TheSwamp
CAD Forums => Vertically Challenged => Land Lubber / Geographically Positioned => Topic started by: Guest on June 03, 2008, 04:16:07 PM
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I need to create a spot elevation thingie that looks like the picture below. What's the best option: Point or Surface Label?
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Well, after some fiddling around with label styles and marker styles and other unrelated styles, I came up with this point style (and associated label style). Not sure if this is the best option, but it seems to be working for me.
Thoughts/comments/suggestions?
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Well, it's up to you. You can do the same thing in several ways.
Using a Point means you must create a Point for every label. This can be OK, and can even be beneficial, or it can be unwanted overhead. It depends on your circumstances.
You can create very similar Spot Elevation, or use Generic Note labels with Surface reference text. If you use Spot Elevation labels, note that there's no way to change the surface associated with a spot elevation after you create it. This may or may not matter to you, depending on what you are doing. But if you think you may want to change a bunch of labels to point to a different surface after you create them, use the Generic Note Labels with Surface reference text instead of Spot Elevation labels.
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Thanks for the input... I was unaware that you create a note style that references a surface elevation.
Thanks again!
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This is a surface label the guys came up with for curb and pavement elevations. The labels seem to be working well.
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And you have a nice use of a(n) expression in there it would appear. Good Job!
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This is a surface label the guys came up with for curb and pavement elevations. The labels seem to be working well.
I don't suppose you'd like to share?
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try this one
note could also be done with reference text for the surface name and set min width to truncate the value.
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...use the Generic Note Labels with Surface reference text instead of Spot Elevation labels.
I was just messing around with the note labels and couldn't find a way to reference a surface. Can you post a screen shot?
Thanks.
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I'll type you through it, we can land this baby, just keep the wings level.
In the Label Style Composer
On the Lay out Tab
You will see First A Named Component, it may be called Text.1 or something stupid, or it could be Surface Elevation. Just to the right is a LITTLE Black Drop down ARROW pointing DOWN Click on it and select REFERENCE TEXT,
Choose Surface type when offered a choice they are tasty!
Be sure to name your Text item with a good description......
And Have a Nice Day!
Want a screen shot? :lmao:
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Oy! I totally missed that one! I remember seeing TICK and BLOCK but not REFERENCE. :oops:
*scurries back to hole from whence he came*
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Oy! I totally missed that one! I remember seeing TICK and BLOCK but not REFERENCE. :oops:
*scurries back to hole from whence he came*
You have a case of MENU Blindness.
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Oy! I totally missed that one! I remember seeing TICK and BLOCK but not REFERENCE. :oops:
*scurries back to hole from whence he came*
You have a case of MENU Blindness.
No, it's not that... it's some sort of rash... I... uh... ummmm... GOTTA GO!
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Let's see your label when you are happy with it.
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Let's see your label when you are happy with it.
TA DAAA!!!
I decided to go with a Spot Elevation Surface Label Style.
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I thought you were going for that other look? :?
Good work!
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I thought you were going for that other look? :?
Good work!
What.... this?!?
I was just curious to see how they got the formula in there to automatically add/subtract 0.5' for the height of the curb.
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That would be an) Expression
Under Points Collection you can Rt-Click and Create an Expression
Call it Surface_Minus
Then create the formula
Insert the {Surface Elevation value}-0.5 and choose to return that value as an elevation.
You then insert that expression as the text value in your point label style, within label style composer, instead of the actual surface elevation value.
C'mon lets see that expression go from :oops: to :-) .
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Then, when you try the same trick using a Surface Reference Component in a General Note Label, and discover that you can't get to the expression from a Reference Component, watch that expression go from :-) to :cry: .
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Hey, don't make him hate on C3D and autodesk.....
that's my job. :lmao:
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Hey, don't make him hate on C3D and autodesk.....
that's my job. :lmao:
My list of "hate" items is increasing... Right now, at the top is the pan/zoom *BOOM* drawing image becomes giant pixels!! And the only way to "fix" it is to save, close, re-open.
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Then, when you try the same trick using a Surface Reference Component in a General Note Label, and discover that you can't get to the expression from a Reference Component, watch that expression go from :-) to :cry: .
heh, that made me laugh, but it is *very* true!
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My list of "hate" items is increasing... Right now, at the top is the pan/zoom *BOOM* drawing image becomes giant pixels!! And the only way to "fix" it is to save, close, re-open.
I am not positive of the problem, but have you tried the "regenall" command? This command seems to be the solution to many display issues.
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I've tried REGEN, but not REGENALL and although the help file says REGEN and REGENALL do the same thing, I've noticed that this is not always the case. For example, when doing a RENDERCROP, REGEN will NOT remove the rendered preview whereas REGENALL does! I'll have to try to remember that the next time it happens.
FYI: I've noticed it happen in Paper Space; can't recall it ever happening in MS.
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BINGO! Have you also set ltscale, psltscale and msltscale ALL to "1"? This will eliminate some these problems.
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BINGO! Have you also set ltscale, psltscale and msltscale ALL to "1"? This will eliminate some these problems.
I can't do that (just yet). Some of our custom text/dimension commands reference the LTScale for their size. I am looking into making the switch to multi-leaders and annotative text for everything.
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You may want to bump that up on your priority list unless you make it a habit on never working through a PS viewport. Even a locked or maximized one will give you these display problems without those settings with Civil 3D.
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You may want to bump that up on your priority list unless you make it a habit on never working through a PS viewport. Even a locked or maximized one will give you these display problems without those settings with Civil 3D.
I can't even tell you the last time I worked THROUGH a PS viewport. I just don't do it and I don't think any of the guys here do it either. It's just a habit to always work in MS.
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You must be a fan of layer states then. I never did care for them and with Civil 3D the layer issues just reinforced my opinion. I would make a tab dedicated to one big viewport for editing and on certain tabs I would create a temporary unlocked copy of the viewport to do the edits in rather than mess with the layer visibility for the whole drawing.
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DinØ, I'm send people after you....
start looking over your shoulder....
The model space is your friend.
Layout tabs....not so much, work in the model, and use your Toolspace Transporter function to navigate.
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DinØ, I'm send people after you....
start looking over your shoulder....
The model space is your friend.
Layout tabs....not so much, work in the model, and use your Toolspace Transporter function to navigate.
English, please?! :? :-)
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send all you wish . . . they will be pretty bored these days. I am nearly 3 weeks into not even looking at an AutoCAD startup script. A lot of things made it easier for me do work as I described - from very fresh habits from using r13 to having to deal with unnamed persons in unnaturally high places. :kewl:
Matt, Michael is describing navigation throughout the model without using zoom or pan. It works great, but in my case I still had to have layer controls to be able to see to work through other people's mess. I dared not turn said items visibility off globally so it was either restore to the original when finished or make a viewport to work in and freeze it out there.
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Sorry, I have recently began describing one of the easiest ways to navigate the warped space that is C3D is to use the Toolspace Transporter. This technique will allow the user a much more direct experience with the data in the file as well. I will describe how you use the Transporter below.
Somewhere on your Monitor the Blackness of the Drawing window that is your model space, there is also the Light which is the Prospector Tab of the Toolspace. Embrace the light. Using either Master view, or Active Drawing Only, one may open the Tree view of the Drawing. The treeview is the portal to the data in your model.
As one digs down into the root level of any object collection (point groups, corridors, assemblies) the fastest way to get to that object in the Blackness of the drawing window is NOT to Pan or Zoom.
One right clicks on the object in the tree then selects the Zoom To option and C3D responds by centering that object, or group of objects right in the screen. By running up and down the tree and Teleporting to your data, you will gain a lot of speed. I think it would be call right speed?
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You must be a fan of layer states then. I never did care for them and with Civil 3D the layer issues just reinforced my opinion. I would make a tab dedicated to one big viewport for editing and on certain tabs I would create a temporary unlocked copy of the viewport to do the edits in rather than mess with the layer visibility for the whole drawing.
We actually don't use layer states at all. We have separate drawings for utilities, proposed grading/storm drainage, demo, S&E, etc and use xrefs heavily.
Sounds like you've got a single file with everything in it?
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...the Zoom To option...
Oh, that. That's all you had to say! :wink:
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...the Zoom To option...
Oh, that. That's all you had to say! :wink:
They pay me by the word here. :lmao:
And hey...where is that point style with the expression??? !!!
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No, I tried my best to keep things pretty much as you described except in my case the model that was an xref for everything else was out of my control. I DID have to get into it and work though which caused some "special" problems.
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...the Zoom To option...
Oh, that. That's all you had to say! :wink:
They pay me by the word here. :lmao:
And hey...where is that point style with the expression??? !!!
As soon as C3D stops crashing, I'll show you! :-P :-)
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As soon as C3D stops crashing, I'll show you! :-P :-)
:-o
I would not hold my breath waiting for that expression style, Michael :lmao:
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. . .
They pay me by the word here. :lmao: . . .
When I got my BA in History, they graded our research papers by the pound . . . believe it or not I still have a trace of carryover from that old habit.
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...
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did you add that as an expression or just type that in there?
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did you add that as an expression or just type that in there?
That's a crappy picture I posted, huh?
Lookee here....I can do math!!
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Yes you can Do Math!
did you peek at all that crazy f(x) stuff?
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Yes you can Do Math!
did you peek at all that crazy f(x) stuff?
I'm currently looking at this... C3D just threw a wobbly when I tried to copy/paste some 3D cars from another drawing. :-(
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design center is your friend
or map
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Hey, don't make him hate on C3D and autodesk.....
that's my job. :lmao:
My list of "hate" items is increasing... Right now, at the top is the pan/zoom *BOOM* drawing image becomes giant pixels!! And the only way to "fix" it is to save, close, re-open.
AH HA!! See??
Regen, regenall and/or redraw don't do squat to fix it!!
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I see a reboot in your future . . . ommmmmmm
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AH HA!! See??
Regen, regenall and/or redraw don't do squat to fix it!!
Looks like a video card issue...?
It's something I've never seen on the various computers around here.
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AH HA!! See??
Regen, regenall and/or redraw don't do squat to fix it!!
Looks like a video card issue...?
It's something I've never seen on the various computers around here.
It's a 256MB Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS video card.
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Yea, its not what I used to see either. Sinc is probably right about the video card looking at that mess. Have you tried switching to a tab and viewport with a fixed scale and then back or perhaps changing the drawing scale, or are you completely frozen from issuing any commands?
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NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600 graphics processors feature the award-winning GeForce 8 Series architecture with unparalleled levels of graphics realism and performance for Microsoft® DirectX® 9 and DirectX 10 games for the pricepoint.
Nice, card for playing GAMES you've got yourself.
Now go get a REAL video card, QUADRO chipset, WORKSTATION graphics card.
Or get the latest drivers from autodesks, from the product compatability list (driver search tool)
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/hc?siteID=123112&id=6711853&linkID=9240618 (http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/hc?siteID=123112&id=6711853&linkID=9240618)
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Also is this the only drawing blowing razzberries at you like this or is it a pandemic in your office?
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Hey... I work with what I'm given. I don't have any control over the computers/hardware.
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Also is this the only drawing blowing razzberries at you like this or is it a pandemic in your office?
Not sure yet. This is the first time it's happened in quite some time.
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An audit on that drawing wouldn't be out of order at all in case it has gone buggared somehow . . . and you might be able to find something through a MAP session . . . but as this is Civil 3D that might not work and we don't want to set Michael off on THAT again just yet.
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Hey... I work with what I'm given. I don't have any control over the computers/hardware.
Well, hardware can COST a company more money than they THINK they saved.
And to those that suggest that they can't afford the right hardware; You can't afford to NOT have the right hardware.
Everytime a machine crashes put 50$ in a jar, and watch how quickly you are spending the money they saved in crashes. At the end of the month take a look at the lost profits. And then decide what you can afford. Good cad stations are actually cheaper to build, than to track the lost profits from a cheaply built box.
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post that file here for us to examine
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An audit on that drawing wouldn't be out of order at all in case it has gone buggared somehow . . . and you might be able to find something through a MAP session . . . but as this is Civil 3D that might not work and we don't want to set Michael off on THAT again just yet.
Why NOT!
I'm always ready to vetch about MAP not working with C3D objects........ ^-^
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FWIW I have 2 machines running the GeForce 8600GT's w/512mb and have never had a problem with them.
Michael, I don't have links to back this up, but last summer I was looking for a better card for a Vista system, the GeForce blew the doors off of much more expensive Quadro's. This was due to the GeForce's being optimized for DirectX10, where the Quadro's were optimized for OpenGL.
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FWIW I have 2 machines running the GeForce 8600GT's w/512mb and have never had a problem with them.
Michael, I don't have links to back this up, but last summer I was looking for a better card for a Vista system, the GeForce blew the doors off of much more expensive Quadro's. This was due to the GeForce's being optimized for DirectX10, where the Quadro's were optimized for OpenGL.
I saw those benchmarks, however a few of the quadro based cards are optimized for Directx10.
I had this conversation with another user building a system and sent a couple other benchmarks to him, and the Quadro cards were still at or near top of the heap. Remember that all benchmark test can be skewed, the overall performance on the Quadro cards was, is better than similar WORKSTATION graphics cards; because that is what they were tested against, not game cards.
They might be working fine for you, however I have seen them with the wrong drivers NOT even display all of the text in dialog boxes, and other interesting issues.
Let's try this;
What do we do at the office (WORK)
What are we payed to do at the office(WORK)
Why is it called a JOB (because we are working)
So if you want to put a card in your WORKSTATION that is designed for playing games, go ahead.
In the end you will pay for your decision.
If I were your network administrator (asset manager) you would NOT be sitting in front of 'the cheapest' box money can buy. You would be sitting in front of a Workstation, with dual hard drives, massive ram, etc. We the company will save money with fewer crashes, and the need to replace said hardware on a 6 year cycle.
I can say this because, the machine I built 6 years ago is STILL running and with ZERO upgrades even as autodesk ramped up the minimum system requirements.
I might pay more the day I buy the machine. However I will pay less in the long run by needing to replace or upgrade that other box, and have fewer crashes in the long run. And I as the systems administrator would spend less time trying to troubleshoot the cad users issues with this hardware.
You can do what you want, but how many cad stations have you replaced in 6 years?