need urgent help with a project, please

[Anonymous]

I received an incomplete topo survey file in autocad, with 5 different files included (a DGN file, and 4 acad files labeled "acad files", "border", "boundary" and "topo"), but none of them has the contour lines I need.  I don't know civil3d at all, but been scouring youtube and google trying to find a solution.  The surveyor completely flaked and left me with an incomplete product.  I'm trying to create the topo contours from the topo data points that are in the file, but they don't seem to be actual "points", they're on a layer called "pt_tick", but now matter how I try to convert them to civil3d points, nothing works, it keeps coming back with "invalid selection".  There is no option for selecting "blocks" that I can find, which one of the posts I found suggested, but that was a 2011 version, and I'm running 2018.

Is there a way to create the points I need in civ3d from an autocad file, without going through and manually creating all the 300+ points in the autocad file?  I'm assuming the points are not there, but I can't tell, there are point ticks with elevation data, and it looks like they might even be numbered, but I'm lost as to how to deal with this, other than hire a new surveyor.  I don't know what product this guy used to create the files he sent me, but they're all in acad.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Greg

[n_bartholomew]

If you are able, could you attach your file(s) please?

[Anonymous]

trying for the 4th time to get the reply to post, nothing seems to be working for me tonight

there are 6 files in what he sent me, one of them is the .dgn file, which looks like microstation maybe?

I'll include it, or not, I guess this system doesn't allow for .dgn files to upload.

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@n_bartholomew wrote:

If you are able, could you attach your file(s) please?

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[Anonymous]

just to clarify one thing:  the data point ticks don't appear to be either points or blocks, I can't figure out what they are, to be honest, other than straight text.  Is there a way to mass convert straight text to a point?

thanks

G

[Anonymous]

further clarification:  the text point tics are in 3d, at their respective elevations.

So, I guess what I need is a way to either assign points to each text tic (without having to go through and actually manually place a point), or convert the text to points?

I've read elsewhere in some older posts that it's possible with some other software, is there any chance this has now been incorporated into civil3d?

Thanks!

G

[n_bartholomew]

From the Topo file, explode the Block Reference that includes the topo information (point number/description/marker). This will leave you with three text objects for each instance, including one that is just a green +   .  This has an elevation assigned to it, so you can use them to build a surface.

Create a surface, and then under Definition -> Drawing Objects -> select Text under the object type and include all of these green +'s.  This will give you a good base to work off of.

Then open your ACAD_Files dwg and copy and paste pretty much all of the lines there in to the TOPO drawing. This is where you will have to talk to the surveyor, as there are a few objects in there that will just confuse things.

When you know which objects to use, select them, then go to your surface in the Toolspace, Definition -> Breaklines and select Add. Best results for this drawing will probably be achieved using Proximity type breaklines.

From here you will need to have a surface style that displays Points and Triangles, as there are some funky errors in there are some things that look like they need adjusting, and the only way you can edit them is by being able to select these surface objects.

This probably sounds a bit advanced for you, judging from your original post, but I hope this helps you out a little bit nevertheless.

Please see attached for a screenshot that gives a result from the points and breaklines, but no tidying up.

[Anonymous]

Hi, thanks for the info, and yeah, I see what you mean from the jpg, and yeah, the description is pretty advanced for my civil3d knowledge.  The original surveyor is out of communication, not sure why, but not responding to calls, texts, or emails, so it looks like I'll have to hire a new surveyor and see if they can work with this file, but I could tell there were a number of discrepancies with what was on site.

But, thanks for your help, this at least lets me know not to waste anymore time on it, and just get someone else who knows what they're doing to finish it.

Thanks, and have a great week.

G