Display full version of the post: How to maintain elements as coplanar

hdchique
02.03.2010, 17:37
All of my work (process piping) is 2D. I find that, when I xref a civil file, which is 3D, some of my elements spontaneously become non coplanar. I can even rotate & copy an element and the resulting element is not coplanar with the original.
 
Some commands involving 2 elements do not work when the elements are non coplanar. For instance, you can trim or extend to intersection (strange), but you can't chamfer non coplanar objects.
 
How do I avoid this phenomenon and how do I fix it when it occurs?

CarlB
02.03.2010, 18:55
To avoid it (to some degree), set "osnapz" to
"0" (I think; verify)
 
To fix objects that have a z value other than 0, use the "flatten" command.

tulip3D
02.03.2010, 20:50
"I find that, when I xref a civil file, which is 3D, some of my elements spontaneously become non coplanar"
 
This might be due to referenced/binded/attached blocks/elements or whatever in that civil file that have different global x,y,z locations coordinates as compared to your current settings. Wish I could offer more but Civil 3D aint my spec-e-ality lol, good luck!

MattMurphy
03.03.2010, 09:54
I've had problems before when XRefs don't have their BASE set to 0,0,0.  Open the XRef then type BASE and change it to 0,0,0 if necessary.  Might help........
 

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3D AutoCAD Pipework - http://www.HerculeDesign.com/MattMurphy2010-03-03 09:57:13

deadguy
04.03.2010, 17:20
The quick fix is to select all affected lines, and change their properties in the property window so that Z=0 on the start and end points..
 
Though you might have to explode them if they're within blocks.

hdchique
04.03.2010, 18:01
Thanks for the suggestions. I have found -

Flatten works, but some renegade objects remained non coplanar when I chose to do the whole file at one time. Warning!! - when asked if you want to remove hidden lines, say NO. Out of curiousity, I said yes one time and it changed all objects to continuous and then wouldn't undo.
I tried setting OSNAPZ to 0, but it didn't seem to help.
BASE was already set to 0,0,0 in all the files I am working with and objects were still non coplanar.
Using Properties Manager to change all start Zs and end Zs to 0 works well. I was able to use it to changes multiple objects at once.
I appreciate the help!