Link between contour label lineweight and contour line lineweight

[WeimsGuy]

Does anyone have any comments or opinions (as if anyone does not) as to why the lineweight of a contour label text would be linked to the lineweight of the contour line itself?  Explicit example: changing the lineweight of the C-TOPO-MAJR-N layer affects both the contour line and the contour label text.  I will admit that I am new to Civil 3D (using 2012) and it took me some time to figure out that the two where linked in the standard styles.  I wanted the major contour lines to be thicker than the minor contour lines, but in doing so, the text label of the major contours became "blobs" on the output.  I had to go in a create new label styles that put both the major and minor contour label text on C-TOPO-TEXT before I could accomplish the desired results.  I got what I wanted, but had a severly brused forehead before doing so.  I just want other peoples opinions/experiences to avoid the head banging (read better way) on future encounters of getting Civil 3D contour labels to do what is desired.

Thanks in advanced.

Civil 3D 2012 SP4

DELL Vostro 460, Win-7 Pro 64-bit, Intel i7 quad-core, 16GB

[odoshi · Accepted solution]

I think the behavior you saw is standard, but probably not the best setup in the template. Looks like the contour components and contour labels shared the same layer by default in the template, so you were right in changing the labels to a text layer.

Regards,

Mike

[HorizontalCurveGuy]

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@WeimsGuy wrote:

Does anyone have any comments or opinions (as if anyone does not) as to why the lineweight of a contour label text would be linked to the lineweight of the contour line itself?  Explicit example: changing the lineweight of the C-TOPO-MAJR-N layer affects both the contour line and the contour label text.  I will admit that I am new to Civil 3D (using 2012) and it took me some time to figure out that the two where linked in the standard styles.  I wanted the major contour lines to be thicker than the minor contour lines, but in doing so, the text label of the major contours became "blobs" on the output.  I had to go in a create new label styles that put both the major and minor contour label text on C-TOPO-TEXT before I could accomplish the desired results.  I got what I wanted, but had a severly brused forehead before doing so.  I just want other peoples opinions/experiences to avoid the head banging (read better way) on future encounters of getting Civil 3D contour labels to do what is desired.

Thanks in advanced.

Civil 3D 2012 SP4

DELL Vostro 460, Win-7 Pro 64-bit, Intel i7 quad-core, 16GB

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What seems to be the mystery? OOTB settings will not be suitable for all user, thats why the software is editable.

[WeimsGuy]

I am glad your obviously superior knowledge of the product makes all the mysteries disappear.  For those who are just starting to learn, the obvious is not so obvious.  Perhaps I should have worded my question as to not irritate then more learned.  Maybe if enough users thought that linking the contour line weight and the contour label line weight was not logical we could make a suggestion to the Autodesk software developers to consider separating the two on future versions so that this and other user input could improve the OOTB templates and users could spend more time doing work and less time having to customize the software.

[HorizontalCurveGuy]

You know chief, your'e a real peice of work. You post a wish on a public forum for opinions, 73 views and you get 2 opinions more or less stating the same thing. And you get ticked off by it. I'm not going to say I have superior knowledge, but I have some, and I got it by asking questions and and reading others opinions. Especially when I first started learning the software.

A mind is like a parachute - it doesn't work if it isn't open. And if you cant be open to the advice and opinons of other with more expreience that are willing to share, you will never get the software. The key to this software is to shut your mouth and listen to it. Civil3d will tell you how it works if you are open to it.

And why do you think you had 73 views and 2 responses? I tried to be delicate about the obvious. Perhaps the other 71 had less patience for the mundane.

[WeimsGuy]

I have been working my way through C3D Essentials, Mastering C3D, Practical Guide to Map 3D, ?searching sources on the internet, reading questions and answers on numerous forums . ?Your reply came across a little condescending, so I guess I got defensive. ?So if you think I am a piece of work, then that is you prerogative.

[johngordon6189 · Accepted solution]

If the contour label style places the labels on a contour layer, it will have the same properties of the contour. I.E. if you change the properties of the contour layer, it changes the label as well. That's why it is your best interest to ensure that your label style is set so that the label is on an independent layer. The out of the box styles are mere guides as many of us from many different professions and fields of work have custom styles to suit our workflows and product characteristics and have spent many hours developing our base templates. In the future, consider the fact that a response is going to come to question you may pose, you cannot truly determine the inflection of the response, so it's best not to respond in an unkind way. There are worldwide users of this software, and English may not be their native language. The users of this forum do a pretty good job of being helpful to queries such as yours. Hope you have success in learning this program.

[Joe-Bouza]

well stated, John
TY

[Joe-Bouza]

I'll also add that the contour lable style "can" be on the same layer as the contour and still have a different color via entity overide in the composer