cjkjdesign Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 We have a property in the mountains of Colorado that we are trying to get a plot done for the building we are designing. The terrain is very hilly and has a huge rock outcropping right next to the building envelope. I have a PDF file of the elevation data and I have a DWG file from the surveyor with the elevation data on it. When I import the information first the terrain perimeter and then the elevation data and build the terrain, I get a mis-mash of everything but no terrain. I have tried tracing the elevation lines off of the PDF file and still no terrain. Help please...I either need someone to walk me through or I need to hire someone to do this part of our plan. We cannot really move forward with the plan until we have this information so that we can place the building in the right place for maximum views.A84MSE30TOPO.pdf CjKjDesign Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill_Emery Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Often a review in Google Earth Pro will help you site the house, as it will allow you to look at the big picture; not just your property. Using Chief I often trace over the contour lines to get my elevation lines, but in this case I might just convert the existing contours; just because there is so much of it. The caution is that there may be lines that are missed, or have spurious data. You can group select and convert to elevation lines; but you must then assign elevation to each line. You must have a terrain perimeter, and you must tell Chief to build the terrain. I will generally assign my zero elevation to where I think the house is going to be located; and then go plus or minus from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_Carrick Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Bill's suggestions are good - but the fewer elevation lines you have, the better. Using a general terrain model from a minimum number of lines and then adding "Terrain Modifiers and Features" usually works best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRAWZILLA Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 I believe Scott Hall has done some videos exactly on this. Go to his you-tube channel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GerryT Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 The survey data in the PDF does not include data for the curves such as start angle or CH angle, without which the plot can not be closed in Chief. I suspect the pdf was generated by a survey program which would interactively find these angles by trial. You should get that data from the surveyor as it is probably still in his instrument. The contours can be brought in directly from the dwg only if they are continuous 3D lines. Otherwise you can just select and convert to elevations in Chief. Attach the DWG???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjkjdesign Posted March 17, 2015 Author Share Posted March 17, 2015 I have the elevation data from the surveyor in a dwg file when I import the data it does not convert to the terrain...I have spent days on this issue, watching the videos, reading everything written on this situation...I am really frustrated. I tried to attach dwg file to this post and it said it wasn't allowed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GerryT Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 AS I pointed out, if the autocad dwg did not draw as 3D lines (i.e. z height) they will not import as elevations. Also sometimes the designer will use small line sections than block the same. There are many other scenarios so need to see the dwg. Generally you can select and convert them somehow. Just zip the dwg file and attach as a zip file. Also make sure your terrain origin and the dwg origin are the same otherwise the lines may be in the outfield. -- No solution for lack of surveyor.s data, You'll need to get the angles from him for the plot outline. Most local authorities require this data unless of course you run into a incompetent clerk , which, of course, almost never happens? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glennw Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 My Skype name is glenn-woodward. Give me a call if you want to do an online session - no charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattyt12 Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Often a review in Google Earth Pro will help you site the house, as it will allow you to look at the big picture; not just your property. Using Chief I often trace over the contour lines to get my elevation lines, but in this case I might just convert the existing contours; just because there is so much of it. The caution is that there may be lines that are missed, or have spurious data. You can group select and convert to elevation lines; but you must then assign elevation to each line. You must have a terrain perimeter, and you must tell Chief to build the terrain. I will generally assign my zero elevation to where I think the house is going to be located; and then go plus or minus from there. Hi Bill out of curiosity any particular reason not to use the true values for the elevation lines and assign the house zero in the pad elevation tab in the Terrain DBX? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glennw Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Hi Bill out of curiosity any particular reason not to use the true values for the elevation lines and assign the house zero in the pad elevation tab in the Terrain DBX? Mattyt12, If you do that, the floor will be way below the terrain at zero elevation. I always use real word heights for my terrain levels and then set the Pad Elevation at it's real world level. No converting, no calculating, no getting levels confused, etc. - the house relates correctly to the terrain. Thing of Pad Elevation as Chief's zero floor level and you can't go wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjkjdesign Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 Thank you all for your input..I've attached the zip drive of the dwg file... so I should use the real world elevations of 8672 - 8724 when labeling the contour lines if I can't download the date from the dwg file? How do I do the height of the rock because when I traced all of the contour lines none of it came up when I built the terrain. A84MSE30.zip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glennw Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 How do I do the height of the rock because when I traced all of the contour lines none of it came up when I built the terrain. You must have done something incorrectly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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