Civil 3D’s profile view bands are designed to label the elevational data of two profiles. (Typically the existing and proposed conditions.) Some infrastructure designs however, may require several profiles to be displayed (and annotated) in a single profile view. At times like this, we can simply add more bands to accommodate the extra profiles.
In today’s installment, we’ll explore a workflow to add and configure a new band (and band style) for the purpose of labeling some proposed edge of pavement profiles. If you are interested, I've created a quick video below that steps through the process...
They say that sequels are never as good as the original. In this case, I’m going to disagree. :)
Have you ever wanted to add road labels to your InfraWorks models? I know; so have I.
Several months ago, I created a post showing one strategy to do this by exporting exploded text from Civil 3D as a GIS file and then importing it back into InfraWorks. This worked pretty well but still had an equal number of “Cons” to go along with the “Pros”. The biggest “Con” (for me anyway) was the fact that the labels could not be placed at the road centerlines. (InfraWorks Roads trump coverage areas)
In that same time frame, I created another post showing how images could be draped over an InfraWorks Terrain. They also have the benefit of being able to be displayed on top of InfraWorks Roads.
I began thinking, what if…. I exported my road labels from Civil 3D as an image that could be draped over my InfraWorks model. It could be much simpler (fewer InfraWorks objects) and could also be displayed on top of the InfraWorks Roads. (Terrain Overlays trump InfraWorks Roads) At the same time, I was concerned about how hard the workflow might be and if the display resolution would be acceptable.
I finally got around to testing it and it worked better than I thought. In short, I believe it is a viable option for creating Labels in InfraWorks models. (At least until a work around is no longer necessary :) )
Check out the video below to see Terrain Overlay II.
On September 12th, I'll be presenting with our partner, CADsoft Consulting, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Thanks to the Albuquerque Civil 3D Users Group for allowing me to present at their September meeting!
This is a free event that focuses on the power of the AEC Collection for Infrastructure customers. Hope to see you there!
Many times the profile views created in Civil 3D display a pair of profiles; one representing the existing conditions and another, the proposed design. That being said, we don’t have to stop at just two. A profile view of a proposed roadway for example, could easily display profiles representing the finished grade centerline, edges of pavement, shoulders, ditch lines, etc. Generally speaking, if displaying multiple profiles will aid you in your design workflow, Civil 3D makes it easy to display as many profiles as needed.
In today’s installment, we’ll explore some techniques to add multiple design profiles (both static and dynamic) to a profile view. If you are interested, I’ve created a quick video below that walks through the process…
Ever take a full size set of plan sheets out in the field? How fun is that?
Especially when the wind is blowing. :)
I used to carry old speaker magnets to help stick the sheets down to the hood of the truck while we reviewed them.
If you are like me, I’m sure you would agree that carrying around full size sets of plans has it’s time and place but working with a reduced set of paper plans is much better. (most of the time)
The challenge is how best to create the reduced set. In short, you have already set up all of your Civil 3D Page Layouts to use large size sheets to represent your model. Do you need to create separate Page Layouts to represent the reduced sheets? Do you need to create a copy of the model? Short answer, you could do both but you don’t need to. :)
There is a much faster and automated way to create reduced size plan sheets. This is accomplished using the PAGESETUP tool. Using this tool, you can store all of the settings necessary to create the reduction in a saved “Pagesetup” and then apply it to your Page Layouts when required. Whether it is a single plan sheet or many, you can create reduced plan sheets in seconds.
In many cases, an aerial image is the perfect backdrop to begin sketching a 3D model such as a building, sign, wall, etc. Autodesk FormIt Pro will allow us to import our own imagery, but wouldn't it be easier if we just told FormIt what we need and it grabs it (like Civil 3D)? Lucky for us, FormIt does this with ease - hence today's post.
Check out the video below to see the Location tool in action.
Most Civil 3D vertical curve label styles contain several components to describe a vertical curve. Typically, these styles include: curve length, PVI station/elevation, curve start and end station/elevation, high (or low) point station/elevation, K value, etc., making them perfect when applied to most vertical curves. If a vertical curve label is split between profile views however, you may wish to limit the amount of data shown to what is displayed in the split view. (Basically creating a “start” or “end” vertical curve label style.)
These new styles could be made quickly by simply copying the original label style and then hiding (or deleting) the unwanted labels. While this method is fast, the resulting label styles have no relationship with the original style, so if a minor change is made in the future (precision, text height, layer, etc.) the change would need to be made in the original style AND in each of the copies. Fortunately, there is a better way!
If the time comes that you need to create a derivative, or “variation” of a Civil 3D label style, consider creating a child style. A child is simply a copy that is linked to the original style. Using a child, you can override as many of the original settings as you like, and if the original style is ever modified, those changes will propagate to the child style, so long as the modified settings haven’t been overridden.
In today’s installment, we’ll use the child style concept to create vertical curve labels for use in split profile views. If you are interested, I’ve created a recording that walks through the workflow…
Today’s installment is about some oldies but goodies. MSLIDE & VSLIDE have been around for more than 20 years and still provide a ton of value.
In short, MSLIDE (Make Slide) lets you capture an extremely light weight image of your model. This image is stored in an .SLD file that can be viewed in any AutoCAD based application using the VSLIDE (View Slide) command. Not only is the image light weight, it is not persistent. In other words, it will display regardless of what model is currently loaded. After displaying, as much as a small Pan or Zoom will cause it to disappear.
Knowing this, Slides can be used to instantaneously retrieve a view of a model without having access to the actual model file or waiting for it to load. It can be shared with folks outside of your organization and viewed using their AutoCAD without the need of any object enabler. They can even be strung together to create a form of time-lapse visualization using a simple script file.
Check out the video below to see how it works.
If you would like to download the simple script and slides I created during the demo… Click Here
Back in May, my co-blogger extraordinaire Jerry Bartels posted about using the "GeographicLocation" tool to navigate your model using an address. I recently had a similar question about this tool from a user asking: can I still take advantage of Bing imagery if my survey data is sitting in an assumed coordinate space? What about when the bearing basis was assumed as well?
So that is the genesis for today's video. Many of these surveys end up being tied to a published coordinate system, but sometimes, there isn't a need for this (some boundary surveys for example). We'll consider two surveys, both in format similar to what you see in the image. Coordinates were assumed on both, a bearing was assumed on one, and off we went!
Several of the AEC Collection applications support the use of digital images as material maps. This allows users to photograph an existing building (for example) and then wrap the images around a 3D virtual model.
The trick to creating custom material maps is knowing how to optimize the images. In today’s installment we’ll explore some best practices for sizing, cropping, stretching and touching up images such that they'll map perfectly to the faces of a 3D model.
If you are interested, I’ve created a quick video that walks through the process…
NOTE: The images I create in this example are meant for use in InfraWorks. (Click here to learn how they are applied to an InfraWorks building). That being said, these images could also be leveraged as material maps in other AEC applications such as AutoCAD, Revit, Navisworks, 3DS Max and FormIt.
