2012 convert exiting blocks to dynamic.

[earlesinc]

Hi Folks

Can anyone point me in the right direction for taking existing blocks and converting them to dynamic blocks.? This will save a lot of time.

If this is not possible to do then where the instructions are for creating dynamic block in version 2012.

Thanks

Dave Z.

[Neilw_05]

Converting your existing blocks could be as simple as combining multiple versions of a block (i.e. different sizes) into a single block, which you could probably do by just reviewing that part of the topic in the help system. It gets more complicated if you want to use parameters to control the size, shape and orientation of the blocks.

I've found quite a few videos on YouTube that are helpful. Also the help system provides some brief videos along with step by step instructions. There are lots of Autocad books and online training courses out there. I don't have any particular one to recommend. I suggest looking at the YouTube videos first to get familiar with how they are constructed, then use the help system for more detailed explanations.

[Cadguru42]

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@earlesinc wrote:

Hi Folks

Can anyone point me in the right direction for taking existing blocks and converting them to dynamic blocks.? This will save a lot of time.

If this is not possible to do then where the instructions are for creating dynamic block in version 2012.

Thanks

Dave Z.

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Just remember that Civil 3D doesn't really understand dynamic blocks. I made all our point symbols as dynamic blocks for proposed and existing. When I tried using them in point styles I found that only the initial visibility state of a block is what is shown. So for us, dynamic blocks are useless unless Autodesk decides to let Civil 3D understand one of the basic features of AutoCAD. 

[Jeff_M]

While it's true that dynamic blocks aren't suitable for use with point styles, I still use MANY DB's in my everyday tasks of creating construction drawings.

[earlesinc]

Yes I have discovered that the Dynamic blocks do not work well with the points. What I am wanting to convert are the symbols we use for the plan sheets. ie wv, fh, property pins...ect. this way we can keep then looking the same size and not have one paperspace viewport having huge fire hydrants vrs tiny ones in a different vp. I did figure out how to recreate them individually. Just looking to see if its possible to to convert the existing blocks without needing to recreate them individually.

Dave

[Cadguru42 · Accepted solution]

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@earlesinc wrote:

Yes I have discovered that the Dynamic blocks do not work well with the points. What I am wanting to convert are the symbols we use for the plan sheets. ie wv, fh, property pins...ect. this way we can keep then looking the same size and not have one paperspace viewport having huge fire hydrants vrs tiny ones in a different vp. I did figure out how to recreate them individually. Just looking to see if its possible to to convert the existing blocks without needing to recreate them individually.

Dave

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I've got a key description that changes the point markers and label styles for plotting purposes. By doing it this way, the symbols are scaled correctly in any vieiwport since the cogo points are viewport dynamic like other civil objects. This works great for us. If you make your blocks annotative they should scale correctly no matter what the viewport scale is or even if you have multiple viewports. 

[earlesinc]

Thanks folks. For some reason it all clicked in my head.