Styles are especially important when you’re working with profile views because of their potential to dramatically affect the appearance of the data that is being presented. Among other things, profile view styles can affect the vertical exaggeration, spacing of the grid lines, and labeling.
It’s OK to Exaggerate Sometimes
Vertical exaggeration is a common practice used to display information in profile view. In most places, the earth is relatively flat and the changes in elevation are quite subtle. To make the peaks and valleys stand out a bit more, the elevations are exaggerated while the horizontal distances are kept the same. The result is a profile that appears to have higher high points, lower low points, and steeper slopes in between. This makes the terrain easier to visualize and analyze. When this technique is used, you will likely see a pair of scales assigned to the drawing: one that represents the horizontal scale and one that represents the vertical scale. For example, a drawing that has a horizontal scale of 1" = 50' and a vertical scale of 1" = 5' would be employing a vertical exaggeration factor of 10. For a metric example, a horizontal drawing scale of 1:500 and a vertical drawing scale of 1:50 would also achieve a vertical exaggeration of 10.
The following three profile views have a vertical exaggeration of 10, 5, and 1 from left to right. The same existing ground profile is shown as a red line in all three.
To use profile view styles to change how profile data is displayed in the drawing, complete the following steps:
- Open the drawing named Profile View Style located in the Chapter 08 class data folder.
- Click one of the grid lines of the Jordan Court profile view, right-click, and select Properties. Note that in the Properties window, the current profile view style is named Major Grids 10V.
Tips :10V refers to a vertical exaggeration that is 10 times that of the horizontal.
- Within the Properties window, change the style to Major & Minor Grids 10V. Note the additional grid lines that appear (see Figure 8.3).
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| Figure 8.3 Additional grid lines displayed as a result of applying the Major & Minor Grids 10V profile view style |
- Change the style to Major Grids 5V. With this change, the vertical exaggeration is reduced to 5. This makes the profile appear much flatter.
- Change the style to Major Grids 1V. This displays the profile in its true form, as it really exists in the field. Think about which profile would be easier to work with. Would it be the exaggerated one where the peaks and valleys are quite obvious, or this one, which is true to scale but much more difficult to analyze?
- Change the style of the profile view to DOT. This is an example of how the graphical standards of a client or review agency can be built into your Civil 3D standard styles, making it easy to meet the requirements of others.
Tips :DOT stands for Department of Transportation, which in the United States is a common way of referring to government regulatory departments and other agencies that manage roads and other transportation infrastructure.
- Keep the drawing open for the next exercise.
