I have the task of creating elevation views of a site. These views require that the model be clipped along a section line to crop the forground so it doesn't obstruct the view of the site.
I've experimented with the section plane tools in the 3D modeling workspace but I can't get a section view. I suspect it is because they don't work with C3D surface objects.
Does anyone have a workflow for this task? Ultimately I need to generate hard copies of the views for the architect to use for his landscape plans.
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I've considered that workflow but I'm hoping there is a solution that doesn't require exploding my model.
I haven't investigated creating a clipping plane for a 3D view. While that doesn't create a stand alone section view I might be able to make use of viewports to achieve the goal. I have no experience working with clipping planes however so I don't know if it works with C3D surfaces.
If you only need a few of these I could see one copy of the original surface per section each using an outer boundary on the section line. You could set the srf style to project a grid to a datum.
John Mayo
That's an innovative idea John. However I have other 3D objects in the site (trees, vehicles, etc) that also need to be clipped out of the foreground, so I'll need to find a solution that includes both C3D and generic objects.
So far I haven't figured out how to manipulate clipping planes to get the result. Theoretically it should be possible.
I'm not familiar with clipping DVIEWS. Could you elaborate or direct to the proper help topic?
I looked up the help topic for DVIEW and I see it's potential. However I need some sort of visual feedback when setting up the clipping planes. I don't know if DVIEW provides that capability. 3D Orbit provides that visual feedback but I'm not understanding how the clipping planes work.
I'm thinking clipping planes are the best solution if it supports C3D objects. I'm having trouble understanding how to manipulate the clipping planes however. Perhaps someone with experience can run a test to see if it works with C3D surfaces. Otherwise I'll not invest time into learning it.
Neil, using the Camera command, you can place a camera by picking a point for the camera, picking a point for its target, then in the camera's properties, turn on clipping, front and back (or just front might be appropriate in your case.) This will enable special grips you can drag back and forth for front and back plane clipping. Save each view and then set views current in viewports for your printing.
Hey Tim,
I think Camera is a winner. I'm experimenting with it now and if I get the desired results I'll toggle a solution.
After spending a few hours working with cameras I've not been able to get this resolved. On both my office and home machines I am experiencing problems when displaying the model in 3D views. As I manipulate the view orientations with 3D orbit the graphics sometimes disappear and I have to shut down and restart C3D to get them back. I've lived with this behavior for a while but for this task it is really becoming a nuisance. It may be my video cards but I'm not going to start buying hardware unless I know it will help.
Are there any known issues in this regard? I suppose I'll now have to spend time researching graphic problems.
Is SLICE an option? the C3D object would need to be converted
Joe Bouza
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I think the route to take is convert c3d to mesh and use the 3dmodeling tools
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=14373831&linkID=9240697
Joe Bouza
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I'm going to accept Tim's suggestion as a solution. Even though I haven't been able to get a satisfactory result I'll assume it is a hardware or workflow issue on my end.
It would help solidify the solution if someone could get it to work on a machine that has certified hardware.
Neil, post your data and I will produce some views for you to show it works...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzhmUQpR91A
Fantastic Tim. It really helped to see how the clipping planes work. I didn't realize the distance parameter was relative to the target. By intuition I thought it was from the camera, so when I adjusted them my model would disappear and I didn't understand why.
One thing I'd like to have you check if you don't mind: if you use Object Viewer or 3D orbit and start rotating, zooming and panning, do you find the graphics sometimes disappear? I was having a lot of trouble with that. I couldn't get them back unless I restarted C3D.
Thank you very much for putting all that work into this.
Neil, I am not having any trouble using Object Viewer with your data set.
BTW, another tool you might want to look at is ANIPATH. This is a very easy way to create animations (drives and flybys) and save to popular file formats.
Tim
What would really be useful to me is to be able to create a 3D PDF of my model. I can do that in Microstation but apparently not in C3D.
We don't want to use DWF for sharing our models as it requires the consumer install and learn new software.
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