How to view 3D vertical sections from exactly side on

Question

Bit of a strange one: I have some 3D polylines created by cutting vertical sections through a topography mesh. When I open them in Microstation (or any other modelling or drafting package) they appear in top-down view, and look like a single straight line. If I rotate them or select a preset front / side view the detail in the section appears. However as the sections are orientated in a number of different angle (when viewed in plan), none of the preset view buttons (front, back, left, right) allow for the section to be viewed from the side, exactly side-on.
My question is: does anyone know of a way I can repeatably orientate my view so that I am looking at these different sections from exactly side-on?

Ron Jones · Accepted Answer

Hi David, 
 Try following these steps: 
 
 Rotate view to Top orientation 
 Activate ACS Plane Snap 
 Select Rotate View with Method: 3 Points 
 Snap to and data point the 1st end point of the section 
 S nap to and data point the 2nd end point of the section 
 Data point away from the section ( The section should now appear as a horizontal line) 
 Open the View Rotation dialog from the view toolbar (this tool is hidden by default) 
 Set the Step: value to 45 and hit Enter 
 Click on the minus X arrow twice to rotate the cube 90&deg; and click Apply to rotate the view to match the cube 
 The view should now be exactly side-on / perpendicular to the section 
 
 This short video illustrates this method. 
 
 You could set the Step value to 90 to eliminate one mouse click, but I like using 45 so I can better understand which way the cube is actually rotating with each click. 
 NOTE: 
 Be sure to De-activate ACS Plane Snap when you are finished. 
 Regards, Ron

Jayson Perry · Answer

Hi David, It sounds like you could benefit from using Saved Views in MicroStation CONNECT. You can orient your 3D model to the desired state, then click Create Saved View (Drawing Workflow>View tab>Saved Views Ribbon Group>Create Saved View) 
 Here are some tool settings I would recommend for the Create Saved View tool. This would create a general saved view from the View Window. 
 Left click in the view window that displays your desired view. A saved view will be created and can be recalled anytime by selecting Apply Saved View: 
 Once the Saved View is created, it can be applied to any view later on, so if you are working on another face, you can easily revert the view back to the Saved View to get back to the desired face. Here is the online help documentation on Saved Views: https://docs.bentley.com/LiveContent/web/MicroStation%20Help-v20/en/GUID-3B409467-D5A9-8E36-B0F4-05975A209419.html 
 Also, this video on our Bentley MicroStation Youtube channel is worth a watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOuyBBXf5R0&ab_channel=BentleyMicroStation 
 HTH, Jayson P.

mlm · Answer

Sounds like you need to save several ACSs, one for each section. (Try "by Points") 
 
 One has to "Define ACS" first an then use the first icon to "Create a new ACS" - maybe the thinking is that you rather often define ACSs on the fly and Save/Create them only sometimes 
 Then make sure that the ACS Plane Lock is on. 
 
 When you then use View Rotateion:Top View the view orientation is to the XY of the current ACS (good for slopes as well) 
 Switch on the "ACS Triad" to see the current ACS Orientation 
 
 And remember to "Save Settings" ... 
 
 To activate any of the "Created" ACS you just have to doubleclick or select it via

Now to view your vertical section [activate AccuDraw with "O"] press "F" (Front) and then "RV" to get the view rotated along the current ACS X/Z-Plane (or you use the Rotate View)

How to view 3D vertical sections from exactly side on

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