Friday, April 30, 2010

Instantly apply description key file to update points

I recently taught a class, and it reminded me of all the little commands that I have taken for granted or practically forgot about until prompted to remember. I  plan to post at least one per day and eventually post them on my website into categories to share with you and to help me remember all of the little commands that save us time.
 





The pictures speak for themselves, edit point description, right click; apply description keys and the point styles are updated instantly.
 

 

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Maximize Corridor performance

Rebuilding large corridors is very time consuming due to the amount of data that is calculated. A straightforward and essential way to improve corridor performance is to concentrate on individual regions at a time. This is accomplished by using the Isolate Region command. Corridor rebuilds only calculate the isolated portion.

The Isolate region command is available from the right click menu after selecting the corridor. The selected region will be isolated.

The Modify Ribbon is another simple way to isolate a region. The steps below are for the 2011 release, and are in 2010. Use Show all regions to display the entire corridor.




This is one solution to assist in corridor performance, review the assembly frequency rate, section swath
width, and code set styles to achieve optimal results.


Below is a custom command for working with multiple corridors. It offers rebuilding all of them or only the out of date corridors. (corridors not regions)
http://www.stefandidak.com/ramble/2009/11/12/rebuilding-all-or-all-out-of-date-corridors-in-autodesk-civil-3d-2010/

Friday, April 16, 2010

Graphically edit Cut and Fill Slopes

Civil 3D has so many colabrative tools, this one is a hidden function that is very useful and easy to use.









Graphically editing cut and fill slopes provide intuitive design edits and updates on the fly. After creating and sampling corridor sections. Use the View/Edit Corridor Section command; locate the station required for editing.













Hold down control and select the cut or fill slope.
Grips will appear for editing purposes. Select the square grip where the slope meets the surface.
















To assure the slope meets existing ground use the nearest osnap when selecting the surface. The modified slope should now be inside the ROW for this section.











Each section is modified individually and updates are shown in planview as well.










Edits are quick and efficient, but not suitable for all designs. If this is a consistent issue, look at different subassembly for desirable results. I would recommend DaylightInsideROW to start.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Structure Leader Solu-Around

The new Label Leader command in Civil 3D 2010 has provided us with a very popular SOLU-AROUND. We now have the ability to drag the profile structure label left or right of the structure and the leader remains at the top of the structure.

No I’m not kidding, I haved looked for this since the 2007 version!

Let’s look at 3 simple steps to conclude this solution.

  • Select the label and drag it directly above the structure. (Confirm ortho is on before dragging)
  • Right click, and select Toggle Label Pin

  • Select the rectangular grip (marked with the pin) and drag it to display properly



Video Tech Tip of this feature will be posted on ADSKsolutions.com when available.

Newer version of Civil 3D will require users to follow these updated steps.


Turn ortho on (must do this)

Drag the label straight up

Select the + grip that is ½ way up and drag it out

Right click to pin the leader

Now select the label grip and move it to the right location.