Line by bearing and distance -- distance not correct

[Ghostsoldier]

First, let me preface this quesion by admitting I'm an old dog, trying to learn new tricks,i.e., this is my first foray into the world of 2012 C3D.

I have used LDD 2004 for years as a survey cartographer, and now I have a new job as a draftsman at a local utility authority. As as they are using 2012 C3D, it's taking me a little while to un-learn the "toolbar" mentality and accept this new "Ribbon" concept (not to mention the other aspects of this new beast). This in neither here-nor-there as it applies to my question; it's just a heads-up on my experience using this program...or lack thereof.

So, here's my issue, in a nutshell: I'm trying to plot easement lines (from legal descriptions) using the "line by bearing and distance" command, and although the bearing on the line is correct, the distance is always consistently wrong.

For instance, I try to draw a line on the bearing of "S 89d00'00" W", and the distance is "23.00" (feet). When the line plots graphically, it is indeed the S 89d00'30" E bearing, but the distance is always 276.00 feet...every single time.

I've gone to the "Units" menu, and set the Length type to "Decimal" (default), the Precision to "0.00", the Angle type to "Surveyor's Units", and the Precision to "N0.d00'00"E"...but, to no avail (on another note, the program won't hold these setting in default after I close the drawing, either, like the old LDD used to....but, that's another story).

I've got tons of easements to plot, and fixing this issue will sure make my work life easer...can anyone spare an old dog a new bone, and maybe give me some tips?

Thanks,

Rob

[rl_jackson · Accepted solution]

You need to start with a template set to the U.S. Survey Foot. Try an NCS template. Also go to the drawing settings

Settings tab, right click the drawing name, pick drawing settings and set the drawing to U.S. Survey Foot. this should solve most of the issues in the current dwg

editing the units etcc... does not work in C3D

[Sinc]

Sounds like you went into UNITS and set the units to "inches" (or that you failed to start with a C3D template, and started with a drawing that was already set to "inches").

When working with Imperial units in Civil 3D, you should always have modelspace units set to "feet", not "inches".  In addition, there are a lot of other settings besides the units, so you should generally start new drawings from a suitable Civil 3D template.

[Ghostsoldier]

Thanks, guys....it worked like a charm! I changed the drawing settings to "US Survey Feet", corrected the scale, and now it works perfectly! I also re-set the Units to "feet" so I won't have this problem again.

BTW, where can I find NCS templates?

Rob

[Civil3DReminders]

C:\Users\<User Name>\AppData\Local\Autodesk\C3D 2012\enu\Template

[Ghostsoldier]

Awesome...thanks!

Rob