Clipping Planes in Autodesk InfraWorks

February 3, 2023 Jeff Morris

Civil structures in InfraWorks, such as bridges and tunnels, can be quite complex. It can be difficult to study them visually or to get crucial dimensions within the structure. Clipping planes can provide better visualization and design of such civil structures by clipping away content and displaying the cross section of the structure. 

Clipping planes are versatile: 

  • You can have multiple clipping planes on a structure and enable or disable any of them for effective design/visualization tools.  

  • You can reverse the direction of the clipping plane. 

  • You can display or hide the terrain and surfaces crossing the clipping plane. 

  • You can align your view perpendicular to the clipping plane. 

  • You can adjust the angle of the clip from the default perpendicular. 

  • You can delete clipping planes. 

  • Gizmos represent clipping planes for easy selection when the clips are disabled. 

  • You can use clipping planes to temporarily expose the interior of a structure.  

You can enable and view clipping planes through the right-click menu of the structure by selecting Show Clipping Planes.  

 

For the first clipping plane, you will be prompted to create the plane when they are enabled. Move your cursor to the desired location along the structure and press <Enter>. 

The clipping plane displays as a flag above its location and has two states: unclipped and clipped. You can change the clipped or unclipped state by clicking on the flag. When enabled, you can manually reposition the clipping plane location by clicking and dragging the red arrow along the structure.