Because many of our models require or incorporate GIS data, I am going to do a 4 part series on tools we can use to help us be more productive when working with geospatial information.
Part one: Stop reinventing the wheel!
If you are like me, you incorporate a lot of GIS data into your Civil 3D models. I’m a big fan of the drag and drop method! In other words, I drag in my .SHP file and it automatically transforms itself (if necessary) before displaying on my screen.
Having said this, I find that the default display values NEVER meet my needs. Instead, I am always tweaking things like color, width, transparency… to match my standards. Worse yet, I perform these tweaks every time I add the .SHP file to any model.
Wouldn’t it be great if I could save my tweaks such that when I drag and drop my .SHP file into my Civil 3D model the data would already be formatted the way I need? Fortunately for us, we can!!
We do this by saving a .LAYER file. In short, after adjusting the display styles of our attached GIS data, we can then right click on it in the Map Task Pane and export it as a .LAYER files. In the future, we just drag and drop the .LAYER file into any model and we not only get the GIS data but it is also automatically formatted to our display standards.
No more reinventing the wheel!
Check out the video below to see how it works.
-Jerry
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