Tutorial: Create a P-Data Fence Diagram

Estimated time: 4 minutes.

In this lesson, you will create a fence diagram view of the solid model created back in the P-data model lesson and also illustrated in the panel section. The fence diagram differs from the cross section in two ways: It can contain discontinuous (un-connected) slices of the model, and the output diagram will be displayed in the RockPlot3D window.

The instructions below are written with the assumption that you have completed the 3D Logs and P-data model lessons.


  1. Back at the Borehole Manager, click on the P-Data menu and select the Fence option.
  2. Model: Establish the model settings.
  3. Establish the diagram options:
    1. Color Scheme: This will default to a cold-to-hot color scheme, click the large color bar to choose a different sceme. You can also choose the end colors.
    2. Panel Borders: Unchecked.
    3. Surface Profiles: Unchecked.
    4. Perimeter Cage: Unchecked.
    5. Draped Image: Unchecked.
    6. Floating Image: Unchecked.
    7. Infrastructure: Unchecked.
    8. Legend(s): Check this and click the tab.
    9. Other 3D Files: Unchecked.
    10. Striplogs: Checked. The program will append 3D logs to the 3D view, using the same settings we used in an earlier lesson in this section.
    11. Title: Checked. The program will append 3D logs to the 3D view, using the same settings we used in an earlier lesson in this section.


Unlike profile diagrams, fence diagrams permit multiple panels to be selected. These can be drawn in several ways:

For this tutorial, we will use the second option. If the fence panel layout doesn't look like that which is shown below, continue with these steps. Otherwise, jump to #8.

RockWorks contours faults map

  1. Clear: Click on the Clear button at the top, to remove any existing panels.
  2. Snap: Clear this box (upper-left). This allows the panels to be drawn anywhere within the model, not just between boreholes.
  3. Click on the N & S button, to the left. The program will draw horizontal lines along the north and south borders of the project.
  4. Click on the E & W button. You will see vertical lines drawn along the western and eastern borders of the project.
  5. Click on the Cross button. The program will add north-south and east-west panel lines to the map window.

RockWorks panel fence section logs

In your own work, you can use any combination of hand-drawn and/or pre-set panel configurations. If you wish to erase the current panels to re-draw, simply click the Clear button to clear the display.
! Because the P-Data model is continuous, you can place the fence panels anywhere within the model - you don't have to place the panel endpoints at the borehole locations.

RockWorks will read the contents of the existing gamma solid model file and will create vertical slices through the model along the indicated panel lines. The completed diagram will be displayed in a RockPlot3D tab. Three-dimensional logs will be appended to the fence diagram.

Note: The image is displayed in the pane to the right, and the image components as well as the standard reference items are listed in the pane to the left of the image.

  1. Expand the Gamma Fence item in the Data listing. Note that the 6 vertical panels are listed there. Each can be expanded, where the panel outline and vertical grid model are listed. (If you can’t tell which panel name corresponds to which panel in the view, remove a check-mark and see which one disappears.)
  2. Adjust the display as you wish using the Rotate and Pan buttons.
  3. Adjust the panel opacity: You can adjust the opacity of an entire group of objects (such as the fence panels) by double-clicking on the Gamma Fence item (the heading with the icon). Set the Opacity setting to 70 and click Apply. This will apply the new setting to all of the items below this group heading. You should now see the logs better. Close the transparency window.
  4. Turn data items on and off: Take a moment to experiment with turning display items on and off, using the check-boxes in the Data listing in the data pane.

This is the end of the tutorial for point-based data. For more information about the RockPlot3D display window, visit that tutorial.

  P-Data Fences


  Back to P-Data menu

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