invisible surfaces

[albionpjl]

We've just slid sideways from Land desktop 2005 to civil 3D 2005. I'm slowly getting things working but although I managed to import a point file and build a surface, I can't see it!
The help file says that surfaces may not display until their settings have been customised but doesn't seem to give any clue as to what exactly is needed to make them visible. I have tried but nothing I do makes any difference.
I know I can carry on using ldt for the time being but I'd like to know how to do it in this. Can anyone help me? I'm not finding the help file very user friendly;it has a particularly frustrating habit of saying that something can be done without saying how it's done.
thanks

[Anonymous]

Hey albionpjl; Check your Surface Styles. I had the same issue until I started playing with the settings and viola the surface appeared! Sorry, but I just edited too many variables to be able to say which did the trick. Maybe one of the gurus will chime in, for the specific setting to adjust. -- Don Reichle Hacker Engineering, Inc. "King of Work-Arounds" LDT & CD 2004 C3D 2004 SP1 On HP Pavilion a367c 2.80 Ghz/512MB RAM XP PRO - SP2 "albionpjl" wrote in message news:11515014.1099415344654.JavaMail.jive@jiveforum1.autodesk.com... > We've just slid sideways from Land desktop 2005 to civil 3D 2005. I'm > slowly getting things working but although I managed to import a point > file and build a surface, I can't see it! > The help file says that surfaces may not display until their settings have > been customised but doesn't seem to give any clue as to what exactly is > needed to make them visible. I have tried but nothing I do makes any > difference. > I know I can carry on using ldt for the time being but I'd like to know > how to do it in this. Can anyone help me? I'm not finding the help file > very user friendly;it has a particularly frustrating habit of saying that > something can be done without saying how it's done. > thanks

[Anonymous]

Don - didn't you mean violin? or maybe cello - but viola was not one of the standard surface styles shipping in C3D as far as I know :-) "Don Reichle" wrote in message news:4187c486$1_3@newsprd01... > Hey albionpjl; > > Check your Surface Styles. I had the same issue until I started playing with > the settings and viola the surface appeared! Sorry, but I just edited too > many variables to be able to say which did the trick. > > Maybe one of the gurus will chime in, for the specific setting to adjust. > > -- > Don Reichle > Hacker Engineering, Inc. > "King of Work-Arounds" > LDT & CD 2004 > C3D 2004 SP1 > On HP Pavilion a367c > 2.80 Ghz/512MB RAM > XP PRO - SP2 > > > "albionpjl" wrote in message > news:11515014.1099415344654.JavaMail.jive@jiveforum1.autodesk.com... > > We've just slid sideways from Land desktop 2005 to civil 3D 2005. I'm > > slowly getting things working but although I managed to import a point > > file and build a surface, I can't see it! > > The help file says that surfaces may not display until their settings have > > been customised but doesn't seem to give any clue as to what exactly is > > needed to make them visible. I have tried but nothing I do makes any > > difference. > > I know I can carry on using ldt for the time being but I'd like to know > > how to do it in this. Can anyone help me? I'm not finding the help file > > very user friendly;it has a particularly frustrating habit of saying that > > something can be done without saying how it's done. > > thanks > >

[Anonymous]

Did you make a drawing using the dwt from Adesk? If so, you'll have a myriad of styles to choose from, and that makes life simpler. If not, you'll have to edit the style that is being applied to your surface. Given #1- Find your surface in Prospector, and right-click, pulling up surface properties. Change the Surface style here from Standard to something like Borders & Contours, and your surface should appear. Given #2-Switch to the Settings tab in Toolspace, expand down to the Surface styles in your current drawing, right-click on Standard and select Edit. Switch to the Display tab, and turn on the Major and Minor Contours. For future reference, I HIGHLY recommend that you always use some sort of template when working in C3D. There are just too many objects with styles to start from scratch each drawing. HTH -- James Wedding, P.E. IT Manager Jones & Boyd, Inc. Dallas, TX XP/2 on P4-3.4/1G LDT2005+C3D http://au.autodesk.com Sign up now for AU2004!

[Anonymous]

Hey Natan; I'm sorry, but my keyboard doesn't include the correct accent mark for the French phrase. But thanks for pointing out the typo... I did mean voila! -- Don Reichle Hacker Engineering, Inc. "King of Work-Arounds" LDT & CD 2004 C3D 2004 SP1 On HP Pavilion a367c 2.80 Ghz/512MB RAM XP PRO - SP2 "Natan Elsberg" wrote in message news:4187c64b$1_1@newsprd01... > Don - didn't you mean violin? or maybe cello - but viola was not one of > the > standard surface styles shipping in C3D as far as I know :-) > > > > "Don Reichle" wrote in message > news:4187c486$1_3@newsprd01... >> Hey albionpjl; >> >> Check your Surface Styles. I had the same issue until I started playing > with >> the settings and viola the surface appeared! Sorry, but I just edited too >> many variables to be able to say which did the trick. >> >> Maybe one of the gurus will chime in, for the specific setting to adjust. >> >> -- >> Don Reichle >> Hacker Engineering, Inc. >> "King of Work-Arounds" >> LDT & CD 2004 >> C3D 2004 SP1 >> On HP Pavilion a367c >> 2.80 Ghz/512MB RAM >> XP PRO - SP2 >> >> >> "albionpjl" wrote in message >> news:11515014.1099415344654.JavaMail.jive@jiveforum1.autodesk.com... >> > We've just slid sideways from Land desktop 2005 to civil 3D 2005. I'm >> > slowly getting things working but although I managed to import a point >> > file and build a surface, I can't see it! >> > The help file says that surfaces may not display until their settings > have >> > been customised but doesn't seem to give any clue as to what exactly is >> > needed to make them visible. I have tried but nothing I do makes any >> > difference. >> > I know I can carry on using ldt for the time being but I'd like to know >> > how to do it in this. Can anyone help me? I'm not finding the help >> > file >> > very user friendly;it has a particularly frustrating habit of saying > that >> > something can be done without saying how it's done. >> > thanks >> >> > >

[Anonymous]

Hey Doctor; How about the case of using an existing DWG file? Would you recommend using the DWT, and then inserting the existing DWG? -- Don Reichle Hacker Engineering, Inc. "King of Work-Arounds" LDT & CD 2004 C3D 2004 SP1 On HP Pavilion a367c 2.80 Ghz/512MB RAM XP PRO - SP2 "James Wedding" wrote in message news:4187c692_3@newsprd01... > Did you make a drawing using the dwt from Adesk? If so, you'll have a > myriad of styles to choose from, and that makes life simpler. If not, > you'll have to edit the style that is being applied to your surface. > > Given #1- Find your surface in Prospector, and right-click, pulling up > surface properties. Change the Surface style here from Standard to > something like Borders & Contours, and your surface should appear. > > Given #2-Switch to the Settings tab in Toolspace, expand down to the > Surface styles in your current drawing, right-click on Standard and select > Edit. Switch to the Display tab, and turn on the Major and Minor Contours. > > For future reference, I HIGHLY recommend that you always use some sort of > template when working in C3D. There are just too many objects with styles > to start from scratch each drawing. > > HTH > > -- > James Wedding, P.E. > IT Manager > Jones & Boyd, Inc. > Dallas, TX > XP/2 on P4-3.4/1G > LDT2005+C3D > http://au.autodesk.com > Sign up now for AU2004! >

[Anonymous]

I would. The process of dragging and dropping styles into an existing dwg works, but it is VERY cumbersome, and not something I enjoy doing manually. It's one of the things I'm trying to automate via VBA. -- James Wedding, P.E. IT Manager Jones & Boyd, Inc. Dallas, TX XP/2 on P4-3.4/1G LDT2005+C3D http://au.autodesk.com Sign up now for AU2004!

[albionpjl]

I'm not using the Acad dwt, I have to use the one with all our standard layers and linetypes.
I did try editing the standard but i don't know what to edit. I'll try using the acad dwt and insert a dwg with all our layers in and create a new dwt which I hope will have all the styles as well. Then I'll have another go at the surface. Thanks.
Joan

[albionpjl]

Nope, didn't work.
I still on;ly have 'Standard' style and an invisible surface.
It is possible that my surface doesn't have any objects in it. i followed the instructions in help for creating a TIN, but it doesn't say how to tell it what to make the TIN from (ie which point group). Does it just use all the points? Do I have to select some first? Am I just missing something idioticly simple?

[Anonymous]

Voilà! la surface est apparue.

[Anonymous]

Showoff. :-) -- Don Reichle Hacker Engineering, Inc. "King of Work-Arounds" LDT & CD 2004 C3D 2004 SP1 On HP Pavilion a367c 2.80 Ghz/512MB RAM XP PRO - SP2 "Doug Boys" wrote in message news:4188b8e3_3@newsprd01... > > Voilà! la surface est apparue. > >

[Anonymous]

albionpjl, If you have created the surface, the surface style controls the visibility. As James stated, select the Surface from prospector, Rt. Click, Properties. On the information Tab, you should see the "Standard" surface style. Select the drop down next to the style and select "Edit Current Selection". On the style dialog, select the display tab and make sure the surface border or contours are toggled on. If this does not work, the layers may be off. The surface object is assigned a layer when the object is created. Make sure the Surface layer is not off. Lastly, the surface point data may not have been added correctly. To create a surface from a point file, you need to first create the surface and then add the data. Therefore, select Surfaces->Create Surface from the menu and give the surface a name. Next, find the surface in Prospector and expand the surface so that you see the definition node. Lastly add the point file. After the surface builds, select the surface properties, and check the surface statistics to make sure data was added. Daniel Philbrick Autodesk, Inc. "albionpjl" wrote in message news:4157729.1099473373496.JavaMail.jive@jiveforum2.autodesk.com... > Nope, didn't work. > I still on;ly have 'Standard' style and an invisible surface. > It is possible that my surface doesn't have any objects in it. i followed the instructions in help for creating a TIN, but it doesn't say how to tell it what to make the TIN from (ie which point group). Does it just use all the points? Do I have to select some first? Am I just missing something idioticly simple?

[Anonymous]

There are couple of ways to find out whether your surface has any valid. Do following: 1. In Toolspace click on Prospector tab. Expand Surfaces node. This will list all surfaces in your dwg (I assume that you have only one) 2. Right click on "your surface name" in that collection and choose "Properties..." 3. In surface properties dialog click on the "Statistics" Page. If you have any valid input and if any triangles are built they will be reported here. You can explore other pages of this properties dialog to know more about the input data; also you can explore this information from prospector tree by expanding node. There are tutorials which walks through the process of building surfaces. However, I attempted to explain the steps to add data to a surface below (Some of the steps are obvious, but added anyway assuming lack of familarity with prospector): a. In your Prospector tree expand surfaces to see the list of surfaces you have in your dwg b. Further, expand the "your surface" (could be Surface1) node by clicking on + sign infront of it. c. This will list show three items, (i) masks, (ii) Watersheds and (iii) Definition d. Expand Definition node by clicking on + infront of it. e. Now you will see "Point Groups" as potential input data along with others. f. Right click on "Point Groups" node and Select ADD option. and choose any point group that you have in your dwg. g. Alternatively add any other data that is applicable for this surface by reviewing other types of input in this "Definition" List. h. This step should build your surface and displays as specified by the STYLE. If necessary right click on the surface name in prospector and choose "Rebuild: Option. Hope this helps Chakri "albionpjl" wrote in message news:4157729.1099473373496.JavaMail.jive@jiveforum2.autodesk.com... > Nope, didn't work. > I still on;ly have 'Standard' style and an invisible surface. > It is possible that my surface doesn't have any objects in it. i followed the instructions in help for creating a TIN, but it doesn't say how to tell it what to make the TIN from (ie which point group). Does it just use all the points? Do I have to select some first? Am I just missing something idioticly simple?

[albionpjl]

Thanks for the help. I'll give that a try.
I couldn't find the tutorials before, I had the wrong set of menus on the top bar. I didn't realise that 'help' from one menu doesn't give acces to the same drop downs as from another (neither does 'File' ) I've now got all three 'helps' up, as well as just about all the other menus that I can find.
I should get a chance to try later today.
Ta muchly (or 'murky buckets' as those french speakers would say)
Joan

[albionpjl]

success!!
Thanks all
Joan

[Anonymous]

We have made the same slide - only in front of a freight train! I think I can help and here goes. IMPORTANT: Even though you have created a subdirectory for a new surface - the surface IS NOT there until you "Define" what to use.

Open the "New Surface" [ the surface you just think you created] subdirectory and go down the list of sub-menus to "Definitions". Now 'define' what items to use to create your TIN; Rt Clk 'Breaklines', pick ADD, pick the polylines which describe your fault lines; Scroll down to 'Point Group', rt clk the point group name you created when you inserted all of your points, click ADD. You should see something which looks like a TIN.

Hope this helps you and many others.

[Anonymous]

@albionpjl You had success? What did you do? We have an invisible surface that if I copy and paste into a brand new drawing it shows up as expected... but it's still invisible in the original drawing. Our work around is to explode the surface in the new drawing and paste it back into the original as a block... but that's pretty crummy. Any help? Thanks.

[troma]

Have you tried all the above suggestions?
Layers on, surface style set correctly...

[Anonymous]

Yes. I even tried to create a brand new surface style just in case the style that I had set up was bad for some reason, which it's not seeing it displays properly in the new drawing. All layers are on, thawed, unlocked, etc... it's not the style or the layers.

[troma]

Need to start doing a diagnosis: it works in one drawing but not in another. Gotta start playing spot the difference between the two drawings!