I work as a civil engineer doing roadway projects.  I have 15 yrs experience using autocad and have found using the hidden commands in UCS allows me to rotate a drawing file without corrupting the survey data and points.   I have alot of experience in using the UCS commands from doing 3d models and renderings.  All the projects I work on are on mass state plane coordinate system.   This is how I set up my sheets and work on roadway projects.  

 

1. ucsfollow set to 0 (this will only rotate the crosshairs)

2. ucs 3 point (allows me to give an origin point x and a y to rotate the drawing)

3. when satisfied with the rotation I hit plan then the drawing rotates.  I use this method because it allows me to keep the drawing set up left to right.

4. when I need information pertaining to the survey I type ucs world and I can easily get station information or any other kind of data needed keeping the drawing left to right.

5. when done I type ucs view to align the crosshairs back to the way I had them so I can add text or dimensions.

 

Recently a new surveyor came to work at my company, he is sort of old school and informed me using Dview, the twist command is better and easier then the 5 steps above.  I have used dview in the past when doing 3d models to create perspectives.  I messed around alittle with this method and found it can be done but it's in my opinion a pain.

 

Does anyone have any experience in using these methods and can they suggest which one is better and easier to use or if as the surveyor stated to me is the industry standard.  I have worked with surveyors in the past and they all used the ucs way.

 

I am also a firm believer in using the UCS command to rotate my views so I can set up my sheets as required, but I have to ask you, do you use the UCS to rotate your view in model space, or through the viewport?

 

I never rotate my UCS in the model space specifically for the reason that you can get erroneous data if you try and list coordinates, but if you do your UCS procedure through an unlocked viewport in your layout space then your model space coordinates are unaffected.  You might counter, "but what if I want to read coordinates through my viewport?", and I will counter, "NEVER EVER DO THAT AGAIN!"  It's a poor practice as the layout space is purely set up for doing drafting, if you want coordinates, just click on the model tab and get them from the real source.

 

I was originally taught the DVIEW/Twist technique in college, but I found it lacked accuracy and was, as you put it, a pain to operate.  With the UCS/3 Point you have the option to define EXACTLY what direction to rotate your view in, and I love it.  It takes only a few seconds to draw a reference object to use for the rotation, and then I usually save the UCS as "Sheet x".  I also make a habit of resetting the UCS in the viewport to world when I'm done annotating, or, alternately, have you considered annotating in the paper space and using the CHSPACE command to push the objects through the viewport into your model space?

 

As far as the surveyor's claim that it is "industry standard", he's talking out of his you-know-what.  There is no standard, it is up to the end-user to decide what technique to use for themselves.