AutoCAD Civil 3D

[#1]

I have a DEM file, (or that is what I have been led to believe) it is in space delimited txt format. It contains breakline and point data. Every time I try and add it to a surface I get an invalid DEM file error. Can anyone give me a hint as to why and how I can correct this. I am using Civil 3D 2013.

[#2]

A lot of the entities out there have changed there file format for there DEM's and they don't work in Civil 3D anymore.  TNRIS is one of these entities.  I use Global Mapper to fix the file and export it back out as a DEM.  If it's not too large, you can email it to trogers@tcadsys.com and I will fix it for you.

[#3]

I have shipped it to you, work your magic.

[#4 · Accepted solution]

Ok.  I didn't read this very well the first go round, and apologies for that.  You need to import this as points, not attach it to surface as a DEM.  It looks like the point file format is PENZD.  Then add the Point Group _All points to the surface.  Works fine.

[#5]

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trogers wrote:

Ok.  I didn't read this very well the first go round, and apologies for that.  You need to import this as points, not attach it to surface as a DEM.  It looks like the point file format is PENZD.  Then add the Point Group _All points to the surface.  Works fine.

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If the file is very large, dont' import it into Civil 3D as points, just add it directly to the surface as a point file. Works much better that way for very large data sets.

Obviously, since Todd recommended importing it as a points and then using adding it to the surface as a point group, this particular file probably isn't very large, but it's good for others to know about if they didn't already.

Is it just me or do I sound like I'm babbling?

[#6]

It was fairly small and came in easily. Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Smartphone

[#7]

You're not babbling.

I just see you providing an important public service announcment. That is a very important tip for large data sets.

[#8]

Thanks for the help, evertyhing is working great. I made that a lot harder than it seemed.

[#9]

What did you do to get the data into the surface? Import points? Point group? Add point file? Enquiring minds want to know.

[#10]

It was a rather small file, so just a basic import of the points using PENZD did the trick.  The file had an extension of points.dem.txt.  So it was really just an ASCII file, not a DEM file.

I gave you props on my blog about the double click addition

http://civil3dj.wordpress.com/