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Civl 3D Polylines

23 REPLIES 23
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Message 1 of 24
lex123456
1322 Views, 23 Replies

Civl 3D Polylines

Why does Civil 3D not have options to edit 3D polylines? Specifically linetype scales. I read what was posted previously and a tip someone gave was explode it to 2D, do a pedit, print and then exit drawing without saving. This is not acceptable. This is a survey file provided to me as a base for design and the 3D polylines are tops of banks. Carlson Survcadd allows you to edit 3D polylines. Why doesn't Civil 3D?

23 REPLIES 23
Message 2 of 24
Lisa_Pohlmeyer
in reply to: lex123456

In Civil 3D, we use features lines instead of 3D polylines.  In the 2013 version of the program, the feature line styles respect the linetype and scale settings.

You can edit the elevations of 3D polylines through the properties palette.  The feature line objects provide a more elegant solution, IMHO.



Lisa Pohlmeyer
Civil 3D User
Website | Facebook | Twitter

Message 3 of 24
mathewkol
in reply to: Lisa_Pohlmeyer

It's no opinion Lisa, it's fact. 🙂

Matt Kolberg
SolidCAD Professional Services
http://www.solidcad.ca /
Message 4 of 24
jmayo-EE
in reply to: mathewkol

If I can add to Lisa and Matt's comments, feature line editing is easier and more powerful (not all of these tools work on 3d polys) and you can have true curves.

John Mayo

EESignature

Message 5 of 24
lex123456
in reply to: jmayo-EE

Okay. Here is another issue. The surveyor located the centerline of a stream which I am profiling. I had to profile using station and elevation in a file because after attempting to create a surface from his contours(because that is sufficient to my need), C3D would not accept his elevated contours.

 

It just seems to me that to have the software perform, I have to somehow re-create the survey drawing provided to me by someone else. His points are all on a single layer so I could not use those to create a surface as many of them have elevations that would throw the surface out of whack. I do not have time to relayer 1000 points.

 

I do not understand why C3D seems to have lost its user-friendliness towards working with data from other platforms.

Message 6 of 24
jmayo-EE
in reply to: lex123456

I would ask the surveyor to send an xml file of the surface if possible. It is easy for them to create if they use LDD.

John Mayo

EESignature

Message 7 of 24
AllenJessup
in reply to: lex123456

I don't know what kind of points you were provided with. But if they were anything like LDT - Aecc points, you can convert them to Civil cogo points. Then you can create point groups based on the description and/or elevation and change the layer that way or you can build the surface directly from a point group.

 

If you list one of the contours that C3D rejected and post the results. There may be someone that has a suggestion about how to handle them.

 

Allen



Allen Jessup
Engineering Specialist / CAD Manager

Message 8 of 24
AllenJessup
in reply to: AllenJessup

BTW Many of the Featureline editing tools also work on 3D Polylines. I don't have a list of those so you'll just have to try them. I do know that Insert and Delete PI work.

 

Allen



Allen Jessup
Engineering Specialist / CAD Manager

Message 9 of 24
ctbailey
in reply to: lex123456

Civil 3D "Did not accept his contours."  That strikes me as odd.

 

You can feed Civil 3D absolute garbage, and it will "accept" it.

 

Try as a last resort to using Contours provided by others as the basis for a surface.  The absolute best possible surfaces are created by a handful of "spot shots" and the remainder being breaklines.

 

If brealklines are not available, then the LandXML approach I concurr with.

__________
Craig T. Bailey, PE, LLS
Bailey Engineering
Message 10 of 24
shunter62
in reply to: lex123456

When you are building the surface you need for your profile, remember that you can use a boundary to exclude points not needed and also that you may set upper and lower elevation limits for your surface, which exclude all of those pesky points at elevation 0 or in outer space. Also, you can use the simplify surface tool to eliminate excess points, such as clustered control points on a benchmark. Processing and editing your points before starting to draw and design saves many headaches.

I hope this smooths out the process a little.

Regards,

Susan H

Message 11 of 24
lex123456
in reply to: ctbailey

It would not use the contours to create a surface.

Message 12 of 24
lex123456
in reply to: shunter62

I have used a work-around. 

Message 13 of 24
lex123456
in reply to: jmayo-EE

Thank you. He uses SurvCadd, which I used to use also. I think they will all write XML files. I just find Civil 3D to be so much more difficult than either SurvCadd, LDD or even EaglePoint, all of which I have used. I don't see why something that should be straightforward has become so complicated.

Message 14 of 24
shunter62
in reply to: lex123456

You are correct, Civil 3D does not accept LDD contours as a surface. It's better to ask for the original DTM or build your own surface/contours with the points and any breaklines you can devise. Susan H
Message 15 of 24
jmayo-EE
in reply to: shunter62

Explode aeccontour objects once and polylines will remain.

 

The best bet is still to get the xml. Look at the time it would have saved the OP. The design could have been in the workings a minute after the files were sent.

 

John Mayo

EESignature

Message 16 of 24
lex123456
in reply to: shunter62

Can you tell me if there is a way to enter stuff into the profile manually by station and elevation?

Message 17 of 24
Cadguru42
in reply to: lex123456


@lex123456 wrote:

Thank you. He uses SurvCadd, which I used to use also. I think they will all write XML files. I just find Civil 3D to be so much more difficult than either SurvCadd, LDD or even EaglePoint, all of which I have used. I don't see why something that should be straightforward has become so complicated.


LDD is just as complicated as C3D.  It's just different.  Until you've figured out that C3D is not LDD or any of those other packages, you will be disappointed.

C3D 2022-2024
Windows 10 Pro
32GB RAM
Message 18 of 24
lex123456
in reply to: Cadguru42

Believe me, I have figured out that it isn't like the others. I just don't think I like it.

Message 19 of 24
mathewkol
in reply to: lex123456

You can create a design profile by station and elevation using the tabular editor; a button within the design profile toolbar.
Matt Kolberg
SolidCAD Professional Services
http://www.solidcad.ca /
Message 20 of 24
lex123456
in reply to: mathewkol

Good to know. Thank you.

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