Can I data shortcut a profile view?

[mangomarko354612]

How can I draw pipe parts in a profile that's xref'd? When I click "Draw parts in profile", it tells me "No profile views available". The drawing where the profile view exists will let me create a data shortcut of the profile, but not of the profile view. So how can I go about drawing all my pipes without being in the actual drawing where the profile view exists???

Thanks in advance!

[BlackBox]

No need for duplicate posts... You create your Profile View in one drawing, and then either create, or data reference in, the applicable pipe networks into said model. Only then can you successfully project pipe network parts into your Profile View.

[mangomarko354612]

Thanks RenderMan, but this sort of defeats the purpose of having multiple design drawings. Having several design drawings in Land Desktop (which we used until recently) allowed us to have one guy working on street profiles while another guy worked on sewer profiles, another guy worked on storm profiles, another guy worked on water profiles, etc... With the new system (at least the way I understand your reply), the only person who can can really be productive on the project is the guy who's in the street profile drawing. All the other team members can't do their design work because they can't draw any pipes in a profile view until the street design guy gets out of the street profile drawing. Am I misunderstanding? I hope I am!

[BlackBox]

In order to do that though, it sounds as if you generated a Land Desktop Profile for each, what you're calling, 'design drawing' and then XREF-ed them onto one another to create a pseudo named 'complete design'.

You can still break out your pipe networks into as many, or as few models as you wish (i.e., all proposed, all existing, all sewer, all storm, or even all pipe networks in one, etc.). Most of the actual utility design is done in the model with the pipe network itself, as that is the model that allows the user to modify the horizontal layout, vertical elevations, and even pipe materials.

For the Profile View, one simply projects the entire (in this scenario data referenced) pipe network, or the selected parts into Profile View. That's it. It doesn't take but a minute to take a Profile View from empty to complete (generally speaking).

If you only use pipe networks for your existing utilities, then you might consider drawing a Profile that represents the top of pipe for your proposed utility, and then when done, simply copy it down the appropriate pipe height to represent your bottom of pipe (be sure to name accordingly, especially for multiple segments, etc.).

This can be advantageous (over manually drawing dumb linework), even when one breaks out their Profile View into segments for each sheet (which I have seen some companies do). I prefer to use a single Profile View.

Does this make (more?) sense to you now? *not sure*

[mangomarko354612]

Hey RenderMan, I really appreciate your taking time out of your day to help me through this.

I guess I see what you mean - that the pipe design is done in the model with the pipe network itself. So, if we continue with our system that has worked tremendously well for many years, the sewer guy (which is sometimes myself) will be doing design work on the model in a drawing that's not the base linework drawing, which seems awkward.

I'm sort of bummed out about this because I'm a visual designer; in Land Desktop I can draw the pipes and visually see what needs to be changed/tweaked. It's not uncommon that I draw pipes 20-30 times in the profile before I feel comfortable calling it good. I know it only takes a minute to draw the pipes, but I can't imagine calling my street design guy 20-30 times before a submittal and saying, "Hey, can you stop what you're doing and draw my pipes in your profiles and hit save so I can see how they look?"

To be honest, I sort of feel like I'm dodging a bullet here. I've been saving money for a few years to buy Civil 3D for my team, and I'm finally ready to do the upgrade. Right now we're just in the middle of a 30-day evaluation to make sure it's a good idea, but I just don't see how my team can work with this. I hate to do it, but perhaps we'll just uninstall and go back to Land Desktop. Civil 3D has been amazing for small projects where only one person needs to work on it, but it doesn't seem to be compatible with the way my team works on large projects.

[BlackBox]

In reverse order....



I can't imagine calling my street design guy 20-30 times before a submittal and saying, "Hey, can you stop what you're doing and draw my pipes in your profiles and hit save so I can see how they look?"


I don't think you're getting it, silly rabbit... You're not relegated to only having one Profile View. ;)

If _you_ need a Profile View in _your_ utility design model, then simply add one... Data Reference (DREF) the roadway Alignment, select it, and in the contextual tab, select Profile View. You've just added a roadway Alignment Profile View into which _you_ can project your pipe networks to 'visually design' your pipe network as you like.

Now, the intent here is that you are using this for design purposes, and not for printing in this methodology (at least for the Profile View). You'll still need *someone* to go through your 'for plot' Profile View (the one to be XREF-ed into sheets) to ensure that the appropriate pipes, and parts have been projected, etc..



Hey RenderMan, I really appreciate your taking time out of your day to help me through this.

You're welcome; try to open your mind to the fact that Civil 3D is fundamentally different from Land Desktop, and you just might begin to realize it's potential.

[mangomarko354612]

Ah, now I get it. The profile view is just that - a view. It doesn't actually include significant data that I would want to reference in a data shortcut. That makes sense. Well, I have to admit that I'm a little annoyed by this because I liked the way I could draw pipes in an xref'd profile in Land Desktop, but I can definitely live with it considering all the other cool stuff that Civil 3D does have to offer.

But now I'm disappointed because I was starting to think that I'd be able to take all the money I've saved for the new software and buy a new car with it! Oh well, I guess the car will have to wait!

Thanks again for your help.

[BlackBox]

You're welcome; I'm happy to help... Good luck! :beer: