Editing Default User Contours in Styles

[joshua.prettyman]

In the surface styles dialog under analysis you can edit elevations, colors, etc. EXCEPT for user contours. What I would like to do is edit these for user contours, then when I created it there would be a default of sorts.

So the question... is there any way to set a default for user contours in the style?

[dgordon · Accepted solution]

I don't think there is.   You can have a style that is set to display them, but you can't create them until the surface is created.

[Joe-Bouza]

Although, you can setup a "seed" suface with some dummy data to set the default user contours in the template with all the bells and whistles you want, add the data and the user contours will show

[dgordon]

Joe,

Very nice.  Way to think out of the box.

[Joe-Bouza]

Sometimes we all get lucky, Bro

That technique can be taken to all c3d objects, but can create a messy template

[joshua.prettyman]

I use the volume surface and the 0 contour to determine daylights where the grading can get rough. So a dummy surface doesn't work in this instance.

If there's no way than there's no way though. Thanks for your help!

[Joe-Bouza]

Why not? create another dummy and the volume surface in the template

[joshua.prettyman]

They're used multiple times throughout the drawing. It would simplify things a bit though. Thanks.

[troma]

For that to work wouldn't you need the option to switch the Base & Comparison surfaces within the Volume surface?

(For the record, you should have that option anyway IMHO.)

[Joe-Bouza]

Pardon; I lost track of your thought? Why would you have to switch anything around?

[troma]

Maybe it's me not following your thoughts Joe, but here's my question: How do you have a dummy volume surface set up in your template and then use it for a real application?  Wouldn't you have to swap the base & comparison surfaces from whatever dummy surfaces you used to set it up, to the real surfaces you want to use?  Or what is the workflow you're suggesting?

[joshua.prettyman]

You'd just need two dummy surfaces to paste other stuff into, and have those referenced by the volume surface. It would work in this instance, but I use them multiple times in the drawing and it wouldn't be practical for me to include that many surfaces.

[troma]

Oh, I get it. You paste into or just edit the dummy base & comparison, rather than editing the volume surface to suit.  Seems a bit cumbersome, you have to know where you're going before you start & all that.

1. I think you should have the option within the properties of a volume surface to switch the Base & Comparison surfaces.

2. I think the 'Analysis' tab of a Tin Surface properties should be located within the surface style instead.  That way it would be so much easier to get multiple surfaces with the same elevation analysis, and would also solve the issue of this thread.

[Joe-Bouza]

Sure:

Surface1: = _EG = dummy surface for base. Add to it a few dummy points

Surface2: = _FG = dummy surface for comparison. Add to it a few dummy points

Surface3: = VolumeSurface. Create in template with the _EG vs _FG as base and comparison

Once actual EG and FG are made paste into _EG & _FG respectively and remove the dummy points.

If you were compelled to swap just paste accordingly