Wetland Buffer using Parcels

We know when creating wetland buffers it is not as simple as offsetting a closed polyline, it requires allot of manipulation to do it correctly, until know. 

First of all create a Parcel of the Wetland area, making sure your parcel style is a filled hatch, like ansi31.  Then to create the buffer, start the offset command and select the Parcel Hatch - whala.  A perfect buffer area.  I don't why it works but I'm not complaining for once about Civil 3d.

OsnapZ Variable - 3d

OSNAPZ is an AutoCAD variable which determines whether or not Z is included when using object snaps. When the OSNAPZ variable is set to 0(default) Z is picked up with object snaps.

This can be problematic when placing pipe networks in a Civil 3D drawing, since usually you want Z to come from a surface. It also affects 3D Polylines and Feature Line creation.

Setting OSNAPZ to 1 will tell AutoCAD to ignore the elevation of the object you are snapping to. It will use the XY location, but Z will be your active CAD elevation (which 99.999% of the time = 0) or in the case of placing pipe networks - it allows Civil 3D to use the surface for the rim elevation of structures.

Import/Export layer filters in AutoCAD 2009

For some reason Autodesk left out the Layer Filters Import and Export features in the Layer Manager, in AutoCAD 2009.  So here is a way to bring them back when needed.

From support: 

"There is a command called CLASSICLAYER. This command should bring you the older Layer Manager with all of the commands. However, to get this to work correctly, we need to modify the Registry slightly. To add the required Windows Registry: 

1. On the Start menu (Windows), click Run. 

2. In the Run dialog box, enter regedit. Click OK. 

3. Find the following subkey: 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R17.2\ACAD-7000:409\Applications\AcLayer\Extensions

4. Double-click the ADT String Value. 

5. In the Edit String dialog box, in the Value Data text box, enter AecLayerManagerEx.dll and click OK.

The next time you launch Civil 3D, type CLASSICLAYER. You should now get a new dialog box that has the correct commands. Keep in mind that the “old” civil layer manager will still function as before. You can modify the CUI to add a button or change the Layer Toolbar to launch this Classic Layer Manager instead, although it will not be dockable."

Annotative text disappears

Problem:

I can view annotative text in modelspace, but when I go to paperspace, some viewports show the text but in others it disappears.

Solution:

You'll need to set the ANNOAUTOSCALE system variable. Best settings are probably 1 or 4. (See link below)

Without that, you have to manually add each scale to the annotative object (right-click -> Annotative Object Scale).

Annotative text variables

If you're also having problems deleting annotative text, execute the following commands:

AUDIT

SAVEFIDELITY, set to 0

ANNOALLVISIBLE, set to 1

Why does My Hatch Look Exploded?

In my office, we regularly come across defective AutoCAD hatching that appears to be exploded. Usually Gravel, Concrete, etc. This is because the HPORIGIN variable is set to the World UCS origin-0,0,0. Now, you could set your HPORIGIN location to a point near your project, however, every drawing you open thereafter will continue to use this origin, even if it is thousands of miles away. This could pose a problem in other drawings.

The HPORIGINMODE variable is a bit more drawing-specific. It works as follows:
For new hatches, you’ll want to have your HPORIGINMODE variable set up correctly.
Enter HPORIGINMODE at the command line.
0- Uses the current origin (Default is 0,0,0)
1- Sets the origin at the bottom-left corner of the rectangular hatch boundaries
2- Sets the origin at the bottom-right corner of the rectangular hatch boundaries
3- Sets the origin at the top-right corner of the rectangular hatch boundaries
4- Sets the origin at the top-left corner of the rectangular hatch boundaries
5- Places the origin in the center of the rectangular extents of the hatch boundaries.

Settings 1-4 are good for rectangular hatches such as Brick, Tile, etc. where you might want your hatches to begin at a specific corner of your rectangular boundary.

Setting 5 is good for Concrete, Gravel, etc.

Keep in mind that this Variable also affects all drawings created thereafter.

To keep it even more drawing-specific, open the Hatch Edit dialog box and select the ‘Specified Origin’ radio button in the ‘Hatch Origin’ section.
Select the ‘Click to set new origin’ button, or check the ‘Default To Boundary Extents’ box and select the desired option.

This option can also be used to repair existing ‘Defective Hatches’ as follows:

Double click the existing ‘Defective Hatch’ to open the Hatch Edit dialog box and follow the above steps to set your desired options. Once the hatch is repaired you can use Match properties to correct all like-hatches.

Hope this works for you.

Turn off event viewer in Civil 3d

To do this, go to the settings tab of prospector, right click on your 
drawing name, select Edit Drawing Settings. The last tab in the 
resulting dialog box is the Ambient Settings tab. The first group is 
general there, expand that and select NO for show event viewer.

Do this in your drawing template if you want to turn it off forever - 
it's a drawing-specific setting.

Importing Styles in Civil 3d

Styles management
Styles are stored in every Civil 3D drawing. There is no centralized location for styles nor is there a styles manager. One of the challenges we face is how to ensure that the appropriate styles exist in our drawings and how to modify styles and then ensure that many drawings, if not all, contain these modified styles.

Template
Let’s discuss how styles get into a drawing in the first place. The most common process involves the proper use of an AutoCAD template. WHPacific has included in Civil 3D five templates that can be considered a good starting place. We know that with the NEW and QNEW commands we are asked to specify a template from which to create a new drawing. All styles, along with all linetypes, blocks, layers, etc. present in the template will be present in the drawing.

Drag and drop
Any modification to a style in an existing drawing will exist only within that drawing. So how do we get the modified style into our other drawings? One method is to drag and drop the modified style from a collection on the Settings tab of Toolspace into the drawing window of another drawing. We can also drag and drop from the same location to the Drawing name branch within the Settings tab of the Toolspace. Both the item you want to copy and the name of the destination drawing must be visible in the Settings tree before you begin the drag-and-drop operation.

The limitation of these two methods is that we are introducing only one style at a time. We can grab many styles from the item view of the Settings tab or we can grab a collection of styles and drag and drop to the two destinations just mentioned. Both of these methods allow us to import many styles of a particular type. This drag-and-drop process also works for Description Keys and Pipe Rules. However, because there are nearly 100 "styleable" objects in Civil 3D, this process may still not be optimal.

If the drawing already contains an item with the name of the item being copied, the Duplicate Item Name dialog box is displayed. This allows you to decide how to handle the conflict.

If you drag a label style with one or more child styles from one drawing to another, only the selected style is copied into the drawing; the child styles are not copied. If you copy a child style into another drawing, the parent style is also copied.

Insert styles via block
It is recommended that you always keep a saved (.dwg) version of your custom Styles template (.dwt). This drawing version of your custom template can be easily inserted, using the typical AutoCAD insert command, into any drawing to introduce all of your custom styles. If you create any styles that you would like to have in the future and to share with others, then please copy it to: I:\Library\AutoCAD 2008\Template\WHP-Oly Styles.dwg