Share surface data using data shortcuts

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Now in prospector, right, click on data shortcuts

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and choose set working folder

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in the dialogue, select civil 3d projects as the working folder.

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This is the folder that our projects are stored in

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click select folder,

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right? Click on data shortcuts again and choose set data shortcut project folder.

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Select the Iowa City 0 to 10 project and click. OK.

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Right. Click on data shortcuts again and choose create data shortcuts

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in the create data shortcuts, dialogue, select existing ground and then click OK.

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Now save the drawing.

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We're now going to create a new design model for our road design and we'll

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bring in the existing ground surface so that we can base our design on it.

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Create a new drawing

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use save as and save your new drawing in the 04

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design models folder in the project and name it road design

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in prospector ensure the data shortcuts are expanded,

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expand the surfaces collection under data shortcuts,

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select the existing ground surface, right click and choose create reference

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in the crate surface reference,

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dialogue set the star to contours 1 ft and 5 ft background

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and click OK.

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In the drawing, you zoom extents to see the reference to surface.

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Now save the drawing,

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switch back to the

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surface drawing

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slip, the boundary polyline and drag it out using the grips as shown.

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Save the drawing,

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switch back to the road design drawing.

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You should see a balloon notification informing you

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that the data shortcut definitions may have changed.

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Click on synchronize in the notification.

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Close the event viewer. If it's displayed,

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this might be called up and is displaying warnings

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about brake lines in the surface which we can ignore

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the surface will rebuild and display the latest version.

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Finally,

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I'm going to show you a different type of surface

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boundary which you can use when importing very large surfaces.

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In this example, I have the surface that was generated from ad file.

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I can add an outer boundary to the surface and reduce its size in the model.

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I'll save the drawing so that I can compare it later.

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I've deleted the outer boundary and I'm also going

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to delete the de file from the surface.

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Now, I'm going to add a new boundary to my empty surface.

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This time, I'm going to set it to a data clip boundary.

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This type of boundary needs to be created before populating the

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surface as it will be applied when data is added.

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Now I'll add the dem file again and save the drawing with a different name.

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When I compare the sizes of the drawing files,

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you can see that the model with the data clip boundary

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is significantly smaller than the model with the outer boundary.

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This is because the data clip acts when data is imported

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and will ignore any information that's outside the boundary.

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The advantage is clear,

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no data in the drawing that we don't need

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and a smaller model file

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that will improve performance.