In this video we will show you how to edit the elevations of 3D Lines.
Lines in TBC start out in typically one of two ways
- You import a CAD file - the lines in those files can be any of the following
Polyline
CAD Line
CAD Arc
CAD Circle
CAD Ellipse
CAD Spline
3D Polyline
CAD Lines and 3D Polylines typically are used to represent 3D features, the other types are normally 2D (no Elevation) or Single Elevation e.g. 0 (any type of 2D line) or 100 (for a contour or manhole rim etc.) or 451.12 (for a building) Some lines like CAD Arcs can be drawn on a tilted plane in AutoCAD and as a result cone into TBC as a CAD line with a UCS (User Defined Coordinate System) - the line is 2D or single elevation but it is drawn on a 3D plane to give it variable height and has a UCS on the object as a result.
TBC imports all of the above and keeps the objects as the same type of object in TBC - and these are then used to build your models / takeoffs. To do that we add elevations to the lines and to do that as we elevate the lines they become linestrings in TBC - i.e. they get “upgraded” to TBCs best object type to represent 3D curvilinear geometry.
- You import and Georeference a PDF and then either trace the linework using e.g. Polyline or Linestring command or you vectorize or extract the vectors from the PDF to create lines in TBC that you can use. Depending on the command that you use will dictate whether the line is a Polyline or a Linestring to start off with. If you want a single elevation line like a Building Pad or Contour you can use a Polyline (that allows a single elevation only. If you want any type of line where the elevation varies along its length then that will always be created as a Linestring.
When you edit any type of imported line or TBC created line they will typically become a Linestring. A Linestring has two components - a Horizontal component that defines the path / position of the line in 2D and those locations can have elevation also. The second component is the Vertical component and that can contain additional vertical geometry - as an Elevation node (VPI) or as a Slope Node (Inbound or outbound slope at the node) or as a Vertical Curve that allows for a smooth slope transition through the vertical curve.
The Horizontal / Vertical Control points of a linestring can be displayed with the Show Line Markings toggle (at the base of your screen) and through Project Settings - View - Display Options in the Markings section.
The Horizontal Markings will be as follows
- A closed solid circle - indicates the start of the line
- An open unfilled circle - indicates the end of the line
- A dot - Indicates a node of the line
The Vertical Markings will be as follows
- A filled triangle - this is used for all vertical control points including Elevation, Inbound / Outbound Slope and Vertical Curve. The values displayed will be related to the type of vertical control.
When you select a line to edit it, the linestring editor will open, the line will be converted into a linestring and you can then edit the line in the Horizontal or Vertical tab. You can add or edit nodes, or vertical controls using this command.
If you are using Rockpile Solutions Command Library, you can create linestrings using our Quick Line or Takeoff Lines command, you can insert nodes into a line using our Insert Segment command, and you can adjust the elevations of a line using the Adjust Linestring Elevation command.
The video below shows how to create and edit lines in 3D using the Linestring Editor