Are there plans to add Top and Bottom Meshes to Surface Templates?
Are there plans to add Alternate Surfaces to Surface Templates?
As users are setting up ORD for production. It would be beneficial to know if Bentley was planning on supporting the creation of Top/Bottom Meshes and Alternate Surfaces from Surface Templates. Currently, the only problem with Surface Templates is creating the base and subgrade surfaces. Only one method seems to work, selecting the linear features from a graphical filter.
I, like many users, model using a combination of corridors, linear templates, terrains and surface templates. But if Top/Bottom Meshes and Alternate Surfaces only work for corridors and linear templates, why use them? It is tough to model most roadway projects with just corridors alone. Surface Templates seem to fill in a lot of gaps where corridor modeling becomes difficult. I see a lot of confusion out there on how to create sub surfaces. It would be nice to know if using linear features with graphical filters is the way forward or are Top/Bottom Meshes and Alternate surfaces a future enhancement with surface templates.
Thanks
When creating templates, you assign what mesh the section populates. Then in the Design stage you define if top and/or bottom is created. I assume you are trying to create the Surface Terrains? Using the Surface Terrain tools you can create surface terrains from the top and bottom and as a special option, create a terrain from the alternate surfaces. I hope this helps.
Yeah, I would like to be able to create terrains from the top and bottom mesh. But Surface Templates don't have the option to create Top and Bottom mesh in the design stage or feature definition settings. Also create terrain from Alternative surfaces doesn't seem to work with surface templates.
Thanks for the reply :-)
Any further developments on this? I'm looking to do the same - get a bottom mesh from a surface template. Thanks!
Brian or Zane if you have a solution or work around for this please share. I'm in a similar dilemma.
I quit using the top and bottom meshes from corridors. Bottom meshes have a flaw where the mesh will create a vertical face at the edge of a template. Bentley has a new tool in ORD which creates a terrain from components , either draping from the bottom up or from the top down. Does not seem to work as advertised. I tried it on a project which had multiple corridors, but finally gave up.
I create my top and bottom meshes in the templates now. This seems to be the best way to control finish grade and subgrade surfaces. By drawing the meshes, I can make sure there are no vertical faces when the meshes get converted into a terrain. For Surface Templates, I add a top mesh and bottom mesh component to the templates as a thin closed shape. Making the depth at 0.001' and the points on a DNC feature. Then I create a graphical filter to select the mesh and create a terrain.
Regards,
Zane Pratt
Civil Designer