Use the Cutting Plane View command to create a profile view (cutting plane view) based on a specified 2D plane that allows you to "cut through" a point cloud, surface, 3D shell (for example, a pipe or cylinder), or SketchUp model for data viewing and capturing purposes. When using the Cutting Plane View command, you can specify the cutting plane's thickness to hide or show points as necessary to obtain the most optimal profile view. You can use the Cutting Plane View to create CAD line work right on the view (for example, linework tracing features on a building facade) that can be printed as a dynaview in a sheet set and/or exported to other applications via various CAD exporters.

Following are the basic steps for this workflow. For more detailed instructions, see Cutting Plane View.

Steps:

Commands:

1.

If it is not already displayed, display the 3D View.

3D View

2.

Select to display the Cutting Plane View tab, which typically opens directly beneath the 3D View tab.

Cutting Plane View

3.

In the Plane drop-down list, select the plane or plane set you want to use to define the orientation and position of the cutting plane view you will create, or select <New...> to create a new plane or subplane.

Plane Manager

4.

To toggle between viewing just the points intersecting the selected cutting plane and all of the points displayed from the perspective of the cutting plane, check and uncheck the Apply cutting plane check box.

5.

If applicable, optionally check the Show surface-plane intersection check box to display a visual indicator of where the cutting plane intersects with a surface.

6..

Optionally, do any of the following to move the cutting plane to a new position along its linear path or axis path (depending on the plane type), updating the Cutting Plane View as it moves:

• Use the slider control located at the bottom of the tab to move the cutting plane to any position along its path.
• Select the cutting plane in the 3D View to activate its handle, which you can then use to drag the cutting plane to any position along its path.
• Enter a new station in the Current field, which is located to the immediate left of the slider control, to move the cutting plane to that position along its path.

This allows you to either (1) offset the cutting plane from the original position for temporary visualization purposes or (2) create a new subplane at the new position.

7.

To add a new subplane based on the selected plane at the currently selected station, click the Add button (+)located to the right of the navigation arrows.

8.

If you have selected a plane set in the Plane drop-down list, optionally do any of the following:

• Click the Slider options button located to the immediate right of the slider control and select Use subplanes. This causes a tick-mark to display along the bottom of the slider control at the station for each subplane in the selected plane set. As you move the slider to move the cutting plane, it will snap to a subplane station when you are near it. You can also use the two arrow buttons to move the cutting plane from one subplane station to another.
• To specify the start and end station for that part of the path you want to include in the Cutting Plane View when using the slider control, click the Slider options button located to the immediate right of the slider control and select Set slider limits.

9.

Optionally, use the various CAD and drafting commands in TBC to create and edit CAD objects on the Cutting Plane View tab that display, as applicable, in the various graphic views.

You can also use the Measure Distance, Measure Point, and Measure Angle commands to make measurements on the plane.

You can create a dynaview on the Cutting Plane View tab, allowing you to display the CAD objects in a dynaview frame in the Plan View or insert the dynaview frame into a a sheet view that can be printed as part of a plan set. Or you can export a view to a DWG or DXF file. For more information, see Create a Dynaview.

Measure Distance

Measure Point

Measure Angle

Create Dynaview

To copy geometry out of a Cutting Plane View and paste it into a Plan View:

1.

Select the lines, arcs, circles, ellipses, polylines, 3D polylines, text/mtext, or points in the Cutting Plane View.

2.

Right-click, then select Copy to copy them.

3.

Switch to a Plan View and right-click > Paste to add the copied data to the Plan View.

TBC automatically lays the copied geometry flat and rotates/positions it so it looks just like it did on the tilted cutting plane. No manual rotation is required.

The pasted objects are automatically selected when you paste them. The view zooms to show them, so you can immediately begin drafting (adding dimensions, labels, etc.).

Only what was visible inside the Cutting Plane slice is copied; objects that are not part of the slice will not be copied or pasted.