Feature lines or Alignments appear broken and/or grips are not in the correct place

October 4, 2021 Ryan Wunderlich

Issue:

Feature lines or Alignments appear broken and/or grips are not in the correct place

Causes:

This problem can manifest itself when using multiple viewports in Modelspace or can occur when your project is far away from 0,0.

In multiple viewports, it can look like this

Note the two feature lines shown appear broken, but when clicked, they are continuous:

Solution:

There are several options to remedy the issue - all require manipulating the way the graphics are displayed):

  • The more dedicated GPU RAM available the less we will see the issue present itself (hardware specs is a contributing factor) - 4 GB is recommend for Civil 3D 
  • If the GPU runs out of RAM frequently, one option to consider is to use the Intermediate Mode for in the 3DCONFIG Command. please refer to the article for guidance
    Alignment displays as broken line with offset in Civil 3D
  • If no GPU available, ensure Hardware Acceleration is turned Off
  • Explode the Feature lines to 3D Polylines, and convert back to feature lines when needed
  • The 2D Wireframe Visual Style uses the 2D Whip graphics engine. Set the WHIPARC system variable to 0 and the VIEWRES system variable to 10000+ (careful the VIEWRES no. will increase regeneration time)
  • The Wireframe Visual Style uses the 3D AGS graphics engine. You should see better results with Wireframe as oppose to 2D Wireframe when working with 3D content such as Feature Lines.

About the Author

Ryan Wunderlich

Sr. Technical Support Specialist<br><br>An AutoCAD Certified Professional, Ryan is responsible for taking client cases and assisting with issues with the software - everything from regular glitches to software deployments and whatever else goes wrong. He's proficient in AutoCAD (including customization), VBA, LISP, and Civil 3D.

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