Topic: CTB or STB

[Chris]

We're considering a switch at our office from CTB to STB, I really cant find much information on STBs, what do you use and why?

[Birdy]

ctb.
because they work.
I have not seen a compelling reason to switch to stb.

[dgorsman]

And so, it begins again... let the battles commence! 

We use CTB.  Its what our clients use, and between us and them we have tens of thousands of files already set up for CTB.  While making the change is possible, thats unnecessary work.

[Chris]

A little more info may be required.

We are switching to Civil 3D from our existing software, so I thought now may be a good time to look at what we do, and re-evaluate why it is that we do it.  CTB's were what we used in the past, but we have so many colors that do the same thing.

[alanjt]

ctb.
because they work.
I have not seen a compelling reason to switch to stb.

x2

[Jeff H]

CTB that is what we recieve and already setup
 
 
^{I do not like STB's  because it took me forever to get rid of last STB I caught.}

 
 
 
 
 

[dgorsman]

CTB that is what we recieve and already setup
 
 
^{I do not like STB's  because it took me forever to get rid of last STB I caught.}

Gotta stop messing with those Pmp's.

[MexicanCustard]

http://www.cadmasters.com/techsupp/acad/pltstyle.html

[danallen]

We use CTBs, but I like the concept of STB to have simpler control over lineweight and screening options. But I still depend on seeing the color on a screen to tell me what lineweight something will plot. Using STB's it can be too easy to get the color of a layer and it's plotting weight disconnected.

Dan

[Chris]

8 replys, 5 votes, not bad.  Actually after further review, the shortcomings of STB seem to be outweighing the advantages.
STB, you cant easily override a plot style by changing the color of a subentity (i.e., Dimension styles, multileaders)
Other than that, there really is no difference between the two the way I see it.

[Jeff H]

Other than that, there really is no difference between the two the way I see it.

I give it a couple hours until a STB advocate reads that and they will let you know the difference 

[Chris]

darn, I'm going home in an hour, guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow morning to hear the rebuttal.

[Jeff_M]

Chris, if you have access to Autodesk University, David Garrigues' class Civil 3DŽ Caffeinated Tips and Tricks: A Yard Sale, Tip #9 has some good arguments for using STB, and explains how to implement them. We still use CTB's, even though I've been pushing for STB for a few years.

[Chris]

Chris, if you have access to Autodesk University, David Garrigues' class Civil 3DŽ Caffeinated Tips and Tricks: A Yard Sale, Tip #9 has some good arguments for using STB, and explains how to implement them. We still use CTB's, even though I've been pushing for STB for a few years.

Informative, however, it still doesnt address what to do if you are using Dimensions/Multileaders, in which the lines are different shading than the text.

[mammajamma]

CTB.
In this case, "Because it's what we've always done", seems to be a valid enough reason.
It's very, very rare that we get a vendor or client drawing using STB, so I would say that CTB is pretty close to industry standard. (I haven't heard of any of our newbs being at all confused about using CTB, either.)

Additionally, no one has been able to explain how changing to STB would benefit us as a company.

[M-dub]

ctb.
because they work.
I have not seen a compelling reason to switch to stb.

Yep... Pretty much.

[cadtag]

Chris, if you have access to Autodesk University, David Garrigues' class Civil 3DŽ Caffeinated Tips and Tricks: A Yard Sale, Tip #9 has some good arguments for using STB, and explains how to implement them. We still use CTB's, even though I've been pushing for STB for a few years.

Informative, however, it still doesnt address what to do if you are using Dimensions/Multileaders, in which the lines are different shading than the text.

If your Dimension Text uses a TTF font instead of an SHX, the the color/weight assigned to the text will have no affect on the plotted appearance of the text.  The TTF outline definition will over-ride.

[Chris]

unless you are applying a shaded value to the text (60%)  I'm working on getting a bold font so we dont need to use shaded text to make some text stand out.