All posts by Kapanther

Drawing Management

The Fat True Type Text Issue! How to get rid of it forever!

If you use True Type text then you have probably seen this issue below

Sometimes a simple Z elevation fix will remove the dreaded fat text. Although ever so occasionally this will not suffice.

If you have fixed the z elevation and it still isn’t working it is usually due to the view center been out. To check, enter your viewport and type “VIEW”

If its wrong then it will probably look like so, (camera X and Camera Y display large values that should be 0)

To fix in the current drawing is quite simple

1. Select the little plus button in the top left corner of your viewport and select “Steering Wheels”

2. Right click and select “Restore Original Center”

3. It will zoom out your viewport, but zoom in and look at that fine dainty text!

4. While your at it, type “VIEW” again whilst in the viewport

Camera X and Y are 0 and we only get Camera Z. Which is how high the eye altitude is

Saying all this we can avoid all this hassle by making a simple change to our templates!

When a viewport is created it will take the settings from the last viewport that was created in that drawing. So if we add a viewport to all our templates in layout space with the fix already applied as shown above. All the viewports we create from here on out won’t have this problem!

To check

1. Open your Blank Template and create a viewport and check camera X Y Z etc.

2. AHHHHHH!!

3. Apply the fix to first viewport.

4. Create another viewport and check camera

Viewport is perfect!!

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Modelling

Alternative Stage Storage Technique – Civil 3D Tables

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UPDATE 2: My new tool complete obsoletes this process.. Stage storage basin tool is available in my free tools package here
https://ceethreedee.com/ceethreedee-tools

UPDATE: Feeling Lazy. Watch the Video.

This deals with basic “basin” stage storage calculations. For more complex stockpiles etc. Read this post here

Download lisp file from this link download COT

UPDATE: instead of using COT.lsp. Try the free “Table Exporter” App from the autodesk exchange from here. Only works in 2015 unfortunately 🙁

It will dump what ever table you select straight to excel though..
exporttable1exporttable3

I see a lot of people still using this outdated tool in Civil 3D for calculating stage storage! For those who calculate stage storages read below!

Please stop using it! Although it is possible to get a relatively accurate result from it. There are a number of problems that I will merely bullet point below.

  • Can only have one contour at each level to get stage storage curve. (although you can sum them together in excel)
  • If contours are not closed this can create errors in the calculation.
  • Multiple islands and “flat areas” (i.e benching) can be easily miscalculated. Who has benching in their designs! :p
  • Higher Intervals reduces accuracy!
  • Not to mention it is cumbersome!

Civil 3D has always had the ability to do accurate stage storages, I will demonstrate below. (*with the assistance of a lisp!)

Download lisp file from this link download COT

1. Create a Volume Surface comparing Water Level or Final Tailings level etc. and your completed design. (Yes you can calculate tailings stages as well!)

2. Drop down elevations in the analysis tab at the intervals you wish to calculate your volumes at. (use Range Interval with Datum)

3. Create a surface legend table that includes “Surface Range volume” and Surface Range 2d area)
SurfaceAreaVolume

4. Copy table to left or right and explode twice, then use the attached lisp routine to convert to an autocad table.

5. Export Table to CSV as shown above and then open in excel. You will need to sum the areas and volumes from the bottom up to get the correct results.

Finished Result, sum up the volumes from the lowest elevation, (so the bottom up). or reverse the order and sum them from the top down..

Elevation (m) Plan Area (m²) Cum. Area (m²) Volume (m³) Cum. Volume (m³)
102 5,872 143,202 280,514 1,432,735
100 5,751 137,330 268,936 1,152,221
98 5,969 131,578 257,244 883,285
96 13,903 125,609 240,933 626,041
94 26,862 111,706 200,242 385,108
92 42,463 84,845 126,689 184,866
90 31,232 42,382 51,424 58,177
88 11,149 11,150 6,752 6,753
86 1 1 1 1

You will notice that unlike the old stage storage tool that can vary in accuracy especially with larger intervals. This method is exactly right down to the triangle.

Comment below if you want to know more

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Drawing Management

Creating and Managing Legends in Autocad – A Great Simple Solution

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UPDATE: Although I still recommend creating legends in model space of xref’s, this process really needs to be reviewed. As creating excess view ports in PSPACE can slow a drawing down significantly. Update should come soon.

We all create legends and keys regularly throughout our drawings. However creating them and managing them as we work proves difficult and cumbersome. I have a simple method I have been using for years that I notice regularly is not in use.

The secret is quite simple.

Place your legends in each xref! 


Then simply viewport onto each in each layout as required.

If you are like many other civil drafters and create many xrefs to separate different data types, then you will find this tip exceptionally straight forward and obvious. Hell, you may already do it!

If you don’t work with xrefs in this manner then I suggest its time to change, however you can still employ the same technique.

I’ll explain some of the intricacies below.

What do you expect from legends?

I want my legends to:-

  • Be dynamic and update as I change each viewports layer settings in layout space.
  • Be dynamic as I make changes to layers in the xref
  • Get scaling correct on hatches and linetypes.
  • Be able to update legends on multiple drawings at once.
  • Be able to leave some items off legends or mismatch items.

All of this is possible using this technique.

How it all works

Inside the xref you only create each component and its label for the xref in model space off to the side (I typically go right side). Like below.

Step 1 – Add each component to a dummy legend in your xref

Ensure you create the legend at the scale you intend to viewport onto it with. ( i always create legends at 1:1000)

Ensure that all the objects you have on your legend are on the same layer and are the same linetype scale as your data in the xref. If you have annotative objects like hatches make sure you have added the legend scale you intend to use.

Step 2 – Allow space and stack straight

If you have more xrefs that have data that needs to be on the legend. Make sure you don’t put it in the same place as your other xrefs. I xref in other drawings that have legends already and continue to make a big panel that runs up and down in model space. This makes it easier in each layout to construct my legend with viewports.

Then last of all xref in the data, if you haven’t already, and place a viewport at the scale you chose on your legend. If you want multiple items just create more viewports! Ensure you place the viewport with space to expand down and across. The legend below has legends from 3 (three) different xref’s. With the exception of the existing boreholes I have allowed room for the testing and geophysics items to move up and down accordingly.

Step 3 – Place viewports onto each xref’s legend component.
ensure you allow space to move.

If you change the colour on a layer in that particular drawing, the legend updates accordingly. If you have this same legend on multiple drawings and make a change in the xref, obviously it updates on all drawings. If you add a few items or so, they are all updated on each drawing and you do not need to go into the drawing.

A completely simple time saving technique that makes legends in Autocad extremely easy to create and manage. Give it a try some time!

 

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