Dynamic Blocks – Crop Rows

I’m going to be doing a longer post on using Civil 3D for farming sometime this week or next. I thought I’d start out with creating a dynamic block to help layout the rows of crops. Laying out the rows of crops before hand is important to maximize the plantable land and make sure the water flows in the correct location in relation to the existing contours.

To start creating the dynamic block, type BEDIT at the command line give the block a name.

This will open up the block editor. To start create a polyline which will provide the spacing for the blocks. If I remember correctly 400 feet long rows are preferred, which will be the length of the polyline that I’ll add. Next use the Linear Array Parameter Set to create an array. Next double click on the Array lightning bolt to select the items in the set that will be arrayed. Then select the line first created. Now adjust the array width using the properties window. Now exit out and insert the block. The block should be selectable to array the line the distance we want. Once the rows are in place the block may be exploded to get the individual lines and then trimmed. Here’s a short screencast of the steps: http://screencast.com/t/mQQ1HR66R

We can also add additional dynamic block items such as the linear stretch. This will allow the ability to adjust the length of rows. Here’s a short screencast adding the linear stretch: http://screencast.com/t/8iJgIgogvDb6

Notice that the start point of the linear stretch determines how short the row may be. I used the midpoint of the line, if you want a shorter row you can set the start point further down on the line.