Smart Elevate Command - Home - Click Here
Smart Elevate - Contour Mode (C)
This mode elevates a sequence of contour lines using 2 main methods
- Contours by elevation
- Contours by crossing line
Elevate Contours Mode
This mode utilizes a manual method to elevate initial contours e.g. the Major or Index contours using an incrementing elevation value based on entered Major / Minor intervals, a starting elevation and single line clicks.
Contours by Crossing Mode
This mode utilizes a semi automated method to elevate all contours using a freehand drawn two point line that crosses through a sequence of contours that elevate in the same direction (up or down hill) and that crosses at least two previously elevated contours. Method uses advanced error checking to ensure all contours are elevated correctly, allowing you to move faster through the process.
Video Demonstration
Hot Key Access
Hot Key to access the mode is C while running the Smart Elevate command
Elevate Contours Mode
When you select this mode of elevating, the following dialog will be presented
In this mode you will set a Major and Minor contour interval, select the Elevate Contours Mode, typically you will choose the “Automatically adjust elevation” method and select Decrease or Increase and then select whether you are elevating the Major or Minor contours (this then selects the interval that you defined). You will then click each contour that you want to elevate in turn, after each contour, the elevation will be incremented or decremented by the desired interval as per your chosen settings. The elevation of the next contour will always be displayed on the cursor prior to selecting the next contour, allowing you to check the elevation prior to executing each contour.
Contour Intervals
Enter or accept your Major and Minor contour intervals e.g. 5 and 1 or 10 and 2 etc. These values are used to error check the process and to increment / decrement the next contour elevation value etc.
Contour Mode
Select the Elevate Contours mode
Automatically adjust elevation checkbox
Check this checkbox to enable auto decrement or increment of contour elevation value after each contour is selected and elevated. The next elevation value will be displayed on the cursor after the previous contour has been elevated.
Mode Specific Hot Key Controls
While running in this mode, the following Hot Keys are available to allow you to quickly make changes to the elevation or Decrease / Increase directions.
| Hot Key | Description |
|---|---|
| Z | Decrease the next elevation by 1x delta |
| C | Increase the next elevation by 1x delta |
| SHIFT Z | Change the Increase / Decrease direction to Decrease and reduce the next Z value by 2x delta |
| SHIFT C | Change the increase / decrease direction to Increase and increase the next Z value by 2x delta |
| SHIFT X | Pop up a control by the cursor allowing you to manually define the next elevation value and optionally reset the increase / decrease direction |
Note that when you use the Shift X Hot Key, the following elevation control dialog will pop up beside the cursor in the graphics window
Shift Z
Changes the direction of increment / decrement to Decrease. At the same time the contour elevation value is modified by 2x delta value i.e. if you were previously incrementing contour elevations and you had elevated 100, 101, 102, 103, 104 and 105 the cursor would now say 106 (if delta =1), you now reverse direction, the last contour elevated was 105 so the next contour if you are starting a decrementing sequence is likely to be 104 i.e. 2 x delta below the current cursor value (106).
Shift C
Changes the direction of increment / decrement to Increase. At the same time the contour elevation value is modified by 2x delta value i.e. if you were previously decrementing contour elevations and you had elevated 100, 99, 98, 97, 96 and 95 the cursor would now say 94 (if delta =1), you now reverse direction, the last contour elevated was 95 so the next contour if you are starting an incrementing sequence is likely to be 96 i.e. 2 x delta above the current cursor value (94).
Click on an already elevated line
If you click on a line that has already been elevated, the pop up dialog that allows you to reset elevation and increase / decrease direction will be displayed.
Interval
Select either the Major or Minor interval value for the decrement / increment process. Note that you will typically elevate the major contours using this method and the minor contours using the Contours by crossing method.
Elevation
Enter the elevation value for the first contour to elevate.
Linestring
Select the linestring for the first and subsequent contours. A single click will elevate the first contour, then the second contour etc. in sequence.
Contours by Crossing Mode
When you select this mode of elevating, the following dialog will be presented
Auto mode dialog
Manual mode dialog
In this mode you will draw a crossing line using two mouse clicks (From Here To Here) that cross at least 2 elevated contours, and any number of undefined contours. The undefined contours will be computed and elevated based on the elevations of the known contours. In this process, the Major and Minor contour intervals that you set are used to error check the process, making sure that all computed elevations match either a major or minor contour interval. If the error check fails, it will be reported in the information area of the command dialog i.e. if you cross too many lines between two defined contours, the interval computed will be incorrect and no lines will be elevated.
Contour Intervals
Enter or accept your Major and Minor contour intervals e.g. 5 and 1 or 10 and 2 etc.
Contour Mode
Select the Contours by Crossing mode
Auto checkbox
Check this checkbox if you have already elevated e.g. the Major Contours, and you are now using this mode to elevate the Minor Contours using the Major Contours as the source of elevation control. If you choose not to select Auto, you can provide manual entry as the source for elevation control (Start, Decrease / Increase, Interval (Major / Minor) and then define a from and to line for the crossing line.
When Auto checkbox is enabled, sweep a line by clicking two locations for the From and To points, being sure to cross at least two elevated lines for each sweep you make. You can cross more than two elevated lines.
When the Auto checkbox is disabled, select your contour direction (Decrease or Increase), select your interval (Major or Minor), and your start elevation. Now sweep From and To across the lines ensuring that the first line crossed is the line that has the start elevation value.
In either manual or auto mode
- Be sure to only sweep through the same line once
- Be sure to only sweep through lines that are in either an uphill or downhill direction
- Do not sweep through a combination of up and downhill contours in the same sweep
Note: if your contours - major and minor are all on the same layer, use the minor interval setting to catch both Major and Minor contours correctly.
Note: Typically once you have elevated the first sweep of contours in Manual Mode, you can switch to Auto for most subsequent contours.
Notes
When you select Contour Mode, the View Filter Manager - Display Options - Display in an Alternate Color mode is automatically invoked, and the 2D lines that you will be elevating will be displayed in your RPS Settings - Secondary Highlight color e.g. Yellow. As the lines are selected and elevated they will change color back to the original color of the contour lines. This allows you to rapidly see which contours have been elevated vs which ones still need to be elevated.
We recommend that you use the RPS Isolate Layers command to select the layers of the contours that you want to elevate leaving the PDF image visible so that you can interpret the contour elevations while you work through each set of contours (Existing, Proposed etc.). This allows you to display both the index contours and the normal contours at the same time if they are on different layers in addition to the PDF page behind the contours.