How to get 2d or 3d area of a surface automatically (not TIN surface) with Civil 3D property sets

[nicolas.gonzalezEQ8TR]

Hi all, 

Im struggeling to get the 2d or 3d area of a surface (Not TIN) throghout property sets. I have found some help but for TIN Surfces, not problem with that... but for a surface its seems to be no info available, and Im newbie with creating a vbscript...tipically I copy one and then just adjust it

This surface (attached) its a result of exploding a 3dsolid.

thanks for you help

[rl_jackson]

You must have a surface to get a 2/3d area, which is available in on the Surface Properties tab.

Edit: My second read is why did you explode the solid if you wanted an area 2/3d now you'll have to create a TIN from it assuming there's no vertical lines.

[neilyj666]

This looks like a cylindrical object but from the layer name it could be a shaft excavation (or something similar)?

It is easiest to model this sort of thing by using two circular objects at the correct elevations with the lower one offset inside by a small amount e.g. 25mm.  You can then create a true Civil TIN surface and obtain the 2D/3D statistics.

I'm not too familiar with vanilla CAD surfaces so not sure how/if property set data can be used.

[nicolas.gonzalezEQ8TR]

Thanks @rl_jackson for your answer.

yes, a TIN surface is needed in orden to get 2d or 3d areas, but in this case is not a TIN surface...

and answering your question, the client require a to add an element who represents the reinforcement area of this shaft, (we use the 3d solid to represent and extract de terrain volume of the shaft by property sets...) 

Most of the shaft is totally vertical, so a TIN surface is not a solution.

[nicolas.gonzalezEQ8TR]

Thanks @neilyj666 

yes,. you are right, its a shaft excacvation, but a little bit more complex than the file I attached firstly. I have attached the complete one (3d solid).

My idea and main doubt, was to explode the 3d solid and get, along with property sets, the area of the surface...but it seems that property sets dont cover this kind of elements.

as you can see in the attached file, is not easy to model such geometry as a TIN surface,... 

[AllenJessup]

MEASUREGEOM

[nicolas.gonzalezEQ8TR]

Hi @AllenJessup , thanks for your input

I know well that command. but it would be great to have this area automatically shown within property sets. 

[samir_rezk]

Hi @nicolas.gonzalezEQ8TR 

If you are using Civil 3D 2020 or later, you may consider using Dynamo to obtain the surface area of a single solid or all the solids combined. Using a very short graph (attached) you can obtain the total surface area of the solid (this includes all sides of the solid object!), if you select multiple solids then it will union them first and then report the total area (this is important to avoid duplicate surface area of the cylinders top and bottom sides abutting to each other)

Feel free to use the attached graph if you wish. First install the Civil3DToolkit from the Package Manager within Dynamo, then you may execute it through Dynamo Player afterwards.

Hope this helps,

[nicolas.gonzalezEQ8TR]

Thanks @samir_rezk 

I definitely will use it when it be the case. very useful, 

But in this particular case I need to show the area of a surface (not TIN) in property sets automatically, as this needs to be shown in Navis and in IFC viewers as well, as requested by the client.

 vbscripts functions should also include surfaces, as the way it works with TIN surfaces and other elements, but it seems Autodesk just ignored it...

Thanks again 

[samir_rezk]

Hi @nicolas.gonzalezEQ8TR 

I can modify the dynamo graph to input the area in a property Set rather than report it in dynamo player only! Should the surface area or solid change in dimensions, the property value will not update automatically till the graph is re-run. Would that be helpful for you?

[nicolas.gonzalezEQ8TR]

Hi @samir_rezk 

Yes, it would help me¡ cause we do this (include and adjust property sets...) just as a final step when the designs are finalized and ready for every submission.

🙂 

[samir_rezk]

Hi @nicolas.gonzalezEQ8TR 

Attached is the revised the graph! it will save the surface area of each AutoCAD Solid to a Property Set. Be sure to create a manual text property set prior to running the graph! Also remember to install the necessary package per message 8 as well.

Hope this helps,

[nicolas.gonzalezEQ8TR]

Hi @samir_rezk and thanks again for your time¡

works great, but for surfaces (not TIN) is there any dynamo script to show its area? just the same way you show me for solids?

I have attached previously in the thread a file called surface.dwg

regards  

[samir_rezk]

Hi @nicolas.gonzalezEQ8TR 

Take a look at this related thread for two different solutions to obtain the Civil 3D surface statistics automatically into a property set.

Message 7 is the VBA code for a formula property that will always be dynamic to the TIN Surface.

Message 11 is an alternative solution using Dynamo 

Hope this helps,

[samir_rezk]

Hi @nicolas.gonzalezEQ8TR 

I re-read your last post and I think I miss understood - sorry! You are wanting an area of an AutoCAD Surface. Unfortunately at this time Dynamo does not read AutoCAD Surfaces natively yet though; I am sure this can be done using Python in Dynamo though, so I recommend posting on the Dynamo Forum, someone smarter than me can make it happen 🙂

[nicolas.gonzalezEQ8TR]

@samir_rezk thanks for the suggestions

but this is still just for TIN surfaces. I will remain looking for a solution for a not TIN surfaces .

😉

[nicolas.gonzalezEQ8TR]

@samir_rezk I sent my post without read your last message...sorry..

and yes, I will look some help in that forum. 

you gave me some others good solutions/ideas, so thanks again.