Egads, I need help on topography :(

[Kroke]

I have looked through the forum but it's hard to find the answers I'm looking for.

Basically, I've imported a survey, turned it into a topo surface (turned it to Phase 1), and then did a "graded region" in phase 2 to show the proposed grade in the project, that I have changed the elevations to suit.

I guess I'm confused because I need a grading plan. My first thought was to do a plan with existing grade and then a plan with proposed grade, but I think it best to show both on the same plan so that the differences are easy to identify.

This is where I'm stuck!

I can't seem to figure out what phase(s) to show to get what I want to show the existing/proposed grades to where the proposed should be in dashed lines. Right now I'm so confused I don't konw what else to do but to ask for help. I have done one a very long time ago but I've forgotten how I achieved the goal. I think I split the surface, and then changed the area I needed to surrounding the project.

I've been browsing the tutorial also but I don't know...it just feels like a Monday for me today.

Any help/pointers would be very very very appriciated on how to achieve a grading plan basically. *Sigh*...

Thank you,
JJ

[Wes Macaulay]

You can get phase filters to show both at the same time, but remember that only higher topography is going to show in the view in hidden line mode. Workaround: have a view with just topo set to wireframe -- you'll see both sets of contours. Then overlay the floor plan with topo turned off on the sheet view to finish off the drawing.

Your existing demo'd topo will share its linework with everything else per your settings in the Phasing dialog.

[patricks]

I think what you need to do is set the existing topography to the phase previous to the phase that you're doing new construction and grading. Then you need to do a graded region and modify existing grades as needed for the new construction.

I've never actually done it myself but that's what I've gathered from past reading.

[jpolding]

Some ideas I had on this subject:

Make the surface above a transparent material to show the difference. Kind of along the sames lines, you could send it out as a 3D DWF and just select the top surface and turn it transparent in the DWF Viewer. You can also do sections and move things in the new viewer version.

edit: I guess this would only be good for a purely visual effect...

[Kroke]

You can get phase filters to show both at the same time, but remember that only higher topography is going to show in the view in hidden line mode. Workaround: have a view with just topo set to wireframe -- you'll see both sets of contours. Then overlay the floor plan with topo turned off on the sheet view to finish off the drawing.

Your existing demo'd topo will share its linework with everything else per your settings in the Phasing dialog.

Ok, that's where I'm at...

What do you mean by "overlay the floor plan with topo turned off on the sheet view to finish the drawing"?

I'm not sure I'm getting this.

Note: I've found that site tools are like lifting weights, if you don't use it, you loose it, and that is exactly what's happened as I've done this eeons ago, but only one time.

Thanks for the input fellas.

[Wes Macaulay]

Well, you know... on the titleblock, you plop one view onto it...

Then you drop another view of the same scale onto the same sheet, and you get the green dashed lines when you've got them precisely aligned.

The idea being the topo doesn't have the building on it so it can show up wireframe without a problem

The building doesn't have the topo on it and its view is set to hidden line.

HTH?

[knurrebusk]

I just noticed the thread.

Please help me push Autodesk on this issue.
I´ll even write a white paper on this very wrong path in history.

[Kroke]

Thanks Wes, you da mayuhn!

[patricks]

bringing this up again...

Is it possible to make the entire existing topography show as dashed lines, and ONLY the graded areas display solid topo lines? That's how we usually do it at my office, and also how I was taught to do it in school.

[BWG]

I believe that is actually an industry standard. Support should know about that.

[patricks]

I can get it to show as the final topography is all solid lines, and the previous contours that are different from current are dashed by aligning 2 views on top of one another on a sheet, but I would like it to display the other way around.

[Steve_Stafford]

The closest you'll get is to overlay on sheets after overriding the linework via Visibility/Graphics. You can get the existing topo to be dashed and new to be solid but where existing and new overlap exactly, new wins (solid beats a dash everytime).

The fundamental issue is that the new topo isn't limited to just new contours, rather it is a modified copy of the original. So we can't just show the changes in the same context as we might be used to. Unless you are prepared to go the photochop or export to dwg route?