I’ve posted here before about using expressions to modify how a label component offsets. In the upcoming 2009 release one of my favorite new features is the Drawing Scale Conversion in expressions.
The Drawing Scale Conversion is the scale of the drawing in Model Space or the scale of the viewport in Paperspace. Previously if you wanted to adjust a value by the viewport scale in an expression you had to create a style for each scale or enter the scale conversion manually when the scale change. In 2009 the Drawing Conversion Scale will automate the task.
Another possible use of the Drawing Conversion Scale would be to make a block a constant size, regardless of the viewport scale. Or use an if then statement in the expression to vary the text height based on the viewport scale. This way a label could be one size for scales 1"=20′ to 1"=50′ and another text size for larger scales.
This is absolutely fantastic. I have been so annoyed by adding multiple labels to objects. I wonder if this will speed up regen and changing layouts?
(Umm, excuse my ignorance, but isn’t this basically annotative scaling?)
The way Civil 3D labels work is basically annotative scaling, with less control. The Drawing Conversion Scale gives you another way to modify and control the labels. This gives you the option to turn off the annotative scaling in a Civil 3D label, which you really couldn’t do before without creating styles for each scale you wanted to show. It potentially solves the reality that Dana talks about in this post: http://www.civil3d.com/2006/08/the-miracle-and-reality-of-civil-3d-label-text-sizing/ (I originally wanted to include a link to a post like this, but couldn’t find it at the time).
Dana,
Would you happen to have a sample of how to use this with the different scales? I would like to set up our contour labels to plot at one height at 50 scale and another height at 100 or 200 scale. I can’t find any info on it in the help files.
Jason, you make me feel like Rodney Dangerfield, “I don’t get no respect.”
Sorry about that, I didn’t even look at who posted it and I was just thinking it was Dana. I happen to have the 2009 version so I was trying to figure it out the easy way without spinning my wheels on it for an hour.
This made me smile. 🙂 Luv ya, Christopher!
Jason here is a link to the sample you requested:
http://civil-3d.blogspot.com/2008/03/drawing-conversion-scale-example.html