Uncover the Mask

I received an inquiry and a comment today pertaining to Civil 3D 2010 and the new setting possible to only mask the contour line with contour labels.

This breif video explains what is now possible.



Be Better! ...Hide only what should be hidden.

Force North Bearing

Many Civil 3D users have requested the ability to "Force North" bearings on line labels in the product for quite a awhile. As it turns out, althought there is no setting to do this exactly we can accomplish this with the use of an expression. I discussed this with a few Autodesk personel and Peter Funk, Autodesk Product Manager, put me on the right track by saying "...this should be do-able with an expression". Well, he was right the following expression, when applied in a Parcel Line Label style will accomplish just that. I created a Parcel Line Label Expression called "North Only" and defined it as...

IF(({Segment Direction} > pi/2) * ({Segment Direction} < (3*pi/2)),{Segment Direction} - pi, {Segment Direction})

Basically, this will subtract 180 degrees from lines in the second and third quadrants.

For some reason, my image capture will not upload at the moment, but this does work. Give it a try.

Brought To You By... AutoCAD 2008

This post is in case some of this information has been missed by anyone.

All of the following should be available in Civil 3D 2008, because these items are available in AutoCAD 2008:

Annotation Scaling: Similar to automatic label scaling, but for text, mtext, dimensions, etc.
Layer Properties per Viewport: Override layer color, linetype, lineweight, or plot style per viewport.
Enhanced Tables: Co-mingle object information with Excel data easily, plus update notifications.
Text Formatting: Mtext columns support with many new options.
Multiple Leader Creation: Many ways to create multiple segment leaders from a single note.
Multiple Leader Alignment: Align and/or space multiple notes and leaders after creation.
Multiple Line Mtext Attributes: Mtext in Attributes.
DGN Support: Import, Export, and Underlay DGN 8 and XM files.

Autodesk's Official 2008 Press Releases

On Monday many websites carried Autodesk's official press releases about the 2008 family of products. Here are a couple as carried by Yahoo!:

AutoCAD 2008 & AutoCAD LT 2008
The item that caught my eye was the new annotation scaling capability (similar to Civil 3D labels) which will apply to things such as tables, text, and leaders.

AEC Products (Civil 3D, Architecture {new name}, & MEP {new name})
Most of the items related to Civil 3D caught my eye. Things like enhanced multiuser environment (I am assuming that this means Vault), automated sheet generation, and Google Earth interoperability.

Click on the links to read them yourself.

So this begins the official process of learning about, and then learning Civil 3D 2008.

Pick-a-Part...Or Not

When working in drawings with LOTS of data the selection of a subentity to a object (ie. a surface label or a single point) can significantly decrease preformance. It is possible to toggle between the ability to select subentities or the selection of the main object only. The two commands that toggle this ability are:

DISABLESUBSELECTION - Turns off the ability to select subentities.
ENABLESUBSELECTION - Turns on the ability to select subentities.

Seems like an ideal case for custom Toolbar Buttons or Tool Palette tools.

Read the Labels

I have now been able to provide "labels" for the majority of the almost 400 posts of this blog.

You will notice at the bottom of most posts what Blogger terms "labels". Other applications might use the term tags. If you pick on a "label" all blog posts that have similar "labels" will be displayed. I accomplished this relatively quickly and not with a fine-tooth comb. So there may be some posts that are not perfectly "label"ed.

This was worth the effort because this can be a good method to find all posts that have to do with a particular subject, such as Vault or Profiles etc.

Give it a try, see if it helps. Feel free to comment about any posts or "labels".

I will add some of the current "labels" to this post, to kick start the process.

Multiple Contour Labels

We here at KETIV Technologies recently received an inquiry as to whether or not it was possible to label contours lines with many labels at once, similar to how Land Desktop does it. The following information was prepared and contributed by Daniel Granillo, a co-worker here at KETIV.

Create Multiple Contour Labels like in Land Desktop using Civil 3D
Procedure:
1. Click Surfaces menu > Labels > Add Contour Labels
2. On the "Create Contour Labels" toolbar, select "Label Multiple Group Interior"

Note: This will enable the Multiple Group Interior edit box where you enter the desired spacing interval.

3. Enter a desired distance for the spacing interval in the field provided

4. Select a start point and endpoint for the contour label line.
5. Repeat Step 4 as needed
6. Press Enter to end the label creation process.

Tip: After creating your contour labels, you may want to turn-off the label line layer and/or make it non-plot-able (By default the contour label lines are placed on the DEFPOINTS layer).

Thanks Daniel I am sure this will help.

Civil 3D - SP3 Update

Just a reminder that there will be a Service Pack 3 for Civil 3D 2007. It is expected in the next two weeks. We have been told that it will...

Restore non-projects shortcuts (with this some will choose to not implement Vault)
Performance improvements (such as 2X faster corridor processing, 5X faster contour label regen and more).
Includes most recent Service Packs for AutoCAD® 2007, Autodesk Map® 3D 2007, and Autodesk® Vault 5.

The Leader has a Tail

One of the items I clearly recall requesting as a wishlist item involved dragged state leaders for labels that are oriented at 90 degrees (see the 1st and 3rd labels in the image). These two labels have horizontal components at the end of the leader (I will call it a tail). I want that tail to either be oriented the same direction as the label or to not be present at all (like the middle label in the image).

The middle label does not contain this tail. Why?

This was all re-awakened by a discussion in the Newsgroups recently and they came up with the exact same explanation we have been offering. Here it is...

The following discussion is only possible when we do not want an arrowhead as a part of the dragged state leader like the left two labels.

There are two ways to make the arrowhead of the dragged state leader disappear.

1. The first is to set the Leader Arrow Head Style in the dragged state leader to "None". This produces the left most example. Not what I want to see.



2. the second method is to set the Leader Arrow Head Size to zero. This will not only make the arrowhead invisible it has the added effect of removing the tail to the leader (middle label).



It turns out the Leader Arrow Head Size is directly related to the size to the tail (some have called this a jog or a kink). The bigger the value the bigger the tail.

Civil 3D - SP2 Coming Soon

Service Pack 2 for Civil 3D 2007 will likely be available sometime next week. It should include Civil 3D 2K7 SP1A, and Map 2K7 SP1 & SP2.

Issues Resolved in Autodesk Civil 3D 2007 Service Pack 2

General

When closing the program, you no longer receive an error message after using the Object Property Manager.

Using the UNDO command after deleting or inserting an elevation point no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly.

Alignments

Version 2006 drawings that contain a Spiral Curve Spiral with the curve radius set to zero can now be migrated to version 2007 and the Spiral Curve Spiral is correctly displayed.

An issue with alignment station equations has been resolved and the station equation labels now display expected results.

Corridor

When pasting surfaces, dynamic corridor surfaces are filtered out of the selection set to avoid a situation dependency. You can create non-dynamically linked corridor surfaces to paste into an existing surface.

Using the DaylightStandard subassembly, you can create a corridor model with a horizontal slope limit and the material thickness will be applied to the horizontal links. Previously the material thickness was not applied to the horizontal links.

Changing a style of an exported corridor surface no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly.

When you specify corridor sections at Superelevation Critical Stations (from the Frequency To Apply Assemblies dialog box) the sections are now added.

Grading

Points and Elevations are now displayed accurately in the Elevation Editor.

There is improved performance using the Weed command on a feature line that was created from a polyline.

Using the Fillet command on feature lines no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly.

There is improved performance when using the Fit Curve command.

An issue with using Feature Line commands in multiple drawings has been resolved.

Using the Weed command now removes the expected points when using a weeding factor of 3D Distance. Previously not all the points that met the weeding factor were removed and all other points were removed.

Using the UNDO command after moving a grading object to a site no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly.

The maximum range for slope patterns is now displayed correctly. Previously, the slope pattern was displayed even though it was outside of the maximum range.

Elevation point z values are recognized when you add a PI to a feature line.

Entering the elevation difference on a new feature line no longer causes the Draw Feature Line command to end.

Creating a grading transition between mixed surface and elevation or distance targets no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly, however this will not result in creating a grading object because Civil 3D cannot find a valid solution for these conditions.

Labels

Using the Parcel Create by Slide Bearing command no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly when the parcel label styles contain custom expressions.

Duplicate entries are no longer created in parcel tables when you insert a new line.

Issues with parcel labels not erasing correctly have been resolved. The program no longer closes unexpectedly when using the erase command on multiple parcel labels. Labels are not redisplayed after using the erase command and then saving the drawing.

The direction arrow component type has been added to the general line label styles.

LandXML

Error messages are no longer displayed when you close a drawing after using the Export LandXML command.

When exporting multiple corridor models using the Export LandXML command the program no longer closes unexpectedly.

Parcels

The UNDO command produces expected results after using grip edits on parcels and no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly.

The UNDO command produces expected results after moving a parcel to another site and no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly.

An issue with converting a closed polyline to a parcel has been resolved.

Using grip edits on parcel lines displays expected results.

An issue with saving user defined properties in a .dwt file has been resolved.

There is improved performance when using the REGEN command for parcels.

Pipes

A set sump depth rule has been added. This rule is not added by default, but can be added to the structure rule set for use during junction structure creation (layout) or by changing all junction structure sump depths at once using the Apply Rules command.

In the Part Builder command, you can use Cyrillic and Asian characters in Catalog chapter names and part names.

When using the Change Flow Direction command, flow arrows are now displayed correctly.

Deleting structures no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly.

There is improved performance when opening version 2006 drawings that contain structure styles. The program no longer forces version 2006 drawings that contain structure styles to display the boundaries as solid.

There is improved performance when using pipe network references.

Points

An issue with editing Point Label Styles from the Point Panorama view has been resolved.

Points can no longer be selected in a viewport when they are on a layer that is frozen for that viewport.

Profiles

The correct information is now displayed in horizontal geometry bands for radius and curvature.

The pipe network band node in the profile view is now displayed in the first drawing you open. Previously, the first drawing you opened in a new session would be missing the node and you had to close and re-open the drawing.

Using the UNDO and REDO commands after deleting a sub-entity from the profile view no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly.

Performing station editing in multiple layout profiles no longer produces an error message.

Project Management

The Migrate Pre-Civil 3D Project command now creates the correct folder structure in the project.

Prospector

The program no longer closes unexpectedly when you close a drawing while the item previews are displayed in Prospector.

The Zoom To command zooms to the correct location after setting the UCS.

Surfaces

Contour smoothing no longer creates segments of zero length on closed contours. Previously the program would close unexpectedly when opening a drawing in which this occurred.

The Smooth Contours command no longer causes gaps in the contour display.

Issues with surface styles have been resolved. The program no longer closes unexpectedly when a surface is created that does not have an assigned style.

Surface labels display the correct values for Surface Slope Horizontal Distance.

The program no longer closes unexpectedly when using the Paste Surface command.

Creating Quick Profiles from a surface no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly.

An issue with the display of render masks has been resolved.

Survey

There is improved performance when importing field book files.

Using the Browse for Folder dialog box when specifying an equipment database path now returns the expected result and no longer causes the program to close.

The MCS survey figure command now starts the multipoint curve at the first point number following the command and ends correctly when other curve commands are processed.

An error message is now displayed stating that the file cannot be opened if you attempt to export a field book file to a network address where you do not have write access. The program no longer closes unexpectedly.

The Show Properties command for control points, non-control points, and directions now displays the properties in the item list view.

After inserting survey points into the drawing, using the Zoom To command from the Prospector shortcut menu for Points or Point Groups now returns correct results.

The program no longer closes unexpectedly when you attempt to close the Traverse Editor.

When using the Traverse Analysis command the Angle error now displays correctly for direction start and end traverse.

The Zoom To and Pan To commands on the Survey collection shortcut menus now return expected results.

The Browse To Observation command now returns expected results.

Changing values for the Interactive Graphics in the User Settings no longer closes the panorama view.

The Equipment Database item view list no longer closes when you right click on an Equipment item, in the list and select Make Current.

Editing Latitude and Longitude values for control points now returns the expected results for the Easting and Northing.

This Service Pack also includes resolution for the following AutoCAD issue:
An issue with slow performance has been improved when you open drawings that contain large numbers of blocks.

Point Label Size Workaround

In Land Desktop whenever we encountered a scenario like the following image...

where points markers and/or point labels overlapped we could insert the points in such a ways so as they resize themselves to a percentage of the screen size.

Gregory Newland recently asked in the Civil 3D Discussion Group if he could get the same type of reaction from Civil 3D. He was pointed to a style setting...



that would allow him to get similar behavior from the point markers, but not the points labels (see image).



Well, Gregory came up with a workaround. He found that if he maximizes a viewport while in a layout he would get very similar behavior as to what he was accustomed to from Land Desktop. He could zoom around, do the REGEN command and the point labels would also resize themselves per the current zoom magnification (see image).



This gave him the behavior he sought.

At this point some of you will be asking "How do you maximize a viewport?" Like most things there are many ways. These may include double-clicking or the right mouse button, but, the simplest to remember is to use the "Maximize Viewport" button on the status bar (see image).



Once maximized press this button again to unmaximize.

By the way, it may be a good idea to create a new layout so that you will not accidentally disrupt any existing viewports.

This process is an example of how a little out of the box thinking can provide users with tools, steps, or prcedures that they find useful. Additionally this demonstrates the value of the Discussion Groups. The insight of one (usually gained through blood, sweat, tears and determination) can benefit many.

Thanks Gregory for sharing!

Service Pack 1A Revised Due Date

Dave Simeone, Autodesk Civil 3D Product Manager, stated during today's webcast that Service Pack 1A for Civil 3D 2007 is targeted to be released on Wednesday, June 28, 2006.

The other bit of news was that SP1A will not only address the Parcel Label issue introduced by Service Pack 1, but it will also include 4 or 5 other items that had not made it into SP1.

SP1A Coming Soon & Misinformation

It seems that some users have been told to not install SP1 because it breaks "existing things that work" while attempting to fix others.

Additionally, these same people are being told that once SP1 is installed in order to install SP1A (due any day now) they will have to do a full product uninstall, reinstall, then apply SP1A.

The second item is completely incorrect. Dan Philbrick, Autodesk Civil 3D Development Manager, has stated in the Discussion Groups the following:

First Comment from Dan-
You will not have to install SP1 first. SP1A will include all of the fixes
in SP1.

If you have already installed SP1, you can apply SP1A and get the fix to the
parcel labeling scaling issue.

Second Comment from Dan-
The SP1A is going to resolve the parcel label scaling issue in Paperspace.
You will not have to remove the SP1. SP1A will apply to a computer with SP1
already installed.

Back to the first item, it is partially incorrect in that SP1A will address one item that SP1 broke. The problem created has to do with parcel labels not being visible in Layout Viewports. This was mentioned here on Monday June 19th, as was the workaround.

I believe users absolutely do benefit from installing SP1 and they can use the workaround if necessary. If SP1A comes out soon this issues will go away.

However this brings up the main reason for this post. It is difficult enough determining courses of action without getting wrong or bad information from sources that are considered trusted.

Autodesk Official Training Courseware Civil 3D 2007 - Essentials

Autodesk has recently released the 2007 versions of their Essentials training courseware.

The book contains 40 exercises, including 5 new exercises on how to...

"Create and Apply Label Styles"
"Check Files In and Out of the Vault"
"Create and Apply Pipe Network Rules"
"Import a Survey Control Network"
"Modify Survey Database Settings"

This book is likely the foundation of most training that is available. Although any reseller worth their salt (KETIV Technologies, wink) supplements this training with lots of additional content.

I have not yet found a link from the Autodesk website. But you can contact your reseller if you are interested.

Civil 3D 2007 - New Features Workshop

One of the very useful items that I refer to often is the "New Features Workshop" this is a Flash based interface that provides information about what was introduced in Civil 3D 2007. This is similar to what AutoCAD has had available for several releases.

The interface is broken down into four sections with multiple topics and subtopics (topics are listed below, but not the many subtopics):

Create
Survey Data
Alignments and Profiles
Pipe Networks
Points
Surfaces
Analyze
Survey Data
Design Evaluation
Grading Tools
Share
Project Management
Export Data
Produce
Labels and Label Styles
Profile and Profile View Labels
Reports Manager


I had hoped to post this yesterday, but I was out doing training all day. What do you know, this was also mentioned during today's Civil 3D Webcast.

Bootcamp Day Five - Three Homeruns

Thursday was my fifth and final day at bootcamp. It turned out to be my favorite one.

Why? Well, Autodesk hit three homeruns with me. One for each of the subjects that I covered that day.

HOMERUN #1
Pipes: The additions to pipes were excellent. New rules for both pipes and structures. Structure properties that include pipe inverts that can be edited. Rules can be reapplied at my choosing. Create a network from a pline. Create an alignment from a network. Import LDT pipe runs. Interference checking for collisions or clearance (COOL!). New grips in profile.

HOMERUN #2
Corridors: Lots here too. Many new spiral types. Constrained profiles (similar to horizontal alignments, Fixed, Floating, Free). Floating parabolic curves can now end a profile. Three new transparent commands (profile station from plan view, profile station and elevation from plan view, and profile station and elevation from plan view and point). Profile geometry point can now be labeled in plan views. Customizable markers replace hard-coded ones. Quick profiles, which can include the baseline geometry itself. Two new profile bands: Sectional data and Pipe Network data. Corridors regions can have styles (outlines). Graphical edit can be done. Individual sections can be edited. Corridor surfaces are true surfaces on Prospector tab. 16 new subassemblies. Two new tables: Total Volumes, Materials.

HOMERUN #3
General Drafting: We will now have a Toolbox tab to the Toolspace. This will include reports, but can include custom created tools. Text masking can be added to ALL labels, they can also have a draw order specified. There is now a NOTE label for any text item. We can label basic lines and curves. Reference text in labels can be created from any combination of object(s). Expressions allow us to due math computation with object data (EXCELLENT!!!). We will be able to copy label components. Drag-and-Drop styles will now prompt to Overwrite or Rename. And perhaps my favorite of all EDIT INDIVIDUAL LABEL TEXT VALUES.

It was a very useful and educational week. As you can see there is much to learn, absorb, and incorporate into our habits. That being said, I am sure glad to be home.

I'll be back soon with more detailed posts.

Anthony's Thoughts

Today, many resellers attended a webcast that described what will be available for us to refer to, and what is in the box (Civil 3D 2007), that can be used to learn, teach, and guide.

One segment of the webcast presented by Anthony Governanti, Technical Marketing Manager for Autodesk, was the "Wicked Cool Stuff" according to him.

The following is his list (in no particular order):

Text masking! Available in all labels!
Expressions – add calculations to any label
Reference text (that can use...)
---Alignments
---Profiles
---Parcels
---Surfaces
General Note (object)
Quick Profile
DWF Preview for Project Data
Grading Feature Line tools (3D polyline tools and more)
Grading that works!
---Inside corner cleanup
---Projection to surface
Graphical Corridor Editing
New Subassemblies
---Retaining walls
---Channels
---Pipe trench
---Many more
New templates
---National CAD Standards (NCS) based
---Extended to include Civil 3D specific objects
---Includes styles to replicate LDT output
Too much to list!

Although, much of this information has been discussed here and elsewhere, it was certainly very useful for me to see Anthony's highlight reel.


PS. I want to thank Anthony for his OK to use his list.

Civil 3D 2007 - Expressions

Here is how we will be able to create labels with mathematical expression in Civil 3D 2007.

Step 1 - We need to name and then define the expression in the appropriate collection of the "Settings" tab (ie. for Points, FL=Elev-0.5).

Step 2 - We will then use the newly created "Named" expression as a property that can be added in the "Text Component Editor - ..." dialog box accessed from within the "Contents..." of the "Label Style Composer - ..."

Civil 3D 2007 Preview - Labels

While working with styles it has often been wished that we could start a new component from an already existing component, because they are already near what we will need. Well, new for Civil 3D 2007 we will have the option to "Copy Component". This will create a new component named "Copy of..." that can then be modified.

This is another wishlist item CHECKED OFF the list.

By the way, there is also the new ability to apply a "Background Mask" as a part of the label (I had mentioned this is a previous post).

This makes TWO items CHECKED OFF. Excellent.

Civil 3D 2007

As Autodesk introduces the NEW family of 2007 products (shipping in the next month or two) there will be lots to talk about. Here we will focus of course on Civil 3D 2007. What will be there? What will not? I will mention a few general topics today with detailed posts in the near future.

Lets begin.

One of the most obvious additions to Civil 3D is the entirely new Survey functionality and the survey observation object.

The Project environment will now be managed by the core data management capabilities of Autodesk Vault. It will allow for the sharing of:

Points
Surfaces
Alignments
Profiles
Pipe Networks (NEW)
Survey Data (NEW)

Corridors will create named surfaces directly. We will no longer have to export non-associated surfaces. We will also be able to select an existing polyline as a corridor boundary (cool). There will be new subassemblies.

Profiles will now be element-based (free, floating, fixed). This allows for similar constraints as horizontal alignments.

Grading Feature Lines will be controlled by a new set of tools which include the ability, similar to LDt, to create offsets with elevational differences.

Quick sections will be able to be created from AutoCAD objects.

We will be able to create a Pipe Network from a polyline and create an alignment from an existing pipe network. Pipe interference detection will be possible.

Styles management will include the ability to Merge, Copy, or Rename any duplicates found during drag-and-drop operations.

Labels will be able to contain data from various object types in our models. We will be able to include expressions (formulas) in a label style. The labeling of lines, arcs and polylines with style based labels will be possible. I am confident that many will appreciate that masks will be able to be added to labels to hide object behind the label.

We will be able to reset a Point's elevations based on an existing surface. Changing an individual point's rotation angle graphically will be possible.

LandXML 1.1 support for survey and corridor data will help matters.

These are just a few of the enhancements that caught my eye. These plus those found in AutoCAD 2007 and Map 3D 2007 (because Civil 3D is built on top of these products) will give us lots benefit from.

OK, that is enough for now. As I said, I hope to add comments and details in the coming days, and weeks, as time permits.