topic Re: convert feature line to alignment in Civil 3D Forum

convert feature line to alignment

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 20:27:34 GMT

hello everybody
i know we can convert aligment to feature line , but can we convert feature line to alignment ???

any suggestion

thanks

Re: convert feature line to alignment

Jeff_M — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 21:30:08 GMT

Out of the Box, no.

If you use third party tools, such as Sincpac-C3D, then yes. (CAPFEATURE - Create Alignment/Profile from Featureline)

Re: convert feature line to alignment

wfberry — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 13:27:02 GMT

You Can:

Offset the Feature Line (say 1') Explode it. (Changes to a polyline).

Offset the Polyline back, define it as an alignment.

Bill

Re: convert feature line to alignment

nyloncrack — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 05:54:43 GMT

If it's a corridor feature line you want to convert...

Make Alignment

select corridor

corridor contextual tab - launch pad panel - alignments from corridor

cmd line> Select a corridor feature line: pick the feature line to convert

Create Alignment dialog box - Name the new alignment, uncheck Create Profile (make next with more flexibility).

New Alignment will be indicated in corridor.

Make Profile of Alignment

select corridor

corridor contextual tab - launch pad panel - profile from corridor

cmd line> select a corridor feature line: select same feature line (may want to freeze the layer the new alignment is on, making it easier to pick feature line, or use the draworder command and move the alignment back).

Create Profile - Draw New dialog box - Name the Profile and set Profile Style/Label Set as desired.

New Profile should appear in the Profile of the base line alignment used in the corridor

Does that sound reasonable?

Re: convert feature line to alignment

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 14:00:31 GMT

Has this been changed in the 2.5 years since your last post Jeff? Can a figure be converted into an alignment?

Also, another suggestion was to offset the figure then explode it to convert it to a polyline. Then offset it back into place and make an alignment out of that. When I explode the figure, it converts to a 3D polyline, and I can't make an alignment from a 3D polyline, right?

Re: convert feature line to alignment

jmayo-EE — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 14:25:21 GMT

No but there is a command to convert the 3d pline to a 2d pline.

Convert3DPolys

Also noe that you may want to flatten the feature line of survey figure to a constant Z value prior to exploding. This will produce a 2d pline vs a 3d pline after the explode. It will also keep the arc segments.

Re: convert feature line to alignment

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 14:48:57 GMT

Does not work on 3d poly or feature lines though, right?

Re: convert feature line to alignment

Yzne_ — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 09:23:35 GMT

I believe to convert featureline to alignment we must have the elevation on the vertices too.

Re: convert feature line to alignment

ChrisRS — Sun, 10 Apr 2022 02:11:45 GMT

Alignments appear to 2D objects. You do not need vertex z information

Re: convert feature line to alignment

rl_jackson — Sun, 10 Apr 2022 07:11:10 GMT

SMH!

Re: convert feature line to alignment

Yzne_ — Sun, 10 Apr 2022 14:30:28 GMT

If we can have vertex z information to make a profile out of the featureline it would be easier than creating it all over again I guess.

Re: convert feature line to alignment

ChrisRS — Mon, 11 Apr 2022 02:43:20 GMT

@Yzne_ wrote:
If we can have vertex z information to make a profile out of the featureline it would be easier than creating it all over again I guess.

The suggested process does leave the vertex z information untouched, so it remains available.

Make a copy of the feature line at the same location. (use snaps.)
Make sure that the copy is 'flat', that is all at the same elevation. FLATTEN does not work is arcs are present; arcs become tessellated.
The only way I know of is to use the Constant Elevation option of Flatten Garde or Elevation button in the Elevation Editor. Much faster than manually editing each vertex elevation.
aa
Explode this 'flat' feature line. You will now have a 2D polyline with any arcs intact.
Click Create Alignment from Objects and select the 2D polyline.
The original 3D feature line is still available.
1. You can project the feature line to a profile view, based on this alignment.
  This is shown in red in the upper illustration.
2. You can add the 3d feature line to a new surface. (Add to Surface As Break line.)
  Then create a surface profile as shown in the lower illustration.

Note: This just an illustration. Legibility is not the main point.

Good Luck!

Re: convert feature line to alignment

Yzne_ — Mon, 11 Apr 2022 04:41:52 GMT

Thanks a bunch for this explanation. I know this already and I do kinda same thing, but what I was asking for is that Autodesk creating a built-in tool to convert from Featureline to Alignment and to provide the profile to the alignment from the featureline Z vertices values. This would be a great help where you can find some doesn't like to deal with featurelines at all.

Re: convert feature line to alignment

ChrisRS — Mon, 11 Apr 2022 07:01:16 GMT

You might want to post this in the Civil 3D Ideas sub-forum. That is the place to suggest improvements. There seems to be more I am told that Ideas is monitored by the C3D team. It is just my opinion, but I think it more likely that issues without workarounds might generate more interest.

Suggestions:

Post this in the Ideas forum.
This is a pretty straight foreword process. There may be a LISP or Dynamo solution. I am not proficient in either. I suggest that you start a new post in the Civil 3D or Customization forum. I don't which is more appropriate.
"I want to create an alignment based on an existing Feature Line, while keeping a copy of the feature line, with 3D intact. Manually I would make a copy of the feature line, flatten the copy. explode it and use it to make an alignment".

Re: convert feature line to alignment

tonykB72MP — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 13:39:00 GMT

CTC Software has a free tool in their Project Manager Suite of tools (Feature 2 Align) that will convert feature lines, and/or survey figures to alignments using native C3D create settings. They also have many other time saving tools within the suite for a modest price point that will pay for itself. They offer a free 14 day trial to get to know the tools along with many support videos and a responsive support team if you need more help.

Re: convert feature line to alignment

tcorey — Fri, 13 Oct 2023 17:48:51 GMT

As was posted earlier, there are a number of third-party solutions to this problem. SincPac and Kobi Tools both do. DotSoft probably does, but I'm not sure. @TerryDotson will know.

Re: convert feature line to alignment

TerryDotson — Sat, 14 Oct 2023 00:17:18 GMT

Thanks for the mention. Yes, we convert a selection set of linear objects (including FeatureLines, 2D/3DPolys and more) to alignments in a single process. At a glance it looks like one could acquire all three of the products @tcorey mentioned for the price of the previously mentioned package, and that 3x priced product is per seat per year.