From the Ground Up
A European perspective on design and out of the box thinking with Civil 3D.
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- posted 09/08/08 by Ove Cervin Updated Dynamite VSP 3.6
- Hello everybody,
Just before summer vacation I had the opportunity to meet, discuss and get trained on the topic of visualization - this time using Dynamite VSP from 3AM-Solutions.
We usually try to find useful "add ons" to C3D that really make use of the C3D functionality and this is one example.
Dynamite has now been released in a new version, called 3.6. This has several enhancements and the rendering is better than ever.
Dynamite now uses a new "easy-to-use mental ray® based materials and lighting workflow".
Sample:
It has always been a hazzle to get road markings correct. This is easily done in Dynamite - and it is still connected to the Corridor Code Set using the same codes.
For more information on Dynamite - see this link:
http://www.3am-solutions.com/products/dvsp3/
And finally - if YOU have a great example of a third party application that is using Civil 3D technology in a good and outstanding way - let me know and I will inform everyone here. We can all benefit from great software.
Cheers / Ove Cervin
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Previous Posts
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Sight Distance Analysis Part 2
Posted 01/19/07 by Jack Strongitharm
This week I will continue to develop this technique to rather than a pass or fail but to how much the design is failing by or how much clearance there is.
From last week we were left with a feature line that was positioned to check a forward sight and was draped to the surface at each end. Then raised in level to the appropriate heights for standards.
We then will use surfaces to analyse the depths, i.e. cut and fill (sounds familiar, nothing is ever that hard!)
1. Create a grading from the line and offset a short distance such as 1m and at 0 change in level on both sides of the feature line.
Create a surface and style to not display the surface (so your screen does not get cluttered)
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2. Create a tin volume surface from the composite model that was created earlier
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3. Change the style of this surface to a 2D Solid Banding
4. Then choose the analysis tab of the surface properties and select two ranges
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5. Change the ID 1 to a maximum level of 0, and ID 2 minimum level of 0. Change the purple colour if you wish to green.
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Now red will signify a clash or fail and green for pass! (This is also how to shade cut and fill as it is the same technique!)
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As you can see the design fails on the earthworks as we found before and to any designer this means reduce the amount of cut, increase the horizontal curve or create some widening around the bend.
6. Now we can also find out the actual failure amount by either adjusting the style to a contour style or by turning on the contours on this one and draw a contour line to display the labels
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Contour style
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Shaded style but with contours
7. Finally you can simply see the depth from the tooltip
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As you can see a little out of the box thinking can give you a lot more because Civil 3D is very flexible.
Jack Strongitharm
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Sight Distance Analysis
Posted 01/12/07 by Jack Strongitharm
Ok, Civil 3D currently does not have a button to check this part of Civil design (it is still only three years old), but it does not mean that you cannot check sight distance.
The procedure outlined in the next two week’s Friday Blogs outlines a simple idea to check visibility now.
Your model will contain a existing ground surface and also will require a surface to the top of your road if you are looking at road design. (Its not all about roads, such as can I see that Wind turbine from my house!)
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With the road design though you typically check from the drivers eye (excuse the left hand drive for all non UK, Irish, other left hand drivers!). So we can export a feature line from our corridor.
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Offset that line to the distance from the carriageway edge, such as 1.5m or to your country standards
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Draw line to distance required. Then rotate it to touch your sight line offset line you created
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Create a new surface, then paste surface EG and then Road Top, to create one combined final surface. (A great technique!!)
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Turn surface style off for clarity, (use a style with all turned off)
Create a new site and call it ‘Sight Lines’ or what you want
Note: This step overcomes the relationship between crossing alignments and feature lines.
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Convert line to a feature line, then drape to the surface, but uncheck ‘insert intermediate gradient break points’
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Using the feature line level editor, raise the points above the surface to the required heights, such as 1.05m and 0.26m at the target.
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At this point you can view the sight line in a quick profile
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As you can see this fails in a big way. (I made sure it failed of course!)
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You can then grip edit your sight line in plan to the next position, re-drape to the surface and raise the end levels and check the Quick profile.
Next Friday, I will show how to create depth/ isopachyte contours along this line to map out how far out or clear your design is.
Jack Strongitharm