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I’m aware I can save changes to my command using the settings tab in toolspace.
However wouldn’t it be nicer if we could just save settings for any command we are in as we need to? Its pretty annoying to have to keep going back to the settings to tab to toggle this on and off as you need to.
It would be even nicer if we could save many defaults and reload them as we need to as well. Sort of like styles for commands?
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Data shortcuts are so critical to performance but also functionality/production within Civil 3D. However they haven’t even got their own bloody window!
Here are a number of amazing features you could add to data shortcuts that will blow everyone’s mind.
1. Move the data shortcuts section out of that crappy little section in the prospector tab. Maybe give them their own tab?
Lets take a look below at what a better Data shortcuts system would look like
2. Allow Corridor Linework etc., sites/Grading Groups, and Cogo Points Groups to be Data Shortcuts. We are all sick of copying this stuff manually into production drawings. The modelling environment always looks different to the finished drawing production environment!
3. Allow Filter. Search Functionality
4. Provide Find/Replace Naming functionality that actually renames the objects in the drawings they have been referenced into. Or fixes the paths similar to “data shortcuts manager”
5. Display the Current working folder as well as a drop down to access previously used working folders
6. Data shortcuts tab
7. Project Folders displayed as well as sub folders for objects that can be created
8. Set default styles for objects so that when they are referenced you don’t have to select it.
9. Allow objects to be exported to other formts from the data shortcuts window. Maybe Sent to IMX, LandXML etc.
10. If you spend more time looking at this there is even more you can add. Hopefully this gets the creative juices flowing though.
Ps. Why your at it. Can you change this set working folder box so we can actually paste a path into it
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We all like to manage our civil 3d styles in combination with regular AutoCAD layers. But quite often after assigning layers in the display tab we need to modify the layers properties. It can be difficult to determine what layers a civil 3d style is using, as we have to keep flicking between the “edit style” dialog box and the layer manager.
Unfortunately within the Display Tab of any style edit, we can only assign layers not modify the layers properties themselves. Meaning you need to keep closing the box and going back to the layer manager.
Although adding the ability to edit the layer properties from within the style box might be handy, It would be even more useful to filter layers in the layer manager based on the selected objects.
This would make quick changes to styles possible without overriding the layers selected in the styles or even ever needing to enter the “edit style” dialog box
Controlling the transition of parameters within corridor models is not as easy as it could be in Civil 3D.
In fact I don’t see a clear and “simple” method for managing the transition of a daylight slope at all? Although there are methods that I discuss in this post here. They are still convoluted and cumbersome to setup.
So how does one create this sort of daylight transition in Civil 3D? vvv
Well I have a very simple idea. “Parameter Views” and “Parameter Targets” which can control everything!
So basically a “parameter view” can be placed directly above or below a profile view and “parameter profiles” can be drawn on this view that represent the desired values or grade,width,slope etc.. This process is very similar to the management of superelevation, except parameter views can control everything!
The other change to make this a lot simpler is to upgrade all the generic subassemblies to have the ability to have its parameters overridden in a relative fashion. Although it’s possible to do this in the assembly properties, it is cumbersome and not straightforward as discussed in my post here. (additional links have to created, crazy profile views where elevation = slope or grade etc etc..)
I am aware that this can be achieved using Custom Subassemblies. But such a simple change would make life a lot easier for even the basic user. Plus custom subassemblies don’t travel inside the dwg!!
Particularly useful as parameters get more complex and difficult to visualise!
Do i really need to explain this further? Who doesn’t want a native “Halo Text” capability in Autocad/Civil 3D. And don;t even think about telling me that you can do it in Autocad Map or with some crazy block you came up with. Lol.
REAL Halo text….. NATIVE Halo Text….!!!
Is too much to ask? or maybe ban the use of Aerial photography in civil engineering drawings..?
There it is
You can change it
Wow
Go away
Put simply, I wish you could use multiple bits of linework/other alignments/profiles to create dynamic alignments. Sort of like an offset alignment than co reference more than one object.
Similar to the way kerb returns work already, but in a much more customizable and intuitive way. (this is done incredibly well in 12D using computators!)
Horizontal Geometry Example
Let’s consider horizontal alignment design of two roads (blue and red) using the below example.
There are offset requirements for the existing property boundary, the new road (blue) and the highway. Typically to create an alignment we would offset all of this basic linework and then convert to an alignment and add curves etc.. But this is not very dynamic at all!! What happens if the offset requirements requirement’s change? or If the new road is adjusted?
What would be useful is if we could produce alignments based on these very requirements parametrically. Using a partial reference element-based approach that maintains the links to the original linework or other design elements.
So instead of creating all this alignment geometry manually we can create “dynamic rules” for the alignment to create itself. Most importantly the alignment can be created using multiple partial parts of other objects or alignments.
Vertical Geometry
Using this same example it would be also useful to create dynamic element based vertical geometry as well. Grades can be projected dynamically to create element based tangents or PVI’s.
Some light “freely” available reading can be found here. 12D computators
Or watch a video here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-ETpftB7WA
Although its useful to be able to superimpose profiles between profile views. It would also be useful to be able to show crossing objects as well. With a similar screen to the one for sections.
Be great if alignments/profiles was also an option In here as well!
We all get these from time to time. Unfortunately Civil 3D is rather vague about what is causing this error.
or 
^^^^ I HATE YOU ^^^^^
I can tell you empirically that the primary cause almost 99% of the time is a boundary that has been added to a surface somewhere along the chain that needs to be cleaned up.
A few people will suggest using things like MAPCLEAN and WEEDFEATURES to fix over complicated boundaries lines and breaklines and these methods do help. But they don’t always work.
A great method for fix this is to use the OVERKILL command. It will remove overlapping segments that are duplicates within a polygon. Commonly this comes from output from other software!
If you still have no luck try a method that I have used for years. Simply “STEPPEDOFFSET it out and then STEPPEDOFFSET it back in” maybe 0.5m or so.. (note: occasionally you may need to offset it back in 1 mm different, so back in 0.499m)
I have over exaggerated this to explain the issue, but here is what an offset does to a messy line with overlaps and duplicate vertices
Just whatever you do, don’t go extracting the triangles and re-adding them to a surface!!!!
I started writing this, realised it was getting incredibly long and stopped…
There is a distinct problem with “scalability” in Civil 3D. As modelling becomes more complex, as inevitably it does, handling of batch operations and multiple objects is hindered significantly by a lack of simple functionality to handle them in the core product. In turn, precious hours are wasted.
I am very interested to hear what can be done on the development side to deal with this problem? The changes for some of these items seem rather simple..
See below examples….
This is just a small handful of things you have to do “one at a time” inside Civil 3D. A simple function added would allow you to do multiple operations at once, saving an operator hours of time! But yet, we have to live with it!
(Having 20 plugins and/or 3rd party apps to deal with this is not a solution!)
1. Create Reference using Data shortcuts. You can create multiple data shortcuts, but you can’t “Create Reference” to multiple data shortcuts.
2. The volume dashboard can add multiple surfaces at once. But only remove one at time. Not to mention its lack of sorting or basic organisation functionality like, the ability to change multiple surface styles at once.
3. Synchronizing Data Shortcuts can only be done on mass. Or one at a time. It would be ideal to be able to choose the objects I wish to synchronize in the toolspace to save processing time.
4. Additionally while synchronizing there is no way to specify in the “Object Name Change” box to update the name of all change objects
5. Settings Objects to rebuild automatically. Currently you can only turn them on/off one at a time. Very time consuming. There is a lot of work that can be done here. Particular for more complex models that need to be changed. Rebuilding can take a very long time and you may want to delay it until you have made enough changes.
a. Adding a “Global Rebuild” On/Off Feature. This would allow a quick and dirty solution to changing complex models without the wait time..
b. Adding the ability to turn on/off rebuild for civil 3d objects in the prospector/properties box. And even “save rebuild state” so you can restore certain states for particular modelling operations.
6. In the Profile View Properties – > Profiles Screen although you can select and edit multiple profile styles etc. You cannot add or remove profiles
7. Additionally in the “Create Surface Profile screen” Only one alignment can be given profiles at a time.. Plus profiles that were previously created can’t be removed?
8. Corridor Targets – You can only do them all or one at a time. It would also be particularly useful to “copy/paste” targets between items.
9. “Set Width or Offset Target” and the “Set Elevation Slope Target” – In more complex drawings your alignment list can get quite long. A tick box that filters out “alignments/profiles that aren’t related to this corridor” would be very useful. Not having to press the “add” button everytime and just pressing enter would be also quite useful.
10. Can only add one DEM file to Surfaces at a time.
But you can do it in the point cloud creator?
In my opinion the GUI functionality is inconsistent and broken and needs a major overhaul. Relying on third party developers to solve these problems by creating little apps that perform these operations is also not good enough. Quite often the API is not available for these functions.
I do hope that good apps that reflect “core functionality” should be bought or reproduced and incorporated into the product regularly. Not left to be discovered on an “as needed basis”
Regards
UPDATE: You can do this even easier with the “Stage Storage Basin Tool” available in my free tools package here
https://ceethreedee.com/ceethreedee-tools
It is quite easy to do perform a stage storage analysis of a simple basin or dam water. This is because all the volumes are compared to a flat elevation, one flat surface (water level), one irregular surface(ground surface).
But what if you want to know the stage storage elevation of a dam wall or a stockpile, i.e two irregular surfaces).
Well you can essentially use the same technique as described here, but you will need to compare the two stage storage analysis’s to get the final answer.
Keep reading to find out how or if your feeling lazy watch the video here.
Basin Stage Storage (Flat to Irregular)
Stockpile Stage Storage (Irregular to Irregular)
By turning our two irregular surfaces into two separate stage storage calculations to a common flat surface, we can then subtract one from the other to form a stage storage of the stockpile.
Firstly we need to create the common flat surface, the best technique is to find the Max RL of the design surface, by looking at the Surface Properties.
On this stockpile the max RL is 1560 . So, I’m going to create a flat plane at 1560 m and add it to a new surface called “CALC LEVEL”
Now we need to limit our calculation to the design extent
So you will need to create a surface that clips the existing ground to the design surface boundary.
Now you have all the surfaces you need, you can create the two volume surfaces to do the stage storage,
Extract the stage storages for both of them using the technique described in my post here
You will now need to do a simple subtraction between the two stage storages to form a combined stage storage like below.
The finished result it is quite clear. Looking at the area it starts narrow at the bottom, increases to full width where the toe meets the ground, then reduces in size as it goes back down to the crest of the stockpile. The change in volume also reflects with the increase in area.
Do a final check with a volume surface at the end to see if your correct.
