Measuring volumes on a 3D model

Every flight already comes with volumes measured by the Aurox team, but Measure & Create also lets you take your own measurements directly on the 3D model — useful for measuring a partial face, a section you plan to feed next, or a structure the standard measurements don’t cover.

Aurox-measured vs. your measurements

  • Aurox-measured values are produced by the operations team when your flight is processed. These are the volumes that feed your Inventory page and forecasts.
  • Measurements you take yourself are for your own analysis. They are a great sanity check, but the Aurox-measured values remain the basis of your inventory records.

Taking a volume measurement

  1. Open Measure & Create and load the flight you want to measure (see the Measure & Create overview if you have not opened a model before).
  2. Open the Measure menu and choose Volume & Tons.
  3. Click points on the model to outline the base of the area you want to measure, enclosing the material.
  4. Complete the outline and the tool computes the volume of material inside it.

You can also measure simple distances with the Length tool (for example, the length of a bunker face) and surface areas with Face Area the same way — outline the region and read the result.

Understanding the volume results

Which number you see depends on the tool:

  • Cut Volume — shown on measurement panels: the material volume from the surface (the intersection/cut result). For a silage pile, this is the material actually present inside your outline.
  • Shape Volume — shown on create panels (piles and bunks you draw): the total volume of the designed shape, including any overfill.

For a straightforward “how much silage is in this section” question, the Cut Volume is the number you want.

Units

Volumes display in cubic feet (ft³) with Imperial units or cubic meters (m³) with Metric. You can switch the Unit Type on the Settings page — see Profile and settings.

From volume to tons

Volume alone doesn’t tell you feed quantity — tonnage depends on density and dry matter. See Understanding silage density for how volumes are converted into as-fed and dry-matter tons on your inventory.

Tips for accurate measurements

  • Zoom in before placing points; precise clicks on the base of the pile matter most.
  • Keep the outline on the ground surface around the material, not partway up the face.
  • Compare your result against the Aurox-measured value for the same structure — large gaps usually mean the outline included (or excluded) part of the pile.

Questions about a measurement result? Contact [email protected].