Jump to content

Flattening 3D Geometry - Redux


Recommended Posts

Has VW added a way to flatten 3D geometry to the software tool set? I am still having issues when surveyors send 3D geometry. On some projects, I need to be able to manipulate this geometry in a 2D workflow and asking the surveyor to flatten prior to export is not a valid solution. I've tried converting all to 3D polygons, then converting to lines but I end up with thousands of tiny line segments that can't be manipulated. All I need is the ability to take every vertex of a given object and make the Z value = 0 while retaining X and Y. Seems like this would be easy to do and very useful.

 

Thanks for any insight.

Link to comment

I can't find the Wireframe mode command to try this on 3D polygons. Also, I have 3D lines in the model that don't seem to follow the same rules either.

 

I've attached an example file. It looks fine from top/plan view, but if you rotate it around the geometry starts to split into pieces that are properly done in 3D and pieces that have wildly different Z coordinates. 15 years ago I would simply us a flatten command on AutoCAD to turn all the Z coordinates to 0. I try about once a year in VW to discover a solution to this problem, but no one seems to know how to manipulate the geometry this way.

1832 Sullivan VW Geometry test.vwx

Link to comment

The Wireframe mode dialogue comes after having selected Convert to Polygons. The method will flatten the selection to zero height. If yo still want the object to be 3D, you can convert it back to 3D polygons, or set the Plane to Layer Plane in Object info. This allows you to rotate the model in 3D, though still having zero height in the Z- direction.  

Skärmavbild 2019-03-21 kl. 17.37.45.png

Link to comment
  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Claes,  Thanks again for the help. That appears to have worked. I performed the operation while in an isometric view however, and got a really bizarre result. So, I backed up and did it again while in plan view and got a result that looked as expected. I don't know that I understand the specific reasons why the commands used gave me these results, however. I assume it has to do with the plane of the screen?

Link to comment

Chris, of course it doesn't work from any view than the top view. What you effectively do is to extract a new version of the model as seen from the top view, rather than actually flattening the model. It's like using a camera to extract a view from the top view. You can't do that from the side unless you have some special software that manipulates the data. What you where used to from your previous program was to manipulate the model in a similar way that you manipulate a selection box in VW in the Object Info palette. Unfortunately, VW does not support a 3D selection box with the ability to manipulate the model in 3D, so the suggested method was simply a way to bypass this limitation. Admittedly it would be handy to do it directly as you first suggested, I do it all the time in my other CAD program, but you can't in VW. 

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...