Project & Topo Levels

[msg4amer]

I created a toposurface using the "import instance" method. That worked great! The problem now is that my toposurface is about 180' above my project 0'.
I tried to use the "Relocate this project" method which moved my project 0' to the proper level, but my toposurface also moved along with it.

What am I doing wrong?

[sjsl]

Don't forget, you can simply highlight your bottom level line and change the floor elevation to the 180' or whatever. Just make sure if you have multiple levels you dimension the levels first and lock them together

[Tobie]

Or you can select the surface in elevation and move it 180' down

[rookwood]

The only way I can get this to work properly is the way sjsl suggests, which seems the logical way to do it. When you really think about it, the instructions are for relocating the PROJECT, and considering the topo is part of the project, it should, and does, relocate also.

It doesn't matter if I import my contour data before or after I have relocated the structure. If I follow the instructions, my building always 'chases' the topo.

If, for whatever reason, you want your base elevation to relate to 0', you can reverse the procedure as tobie suggests and take the topo to the building in lieu of taking the building to the topo.

I just went thru this again today myself and went to the 'site' tutorials to see if the instructions had changed with the new build. They didn't so I must be missing something very elementary!

[msg4amer]

I moved my building the way sjsl suggested, however, that messed up all my views, such as sections, elevations, etc.

Using Tobie's suggestion, I aligned the topo to the building in plan view, based on the setbacks, etc., then created a level @ 180', then moved the Topo, in elevation view, by selecting the 180' level down to the building 0' level. Although this method seems a bit convoluted, it seems to be the best solution.

I agree with you Rookwood, I also feel there must be "something very elementary" we're missing.

[Tobie]

I have done the same thing a few times. I ended up using 0 for my base level of the building and then importing the Topo. I then moved the Topo in elevation to be correct in relation to the building. You can then relocate your building to indicate height above sea level and all your elevations and sections will remain correct.

[kevin.matherly]

Okay, I dimensioned my elevation and "locked" them. I received a "constraints not satisfied" error and removed all constraints. On the surface everything seemed to move fine as far as the plan and elevation views go however all my sections a details are gone. Even the section cut lines are gone from the floor-plans.

any ideas?

there really does need to be a clean way to do this. I live in an area where it is very common to change elevations in mid-design.

[brakware]

This may not be the right answer... as far as the section cuts go, keep an eye on the "Hide at scales coarser than" and "Crop Region Visible" parameters in the section cut symbols. I have had section cut lines disappear on me because of something with scale (although, it doesn't sound like you changed scale). The only way, then, to find them is to go through various scales until they re-appear. As for the "Crop Region Visible," it might be that you have a crop region, but it is invisible, and when you moved your project 180', it was no longer in the bounding box. You then have to turn it back on or find it and move the bounding box to surround your model again.

[cphubb]

When using topo there are really only 2 ways to do this.

First note that when you import the autocad file, its z values will import relative to the level you imported to. i.e 200' contour will be 200' above the level. So always try to import to 0' or you will have an offset.

If you use 0 as your floor datum you must move the topo down in an elevation view unless you are working in Florida on the beach. Be aware that the countour labels will not work properly in this instance.

The other way is to set your floor level at its actual elevation, import the autocad file at 0 and the topo should insert at extactly the correct location (vertically.) If the topo ends up somewhere else the move offset is the difference between the inserted level and 0'.