display order for topographic slabs.

[darren petrucci]

I have just completed a 3d model of a hill by layering a series of slabs that follow a topographic survey. unfortunately i built the model from the top down and now i cannot read the topo lines in the 2D space. The 3D model is correct, but the bottom layer of the model is reading at the top in 2D and covering all of the other 50 layers of topo. The Display Order command will only let me move a few adjacent layers at a time.

Is there a way to change the Display order for 50 layers or reverse the default display order?

please help,

d

[vistasp]

Welcome to the forum, Darren.

Is there any reason you are using slabs for the terrain and not a mesh? Have a look at what your options are with the latter:

http://tinyurl.com/ne2lvc9

[David Shorter]

Vistasp is correct. Use the mesh tool.
However you can get over your immediate problem by removing the cover fill on your slabs. Then you will see all of them.
Hope this helps.

[darren petrucci]

Thank you. i was able to reverse the sequence by cutting and pasting each layer into a new model. I know its not the best, but i not as confident with the mesh tool. i will be modifying the terrain as i design the project and slabs seem to be the easiest for me.

thanks for the tip.

d

[Anonymous]

If you are going to stick with slabs, the easiest way would have been to turn off cover fills for all slabs (as David suggested) except the lowest, and send that to the back in display order.

But do look into the mesh tool in future.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Another vote for the mesh, of course...

But, another workaround if you're otherwise happy with the slabs as they are at the moment is to select all of the slabs and right-click to convert them to morphs. Then, with all of the morph-slabs selected (undo-redo), right-click and Boolean Union them - to create a single morph. All of the contour lines will now show if the morph floor plan display is set to outlines only.

If you have to adjust the slab sizes now that the mass is a single Morph, just use the push-pull pet palette option on slab edges.

In the future, the mesh really isn't that challenging... if the original survey contours are not continuous, you'll trace over them with linework that you later magic wand into mesh contours and elevate.

The mesh will of course be smooth like reality.. and your slab approach will look like a cardboard model... and the cardboard look might have been what you were after anyway...