AutoCAD Civil 3D :: Drawing With Surface Still Referencing XML File
Feb 12, 2013
I have been provided survey data in the form of an XML file that I am using to build a surface. Everything is fine, except for the drawing with the surface is still referencing the XML file. What is the best method to remove this reference and have the surface fully contained in one file? Using C3D 2012.
I am issues with DEM files that I am downloading from the USGS website.I download 24k, elevation for the area I need. I then choose staged 1 second, add a surface to a blank drawing, then upload the DEM files to the surface.
The surface imports correcty, but when I try to import points taken by a surveyor on the same drawing, they plot incorrectly.The DEM surface and the points from the surveyor do not correspond. Also, the DEM surface is in meters, not feet. I have tried changing drawing settings, datum types, coordinate types, etc.
I customized a surface style to show relative elevations, with lighter tones representing higher elevations, and darker tones representing lower elevations. With a single glance, I know the high and low spots in my project area.
C3d provides several default surface elevation styles. None of them comes close to providing the instant, data-at-a-glance information that my customized style does, which I use to design stormwater systems. Again, it's really useful to see, with one look, where the high and low spots are in my project area.
I can't figure out how to export, transfer, copy, whatever, my customized style from one drawing to a new drawing. If I want to see my customized style, I have to recreate it from scratch in each and every drawing where I want to use it.
How to transfer a surface style from one drawing to another? By the way, I tried opening up both drawings, with both toolspace/settings windows open. Tried dragging and dropping the customized style to the new drawing. Didn't work.
i am trying to add as a breakline. i have not been able to get this particular line to work as a breakline and the surface keeps drawing triangles through the line like its not even there. The figure properties show that it is a breakline. The figure prefix database brings the line style in as a breakline from the start.
I need to supply a client with a drawing and exist. surface.But I don't want them to have the survey data or points.What's the best way to handle this?
I want to create a live instance of an existing FG-Profile that I somebody else did into our master profile drawing. Is there an easy way to do this? I don't want to data reference it in.
I tried exporting the FG-Profile information into a .txt file and then use the "create a profile from file", but for whatever reason C3D didn't like my profile info was giving me an error message.
I have 50+ project sites scattered along a 600+ mile alignment. My alignment reference drawing coordinate system is set to a UTM coordinate system. My project site drawings are set to state plane coordinate systems. Does coordinate transformation automatically occur with data references?
When I try to reference an object in the Data Shortcuts menu, when I right-click the a profile in Prospector under Data Shortcuts, the option to "Create Reference..." is grayed out, and I am unable to reference that profile into the drawing I am working on. It works fine on other profiles that are being referenced from the same drawing.
I have tried:
1. Re-creating the alignment and profile data shortcut in the drawing being referenced 2. Creating a reference in my drawing to the alignment, which actually works. However, it still does not allow me to "create reference" for the profile. 3. Refreshing the data shortcuts. 4. Synchronizing the alignment referenced in the drawing.
Nothing seems to work. My only other option is to move the C3D profiles from the referenced drawing to the drawing I am working in. Is there a way to do this?
I am working on roadway project where I am using Pipe Networks to layout the drainage infrastructure. I have set my working dwg up so that I am data referencing the existing surface and proposed alignment. I have set my pipe network up so that it is also referencing this surface and alignment. Everything was working fine. Labels were pulling the correct information from my surface elevations, and stations were being referenced as well, until I got a message that recommended that I recover my drawing.
I ran recover and my surface and alignment data shortcut disappeared. My pipe network now shows questions marks where there were once stationing and it appears that the surface and alignment have completely disassociated themselves from my drawing, however they appear in the prospector, but cannot be refreshed. Again the data shortcut symbol is no longer next to my surface and alignment, but there is a symbol telling me that those objects are being referenced by another object in my drawing (my pipe network). I have tried refreshing, resetting the working folder, all to no avail.
How can I make sure the annotated surface labels spot elevations from my 3d design drawing which is being xrefed into a new Precise Grading Breakout Sheet plots screened?
The Label Style which I created for the annotated surface label spot elevations has all its properties set to be ByLayer for example its color and lineweight. The Layer I assigned the Label Style was assigned to a layer with a color and plot style that should plot any object screened. Color 8 and Plot Style Screened.
What other steps am I missing to assure myself that this Label Style will plot screened in my new Precise Grading Breakout Sheet?
I also made sure that the xref drawing in which this Surface spot elevation has the correct colors and lineweights and Plot Styles in my new Precise Grading Breakout Sheet.
How to best smooth a surface created from a DEM file? Contours produced from the surface, particularly in the flatter areas seem to be following the triangles, so you can see the rectangular nature of the grid.
I've attached a screenshot with the contours shown. Up to this point when creating the surface, all I did was add a data clip boundary, then add the DEM file (manually within the surface definition, not using the "create surface from DEM" feature). I had tried some of the options under surface edits & smoothing, natural neighbor interpolation, but the results were still all wonky.
I´m having problem with creating stl file from surface. I need to import stl in another program for rockfalls.
I have create surface from contours, then extract faces, extrude them, union and I got solid..
I have export solid like stl file... But in another program my surface is not smooth, like somethning went wrong while exporting stl, because in autocad civil 3D 2012 everything looks good.
I have found out how I can increase facetres to 10, but It has not affect to my stl file. If there is some another parameter for better resolution of stl files?
If max 2011 can set up a file referencing system for multiple artist to work simultaneously into a larger singular file. So a main scene contains all the information from multiple artists, and as they work on their individual pieces the main scene updates as each individual file is updated. I know i heard of a way in maya 2008, but that was over 3 years ago and can not remember what it was called.
I have downloaded ArcGrid (ADF) files from the USGS and am trying to define a TIN surface in Civil 3D with those files. I have done this in the past without difficulty but now I get a fatal error and the system crashes in the middle of the process. The ADF files are large, approximately 465 meg, and cover an entire USGS quad area. Is there any tricks or sollutions that would allow me to use this data source to create surfaces without my system crashing?
The system I am using is a Dell Intel Xeon CPU, W365@3.20GHz with 24 GB RAM, 64 Bit OS.
I think this should be an easy thing to do, but I am having problems figuring it out. I need to repath the location of a point file being used in a surface. My surface will not rebuild because it can't find the point file originally used. Drawing was used on a different computer system, so the point file directory is now pointed to the wrong path.
my colleague that is on holidays right now sent some civil 3d drawings that contain data references to another office and they are having broken reference issues with the surfaces. I opened the drawing in our office and the surfaces are there and showing the data ref symbols in prospector but when i look through the data shortcuts folder below in prospector the surfaces are not there.
how do i locate the .xml files or if they have been deleted how do these surfaces appear in my drawing.
I am trying to edit the elevation of a JPEG image I have brought into my C3D 2010 file as an xref - I essentially want to 'drape' the image over the existing ground surface I have created to use for presentation purposes i.e. to show how our road layout is predominantly located along the ridge lines of the site.
Typically for other file types I would perform the following steps (using the classic toolbar): Grading > Edit Feature Line Elevations > Elevations from Surface > Select the existing ground surface > select object.
I don't seem to have the ability to select my jpeg xref using this approach... how else can I perform this task?
I have a bunch (hundreds, so manual input not an option) of X,Y points without elevation data that I would like to import into a DWG and assign an elevation that is based on an existing surface object. Is there a way to do this for a point file? The command for inserting individual points would be the "Create points - Surface > Random" but I don't see a way to do this in a batch type method where i have my PNE formatted input file to just move the points to sit on the existing surface.
I am getting this error in my production drawings.
My setup is as follows:
- EG.dwg has my existing surface in it. I create a data reference to use it in other drawings.
- Level One.dwg has the EG surface data referenced in, and I use this to create alignments, profiles, and finish surface. All of these are turned in to data references.
- Storm Sanitary.dwg has my pipe designs. I data reference in the two surfaces, profiles, and alignments, and create pipe networks. I create references for these networks.
- Plan Profile.dwg is the production sheet I'm getting this error from. Every one of my civil objects is data referenced in to this drawing. Everything is inserted correctly, the pipes show correct FG surface elevations for their rims, etc.
BUT when I open this drawing, I get this error. I assume it's because my FG surface is not directly in the storm sanitary.dwg.
How do I get rid of this error, without combining drawings, or promoting the surface to one or more drawings? Isn't this exactly what data references is made for?
I often have to do storm pond surfaces that (for the purposes of planning) are flat on the bottom. These surfaces are created from a combination of survey data and grading groups and the tin of these surfaces is perfectably acceptable. However, when contours are shown, the flat bottom is shown with contours jig-jagging all over the place.
The attached image shows a comparison of the same pond. The top was created with survey data and grading groups; the bottom was created using contour data only. The generated surface on the top shows the bottom contour going in different directions and has parts where the an expected contour is missing.
How to correct/manipulate the surface to show a proper flat surface?
Has instances where you set your tolerance for the maximum triangle lenth to say 50m to reduce the amount of triangles along the edge that run at long distances. When I do this I end up with multiple surface holes and I'm not sure why as there are points in the area.
I thought well maybe it's because i should've reduced my max triangles first then added breaklines. Would this matter? I also thought I could add a line to the surface to fix the holes vs. deleting surface lines along the entire edge of a surface for many many miles.
I am trying to add points into a surface. I have done this before without any problems, but now I am having issues.
When I ID points which makes up the surface it gives me the correct Z level e.g. 24.5m, however when I hover over the surface it shows me the surface name and a different z level e.g. 0.65m. What is the reason for this difference in z levels? I think this may be causing the issue I am having when I add new points.
I select the surface and use the 'edit surface command' in the ribbon, choosing add point.
When I add a point at the level I require(23.89m), it puts it in a lot higher than the surrounding area, so I tried to put the point in to the lower z levels (0.4m) it puts it in a lot lower!