Feature Lines: Best Practices and Intuitive Site-Design Workflows

Site grading is a complicated task, and users are presented with a number of different options. Corridors are stable but require deep knowledge of the toolset; Grading Objects are easy to use but unstable. Feature Lines are a great option for site grading because they are simple enough to be used effectively by newer users and are very stable. However, poorly drawn Feature Lines leave designers with choppy surface contours, flat spots, and an urge to draw contours manually. In this class, we’ll review the fundamentals of Feature Lines and their interactions with surfaces. Students will be directed in workflows using the right Feature Line editing tool in the right situation. Students will then be shown how to best use the "Relative to Surface" feature (new in version 2018) and other examples of best practices for Feature Lines to optimize their designs. Finally, we’ll cover a workflow for creating dynamic, variable-depth datum surfaces for parking-lot grading.