Probelm with layer linking and viewports

[LightGuy145]

I am having a problem with the way my 3D model is displayed when creating layer links and viewports. I am doing a model of a theater with several different design layers for parts of the space (house, balcony, control booth, stage, grid, etc). When viewing and working with my 3D model everything looks good, the control booth sits nicely on the balcony. When I create a layer link of the balcony and the control booth together the booth is suddenly floating 10' or so off the balcony. The same thing seems to be happening when I try to create a viewport with both layers turned on.

I'm not sure what could be causing this. Could it have something to do with the Z or +-Z settings of my layers? I don't quite understand the point of setting the Z base elevation on a layer. For example, I set the Z for a new layer to be 15' and then I created a new wall on that layer. The new wall, however, did not automatically have a bottom Z equal to that layer's base elevation. Am I wrong to assume that new objects would be placed on the layer's base elevation height?

I have added 3 photos to this post with the file manager. They show the 3 different scenarios of viewing; viewing the 2 layers normally using align views, viewing the 2 layers together in a layer link, and viewing the two layers in a common viewport.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[klinzey]

Layer links and viewports take the layer elevation into account. Just aligning the views does not use the layer z.

Simple fix for your problem is to set all the layer Z to 0.

The +-Z doesn't do much unless you are using certain tools (like walls) that look for the value as a default height.

Simple explanation is that Layer Z is the base height for the layer. If you set it to 10' and draw something at Z=0 it will show in a Layerlink or Viewport as if it was drawn at 10'

The idea is that in multi level buildings you can draw everything as if it was on the floor and then just set the floor height with the layer Z value.

[LightGuy145]

Thank you for the help! I figured it had something to do with my layer Z settings but it didn't make sense to me why they would display differently using align views and viewports/layer links. Thanks again!