Add contour labels

Any referenced datasets can be downloaded from "Module downloads" in the module overview.

Transcript

00:06

In this video, we're going to talk about adding contour labels to our existing ground surface.

00:12

So to get to the contour labels, we're going to go ahead and navigate up to the Annotate tab,

00:16

and dropdown our Labels dropdown and select Surfaces, Add Surface Labels.

00:20

Inside of this, we're going to dropdown our Label Type and select Contour - single.

00:26

Inside of this, we can select the types of labels we want to have for our major contours, our minor contours, and our user-defined contours.

00:35

I'm not going to create a new label style, but to create a new label style, it's the same as all the other label styles that we've created so far.

00:44

You can create new or you can edit a current selection.

00:46

When you're editing or creating a new one, you can jump through the Information tab, the General text tab,

00:52

the Layout tab where you add additional components, you can add text, line, block, direction arrow components.

00:59

You can create the contents of your labels based on the dropdown here of these options available to us.

01:08

And then you can initiate the dragged state and how it's going to display for the dragged state.

01:14

And then you can look at the summary of your text.

01:17

I'm going to go ahead and leave these as existing major, existing minor, and existing major for my major, minor, and user-defined contours.

01:24

And I'm going to go ahead and hit "Add" to add a single point source contour.

01:29

So what Civil 3D is telling me to do is select the surface that I want to place these labels onto.

01:33

I wanted to place them on my EG surface.

01:37

So I'm going to zoom in to where we've placed these other labels.

01:40

And I'm going to pick a point on a contour and then what Civil 3D does is it places a single label contour at that location.

01:51

Now I can dropdown and look at contour multiple,

01:54

I again get to choose my major, minor, and user-defined contour label styles and then I click "Add".

02:00

I hit "Enter" to select the type of surface I want to put it on.

02:04

I want to put it on the EG surface and I'll click "OK".

02:07

And then Civil 3D tells me to specify my first point.

02:10

So what I'm going to go ahead and do is I'm going to start here below the 184 and I'm going to drag a line.

02:17

So I clicked and dragged the line all the way down to below this green contour line.

02:23

So then I'm going to click again and what Civil 3D does is it will allow me to continue along like a polyline,

02:30

or I can hit "Enter" to escape from that command.

02:33

So what this does is it draws a line or a polyline,

02:36

and then every time that polyline intersects the contour, it shows a label of what that contour elevation is.

02:44

So what you can do if you want to is modify this line and drag it, however you'd like.

02:49

So you can keep it down here, I could drag the top end up further.

02:55

And you can use this as a nice way to stack all your contours together.

03:02

And then in your surface feature settings, you can actually change your settings to make this line disappear if you don't want that line to display.

03:11

So I'm going to go ahead and dropdown and select contour - multiple interval.

03:17

And again, we can select our major, minor, and user-defined contour label styles.

03:22

I'm going to go ahead and click "Add".

03:25

And then what Civil 3D again is going to do is it's going to ask me to choose the surface that I want to place them on.

03:30

I'm going to select EG and click "OK".

03:32

And then Civil 3D is going to say pick first point, just like we did on our multiple contours.

03:37

And so I'm going to pick and then I'm going to drag a line down and pick again.

03:43

And what Civil 3D is now going to tell me is, what interval do you want to place additional labels along these contours you've picked a line across?

03:52

And so you can choose any interval you want.

03:54

I'm going to choose an interval of 150 feet.

03:57

So what Civil 3D is going to do is it's going to run along those contours that I dropped a line across.

04:01

At every 150 feet, it's going to place a label on that contour.

04:07

And so when I do that, you can see I now have a multiple label contour label coming down here.

04:15

And then I have individual label contours coming through here.

04:19

And the one thing to note is that Civil 3D really only creates one label style for a contour.

04:27

It's just how it implements those labels, because if you look at your single contour label, you'll notice that if I zoom in really close,

04:36

I have these three snap points or grips, if I click on one of these grips, it functions just like my multiple contour.

04:45

And I can drag it down here and it now is no different than the other two multiple contour labels that I have for the rest of them.

04:54

And the same thing with all of these interval ones that were placed.

04:58

They also have a grip that's available to be edited and dragged so that you can create multiple contours from a single line.

Video transcript

00:06

In this video, we're going to talk about adding contour labels to our existing ground surface.

00:12

So to get to the contour labels, we're going to go ahead and navigate up to the Annotate tab,

00:16

and dropdown our Labels dropdown and select Surfaces, Add Surface Labels.

00:20

Inside of this, we're going to dropdown our Label Type and select Contour - single.

00:26

Inside of this, we can select the types of labels we want to have for our major contours, our minor contours, and our user-defined contours.

00:35

I'm not going to create a new label style, but to create a new label style, it's the same as all the other label styles that we've created so far.

00:44

You can create new or you can edit a current selection.

00:46

When you're editing or creating a new one, you can jump through the Information tab, the General text tab,

00:52

the Layout tab where you add additional components, you can add text, line, block, direction arrow components.

00:59

You can create the contents of your labels based on the dropdown here of these options available to us.

01:08

And then you can initiate the dragged state and how it's going to display for the dragged state.

01:14

And then you can look at the summary of your text.

01:17

I'm going to go ahead and leave these as existing major, existing minor, and existing major for my major, minor, and user-defined contours.

01:24

And I'm going to go ahead and hit "Add" to add a single point source contour.

01:29

So what Civil 3D is telling me to do is select the surface that I want to place these labels onto.

01:33

I wanted to place them on my EG surface.

01:37

So I'm going to zoom in to where we've placed these other labels.

01:40

And I'm going to pick a point on a contour and then what Civil 3D does is it places a single label contour at that location.

01:51

Now I can dropdown and look at contour multiple,

01:54

I again get to choose my major, minor, and user-defined contour label styles and then I click "Add".

02:00

I hit "Enter" to select the type of surface I want to put it on.

02:04

I want to put it on the EG surface and I'll click "OK".

02:07

And then Civil 3D tells me to specify my first point.

02:10

So what I'm going to go ahead and do is I'm going to start here below the 184 and I'm going to drag a line.

02:17

So I clicked and dragged the line all the way down to below this green contour line.

02:23

So then I'm going to click again and what Civil 3D does is it will allow me to continue along like a polyline,

02:30

or I can hit "Enter" to escape from that command.

02:33

So what this does is it draws a line or a polyline,

02:36

and then every time that polyline intersects the contour, it shows a label of what that contour elevation is.

02:44

So what you can do if you want to is modify this line and drag it, however you'd like.

02:49

So you can keep it down here, I could drag the top end up further.

02:55

And you can use this as a nice way to stack all your contours together.

03:02

And then in your surface feature settings, you can actually change your settings to make this line disappear if you don't want that line to display.

03:11

So I'm going to go ahead and dropdown and select contour - multiple interval.

03:17

And again, we can select our major, minor, and user-defined contour label styles.

03:22

I'm going to go ahead and click "Add".

03:25

And then what Civil 3D again is going to do is it's going to ask me to choose the surface that I want to place them on.

03:30

I'm going to select EG and click "OK".

03:32

And then Civil 3D is going to say pick first point, just like we did on our multiple contours.

03:37

And so I'm going to pick and then I'm going to drag a line down and pick again.

03:43

And what Civil 3D is now going to tell me is, what interval do you want to place additional labels along these contours you've picked a line across?

03:52

And so you can choose any interval you want.

03:54

I'm going to choose an interval of 150 feet.

03:57

So what Civil 3D is going to do is it's going to run along those contours that I dropped a line across.

04:01

At every 150 feet, it's going to place a label on that contour.

04:07

And so when I do that, you can see I now have a multiple label contour label coming down here.

04:15

And then I have individual label contours coming through here.

04:19

And the one thing to note is that Civil 3D really only creates one label style for a contour.

04:27

It's just how it implements those labels, because if you look at your single contour label, you'll notice that if I zoom in really close,

04:36

I have these three snap points or grips, if I click on one of these grips, it functions just like my multiple contour.

04:45

And I can drag it down here and it now is no different than the other two multiple contour labels that I have for the rest of them.

04:54

And the same thing with all of these interval ones that were placed.

04:58

They also have a grip that's available to be edited and dragged so that you can create multiple contours from a single line.

Video quiz

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Add contour labels

Video quiz

When using the Contour - multiple at interval surface label type, where are additional contour labels placed?

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When using the Contour - multiple at interval surface label type, where are additional contour labels placed?

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Improve your experience – allows us to show you what is relevant to you

Customize your advertising – permits us to offer targeted advertising to you

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Your experience. Your choice.