What is Binz?

Binz is a proprietary format for CAD data. It is created with Hexagon PPM software.

The Binz format contains the original, parameterized geometry primitives of objects created in the Hexagon PPM software. It also contains some metadata: feature IDs, monikers, information on how the objects are grouped, and so on.

Conversion to OGC 3D Tiles

If you load Binz data directly in LuciadLightspeed, it is converted internally to an OGC 3D Tiles dataset, on-the-fly.

You can also convert the data to OGC 3D Tiles up front, as described in the Converting Binz data to OGC 3D Tiles tutorial.

See the OGC 3D Tiles documentation for more information about that data format.

During the conversion, the Binz data undergoes a number of changes to make it more suitable for decoding and visualization.

Optimized tile structure

OGC 3D Tiles datasets have a tile structure that is optimized for streaming. The tiling structure of the Binz data is typically not suitable for streaming because it has a large overlap.

Therefore, the data is re-organized into a new tile structure during the conversion. Due to the nature of CAD data, tiles can still overlap, though.

Generation of 3D meshes and levels-of-detail

The conversion process generates 3D meshes for the original geometries at multiple levels-of-detail by means of distinct quality settings for each level. At lower levels-of-detail, smaller objects are left out.

Metadata is preserved

The metadata of the original Binz data is kept and stored in the batch table information of the resulting OGC 3D Tiles dataset.

PBR material properties

The conversion uses the material properties, which are present in each Binz dataset, to calculate Physically Based Rendering (PBR) material properties: the diffuse, specular and finish properties in the Binz dataset are converted to metallic and roughness PBR properties.

Performance impact of the conversion

The internal conversion of Binz data affects LuciadLightspeed performance:

  • Because all geometric information of the Binz data is interpreted before the OGC 3D Tiles structure is created, it can take a long time for a dataset to load.

  • All geometric information of the Binz data and the resulting OGC 3D Tiles structure must be kept in memory, resulting in a large memory footprint.

  • The 3D mesh of each tile is calculated on-the-fly, resulting in a high CPU load.

As a consequence, it is typically not practical to visualize the Binz data model directly on a Lightspeed map.

Therefore, the recommended way of handling Binz data in LuciadLightspeed is converting the data in the OGC 3D Tiles format up front, and visualizing the OGC 3D Tiles data on a Lightspeed map, as explained in the Converting Binz data to OGC 3D Tiles tutorial.