decimation with 1 point per sq foot. Your surface sounds something like 10 points per sq foot so if you reduce down to 1 per SF you’ll reduce density by 90%. And 1 per SF is more than enough to create a surface. 

[Pointdump]

Hi Nathan,
"...is there a way i can create this surface without such a large reference file?"
Reduce the number of points defining your Surface. I don't know if you can salvage your Surface, but you can try Simplify Surface.
Dave