sample lines in drawings

[CADmgrMike]

I'm curious if others make use of cross section sample lines in their plan & profile sheet drawings?

I was thinking of xrefing my section drawing into each plan & profile sheet so that the sample lines would be in the plan view.

Anyone else use this type of workflow? Any issues?

Thanks,

[apweng]

I recommend moving cross sections into a separate drawing (refrence object for the alignment to create sample lines, and xref corridor drawing - the sample lines will pull all required corridor and surface data through the xref).

Reasons are as follows:

1. Data managment - cross sectinos can bog down the design drawing
2. Scales - no need to continually flip back and forth between MS annotation scales for plan/profile work and cross section work
3. Resources - better use of staff resources if that's applicable to you

Also you can run 2 instances of C3D so that if one of the drawings goes down, it doesn't take all the other drawings with it.

Hope this helps!

Andrew

[EJMartinez]

I usually add all my Xsections into one drawing unless i am told to create a seperate drawing for the Xsections. When they are all in one drawing, they are easier to edit compared to Xrefing in a drawing. Some problem you might cross while Xrefing in the drawing is havent to open the original drawing of the Xsections and check the placements of all the labels. Then when you Xref them in, you have to see if any labels overlap from the Xsection drawing with the P&P Drawing. I think it would be a constant problem of going back and forth to add and edit them. Just my Opinion. Attached is pic of one project i am doing now. I had to arrange the labels on the sample lines so that they dont overlap with other things in the drawing. Some labels have background mask

[jmayo-EE]

I last used that workflow in 2007 when we switched to Civil 3D. I will not use it again unless I have to work in LDD. Models and sheets are always separate in C3D as per Autodesk Best Practices.

[CADmgrMike]

I agree with having cross sections in their own drawing and creating section sheets there.

That's not an issue.

What I'm trying to decide is a best practice (if possible) for utilizing the cross section sample lines in a plan set.

You have all the options for styles and labels for the sample line, so why not make use of them somehow.

1. You could have one overall plan view and show them all on one sheet, but scaling and text sizes usually is an issue.

2. The other option I see is using the section drawing as an xref in all the plan & profile sheets. Doing this requires that you adjust labels in your plan & profile sheet around these sample lines.

3. ?????

If you look at most videos, training lessons, etc, they show you how to make sample lines, section views, and create section sheets, but never address how to utilize the sample lines anywhere.

Thanks for the input.

[CADmgrMike]

Jmayo,

Exactly what I was taught, but should we rethink that theory?

In the plan production tools, you have the option when making plan & profile sheets to make separate drawings for each sheet.

Why didn't Autodesk use the same idea when creating section sheets?

The engineers I work with want to see some type of section symbol in the plan view corresponding to the section view on another sheet.

Isn't that a perfect use for the sample line?

I can make views in my section sheets and use SSM to automate some of it, but it seems like we're wasting the usefulness of the sample line.

Just questions I'm asking myself and wanting to see if others have any ideas.

[jmayo-EE]

Yes set these style as you need to plot them. I do my earthworks/soil movement in a separte file. I Dref in EG & FG & hide the surfaces with styles. Dref or create an alignment. Create samples lines, sections and material tables. I set up sample lines in this file to display for plotting and xref it into sheets with the rest of the base data. Note the only thing that prints or displays in plan is the sample lines, tables and the section views. 

[jmayo-EE]

The workflow for the PP tools and SSM are not all that great IMO but they do have the potential to save a lot of hand drafting time. I would use the sample lines in an xref with the SSM sheets if it got me what I needed faster. I am just begining with these tools right now but have a few 20-60 sheet sets complete for plan & profile. I have not used them for sections yet. 

[EJMartinez]

Im sorry i meant to say i keep all the Xsections in the same drawing as the plan & profile and so far i have had no problems with it.

1. You could have one overall plan view and show them all on one sheet, but scaling and text sizes usually is an issue.

I show my Cross section labels and sample lines in the Plan & Profile sheets. I Just arrange the labels using edit sample line labels groups.

2. The other option I see is using the section drawing as an xref in all the plan & profile sheets. Doing this requires that you adjust labels in your plan & profile sheet around these sample lines.

when i have them in the same drawing, to me it seems easier to adjust both sample line labels and alignment labels or other labels at the same time.

If you look at most videos, training lessons, etc, they show you how to make sample lines, section views, and create section sheets, but never address how to utilize the sample lines anywhere.

Ive seen these videos on how to create sample lines and section views but when i had free time, i looked deep throught the properties for sample line labels and section view styles etc. i learned more about the labels (placement, font, style, type, precision, etc.) on my own.