Working with Plan Production ObjectsChapter1:

Transcription

1 Chapter 1 Working with Plan Production ObjectsChapter1: The lessons in this chapter guide you through the processes of creating and working with plan production objects. Plan production objects include view frames, view frame groups, and match lines, and they are the basic building blocks for creating plan sets. These objects must be created and configured correctly before you create sheets and the final plan sets. Objectives After completing this chapter, you will be able to: Identify the drafting tasks and steps in the process of working with plan production objects. Create plan production objects. Edit view frames and match lines. 1

2 Lesson: Working with Plan Production Objects Overview This lesson describes the workflow you can follow to create plan production objects. Objective After completing this lesson, you will be able to: Identify the drafting tasks and steps in the process of working with plan production objects. Workflow There is a recommended process that you follow to work with plan production objects, and there is specific functionality in the software that enables you to complete that process. This section lists the series of tasks and software functions that you use to complete the processes. Process: Working with Plan Production Objects The following table lists the objectives for the exercises in the chapter; lists drafting tasks you are trying to accomplish; outlines the software processes for accomplishing these tasks; and lists the software features used in the processes. Objective Drafting Task Software Task Civil 3D Feature 1. Create plan production objects. 2. Edit view frames and match lines. Determine alignment range. Determine sheet types. Determine drawing scale. Modify drawing object names and descriptions. Adjust location and orientation of view frames and match lines. 1. Select alignment. 2. Establish sheet parameters. 3. Establish view frame group settings. 4. Establish match line parameters. 5. Select profile view and establish settings. 1. Edit object properties. 2. Grip edit object location and rotation. Create View Frames wizard Prospector Object Styles Grip editing Dynamic Input For more information on the software features, see Help. 2 Chapter 1: Working with Plan Production Objects

3 Lesson: Creating Plan Production Objects Overview This lesson describes plan production objects and the Create View Frames wizard, the tool you use to automate the process of creating plan production objects. When you generate plan sets, it is common to require multiple sheets to display the entire project area or alignment length. Using a simple wizard, you create view frame, view frame group, and match line objects, which are used to facilitate creating and managing these multiple sheets. Creating plan production objects is the first step in creating plan sets for your designs. The following illustration shows the Create View Frames wizard, where you create and define plan production objects. Objectives After completing this lesson, you will be able to: Describe plan production objects and how they are used to create plan sets. Explain the process for creating plan production objects. Create plan production objects. Lesson: Creating Plan Production Objects 3

4 About Plan Production Objects To create plan sets, you must first create plan production objects. Plan production objects can frame specific sections of an alignment, format the frames to the size that you require, and later make these sections a part of your printed documentation. Plan production objects are the basic building blocks of plan production tools. Three types of plan production objects exist: view frames, view frame groups, and match lines. View Frames View frames are rectangular-shaped regions along an alignment that define areas in a sheet. View frames divide the alignment into segments that fit on a sheet of a specified size and scale. The view frame size, shape, and scale are determined by a designated viewport that exists on the layout tab of a specified template. After view frames are created, the properties of the view frame objects are saved in the currently open drawing. The following illustration shows an example of two view frames, VF - (1) and VF - (2), along an alignment. View Frame Groups A view frame group is a collection of one or more view frames. Using a view frame group object, you can manage a single group of view frames that display station ranges along the same alignment. You can set dynamic options at the view frame group level, such as styles and labeling. The following illustration shows the seven view frames making up a single view frame group that covers the complete alignment. 4 Chapter 1: Working with Plan Production Objects

5 Match Lines A match line is a straight line that designates locations in a view frame group where one view frame abuts or matches up with another view frame. Match lines display only in plan view. They are designed to visually indicate the locations (start and end stations) along an alignment where each view frame begins and ends. If you choose to create plan and profile or profile only sheets, the Insert Match Lines option is automatically selected and you cannot edit it. Match lines have their own object styles and they typically include labels to identify the previous and next sheet (view frame) along an alignment. You have the option to include a left-side match line label, a right-side match line label, both, or none. Also, you can choose to display the label at the top, middle, or end of the match line. The following illustration shows the match line between View Frames 2 and 3. Examples Plan production objects are used for various types of projects and plan sets including: View frames for residential street plans. View frames for utility profiles. Match lines for drainage ditch continuity. Lesson: Creating Plan Production Objects 5

6 The following illustration shows an example of view frames that have been rotated to the north (horizontally oriented regardless of alignment orientation). All the view frames in the illustration make up one view frame group, with match lines defining where the view frames abut. Creating Plan Production Objects This section describes the process for creating plan production objects along an alignment. You use the Create View Frames wizard to automate the process of creating plan production objects. You use the wizard to define view frames, view frames groups (VFG), and match lines along an alignment. Parameters To create the plan production objects, you use the Create View Frames wizard and complete its five pages. These pages are described in the following table. Wizard Page Alignment Sheets View Frame Group Match Lines Profile Views Description Specify the alignment and station range along which the view frames are created. Select the type of sheets to create, a template for the sheets, and determine view frame placement. Specify criteria for creating the view frame group object. Configure how match lines will be placed on the view frames. Define how the profile views will be displayed in the viewports (sheets). 6 Chapter 1: Working with Plan Production Objects

7 Process: Creating Plan Production Objects The following process outlines the steps for creating plan production objects. 1. Configure the alignment. Select alignment. Determine the station range. 2. Establish sheet style. Select sheet type. Select template (dwt). Determine view frame placement and orientation. 3. Configure view frame group. Establish name and style. Set label location. Lesson: Creating Plan Production Objects 7

8 4. Create and configure match lines. Set match line positioning. Set label styles. 5. Establish profile view settings. Set profile view style. Set band set style. Guidelines Keep the following guidelines in mind when using the Create View Frames wizard. Before you create view frames, the required alignment must already exist in your drawing. If you are creating sheets with profile views (profile only or plan and profile) a profile must exist in your drawing. Plan production will create profile views for you in the process of generating sheets. If profile views already exist in your drawing, an additional set of them will be created when you create sheets. The profile view style and band set that you specify in the Create View Frames wizard are used to calculate the placement of view frames. You cannot change these styles later for the view frame group. 8 Chapter 1: Working with Plan Production Objects

9 Exercise: Create Plan Production Objects In this exercise, you use the Create View Frames wizard to create plan production objects for your project. The completed exercise In this exercise, you use the Create View Frames wizard to generate plan production objects for creating plan and profile sheets. 1. Open L02-E01-Creating_View_Frames.dwg. This drawing contains several alignments and profiles defined for both the existing ground (EG) and proposed design. 2. Click General menu > Plan Production Tools > Create View Frames. If the General menu is not visible, restore the Civil 3D Complete workspace. 3. In the Create View Frames dialog box, Alignment page: For Alignment, select Through Road. For Station Range, click User Specified. For Start, click the button to the right of the Start field. This lets you graphically select the start station from the drawing. 4. In the drawing, pan to the far left end of the main alignment. Use the Endpoint OSNAP to select the start of the alignment. Lesson: Creating Plan Production Objects 9

10 5. In the Create View Frames dialog box, Alignment page, for User Specified, click the button to the right of the End field. 6. In the drawing, pan to the far right end of the main alignment. Use the Endpoint OSNAP to select the end of the alignment. This layout has two viewports, one defined as a plan type and the other defined as a profile type. The scale of these viewports is 1:500. This preconfigured information will be used by the plan production feature to automatically position the plan and profile views in the viewports of the final sheets. You have now defined the station range along which frames will be created. Click Next. Next, you choose the sheet type, select a template, and adjust settings for the view frames. 7. You use a DWT template to define the sheet type. If set up properly, the layout tabs in the DWT are available for use as a sheet template. The DWT must contain viewports specified as Plan or Profile (using extended data properties). Under Sheet Settings, for Sheet Type, select Plan and Profile. For Template for Plan and Profile Sheet, click the ellipsis. 8. In the Select Layout as Sheet Template dialog box: Click the ellipsis. Under Plan Production, navigate to where you installed the Creating Sheet Sets dataset. Open the Lesson 02 folder. Select Civil 3D (Metric) Plan and Profile.dwt (included with the dataset). Click Open. Under Select a Layout to Create New Sheets, select ISO AO Plan and Profile 1 to 500. Click OK. 9. The View Frame Placement option controls the placement along the alignment, as well as orientation in relation to the alignment. On the Sheets page: Under View Frame Placement, select Along Alignment. Notice the graphic on the right side of the dialog box changes to reflect your view frame placement choice. Select Set the First View Frame Before the Start of the Alignment By. This option lets you place the first view frame a specified distance before the start of the alignment. This is useful for showing additional areas of interest in the plan view, such as the existing road to which your proposed road will connect. Enter 3. Click Next. 10. On the View Frame Group (VFG) page, you define the naming conventions for view frames, styles, and label styles. A VFG is an object, and the naming format can contain dynamic information pulled from the VFG properties. 10 Chapter 1: Working with Plan Production Objects

11 Verify the View Frame Group name as shown in the following illustration. For this example, the view frame group name will include the name of the alignment. Each view frame will be named sequentially as VF-1, VF-2, and so on. 11. Click Next. 12. On the View Frame Group page: Under Label Location, select Top Center. The top of the view frame is relative to the alignment and is determined by the direction and orientation of the alignment. Starting at the alignment start and looking up station towards the alignment end, the top of the view frame will be on the left side of the alignment. If your alignment runs right to left across the page, the top of the view frame will actually be the edge nearest the bottom of the page. Click Next. 13. On the Match Lines page, under Positioning: Select Snap Station Value Down to the Nearest. For Snap Station, enter 10. When the Snap Station Value Down to the Nearest option is not selected, match line positioning on the view frame is determined by a rounding value based on derived stations. Select this option if you want the match lines positioned on the view frames based on the rounding calculation value entered. The rounding calculation always rounds down. For example, if the calculated station for a match line is , then rounding to 100 would place the match line on Select Allow Additional Distance for Repositioning. For Additional Distance, enter 3.00m. Additional distance for repositioning allows you to later move the match line from its default station by the value specified (in this case, 3m). This is useful for manually adjusting your final sheets to ensure there are no graphical conflicts between the match lines and the other entities, such as utility structures or labels. For both the Left and Right Label Locations, select Middle. Click Next. Lesson: Creating Plan Production Objects 11

12 14. Next, you give your match lines meaningful names for better data management. For Match Line Name: Click the Edit View Frame Match Line Name icon beside the Name Field. In the Name Template dialog box, delete all existing text. Enter ML-. For Property Fields, select View Frame Group Alignment Name. Click Insert. Enter (a hyphen) -. For Property Fields, select Match Line Station Value. Click Insert. Click OK. This creates a match line name that uses the alignment name and match line station location. Click Next. 15. The profile view page is active only when you create profile or plan and profile sheets. The profile view and band set styles selected here are used later to create sheets and cannot be changed later. On the Profile Views page: For Profile View Style, select Major Grids. For Select Band Set Style, select EG-FG Elevations and Stations. Click Create View Frames. The view frames, match lines, and associated labels are created along the Through Road alignment. 16. Zoom in and examine the view frame and match line objects created in the drawing. Notice the following properties you set during the Create View Frames process: The long axis of each frame aligns with the alignment. This was set by the View Frame Placement option on the Sheets page. The view frame name label is located at the top center of the frame. This was set by the View Frame Label Location option on the View Frame Group page. The frames overlap each other by 3m on both sides of the match line. This was set by the Allow Additional Distance option on the Match Line page. The match lines are located at the nearest 10m station. The match line labels are located at the middle of the match line. 12 Chapter 1: Working with Plan Production Objects

13 17. In Toolspace, Prospector tab, examine the VFG-Through Road - (1) collection. The View Frame Group contains collections of view frames and match lines. Each is easily identifiable by its name, which contains the station and alignment information. 18. Close the drawing without saving. Lesson: Creating Plan Production Objects 13

14 Lesson: Editing View Frames and Match Lines Overview Like other Civil 3D objects, you can edit view frame and match line properties such as the object name, orientation, description, or object style. This lesson describes how you edit these properties and the tools you use to make the edits. The following illustration shows a view frame that is being moved using grip edits. Objectives After completing this lesson, you will be able to: List the view frame and match line properties that you can edit. Describe how you edit view frames and match lines. Create a new object style for a view frame and use grips to change view frame and match line orientation. 14 Chapter 1: Working with Plan Production Objects

15 Edit Types After you create view frames and match lines, you may need to modify them to suit your design requirements. This section describes the types of edits you can make to view frames and match lines: object properties and geometry. Property Edits There are three properties you can edit for view frames and match lines: name, description, and object style. Name Edit this field to provide a more appropriate view frame or match line name. For example, you might edit this property in order to: Provide a name that does not conform to the name template. Provide a location-relevant name. Description Edit this field to provide a detailed description of the view frame or match line. Object Style Change the object style to reflect your organization s preference, or to make the line type or color more visible in working drawings. The following illustration shows the Properties dialog box for a view frame. On the Information tab, the Name, Description and Object Style fields can be changed. However, the information in the View Frame and Sheet tabs are informational and cannot be changed in this dialog box. Lesson: Editing View Frames and Match Lines 15

16 View Frame Geometry Edits You can change a view frame s location along the alignment, location anywhere in the drawing, and rotation. You use grips to make these changes. The following illustration shows activated grips for a selected view frame. You use the: Circle grip to rotate the view frame. Diamond grip to move the view frame anywhere along the alignment. Square grip to move the view frame anywhere in the drawing. Match Line Geometry Edits You can move, rotate, or change the length of a match line. However, you can move a match line only within the view frame overlap area. The following illustration shows activated grips for a selected match line. You use the: Circle grip to rotate the match line. Diamond grip to move the match line along the alignment, within the view frame overlap area. Triangle grips to change the length of the match line. 16 Chapter 1: Working with Plan Production Objects

17 Dynamic Input Dynamic Input (DYN) is an AutoCAD feature that can be used to make editing plan production objects easier and more accurate. With grips activated and with DYN turned on, you can enter the value that you want the view frame or match line to be changed to. For example, you can precisely specify a match line s length by keying in a value. You turn on dynamic input by clicking the DYN button at the bottom of the drawing window. Edit Type Examples Edits to plan production objects may be necessary to fine-tune the appearance of your plans. These edits might include: Rotating a view frame. Changing the length of a match line. Moving a view frame to increase overlap with an adjacent frame. Renaming a match line. The illustration below shows a view frame that has been rotated using grips. Lesson: Editing View Frames and Match Lines 17

18 Editing View Frames and Match Lines This section describes how you change view frame and match line properties and geometry. You can change the view frame or match line name or object style by editing the Properties dialog box. You use grips to change orientation in a drawing. Editing these objects customizes them to meet your plan set requirements. Process: Editing View Frames and Match Lines The following steps outline the process for editing view frames and match lines. 1. Edit view frames. Edit view frame name and object style. Edit orientation and location. 2. Edit match lines. Edit match line name and object style. Edit length. Edit orientation. 18 Chapter 1: Working with Plan Production Objects

19 Exercise: Edit View Frames and Match Lines In this exercise, you modify the properties of a view frame and a match line. You then investigate how you use grips to adjust the position and location of view frames and match lines. The completed exercise 1. Open L02-E02-Editing_View_Frames.dwg. The drawing contains a full set of view frames and match lines. In the following steps you investigate modifying the styles, geometry, and locations of these components. 3. Right-click VF to Select Zoom To. 2. On Prospector, expand View Frame Groups, VFG - Through Road, View Frames. Next you will create a new view frame style and apply it to the view frames. 4. Right-click VF to Select Properties. Lesson: Editing View Frames and Match Lines 19

20 5. In the View Frame Properties - VF to dialog box: Under Object Style, next to Standard, click the black down arrow. Select Copy Current Selection. 9. Move your cursor along the alignment. Notice how the view frame maintains its orientation along the alignment. 6. In the View Frame Style - Standard [Copy] dialog box: For Name, enter My VF Style. On the Display tab, under Component Display, under Color, click BYLAYER to open the Select Color dialog box. On the palette, select magenta. 7. Click OK three times to return to the drawing. Notice the change to the appearance of the first view frame. Next, you use grips to manipulate the view frame. 8. Click the first view frame to display its grips. Click the diamond-shape grip near the center of the view frame. You use this grip to slide the view frame along the alignment. 10. If it is not already activated, click DYN at the bottom of the screen to turn on Dynamic Input. The alignment station is reflected at the cursor. 11. Enter 150. Press ENTER. The view frame is now precisely centered on station Chapter 1: Working with Plan Production Objects

21 12. Select the circular grip. You use this grip to rotate the view frame. Move your cursor around and notice how the view frame rotates. 14. Pan to the right to view the first match line. Click the match line. Notice the grips that appear. Press ESC. 13. Select the square grip. You use this grip to change the location of the view frame to any location, including off the alignment. 15. Select the triangular grip at either end of the match line. You use these grips to modify the length of the match line. Lengthen the match line by stretching one of the ends away from the alignment. Press ESC twice to clear the grips. Changes made to the view frames will not be automatically reflected in sheets already created. If you modify the view frames in this way, you must run the Create Sheets command again. Next, you examine how you use grips to manipulate a match line. 16. Use the circular grip to rotate the match line. Experiment by rotating the match line. Lesson: Editing View Frames and Match Lines 21

22 17. Use the diamond-shaped grip to move the match line up and down the alignment. Notice that you can move the match line only within the specified area of the view frame. This overlap is established by the Allow Additional Distance for Repositioning option. 18. Close the drawing. Chapter Summary In this chapter, you worked through the processes of creating and working with plan production objects. Plan production objects include view frames, view frame groups, and match lines, and they are the basic building blocks for creating plan sets. Having completed this chapter, you can: Identify the drafting tasks and steps in the process of working with plan production objects. Create plan production objects. Edit view frames and match lines. 22 Chapter 1: Working with Plan Production Objects