Contour labels

[JussiV]

Hi,

 

We have been using Autocad for years and used to do the contour labeling by ourself in 2D drawings. When changing the software to Vectorworks, we thought that we could have gotten over this extra work, and that the software could make contour labels nicely on top of the contours.

 

The way we would want to have the contour labels is like in the picture below. They should be on top of the contour and never break the line, as sending the dwg to other designers is always a pain, when the contours are cut in many parts.

 

 

And this is what we now got. Is there any way to change this behaviour?

[designit]

Following this with a lot of inetrest . . .

 

[Jeff Prince]

Strange, I replied to this topic earlier today and my response has been deleted.

I guess my posts must be getting moderated again.

 

Anyhow, this has been a long standing problem with the software and the company seems to have no interest in resolving it.  @JussiV, your best bet is to manually label them, perhaps using a data tag to do so in your viewport annotations.

 

I used to link threads like this in my signature hoping it would draw attention to getting the issues fixed.  Unfortunately, the list became so long that my signature would no longer work....

 

[Katarina Ollikainen]

@JussiV, I'm happy to say that we're actively working on further development of the contour labels - however, I can't say exactly when it will be rolled out. We must test it thoroughly first so we don't introduce new problems with it. 

We do read all wishes placed in the wish section on the forum, and all comments on the Public Roadmap (which is the best place to make your voice heard). Unfortunately, we can't address everything at the same time - there are always multiple things that must be taken into consideration, and for 2023 we've worked on huge improvements to the geometry of the site model - we decided to prioritise the new stitched surface with the new site modifier behaviours even if that meant we couldn't get the label fix into the same version.

 

For the moment I would suggest selecting the site model, and then, using the reshape tool, remove all labels (use any of the Marquee modes). Then again using the reshape tool, add labels where you want them. I wouldn't do this until I'm done with the modifying of the site, though - when the site model is updated, you're back to loads of labels again.

 

@Jeff Prince, I can't say if you've been moderated, but I have had issues with posts disappearing lately as well - the other day I spent almost an hour responding to a complicated question, only to have it disappear...

[Ross Harris]

That's good to hear that this is being worked on. Contour labelling needs to be controlled by the user... Not where vectorworks thinks. Revit has the best approach to this with its contour labelling tool - draw a line across the contours you want labelled. 

Property line objects also need better segment labelling as well. They should be taggable to put control in the user's hands, dear I say it, like Revit. It's basic stuff that just adds wasted time to projects to get clear output.

[Felix_]

Thank you @Katarina Ollikainen for answering this oh-so-interesting topic. We would win so much time with an updated contour label tool. 💗

 

[Jeff Prince]

On 10/5/2023 at 5:34 AM, Katarina Ollikainen said:

@Jeff Prince, I can't say if you've been moderated, but I have had issues with posts disappearing lately as well - the other day I spent almost an hour responding to a complicated question, only to have it disappear...

 

Oh, I got banned shortly after this.

 

I too have had long responses disappear due to the browser or a hiccup in my internet connect.  As a result, I have tried to make it a habit to type long responses in a word processor and just copy/paste it here.  So frustrating to lose work like that.

Edited November 15, 2023 by Your Name Here

[kwik]

I support all posts and wishes that is placed here and in many other threads on the forum. Coming from Civil 3D I was surprised to see how hard it was to manage a setup of labels the way I wanted them; automatic, and dynamic through updates of the site model.
 

In Civil 3D you can draw a line with the labeling tool across the contours, and labels are placed along this line. And you can control the label on top of or above the contour, number of desimaler e.g. within the label style.

 

A workaround while we are waiting for this long-wanted-fix is to use the stake object and snap it to the contours where you want the label. You can rotate it along the contour, and controle the units in the OIP. The benefit being that you dont need to manually type the correct elevation, but the backside being that you need to replace them if the site model changes.