Topic: Civil 3D - Incredible Shrinking (and Growing) Labels

[Dinosaur]

I am officially calling UNCLE!
Please . . . ANYONE . . . share how you are dealing with the constant resizing of C3D labels whilst editing your drawing.  The only way I have found to defeat this is to do all editing in the model space tab which presents all kinds of problems with maintaining constant layer settings throughout the tabs.
I started this adventure by using my old standby floating viewport dedicated to editing, with freezing and thawing layers via current viewport as needed.  This works perfectly except for the labels resizing with each change in the display scale when zooming.  Zooming via mouse wheel helped until a C3D object is modified which kicks in the resizing problem.
The next try involved locking this editing viewport.  This also works well except when a Regen occurs, every viewport in each layout of the drawing regens one at a time . . . big yawn time.  VP max produces no better results and has some further problems.
So, has anyone found a way to edit in Civil 3D with the ability to zoom in and out over the entire site, not mess up the layers and not blow their minds with constantly changing label sizes?

[Dent Cermak]

DUMP C3D, GO BACK TO THE 2005 LDD PACK AND WAIT FOR THE 2007 RELEASE.   

[Dinosaur]

There is no indication that Autodesk even thinks this should be a problem for anyone.  If I wait for everything on this turkey to work right, I will be retired and sitting in a nursing home waiting for my diapers to be changed when they deliver the CD.

[Mark]

It's almost like they don't want to use paperspace!!

[LE]

... I will be retired and sitting in a nursing home waiting for my diapers to be changed when they deliver the CD.

He he.... 

[Dinosaur]

It's almost like they don't want to use paperspace!!

At least with 2006 the labels retain their correct size in modelspace - with 2k4 & 2k5 it exhibited this vile behavior there as well, leaving NO refuge.
So, are you saying you ignore paperspace and revert to r10 procedures?

[Dent Cermak]

see my previous post  :kewl:

[Dinosaur]

There are actually some more very serious flaws in this brain fart from Autodesk.  It was an exciting idea when I first heard about this new ability to have one set of text that would appear the same size in any scale viewport . . . no more multiple sets of labels at different scales to manage and the things even keep themselves upright no matter how twisted the viewport gets.
Unfortunately, these goobers didn't realize that the label that fits perfectly into a given space at 20 scale can't be crammed in with a sledgehammer at 50 scale.  Conversely, if you have to annotate your plat at 100 scale, the items you have to pull off with leaders look ridiculous when they appear in a 30 scale detail area all by itself locked in the only open spot available on the plat.  Additionally, if there is a plan rotation its now huge leader will not be oriented correctly.  They also never mentioned that anything that was NOT a C3D label object would not have these magical properties and would have to be maintained in multiple sets as the had been before.
So far, it seems that one of the most appealing features that Autodesk has hawked this program with seems like a total bust.

[Dent Cermak]

R13 all over again  :ugly:

[LE]

I am not an user of this package, but I would like to hear from more users that are having the same problems and feel that way too.

Reactors [even if this feature uses custom objects they must use reactors]... are not easy for any programmer to handle, and in the other hand, the programmer does not have a clue what they are producing, since they only write code, and do not know how the end user normally wants their job done.... and end up in a program with a lot of hops, just for a task that probably is something very easy to do... end up being a complicated one.

Just my opinion, if helps in some way...
Luis.

[Dent Cermak]

If you have been using AutoCad for a while, you should know the pattern by now. If you don't, please allow me to enlighten you. Everyother release of AutoCad will be a dog. Those releases on either side of that will be a gem. Whenever AutoDesk makes MAJOR changes in the operation of the package, the first release will totally suck, following versions will progressively get better. As soon as they get a package that works well, they make a MAJOR change and totally screw it up. Check the historical record. The WORST dog was R13. They simply lied about that one. It did not work at all. R12 and R14 were speedy gems that worked. 2005 LDD is cool. The follow up is C3D. Total MAJOR changes. Totally screwed up. ANY new release MUST play well with ALL previous releases. This one does not. This is going to cost them. Now Bentley has finally come out with a package that ex-AutoCad users say is great. AutoDesk better realize REAL QUICK that they may be at a major crossroad. If they put out another major dog next March, they are going to have big problems. From what I have read rthere is just too much wrong with C3D to make me want to load it up.

[Dinosaur]

I think perhaps Civil 3D would be a better product if Autodesk had NOT made it into a companion product to AutoCAD.  It is a completely different product originally produced by CAiCE software being forced into sharing the dwg format.  Civil 3D elements are not the familiar AutoCAD entities.  I have not yet seen a drawing composed completely with Civil 3D, but I would guess that such a drawing would contain ZERO lines, plines, arcs, circles or text except those contained in any user defined blocks.  The only familiar method of modification these objects recognize is through the layer properties and even then there are seemeingly endless ways the program can override those settings.  Many AutoCAD functions have no effect other than to lock up the drawing when they are used on them.  Even osnaps work only in limited situations with them and forget about trimming or extending to them.  These objects that are so impossible to deal with through AutoCAD though can be altered in a multitude of ways via modifying the properties of their given style or changing to a completely different style withing the TOOLSPACE interface.

[LE]

I think perhaps Civil 3D would be a better product if Autodesk had NOT made it into a companion product to AutoCAD.  It is a completely different product originally produced by CAiCE software being forced into sharing the dwg format.  Civil 3D elements are not the familiar AutoCAD entities. 

Is there a chance to have a look into an IMAGE of one of your drawings? or a snapshot if you can?

Thanks,
Luis

[Mark]

While some of the ideas may have come from caice I don't see any thing in C3D that used to belong to it. IMO, C3D is nothing more than acad with some third party apps thrown in.

[Dinosaur]

I would email you a full drawing file but without C3D you would get nothing but a bunch of proxy objects and some of the original layout work done in Land Desktop.  I will try to assemble some screen shots with annotations demonstrating what I am talking about and put them in the Lilly Pad later this weekend.