I’m trying to edit a surface that was created during takeoff (Using the Build Surfaces command) and every time I try to remove a ‘member’ of the surface (Using the Add/Remove Surface Members command), it tells me that “0 objects were removed from the surface. 1 objects were ignored. (They are not part of this surface)” However, I know the linestring I am attempting to have removed from the surface was, in fact, used to create the surface because I can see the triangulation from the vertices of that line and it is on a layer that is part of the Design group in Categorize Layers. Is there a reason that members of a takeoff surface are not editable with the Add/Remove Surface Members command?
The Add/Remove Surface Members command does allow me to add new lines to that same surface. It’s just the remove members command that is not working.
If you used the Build Surfaces command, that means it is utilizing the setup in the Categorize command under the Takeoff tab. If you need to take out some of the linework from the surface, you will need to change them to a layer that is not used in building either the Design or Existing surfaces. Once you have changed the layer on the linework you need to remove from the surface, hit the Build Surfaces command, this will rebuild the surfaces minus the linework you removed.
If you’re line is in 2D and on a categorized layer it may look like it is part of the surface (triangulation), but in fact it is not changing the elevation of anything with the triangulation. It is simply just represented graphically as such.
Why was a member added to a create takeoff surface? If your adding to the takeoff surface, is it added to the finish grade surface also?
One quick move would be to delete the created surface and create the takeoff surface again. just select all the lines in your project to remove, which should not be added to the surface. and/or re-add members you need.
Have you tried our new Smart Model command? It has an add / remove surface members function that works well for me. It can also remove surface dependencies, which might be your issue.
This was the next step I was going to take to remove items from the surface, but I was hoping to avoid totally rebuilding the surface because we have already been onsite working and I’ve had issues in the past where rebuilding the entire surface, because of a plan change in one area, ends up tweaking the triangulation in another area.
Therefore, is there a way to “extract” a finish design surface from only looking at the Categorize setup so I can use the Add/Remove Surface Members? Or, am I better off just creating a new finish design surface by using the Create Surface command whenever we get a job and then I can easily manipulate it throughout the project?
I did notice this when troubleshooting this issue. However, the line in question is a 3D line that I need to have removed because it’s conflicting with new proposed 3D data.
I use the Build Surfaces command to create my surfaces when doing takeoff for a project. Then, when we get the project, I use the Finish Design surface for the field. What brought this issue to light is that I needed to add some new spot elevations to the surface, which worked without issue. However, when I went to remove a contour that conflicted with those new spot elevations, it said the line was ignored because it’s not part of the surface. I even tried to change the layer of the line to see if it would update the surface, but that didn’t work either.
As I mentioned in my reply to Chris, I would rather not rebuild the entire surface to hopefully avoid any weird tweaks in other areas of the project that don’t need to change.
You always have the option to use the object you are going to categorize as your Finish Design, and build your own surface from them, in place of using the Build Surfaces command in the Takeoff Tab.
At that point, it will act like a regular surface and you can add and subtract what you want easily. Once you are happy with your data and ready to do you Takeoff, at that point you can hit Build Surfaces, run your report and you are good. I know a few people that take this approach.