Is there a way you can display contour labels right in the moment you create the surface? Instead of creating the surface and then going to 'Add Labels' and then specifying single, multiple or interval?
I switched to another company that uses Civil 3D and in the previous one we used Microstation with Power Inroads. The way you create contour labels over there is right in the moment you create the surface, and you can specify the interval along the contour line. Mapping wise, once displayed, they look neat and organized. In Civil 3D, I have to choose the command 'Multiple at Intervals' and I have to manually pick multiple contour lines so I can add the labels and it's time consuming. Is there a faster way to do it in Civil 3D? C'mon, Power Inroads had this option and the one I was using is 2012 😎 ?ÿ
This is a quick video of what I'm trying to achieve but in Civil 3D.
Civil 3D won't label contours on surface creation. You don't have to pick contours individually though. You can pick a point and cross the surface and it will label across that line.
Civil3d doesn't label the same as Microstation. But like Geoff said, you can draw a "line" across a range of contours and label them all at once. You can then edit the placement of all those labels just placed using grips, if desired.
The OP is correct in that the manual application of contour labels in Civil 3D also means you need to manually tweak its neatness, and if the surface shape changes you often need to re-tweak it. The other issue we appear to have with contour labels is that if you choose the option of labels masking "cutting" the contour lines, it seems to slow the drawing regeneration down a lot.
I never found the automatic contour labeling to be that great.?ÿ I prefer to place the labels at locations of my choosing for a better cartographic appearance.
I've never noticed a slow down in regen time because of masked contour labels.?ÿ What I do hate is the stupid label line that you must tell to hide after you create the labels.
What I do hate is the stupid label line that you must tell to hide after you create the labels.
They can be set to off by default. In the Settings tab on Toolspace, right click on "Surface", select "Edit Feature Settings", and then change "Display Contour Line" to False:
Sweet, thanks for the suggestions!!
I saw this several years ago, but never had the time to play with it, so can't really say if it works or not.
https://civil3dplus.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/label-every-insert-interval-contour-line/
?ÿ
That's very interesting. One of the issues with labeling a surface is that if contour line masking is used, if you "use" that surface again in another viewport but layerfreeze major or minor or both labels, it leaves a blank on the surface where the label would be, effectively breaking up the display of the contour lines. To get around that we duplicate the surface.
