Create contours from survey data?

[. .]

Hi i just wonder how someone would go about creating contours using existing survey data in a CAD file.
I know how to create a polyline obviously...i suppose what i'm asking: is there a rhyme or reason or method to employ when using survey data like that contained within the cad file attached?
What you you personally do, to get contours from this information?

[paul rodham]

well, the fact that most of the contours aren't drawn yet means you have to draw your own based on the data provided.

the data is all 2D, but the few contours that are drawn are at the correct elevations (3D). did you draw those ?

basically draw your own polyline paths and then move them in the Z axis to their correct elevation (it is actually a pretty level site, isn't it ?).

after that you can loft them into a solid terrain base, or use rulesurf/edgesurf for a surface mesh......depends what you want to do with the project in terms of visualization.

hope that helps

paul

[Martin Norris]

What I did when I needed it wast to draw splines in autocad, and latter, elevated then to the corresponding height, copy the spline and adjust it either editing the splines vertices or hight, latter, exporting to max each one of this splines as a layer, and using a terrain modifier or a nurbs surface, that usaulli gave me the resultas I needed.
Good luck,
Martin

[paul rodham]

good point - if you have MAX/VIZ and are planning on using it for the project, it is easier to create the terrain there, rather than autocad.

i just assumed you wanted an autocad solution since that is where you posted.

you can still draw the contours in autocad and link/import to VIZ/MAX

[Claudio Branch]

is there a rhyme or reason or method to employ when using survey data like that contained within the cad file attached?..to get contours from this information?

Typically,

I receive survey data that has been formatted into a point file or into 3d contours. I take that data and triangulate it into a TIN for my terrain geometry. I do all of my terrain modeling (roads, parking lots, bodies of water) in AutoCAD and then finish it up in Max.

[. .]

sorry i should clarify, i'm just asking about creating the contours.
I'll use MAX or Sketchup to generate the actual polys.

I suppose my difficulty is the scattered nature of these elevation points within that CAD file.
Contours don't look scatter-gun like that, so i suppose i must figure out a logic to drawing contours that resemble...well contours lines.

[Greg LaCle]

I have done this many times as well. I pay my surveying company to generate the contours for me, he uses a program called Surfer and the programs creates nice contours. Then when I get the CAD file I make sure I make all the contours a polyline and I import these into MAX on same scale and unit settings. In Max I generate the Terrain and then I export this to 3ds or DXF, and re-import back to CAD. For visualization something I import to sketchup to visualize the building on the topography of the property. There's also a very cool plugin for AutoDesk Architecture or Cad that is called Terrain which will generate the topography based on points.

Kind Regards,

Greg Lacle

[. .]

Terrain plugin for CAD seems nice and quick.
To create a mesh at least.
And Surfer looks fantastic generally, but very expensive.

Are there any other quick and easy plugsins or programs that will interpret survey data in CAD and generate contours easily and effortlessly?

[narendra kumar]

i want producere to convert levels in auto cad. given the brief data

[sam ah]

Mr. Kumar You can use auto-it to create a command script ..its like creating a software to overlap other software..autoit style + you need uploading of layers of data of same height 1 by one --use auto-it script to select their location 1 after another under polyline function ..once you complete the 1st contour whatever copmmand (next height contour)--you can create a loop too. to completely automate the process.