Referencing Terrain Models

People in different job roles may want to see terrains displayed differently. For example, a designer of surfaces may need to see triangles, while a designer of drainage features may need to see contours. Rather than duplicating the terrain model in various places, the best workflow is to maintain a single terrain model and reference it into other DGN files.

When a DGN file containing a terrain model is referenced into another DGN file, you can allow the terrain model to be displayed differently in the other file. This allows the presentation to vary for different purposes, without changing the terrain model display in the original DGN file.

To Override the Symbology of a Terrain Model

1. Attach as a reference the DGN file containing the terrain model.

2. Select the terrain element.

3. In the Primary Tools toolbox, select the Element Information tool.

   The Element Information dialog opens.

4. On the Reference tab, set the Override Symbology property to Yes.

5. Change other display properties as needed.

   or

   Select an element template to apply to the terrain model.

   The display of the terrain model changes in your DGN file, but not in the original DGN file.