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Point Leaders

Three answers to one complaint - Civil 3D labels that spin and flip in a twisted model-space view . Converting them to AutoCAD text works but freezes the data; two of these three keep the labels live : fix the style's orientation , or twist the view to match the sheet. The leader tool offers both a live dragged label and the static multileader people asked for.

Command VDCPOINTLEADERS VDCLABELORIENT VDCTWIST VDCPAPERLABELS · VDC Lots tab › Labels panel
Three answers to one complaint - Civil 3D labels that spin and flip in a twisted model-space view. Converting them to AutoCAD text works but freezes the data; two of these three keep the labels live: fix the style's orientation, or twist the view to match the sheet. The leader tool offers both a live dragged label and the static multileader people asked for.
Twisted view: labels on View orientation spin (left) → Object orientation or a matched twist holds them (right) Model space, DVIEW twist 30 deg, orientation = View EOP 341.52 EOP 341.21 EOP 340.90 labels re-read the view, flip at the readability bias, jump while editing VDCLABELORIENT: Object, plan readable off + VDCTWIST: match the sheet EOP 341.52 EOP 341.21 EOP 340.90 VDCPOINTLEADERS (dragged label, live) the road reads horizontal, the UCS is still World, every coordinate as before crosshairs, ORTHO and polar follow the twist (SNAPANG) labels stay Civil 3D labels - they still update with the points
View-oriented labels in a twisted view   Held labels / live leaders   Road and points

What each one does

  • Point Leaders: a leader per COGO point - live (the point's own label dragged out so its dragged-state leader shows) or static (an AutoCAD multileader with full / raw / number + description / name / description + elevation, caps as typed / sentence / every word / UPPER / lower). Direction, plotted reach, multileader style, layer; existing leaders updated, replaced or left; Remove.
  • Label Orientation: every label style type in one filterable checked list; set Object / View / WCS, plan readable, readability bias, flip anchors in one write. Optional per-point label rotation (angle or picked line), still live.
  • View Twist: DVIEW twist without DVIEW - pick a line, type an angle, match a layout viewport or a Sheet Gen frame, reset. UCS stays World; crosshairs and ORTHO follow.

Choosing

  • Labels spin while you work: Label Orientation -> Object (or WCS) + plan readable off on the styles that bother you, or pick the labels on screen (1.117.4). Nothing becomes static.
  • Model should look like the sheet: View Twist -> Match a layout viewport. View-oriented labels then sit the same in both.
  • Someone wants the descriptions as plain text: Point Leaders, static mode - knowing it no longer follows the points (Update re-reads them).
  • The annotation has to live on the sheet: Paper Labels - run from the layout, pick the viewport, and every COGO point / structure / pipe / parcel / alignment / feature line / polyline / line / circle / block it shows gets a paper-space multileader whose text is AutoCAD object fields on the model object ({FullDescription}, {Elevation}, {RimElevation}, {SumpDepth}, {Length2D}, {Slope} ...), live across spaces, updated on regen and plot. {#Name} static tokens (1.117.4) cover what a field cannot reach - parcel area, pipe inverts, structure inverts / station, block attributes, all of a pressure pipe - and are re-read by Refresh. Refresh re-places after a pan or zoom; Remove erases; a field that cannot read its property shows #### and is counted.
  • Settings under %APPDATA%\VDC\ViewLabels\ (override VDC_VIEWLABELS_SETTINGS). VDCTWIST ships in both bundles; the other three need Civil 3D.

Dialog

Point Leaders dialog
Point Leaders - VDCPOINTLEADERS
Label Orientation dialog
Label Orientation - VDCLABELORIENT
View Twist (rotate model space, UCS stays World) dialog
View Twist (rotate model space, UCS stays World) - VDCTWIST
View Twist (rotate model space, UCS stays World) dialog
View Twist (rotate model space, UCS stays World) - VDCTWIST
Paper Labels (live labels in paper space) dialog
Paper Labels (live labels in paper space) - VDCPAPERLABELS

When to use it

  • A plan needs a leader and description at each shot and the point labels are in the way or the wrong shape.
  • Someone asked for the point labels as plain text (static) - with the live mode as the alternative that keeps the data linked.

How to run it

  1. Select the points (or let the dialog ask), run VDCPOINTLEADERS.
  2. Pick Place: live (dragged Civil 3D label) or static (AutoCAD multileader with text + caps).
  3. Set the direction and the plotted reach; for static, the text, caps, multileader style and layer.
  4. Create / update. One U undoes the run; Remove erases the tool's leaders or puts dragged labels back.

Options

  • Live mode: the leader look comes from each point label style's Dragged State tab (As composed / Stacked text, Leader on). The text is whatever the style shows.
  • Caps (static): sentence and every-word modes use AutoCap's engine and never lowercase; UPPER and lower are plain case changes.
  • Existing leaders: update the text, leave them, or erase and place new ones.

Watch out for

  • Static multileaders do not follow later edits to the point - run again with Update, or use the live mode.
  • A point label style with no dragged-state leader shows a dragged label and no line - set Leader on in the style.

Related: Label Orientation · Point Find and Replace · AutoCap · Code Leaders