Why is there an Attach to Surface button?

Issue:

In the ribbon menu "Keysoft BIM 3D" there are items to attach and detach from the surface.

But markings and other 3D items are automatically draped onto the civil surface, so why is this button needed?

Solution/Explanation:

This button isn't needed as part of a normal workflow, but it provided to help in certain situations.

 

Yes, markings and 3D objects will normally attach to the surface automatically so you don't need to use this button every time you draw a marking.

 

There are two situations when you will need to use the button

  1. If you are opening an older drawing that was done BEFORE 3D draping was available.  Just opening an old drawing won't change what you have previously drawn, so in order to make these marking now drape onto a Civil surface you will need to use this button.
  2. If you draw markings in plain AutoCAD, then they will not be draped on a surface. You will need to use Civil AutoCAD and have a Civil surface present in the drawing. Therefore if you draw a marking in plain AutoCAD, then pass it to someone else who does use Civil and has a surface then they would need to use this button to make the 'flat' markings drawn previously to now become draped onto the surface.

 

This button can also be useful if there are a number of markings you want to move from one surface to another without having to double click each one individually.