Compute contour lines

Compute contour lines of a surface consisting of 3dface entities.

Access methods

8 Toolbar:

8 Menu: ComputationalCAD † Compute contour lines

7 Command entry: CC:FACES:CONTOUR

Dialog

Select faces:
Select the 3dfaces defining the surface

Specify reference plane [Wcs/Ucs/3Point]:
Specify the plane to refer the elevation.
<Wcs>:          The elevation refers to the z-axis of the global coordinate system. (default)
<Ucs>:          The elevation refers to the z-axis of the UCS coordinate system.
<3Point>:       The elevation refers to the z-axis of a user defined coordinate system

Specify start elevation:
Enter the start elevation. The elevation refers to the z-axis of the reference plane specified above. Expects any numeric value. Default is <0>.

Specify end elevation:
Enter the start elevation. The elevation refers to the z-axis of the reference plane specified above. Expects any numeric value. Default is <0>.

Specify spacing:
Specify the spacing between two contour lines. The spacing refers to the z-axis of the reference plane specified above. Expects a positive, non-zero value. Default is <1>.

Insert on layer [Current/by Face/by Elevation/by Index]:
Specify on which layer the contour lines shall be inserted.
<Current>:     The contour lines will be inserted on the current layer.
<by Face>:    The contour lines will be inserted on the layer of the respective face.
<by Elevation>:            The contour lines will be inserted on a layer with the layer name containing the elevation of the contour line. The layer will be
                     created it if it does not exist. (default) Following dialog is displayed:
<by Index>:   The contour lines will be inserted on a layer with the layer name containing the index of the contour line, starting from 1. 
                     The layer will be created it if it does not exist. Following dialog is displayed:

           Specify prefix string
                     Specify the prefix of the layer name if <by Elevation> or <by Index> has been selected. Default is ‘Contour_line_’.

Summary

The contour lines will be inserted as AutoCAD 3d polyline entities. Regardless of the selected layer insertion method, the color of a segment is always set to the color of the respective face. The contour lines are computed in planes parallel to the specified reference plane.

Example

Figure 20: App. 180k contour lines in 2045 polylines computed from app. 107k faces.

Command line prompt:

Failed intersections     : 0

Degenerate intersections : 0

Total number of segments : 180439

Total number of polylines: 2045