IMAGINiT Civil Solutions Blog

Civil 3D 2012 SP2

By: Brian Allen

If you've been patiently waiting for the next update you are now awarded with Civil 3D 2012 SP2.

Enjoy! http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=20021271&linkID=9240698

 

Surface View Exaggeration

By: Brian Allen

Whoa, its been how long since I’ve posted… Hmm guess I’ve been really busy.

Every designer at one point has worked on a somewhat flat site. Although we display contours to represent the topographic surface it may be difficult to see problem areas that may exist.

Sure we can throw the surface into the Object Viewer but even this may not give a clear enough picture of the natural ground slopes. So, why not use the tools we have at our disposal and exaggerate the model?

 The Flat Model > Boring

I wish I had a nickel for every time I’ve lectured a class about styles –“…if you don’t like the way something looks in Civil 3D, its styles baby, styles.” So, to exaggerate a surface we must either create a style or modify an existing one. Not sure about you, but the easiest way to create a new style is to copy one that has most the properties we want to hold in the “new” style.

So lets get started!

Step 1

Start off copying a style and rename it to something like Exaggerated Surface (a very creative name, huh).

 

Step 2

After the style has been renamed, go to the Triangles Tab and change the Triangle Display Tab and increase the Exaggerate Triangles by Scale Factor to something larger than 1. A good start is 3.

Step 3

Now the good stuff. Change the surface style to the newly created one. Then view it in 3D, I recommend the object viewer (select surface >> right click >> Object Viewer)

Image Below is Exaggerated x3.

Another Take

Image below is exaggerated x10.

That's all there is to it. I can't say it enough, if you don't like the way something "looks" in Civil 3D its all about styles. Hopefully, I'll have a little more time to post a few other topics. until then, head over to one of our discussions and help us help you.