Out of Plane Message

Would you be able to provide details regarding the version of MicroStation you are using. Also, is the design file you are working in 2D or 3D? Maybe you could supply an example design file and a couple of screen captures showing the workflow and elements used.

Hi Andrew,

This is occurring on a few different versions of Powercivil and PowerDraft V8i 08.11.09.459.  The files in question are 3d but the elements on which we're experiencing issues have a "0" z coordinate.

We thought we had it narrowed down to attaching a particular reference file but I'm still having the same issue.  I'll attempt to post the file.

Thanks,

V8-septic sketch 9-13-16 NE.dgnMatt

Hi Matt!

I am a MicroStation user.
1st. The Aux. Coordinate System in the file is a bit odd, but I am not sure if this is intentional. Go to Utilities > Auxiliary Coordinates and you can see the offset. Right click on the top one, and in the options given, Reset to Global = 0.00 offsets.
2nd. The file has graphics at several elevations. Again I don't know if this is intentional. Most is at Elev. 0, but there are elements are at elevations 454.02, -92310527.99, & -61540351.99.
3rd. You have 2 lines going between planes (thru space). Again I don't know if this is intentional.
Bring up a Front View, ("vi=front and select the view) then do a Fit. It will zoom way out to show all the elements. (they may look like dots because of the distances)
Your problem is that the element you are trying to be parallel to, is in a different plane/direction thru space.

Hi George,

This is what I thought was happening so setting all of the drawn elements to a "Z" of 0 fixed the issue. Since this project was set up we went to a 2D/3D reference file system and have not experienced the same error since.

Should our Aux. Coords. be set to 0, 0, 0 in every project?

Thanks for your help!

Hi Matt!
I would think it should be set to Global (all 0,0,0 zeros) unless you are using the Auxiliary Coordinate System.
In addition to moving the Graphics to zero elevation, you should check that the Active Z for each view is also set to zero.
Verify that your seed file is set to default values also.
If you are working on a flat plain where everything is at 0, is there a reason to be in a 3D model? Just think about it!

Hi Matt!
I would think it should be set to Global (all 0,0,0 zeros) unless you are using the Auxiliary Coordinate System.
In addition to moving the Graphics to zero elevation, you should check that the Active Z for each view is also set to zero.
Verify that your seed file is set to default values also.
If you are working on a flat plain where everything is at 0, is there a reason to be in a 3D model? Just think about it!

Hi George,

This helped. For years we've been fighting active depth issues so we recently started using 2d files vs 3d. This project happened to start a few years ago when we were still using 3d files and it was given to a new microstation user, not familiar with active depth and planes.

We're in the process of flattening each of the files to eliminate errors caused by "Z".

Thanks,

Matt