Maybe it was the redeye this AM, but this caught me by surprise.  I mean I know about the “Replace Z Value With Current Elevation” Button, but I just never thought that moving a Civil 3D Point to the endpoint of a line would change its elevation.

I know I can’t be the only person out there who didn’t realize I could be changing the elevation of points (potentially points that were brought in from an outside surveyor or otherwise)

 

 

And remember, this isn’t just points.  You could use this with any AutoCAD object, or Civil 3D feature lines, etc.  (That much was second nature, it was the whole point thing that messed with my head)

Once I realized what was going on, I think this is actually pretty neat- but remember- with great power comes great responsibility.

In case you are unfamiliar with this button, here is where to find it:

If this button appears to be “popped out” or unpressed it means that when you snap to an object, or inquiry an object (like the distance command) that has a Z value, Civil 3D will replace your current Z with the Z of the object.  It will “inherit” the Z.

If this button appears to be “popped in” or pressed, it means Civil 3D will ignore Z elevations

This seems backwards to me, but that’s cool.  Whatever works.

 I have a polyline with a Z of 20′, and several test points.  With the button “popped out” my point takes on the elevation of the polyline when endpoint osnap is used.

 

 

Takes the new Z

“Pop In” That button to keep the old Z when moving. 

 In my case, I was moving surveyed house service sanitary inverts and snapping them to “nearest” a house.

Ouch- if I hadn’t noticed that one, there would be some toilets in PA that would never quite flush right.