New MPS – Multi-Page Plots

Lane Irwin of 12d NZ (with Ben Pham of 12d Solutions in Sydney) addressed our 2018 12d Technical Forum delegates about the new Multipage Plot Sheets (sometimes abbreviated to MPS) functionality in 12d Model 14.

Lane said there were a few things in the older plotting that were very successful, but some things were missing; the new MPS has evolved over time, in particular with the addition of functionality requested by customers. One such addition was the ability to split up plots into ‘chapters’ – having many plots, frames and sheets combined into a ‘book’, which can then be split into ‘chapters’ and even split further into ‘pages’.

Frames themselves have been updated – in addition to plan frames, there are now cross-section, long-section, perspective and 3D PDF frames.

Referencing

At a book level, users can now add a Title Block File. There’s also an option for a Drawing Register within this. The best part, according to Lane, is that you can reference back to this – follow it once and then other sheets can start looking at it; this can be set at a book level, chapter level or page level.

Text Placement

Text can be placed in an absolute position or relative to a frame (with anchor justification). Users can apply the available variables– e.g. a user might have a scale with mini frames on their sheet and wish to apply different scales with different text, etc.

There are also new attributes such as ‘current page’ and ‘total pages’.

Symbols

Similarly, symbols can be absolute in their placement, or relative to a frame (with anchor justification). Users can also rotate symbols if desired.

MPS – Model to Plot

There was an existing option to plot millimetres to units or plan units, but there were only three options available…now it’s unlimited, meaning users can select many different models and plot in different spaces.

MPS – Some New/Improved Features (Summary)

‘What You See Is What You Get’ (WYSIWYG) on page preview
Auto PDF file naming (using the Book, Chapter or Page name)
View Favourites in frame
White outs behind frames
Highlighting current frame in detail plan
Plot only Book, Chapter or Page
Referencing
Improved menus on MPF
Refresh button
Active/Inactive
Insert New
Copy and paste
Move up and down tree
Apply a mapping file to a frame

MPS – Magic Chapters

These help overcome the limitations of a single frame by allowing multiple cross sections, long sections, drainage long sections, and plot frames.

Lane also demonstrated (live!) the creation and editing of a variety of Multipage Plots in 12d Model 14, including showing user notes in views; watch the video to see how all this is done!