Mickey:
One method to extract this information from the mesh and apply to the 2D view is:
1. Set your 3D Window Settings to Internal Engine, Hidden Line
2. Set your Parallel Projection Settings to Top View, Azimuth = 270˚
3. With the mesh selected, right-click and select Show Selection/Marquee in 3D (so only the mesh appears in the 3D Window).
4. Set your 3D Cutting Planes: In the “Z” box, enter the height of the contour, click the “Z” icon to lock it, then draw the Z Cutting Plane in the window above, click above the line to remove all above, set the Fill Material & Edge of Pen Cuts to Custom, and set the pen number for a unique pen (this will help in seeing and selecting the lines).
5. Activate 3D Cutaway
6. Go to the 3D Window, your mesh will be cut at the contour height, the cut line will be the pen previously selected
* (see later post below)
7. Select the Marquee Tool, flat marquee option, select the area around the contour line and copy
8. In the Copy dialog box that appears, select Scaled Drawing, Edges, and Remove Redundant Lines
9. Go to the 2D Window and Paste, the contour lines will come in over the mesh matching their position from the 3D Window
10. Repeat steps 4 to 9 for each contour level
Yes, this is not very automatic, but will give an accurate contour map of the mesh. I don’t know if using Solid Element Operations instead of the 3D Cutting Planes is easier. It would be good to have a contour display option in 2D for the Mesh Tool (would need to be able to set the contour interval, Reference Level, line pen and line type for this to be useful).
David