Transparent Hatches

Hey folks! It has been a while again. I have been traveling quite a bit as of late and haven't taken the opportunity to write. I wanted to share something that I came across yesterday morning. I was trolling the Autodesk Civil 3D website and downloaded Luy Kuhn's "Tips and Tricks" webcast. While watching the webcast a support call came to mind. I received a call some time ago about creating transparent hatches. A customer had an aerial photograph that he had referenced into a drawing and was wanting to put some solid color fills in certain areas for a presentation he was doing. The problem was that the solid fill hatches came out as solid color blobs on his plot. Definitely not what he was looking for. We tried various things to get it to work to no avail. We finally gave up and decided that it couldn't be done very easily.

Well, have I got something for you! As I said I had been watching the webcast and Lucy decided to show how to create a transparent hatch. The method involves using the shrinkwrap command to create a closed polyline around a hatch pattern. Then the pattern is erased and the shapes are exported as SDF data. Using FDO Connect in Map 3D the data was queried into the drawing and a theme was applied to it. In Map 3D you can change the transparency of a theme by moving a slider bar! It was definitely easier than anything I had seen or tried.

If you want to see a clip of Lucy creating these transparent hatches peruse over to the Autodesk Civil 3D website and click on the Civil 3D Resource Center Link. You will have to register to view the content, but I think it will be worth it. There are other short vids of Lucy showing different functionalities of Civil 3D. A lot of information can be found there. Take a look when you get a chance!

Getting Started

Well, this is it! My first attempt at blogging has begun. I know that you can read my profile to the left, but I want to tell you a litlle more about myself.

I am a graduate of the University of Alabama In Huntsville with a degree in civil engineering. I have been using AutoCAD products since the early 1990's. I am a Registered Professional Engineer in Alabama and Tennessee and have nearly 15 years experience in the "REAL WORLD." I have designed roadways, subdivisions and large and small commercial sites. I have always embraced technology and lived by the mantra of "work smarter, not harder." So, with that said I joined the staff at ALACAD in March of this year as an Applications Engineer specializing in Civil 3D. Now I have the opportunity to share what I have learned in using AutoCAD Civil 3D in a production setting.

Keep checking back as I plan to blog frequently, especially if I find a tidbit of info that I think is post-worthy.