Autodesk CIVIL3D - CIVILDESIGNCOMP 2007 SLM CD, AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011 Tutorials Manual

AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011

Tutorials

April 2010

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Contents

Chapter 1 Welcome to the AutoCAD Civil 3D Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Getting More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Setting Up the Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Saving Your Tutorial Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Chapter 2 Getting Started Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Tutorial: Understanding the AutoCAD Civil 3D User Interface . . . . . . 5

Exercise 1: Finding Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Exercise 2: Understanding the Toolspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Exercise 3: Using the Panorama Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Tutorial: Using Basic Functionality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Tutorial: Viewing AutoCAD Civil 3D Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Exercise 1: Setting Up the Drawing Window . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Exercise 2: Changing the Display of an Object . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Exercise 3: Viewing a Drawing in Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Chapter 3 Points Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Tutorial: Creating Point Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Tutorial: Displaying and Editing Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Exercise 1: Creating Description Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Exercise 2: Creating Point Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Exercise 3: Importing Points from a Database . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Exercise 1: Displaying an Externally Referenced Drawing . . . . . 31

iii

Exercise 2: Changing the Style of a Point Group . . . . . . . . . . 32

Exercise 3: Changing Point Group Display Order . . . . . . . . . 33

Exercise 4: Removing an Externally Referenced Drawing . . . . . 35

Exercise 5: Editing Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Tutorial: Adding User-Defined Properties to Points . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Exercise 1: Creating User-Defined Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Exercise 2: Creating a Label Style That Displays a User-Defined

Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Exercise 3: Assigning User-Defined Properties to Points . . . . . . 41

Exercise 4: Importing Points with User-Defined Properties . . . . 42

Exercise 5: Querying User-Defined Property Information . . . . . 44

Chapter 4 Point Cloud Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Tutorial: Working with Point Clouds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Exercise 1: Importing Point Cloud Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Exercise 2: Working with Point Cloud Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Exercise 3: Adding Point Cloud Data to a Surface . . . . . . . . . 53

Chapter 5 Surfaces Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Tutorial: Creating and Adding Data to a Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Exercise 1: Creating a TIN Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Exercise 2: Adding Point Data to a Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Exercise 3: Adding Breaklines to a Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Exercise 4: Adding an Outer Boundary to a Surface . . . . . . . . 70

Tutorial: Working with Large Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Exercise 1: Limiting Imported Surface Data . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Exercise 2: Simplifying a Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Tutorial: Changing the Surface Style and Display . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Exercise 1: Editing the Surface Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Exercise 2: Using a Different Style for a Surface . . . . . . . . . . 83

Exercise 3: Labeling a Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Tutorial: Editing Surface Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Exercise 1: Swapping TIN Edges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Exercise 2: Deleting TIN Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Exercise 3: Adding a Hide Boundary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Exercise 4: Smoothing a Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Tutorial: Creating a Watershed and Water Drop Analysis . . . . . . . . 96

Exercise 1: Configuring a Style for Watershed Display . . . . . . . 97

Exercise 2: Generating a Watershed Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Exercise 3: Creating a Watershed Legend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Exercise 4: Extracting Objects from a Surface . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Exercise 5: Analyzing Surface Water Runoff . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Tutorial: Generating Surface Volume Information . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Exercise 1: Creating the Base and Comparison Surfaces . . . . . 106

Exercise 2: Creating a TIN Volume Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

iv | Contents

Exercise 3: Creating a Composite Volume Calculation . . . . . . 110

Tutorial: Visualizing Surface Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Exercise 1: Moving Multi-View Blocks to a Surface . . . . . . . . 111

Exercise 2: Rendering a Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Tutorial: Obtaining an Aerial Image and Draping It on a Surface . . . . 116

Exercise 1: Publishing Surface Data to Google Earth . . . . . . . 117

Exercise 2: Importing a Google Earth Image . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Exercise 3: Draping an Image on a Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Chapter 6 Survey Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Tutorial: Survey Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Exercise 1: Creating a Survey Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Exercise 2: Setting the Equipment and Figure Prefix

Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Exercise 3: Adjusting and Verifying Settings . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Exercise 4: Setting Survey Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Exercise 5: Setting Up a Linework Code Set . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Tutorial: Importing Survey Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Exercise 1: Importing Field-Coded Survey Data . . . . . . . . . . 136

Exercise 2: Updating Imported Survey Data . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Tutorial: Viewing and Editing Survey Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Exercise 1: Viewing Survey Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Exercise 2: Editing a Figure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Tutorial: Analyzing and Reducing Survey Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Exercise 1: Querying Survey Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Exercise 2: Performing Traverse Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Exercise 3: Performing Least Squares Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Exercise 4: Translating a Survey Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Tutorial: Manually Creating Survey Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Exercise 1: Creating Survey Data Using the Toolspace Survey

Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Exercise 2: Creating Survey Data Using the Traverse Editor . . . . 160

Exercise 3: Creating Survey Data Using the Survey Command

Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Exercise 4: Calculating an Azimuth in The Astronomic Direction

Calculator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Exercise 5: Creating Figures from Parcels . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Tutorial: Outputting Survey Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Exercise 1: Viewing Inverse and Mapcheck Information on a

Survey Figure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Exercise 2: Performing a Mapcheck Analysis with Parcel

Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Exercise 3: Performing a Mapcheck Analysis by Manually

Entering Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Exercise 4: Working with Mapcheck Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Exercise 5: Creating Surface Breaklines from Figures . . . . . . . 181

Contents | v

Chapter 7 Project Management Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Tutorial: Using Data Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Exercise 1: Setting Up a Data Shortcut Folder . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Exercise 2: Creating Data Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Exercise 3: Referencing Data Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Tutorial: Vault Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Exercise 1: Logging In to Autodesk Vault . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Exercise 2: Creating User Accounts and Groups . . . . . . . . . . 197

Exercise 3: Creating a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Tutorial: Creating, Referencing, and Modifying Project Object

Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Exercise 1: Adding a Drawing to the Project . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Exercise 2: Creating a Reference to a Project Object . . . . . . . 202

Exercise 3: Checking Out and Modifying a Project Object . . . . 204

Exercise 4: Checking In a Project Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Exercise 5: Updating a Project Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Tutorial: Creating and Modifying Project Point Data . . . . . . . . . . 207

Exercise 1: Adding Points to a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Exercise 2: Checking Out and Modifying Project Points . . . . . 209

Exercise 3: Checking In Project Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Tutorial: Exporting and Importing Vault Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Exercise 1: Exporting a Vault Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Exercise 2: Importing a Data Shortcut Project into Vault . . . . . 212

Chapter 8 Alignments Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Tutorial: Creating Alignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Exercise 1: Creating an Alignment with the Alignment Layout

Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Exercise 2: Adding Free Curves and Spirals to an

Alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Exercise 3: Adding Floating Curves to an Alignment . . . . . . . 219

Tutorial: Editing Alignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Exercise 1: Editing the Layout Parameter Values of an

Alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Exercise 2: Grip Editing an Alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Exercise 3: Applying a Mask to an Alignment . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Tutorial: Working with Offset Alignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Exercise 1: Creating Offset Alignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Exercise 2: Editing an Offset Alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Exercise 3: Adding a Widening to an Offset Alignment . . . . . . 239

Exercise 4: Editing an Offset Widening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Tutorial: Designing an Alignment that Refers to Local Standards . . . 248

Exercise 1: Drawing an Alignment that Refers to Design

Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

vi | Contents

Exercise 2: Viewing and Correcting Alignment Design Criteria

Violations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Exercise 3: Working with Design Checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Exercise 4: Modifying a Design Criteria File . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Tutorial: Applying Superelevation to an Alignment . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Exercise 1: Calculating Superelevation for an Alignment . . . . . 262

Exercise 2: Calculating Superelevation for an Individual

Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Exercise 3: Creating a Superelevation View . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Exercise 4: Adding and Modifying Superelevation Stations . . . . 269

Exercise 5: Editing Superelevation Parameters Graphically . . . . 272

Chapter 9 Profiles Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Tutorial: Designing Simple Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Tutorial: Using Surface Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Exercise 1: Creating and Displaying Surface Profiles with

Offsets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Exercise 2: Changing the Profile Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

Exercise 3: Reviewing Surface Profile Characteristics . . . . . . . 285

Tutorial: Using Layout Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Exercise 1: Creating a Layout Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Exercise 2: Editing a Layout Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Exercise 3: Copying a Profile and Offsetting it Vertically . . . . . 294

Tutorial: Designing a Profile that Refers to Local Standards . . . . . . 297

Exercise 1: Specifying Profile Design Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . 298

Exercise 2: Drawing a Profile that Refers to Design Criteria . . . . 299

Exercise 3: Viewing and Correcting Profile Design Criteria

Violations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Tutorial: Displaying and Modifying Profile Views . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

Exercise 1: Editing the Profile View Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Exercise 2: Adding Hatch Patterns Between Profiles . . . . . . . 310

Exercise 3: Projecting Objects onto a Profile View . . . . . . . . 314

Exercise 4: Splitting a Profile View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Exercise 5: Creating Multiple Profile Views . . . . . . . . . . . . 324

Exercise 6: Creating Stacked Profile Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

Tutorial: Working with Data Bands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Exercise 1: Adding Data Bands to a Profile View . . . . . . . . . 331

Exercise 2: Moving Labels in a Data Band . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

Exercise 3: Modifying a Data Band Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

Chapter 10 Parcels Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Tutorial: Creating Parcels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Exercise 1: Creating Parcels from AutoCAD Objects . . . . . . . 341

Exercise 2: Subdividing a Parcel with a Free-Form Segment . . . . 345

Exercise 3: Subdividing a Parcel with a Slide Line . . . . . . . . . 348

Contents | vii

Exercise 4: Subdividing a Parcel with a Swing Line . . . . . . . . 355

Exercise 5: Working with Alignments and Parcels . . . . . . . . 359

Tutorial: Editing Parcel Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

Exercise 1: Sliding a Parcel Lot Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

Exercise 2: Swinging One End of a Parcel Lot Line . . . . . . . . 368

Exercise 3: Editing Parcel Lot Line Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . 375

Tutorial: Displaying and Analyzing Parcels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

Exercise 1: Changing Parcel Style Display Order . . . . . . . . . 382

Exercise 2: Exporting Parcel Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385

Chapter 11 Grading Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387

Tutorial: Setting up Grading Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387

Exercise 1: Reviewing Grading Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

Exercise 2: Creating Grading Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

Exercise 3: Creating Grading Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391

Tutorial: Creating Gradings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

Exercise 1: Creating Feature Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

Exercise 2: Assigning Feature Line Elevations . . . . . . . . . . . 395

Exercise 3: Creating a Grading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

Tutorial: Editing Gradings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400

Exercise 1: Editing the Grading Elevation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400

Exercise 2: Balancing Cut and Fill Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . 402

Exercise 3: Editing the Grading Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

Tutorial: Grading from a Complex Building Footprint . . . . . . . . . 404

Exercise 1: Simplifying a Building Footprint . . . . . . . . . . . 405

Exercise 2: Grading from a Building Footprint to a Surface . . . . 408

Exercise 3: Filling Holes in a Grading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

Tutorial: Using Feature Lines to Modify a Grading . . . . . . . . . . . 412

Exercise 1: Smoothing Feature Line Arcs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412

Exercise 2: Adjusting Grading Triangulation with a Feature

Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414

Exercise 3: Working with Crossing Feature Lines . . . . . . . . . 415

Chapter 12 Corridor Assembly Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421

Tutorial: Working with Assemblies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421

Exercise 1: Creating an Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422

Exercise 2: Modifying the Subassembly Name Template . . . . . 427

Exercise 3: Managing Assemblies and Subassemblies . . . . . . . 430

Tutorial: Creating an Assembly with Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

Exercise 1: Examining the Existing Corridor in Section . . . . . . 433

Exercise 2: Adding Conditional Subassemblies to a Corridor

Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435

Exercise 3: Adjusting Conditional Subassembly Properties . . . . 443

Exercise 4: Rebuilding the Corridor and Examining the

Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446

viii | Contents

Tutorial: Saving and Sharing Corridor Assemblies . . . . . . . . . . . 448

Exercise 1: Saving Assemblies to a Tool Palette . . . . . . . . . . 449

Exercise 2: Copying Assemblies to a Tool Catalog . . . . . . . . . 451

Exercise 3: Publishing a Tool Catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453

Exercise 4: Installing a Tool Catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454

Exercise 5: Moving Assemblies from a Tool Catalog to a Tool

Palette or Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455

Chapter 13 Corridors Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459

Tutorial: Creating a Basic Corridor Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459

Tutorial: Creating a Corridor with a Transition Lane . . . . . . . . . . 463

Exercise 1: Creating an Assembly with a Transition Lane . . . . . 464

Exercise 2: Creating a Corridor with a Transition Lane . . . . . . 467

Tutorial: Creating a Divided Highway Corridor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471

Exercise 1: Creating a Divided Highway Assembly . . . . . . . . 472

Exercise 2: Creating a Divided Highway Corridor . . . . . . . . . 476

Tutorial: Viewing and Editing Corridor Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . 477

Exercise 1: Viewing Corridor Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477

Exercise 2: Editing Corridor Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480

Tutorial: Viewing and Rendering a Corridor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483

Exercise 1: Creating Corridor Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483

Exercise 2: Creating Corridor Surface Boundaries . . . . . . . . . 486

Exercise 3: Visualizing a Corridor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490

Chapter 14 Intersection and Roundabout Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495

Tutorial: Creating Intersections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496

Exercise 1: Creating a Peer Road Intersection . . . . . . . . . . . 496

Exercise 2: Creating a Primary Road Intersection with Turn

Lanes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503

Exercise 3: Creating an Intersection with Existing

Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508

Tutorial: Editing Intersections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516

Exercise 1: Editing the Horizontal Geometry of an

Intersection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516

Exercise 2: Editing the Vertical Geometry of an

Intersection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525

Exercise 3: Creating and Editing a Corridor in the Intersection

Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533

Tutorial: Working with Roundabouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538

Exercise 1: Creating a Roundabout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538

Exercise 2: Adding an Approach Road to a Roundabout . . . . . 546

Exercise 3: Adding a Turn Slip Lane to a Roundabout . . . . . . 550

Exercise 4: Editing Roundabout Components . . . . . . . . . . . 553

Exercise 5: Working with Roundabout Design Standards and

Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560

Contents | ix

Chapter 15 Sections Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569

Tutorial: Creating Section Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569

Exercise 1: Creating Sample Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570

Exercise 2: Creating Section Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572

Tutorial: Adding Data to a Section View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577

Exercise 1: Projecting an Object onto a Section View . . . . . . . 577

Exercise 2: Adding a Section View Grade Label . . . . . . . . . . 586

Exercise 3: Adding a Data Band to a Section View . . . . . . . . 587

Chapter 16 Material Calculation Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589

Tutorial: Calculating Earthwork Volumes from Corridor Models . . . . 589

Exercise 1: Reviewing Quantity Takeoff Criteria and Report

Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590

Exercise 2: Creating a Material List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591

Exercise 3: Generating a Volume Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593

Tutorial: Working with Mass Haul Diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594

Exercise 1: Creating a Mass Haul Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . 596

Exercise 2: Balancing Mass Haul Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598

Exercise 3: Editing the Mass Haul Line Style . . . . . . . . . . . 601

Tutorial: Calculating and Reporting Quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603

Exercise 1: Loading and Navigating a Pay Item List . . . . . . . . 604

Exercise 2: Assigning Pay Item Codes to AutoCAD Objects . . . . 606

Exercise 3: Assigning Pay Item Codes to Pipe Network

Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612

Exercise 4: Assigning Pay Item Codes to Corridors . . . . . . . . 616

Exercise 5: Working with Quantity Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . 619

Exercise 6: Working with Pay Item Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . 622

Exercise 7: Creating a Pay Item List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625

Chapter 17 Pipe Network Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629

Tutorial: Creating a Pipe Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629

Exercise 1: Creating a Pipe Network from a Polyline . . . . . . . 630

Exercise 2: Creating a Pipe Network by Layout . . . . . . . . . . 635

Exercise 3: Adding Parts to a Pipe Network . . . . . . . . . . . . 637

Tutorial: Changing Pipe Network Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 639

Exercise 1: Adding Parts to the Parts List . . . . . . . . . . . . . 639

Exercise 2: Changing the Surface, Alignment, and Rules

Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640

Exercise 3: Adding a Branch to a Pipe Network . . . . . . . . . . 642

Tutorial: Viewing and Editing Pipe Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645

Exercise 1: Drawing Pipe Network Parts in a Profile View . . . . . 645

Exercise 2: Adding Labels to Pipe Network Parts . . . . . . . . . 646

Exercise 3: Editing Pipe Network Parts in a Profile View . . . . . 649

x | Contents

Exercise 4: Overriding the Style of a Pipe Network Part in a

Profile View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650

Exercise 5: Viewing Pipe Network Parts in a Section View . . . . 652

Exercise 6: Creating Pipe and Structure Tables . . . . . . . . . . 653

Chapter 18 Part Builder Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657

Tutorial: Creating a Cylindrical Manhole Structure . . . . . . . . . . . 657

Exercise 1: Defining the New Part in the Structure Catalog . . . . 657

Exercise 2: Defining the Manhole Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . 659

Exercise 3: Matching Offsets and Dimensions to

Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669

Exercise 4: Verifying the New Part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673

Tutorial: Creating a Drop Inlet Manhole Structure . . . . . . . . . . . 676

Exercise 1: Defining the New Part in the Structure Catalog . . . . 676

Exercise 2: Defining the Manhole Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . 678

Exercise 3: Creating Profiles and Establishing Parameters . . . . 688

Tutorial: Creating a Vault Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 705

Exercise 1: Defining the New Part in the Structure Catalog . . . . 706

Exercise 2: Defining the Vault Top Section Geometry . . . . . . 707

Exercise 3: Defining the Vault Box Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . 717

Exercise 4: Finalizing the Part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 728

Exercise 5: Using the New Part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 735

Chapter 19 Labels and Tables Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 739

Tutorial: Preparing to Annotate a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 740

Exercise 1: Attaching Drawings as Xrefs for Annotation . . . . . 740

Exercise 2: Exploring the Annotation Tools on the Ribbon . . . . 743

Tutorial: Adding and Editing Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744

Exercise 1: Adding Labels in Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 745

Exercise 2: Manually Labeling an Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . 752

Exercise 3: Selecting and Moving Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . 755

Exercise 4: Working with Label Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . 761

Tutorial: Changing the Content of a Label . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 763

Exercise 1: Overriding Label Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 764

Exercise 2: Changing Label Content in the Drawing

Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765

Tutorial: Working with Tables and Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 767

Exercise 1: Creating a Parcel Area Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 768

Exercise 2: Converting Labels to Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 770

Exercise 3: Renumbering Table Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 774

Tutorial: Working with Label Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 776

Exercise 1: Creating a Label Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 776

Exercise 2: Using a Child Label Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 780

Exercise 3: Controlling Label Appearance Using Layers . . . . . . 783

Exercise 4: Changing the Dragged State of a Label . . . . . . . . 789

Contents | xi

Exercise 5: Changing a Label Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 793

Exercise 6: Creating a Label Style that Refers to Another

Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 797

Tutorial: Using Expressions in Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801

Exercise 1: Creating an Expression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 802

Exercise 2: Inserting an Expression Into a Label Style . . . . . . . 803

Chapter 20 Plan Production Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 805

Tutorial: Preparing a Drawing for Plan and Profile Sheet Layout . . . . 805

Exercise 1: Configuring Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 806

Exercise 2: Creating View Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 807

Tutorial: Generating Sheets for Plotting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811

Exercise 1: Creating Plan and Profile Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . 811

Exercise 2: Creating Section Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814

Tutorial Folder Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 819

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 821

xii | Contents

Welcome to the AutoCAD
Civil 3D Tutorials

The following tutorial sets are included with AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011:

■ Getting Started Tutorials (page 5). Learn about the application workspace and some

important design tools and tasks.

■ Points Tutorials (page 25). Learn how to work with coordinate geometry (COGO) points,

which are the basis for modeling land surfaces.

■ Point Cloud Tutorials (page 47). Learn how to work with point clouds, which are dense

collections of point data that are obtained from LiDAR scanning

■ Surfaces Tutorials (page 59). Learn the basics about creating and working with land surfaces.

■ Survey Tutorials (page 129). Learn the basics about importing, creating, managing, and

analyzing survey data.

■ Project Management Tutorials (page 183). Learn how to use the AutoCAD Civil 3D project

management features, including data shortcuts and Autodesk Vault.

■ Alignments Tutorials (page 213). Learn about alignments, which are the basis for modeling

roads.

1

■ Profiles Tutorials (page 275). Learn the basics about viewing and designing the elevation

profile of land surfaces along an alignment.

■ Parcels Tutorials (page 341). Learn the basics about creating and editing parcels as well as

working with the display of parcels.

■ Grading Tutorials (page 387). Learn how to design the finished grade for land surfaces such

as housing subdivisions and retail sites.

■ Corridor Assembly Tutorials (page 421). Learn how to build and manage assemblies, which

are cross sections that are placed incrementally along an alignment.

■ Corridors Tutorials (page 459). Learn how to create simple and complex corridor designs.

1

■ Intersection and Roundabout Tutorials (page 495). Learn how to create complex

intersections that dynamically react to changes in the model.

■ Sections Tutorials (page 569). Learn how to create cross sections of your corridor design,

calculate cut and fill earthwork quantities, and create mass-haul diagrams.

■ Material Calculation Tutorials (page 589). Learn how to calculate material quantities and

generate reports, including pay item reports, earthworks reports, and mass haul diagrams.

■ Pipe Network Tutorials (page 629). Learn how to create a pipe network using the specialized

layout tools.

■ Part Builder Tutorials (page 657). Learn how to design and model parts that are used in

pipe networks.

■ Labels and Tables Tutorials (page 739). Learn how to annotate AutoCAD Civil 3D objects

using labels and tables.

■ Plan Production Tutorials (page 805). Learn how to prepare your design drawings for

plotting or publishing.

Each tutorial set contains exercises that are designed to explore the various features of
AutoCAD Civil 3D.

The tutorial exercises are organized in a logical sequence, based on how you typically work
with the different types of features. However, you may complete the exercises in any order
you choose. After you begin an exercise, you should complete the steps in the order
presented. The first steps provide you with the information you need for the later steps in
that exercise.

NOTE All drawings used in these tutorials are available in the tutorial drawings folder

(page 819) and all source data files are available in the tutorial folder (page 820). If you want

to save your changes to the tutorial drawings as you work, save them to the My Civil

Tutorial Data folder (page 819) so that you do not overwrite the original tutorial drawings.

Getting More Information

The step-by-step procedures in these tutorials provide instructions for using
AutoCAD Civil 3D to complete tasks using the drawings provided.

The tutorials do not explore all of the features and commands of AutoCAD
Civil 3D, nor do the tutorials identify all of the options associated with each

2 | Chapter 1 Welcome to the AutoCAD Civil 3D Tutorials

feature and command. To obtain more detailed information about AutoCAD
Civil 3D features and commands, refer to the following documentation:

■ AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011 Help

■ AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011 Best Practices Guide

Setting Up the Workspace

Before you start the tutorials, you must set the appropriate workspace.

Workspaces are sets of commands that are grouped and organized so that you
can work in a custom, task-oriented drawing environment. When you choose
a workspace, only the ribbon tabs, toolbars, and secondary windows specified
in that workspace are shown in the interface. To access other commands not
shown in the ribbon, enter their command names on the command line.

The tutorials use the Civil 3D workspace. If you use a different workspace,
some of the commands that are described may not be visible. To avoid
confusion, it is recommended that you switch to the Civil 3D workspace before
you begin the tutorials.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Workspaces.

To set up the workspace

1 On the command line, enter WORKSPACE.

2 At the Workspace Option prompt, enter C.

3 When prompted to enter the name of the workspace, enter Civil 3D.

Saving Your Tutorial Drawings

If you want to save your changes to the tutorial drawings as you work, you
must create a folder in which to save drawing and data files before beginning
the tutorial exercises.

Before you begin the tutorials:

1 Open Windows Explorer.

2 Navigate to the Autodesk Documents folder (page 819).

3 Click File menu ➤ New ➤ Folder.

Setting Up the Workspace | 3

4 Change the name of the new folder to My Civil Tutorial Data.

4 | Chapter 1 Welcome to the AutoCAD Civil 3D Tutorials

Getting Started Tutorials

2

These tutorials will get you started with the application workspace and some important design
tools and tasks.

In AutoCAD Civil 3D, design data is organized as object collections in the Toolspace window.
In Toolspace, the Prospector tab displays the hierarchy of design objects, such as points,
surfaces, and alignments. The Settings tab displays a hierarchy of object styles, including
styles for labels and tables.

The Panorama window displays data in a horizontally oriented grid, which makes it easier to
see many columns at once. Each type of data displayed in Panorama uses a separate tab,
known as a vista, that is specific to that data type.

There are many ways to view AutoCAD Civil 3D objects, including Visual Styles, Named
Views, and the Object Viewer.

NOTE All drawings used in these tutorials are available in the tutorial drawings folder (page

819). If you want to save your work from these tutorials, save the drawings to the My Civil

Tutorial Data folder (page 819) so that you do not overwrite the original drawings.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic The Civil 3D User Interface.

Tutorial: Understanding the AutoCAD Civil 3D User
Interface

In this tutorial, you will examine some of the major components of the AutoCAD
Civil 3D user interface.

The AutoCAD Civil 3D user interface enhances the standard AutoCAD
environment with additional tools for creating and managing civil design
information.

Standard AutoCAD features, such as the command line and ribbon, work the
same way in AutoCAD Civil 3D as they do in AutoCAD.

5

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic The Civil 3D User
Interface.

Exercise 1: Finding Tools

In this exercise, you will learn how to locate the tools that are available for a
given task.

The drawing you use contains AutoCAD Civil 3D objects to explore. The
objects in this drawing are the site elements that you will create in the
following tutorials.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic The Civil 3D User
Interface.

Explore the basic user interface elements

1 Open drawing Intro-1.dwg, which is available in the tutorial drawings folder

(page 819).

This drawing contains an existing ground surface, two corridors that
intersect, a storm sewer pipe network, and property parcels.

2 Examine the elements at the top of the AutoCAD Civil 3D window. Click

the buttons as described in the following paragraphs to examine the tools
that are contained in each element.

■ Application Menu—Provides access to file-related commands,

such as open, print, export, and publish.

■ Quick Access Toolbar—Contains

frequently used commands. Click and then More Commands to
add an unlimited number of tools to the Quick Access toolbar.

NOTE You also can right-click a tool on the ribbon to send it to the Quick
Access toolbar.

■

InfoCenter—Enables you to search for information through key words,
display the Communication Center panel for product updates and

6 | Chapter 2 Getting Started Tutorials

announcements, display the Favorites panel to access saved topics,
and access Help.

■ Ribbon—Provides a single, compact location for commands that are

relevant to the current task. The ribbon eliminates the need to display
multiple toolbars, which reduces clutter in the application and

maximizes the drawing space. In the top row, click to successively
minimize the ribbon display.

Explore the ribbon

1 On the Home tab, on the Create Design panel, click the bar at the bottom

of the panel.

The panel expands to display additional tools. If is displayed in the
bottom bar of a ribbon panel, then additional tools are available.

2 Click the Modify and Analyze tabs.

Each of these tabs contains tools that are relevant to a category of tasks.

3 Click the Home tab.

The Home tab contains commands that are commonly used to create
AutoCAD and AutoCAD Civil 3D objects.

4 In the drawing, click one of the contour lines to select the surface.

Exercise 1: Finding Tools | 7

The TIN Surface tab is displayed on the ribbon. This is known as a
contextual tab, and it contains all the tools related to surfaces. Depending
on the type of object that is selected, different tools are displayed on the
contextual tab. The tools on all AutoCAD Civil 3D contextual tabs are
arranged in a similar series of panels:

■ Labels and Tables

■ General Tools

■ Modify

■ Analyze

■ Object Tools

■ Launch Pad

5 Press Esc.

6 Select the corridor.

8 | Chapter 2 Getting Started Tutorials

The Corridors tab is displayed on the ribbon. When an object is selected,
the appropriate object contextual tab is available on the ribbon.

7 Press Esc.

The corridor is deselected, and the Home tab is active, and the contextual
tab is removed.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 2: Understanding the Toolspace (page

9).

Exercise 2: Understanding the Toolspace

In this exercise, you will learn how to use the AutoCAD Civil 3D Toolspace,
which provides an object-oriented view of your engineering data.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic The Toolspace
Window.

This exercise continues from Exercise 1: Finding Tools (page 6).

Exercise 2: Understanding the Toolspace | 9

Explore the Prospector tab

NOTE This tutorial uses Intro-1.dwg from the previous tutorial.

1 In Toolspace, click the Prospector tab.

Toolspace can be docked, but it can also float. The Prospector tab provides
you with a categorized view of all objects in the drawing.

NOTE If the Toolspace is not visible, enter ShowTS on the command line.
The command line is not case sensitive, but in this document, commands
are written in mixed case.

2 Click next to the Sites collection.

The drawing contains only one site, Site 1.

3 Expand the Site 1 collection.

Notice that the Site 1 collection includes sub-collections for the following
objects:

■ Alignments

■ Feature Lines

■ Grading Groups

■ Parcels

A site provides a logical grouping of objects that form part of the same
design project, or are otherwise related. An object can belong to only one
site.

4 Expand the Parcels collection to see the names of individual parcels

in Site 1.

Notice that the drawing includes different types of parcels, such as

Single-Family and Easement.

5 Click a parcel name.

The parcel is displayed in a preview region of the Prospector tab.

10 | Chapter 2 Getting Started Tutorials

NOTE If the preview does not work, you can activate it. First, ensure that the

item preview button at the top of the Prospector tab is pressed in. Then,
right-click the Parcels collection and click Show Preview.

6 Right-click one of the Single-Family parcels. Click Properties.

The properties of the parcel are displayed in a dialog box. Note the
detailed survey data shown on the Analysis tab. Review these properties
as you wish, but do not change anything.

7 Click the Information tab. Change the Object Style from Single-Family

to Open Space. Click OK.

Notice that the appearance of the parcel changes in the drawing, and in
the item view preview. The name of the parcel changes in the Parcels
collection on the Prospector tab. This happened because the style name
is part of the naming template that is associated with the parcel.

A distinct set of custom styles for each AutoCAD Civil 3D object type can
be saved in a drawing template. Object styles can be changed as needed
to change the display of an object.

Explore the Settings tab

1 Click the Settings tab.

The Settings tab contains a tree structure of object styles and settings for
the drawing. Like the Prospector tab, it has object collections at several
levels.

2 Expand the Settings tree by clicking next to the Intro-1. Expand

the Parcel ➤ Parcel Styles collection.

This collection displays the styles that are available in the current drawing.

3 Right-click the Standard parcel style. Click Edit.

The object style dialog box displays the current style attributes. Explore
the contents of the tabs to see the various attributes that can be changed
when you create a style.

4 Click Cancel.

Further exploration: Expand the Settings tree and look at several style

objects and commands. Right-click various objects to see the available
menu selections, but do not change anything.

Exercise 2: Understanding the Toolspace | 11

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 3: Using the Panorama Window (page

12).

Exercise 3: Using the Panorama Window

In this exercise, you will learn how you can use and customize the Panorama
window.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic The Panorama
Window.

This tutorial continues from Exercise 2: Understanding the Toolspace (page

9).

Display object data in the Panorama window

NOTE This tutorial uses Intro-1.dwg from the previous tutorial.

1 Use the Pan and Zoom controls to locate the beginning of the

alignment and pipe network on the far right side of the site.

2 In the drawing, click the green alignment.

12 | Chapter 2 Getting Started Tutorials

3 Click Alignment tab ➤ Modify panel ➤ Geometry Editor .

4 In the Alignment Layout Tools toolbar, click .

A table called Alignment Entities is displayed in a separate window called
the Panorama. Notice that the table name appears on a tab. The main
control bar is labeled Panorama. Each table in Panorama is called a vista.
These tables are useful for editing object attributes. You can edit data in
cells that appears as black text. You cannot edit data in cells that are
shaded (unavailable). In the next few steps, you will learn to use some
of the Panorama controls.

5 If the Panorama window covers the alignment, move it by clicking the

middle part of the vertical control bar where you see the Panorama title,
and then dragging the window to a new location.

TIP To move the Panorama window, hold down the Ctrl key to prevent the
Panorama window from docking when you move it.

6 Press Esc to deselect the alignment.

7 In the drawing, click the blue structure marker.

Exercise 3: Using the Panorama Window | 13

8 Click Pipe Networks tab ➤ Modify panel ➤ Edit Pipe Network .

9 In the Network Layout Tools toolbar, click .

Two additional tables, called Structures and Pipes are displayed in the
Panorama window.

10 Click the three vista tabs in turn to switch from one table to the other.

Bring the Alignment Entities table to the front.

Rearrange the columns of a vista

1 Scroll to the right until you see the Chord Length column.

2 Click the Chord Length column heading, drag the column to the left,

and drop it to the right of the Length column.

Notice that each column heading is highlighted as the cursor passes
through it. You can rearrange the columns like this to make the table
easier to use.

3 Right-click the Radius column heading. Click Customize Columns.

The Customize Columns dialog box allows you to modify the appearance
of the columns in the current vista. You can hide unnecessary columns
by clearing the appropriate check boxes in the Visibility column, or
change the width of columns using the Width column. Clicking the New
button allows you to save a custom vista configuration for later use.

4 Click Cancel to close the Customize Columns dialog box.

Change the appearance of the Panorama window

1 On the Panorama control bar, click to temporarily close the window.

2 Without clicking, move your pointer over the Panorama control bar.

The window opens while the pointer is on the bar. It closes when you

move the pointer off the vista. This is Auto-Hide Mode, indicated by
. It is useful when you want to periodically consult a table while working
in the drawing.

3 Click to turn off Auto-Hide Mode.

14 | Chapter 2 Getting Started Tutorials

4 On the Panorama control bar, click . Click Transparency.

5 In the Transparency dialog box, move the General slider to a position in

the middle of the range. Click OK.

6 Drag the Panorama window.

When you move the cursor away from the window, notice that you can
see some drawing details through the table.

7 In Alignment Layout Tools toolbar, click .

The Pipes and Structures vistas remain open until you click in the
Network Layout Tools toolbar.

To continue to the next tutorial, go to Tutorial: Using Basic Functionality
(page 15).

Tutorial: Using Basic Functionality

In this tutorial, you will learn how to navigate around AutoCAD Civil 3D and
how to use some common features of the interface.

Panning and Zooming

You can use the zoom and pan commands to change the viewing scale of the
drawing or move to a different area of the open drawing. This exercise
demonstrates using the shortcut menu to pan and zoom. The pan and zoom
commands also are available on the Home tab ➤ View panel.

Use shortcut menus to pan and zoom

1 Open Intro-2.dwg, which is located in the tutorial drawings folder (page

819).

2 Right-click the XGND surface name in the Prospector tree. Click Zoom

To.

3 In the drawing, right-click and click Zoom. Click and drag upwards to

zoom in closer to the surface.

4 To stop zooming and use the normal pointer, right-click and click Exit.

5 With no objects selected in the drawing, right-click in the drawing and

click Pan.

Tutorial: Using Basic Functionality | 15

6 Click and drag in any direction to move around the drawing.

7 To stop panning and use the normal pointer, right-click and click Exit.

Selecting and Deselecting

There are several ways to select objects in AutoCAD Civil 3D:

■ To select an object, click it in the drawing window.

■ To select an individual object that is part of a group of objects, press and

hold Ctrl while clicking the object.

■ To select several objects by enclosing them within a rectangular area, drag

your cursor from left to right. A rectangle with a solid line appears. Only
objects that are enclosed in the rectangular area are selected.

■ To select several objects by crossing over them with a rectangular area,

drag your cursor from right to left. A rectangle with a dashed line appears.
Any objects that the dashed line crosses over are selected.

If you select the wrong object, press Esc to deselect it.

Experiment with the selection methods using the objects in drawing
Intro-2.dwg.

Object Snapping

This standard AutoCAD feature is useful for precision drafting, when you want
the line you are drawing to snap to entity edges or specific points. In these
tutorials, you may prefer to use a freehand mode for drawing and editing
objects, such as horizontal alignments and layout profiles.

Object snaps, also known as OSNAPs, can be used in either of two ways:

■ Individual, or single-point OSNAPs— To snap to a specific type of point,

hold the Shift key down and right-click. Select an object snap from the
shortcut menu. The object snap stays in effect only for the next point that
you click.

■ Multiple, or running OSNAPs—You can toggle Object Snap on and off by

clicking on the status bar at the bottom of the main application
window, or by pressing F3 or Ctrl+F. Object Snap is off when the button
is in a raised position.

16 | Chapter 2 Getting Started Tutorials

Experiment with OSNAPs

1 Press F1 to open AutoCAD Civil 3D Help.

2 In the left pane, click Search.

3 In the Type In The Word(s) To Search For field, enter Osnap.

4 In the Select A Section To Search list, select All Documentation.

5 Click Search. Select from the topics that are displayed.

In most cases, it is recommended that you also turn off other cursor controls
on the status bar, such as Snap, Grid, and Ortho. The Model button, however,
should remain on.

Dynamic Input

Dynamic input is an AutoCAD feature that displays prompts from the
command line beside the cursor. Dynamic input provides a place for you to
enter values when a command is active. For these tutorials, you may want to

toggle off the dynamic input feature. To turn dynamic input off, click on
the status bar at the bottom of the main application window, or press F12.

For more information about dynamic input, see AutoCAD Help.

To continue to the next tutorial, go to Viewing AutoCAD Civil 3D Objects
(page 17).

Tutorial: Viewing AutoCAD Civil 3D Objects

This tutorial demonstrates several ways to display objects in plan and model
views.

There are a variety of ways to view AutoCAD Civil 3D objects. In this tutorial,
you will learn how to use some of the most common methods, including
viewports, named views, display representations, 3D views, and visual styles.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Help topic Use 3D Viewing Tools.

Exercise 1: Setting Up the Drawing Window

In this exercise, you will configure the drawing window, using named views
and viewports.

Tutorial: Viewing AutoCAD Civil 3D Objects | 17

For more information, see the AutoCAD Help topics Save and Restore Views
and Display Multiple Views in Model Space.

Divide the drawing area into separate viewports

1 Open Intro-2.dwg, which is located in the tutorial drawings folder (page

819).

This drawing contains an existing ground surface, several alignments,
and several profile views that contain existing ground and layout profiles.

2 Click View tab ➤ Viewports panel ➤ Viewport Configurations

List ➤ Two: Vertical.

Two viewports are displayed. Each viewport is a separate window in which
you can pan and zoom to different views of the drawing. You can create
custom viewport configurations and save them for later use.

3 Click in each of the viewports.

Notice that as you click in a viewport, the border darkens to indicate
which viewport is currently active. Click the viewport on the left side to
make it active.

4 On the command line, enter ZE.

The surface and profile views are displayed in the left viewport.

Apply a saved drawing view

1 Click the viewport on the left side to make it active.

2 Click View tab ➤ Views panel ➤ Surface Extents.

The extents of the EG surface appears in the left viewport.

18 | Chapter 2 Getting Started Tutorials

Three views have been created in this drawing. Each named view consists
of a specific magnification, position, orientation, and layer status. Named
views are saved with a drawing and can be used any time. When your
drawing is displaying a specific view to which you want to return, you
can save it as a named view by clicking View tab ➤ Views panel ➤ Named
Views

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 2: Changing the Display of an Object
(page 19).

Exercise 2: Changing the Display of an Object

In this tutorial, you will change the appearance of a surface by changing its
style. You will examine the style settings that affect how an object is
represented in plan, profile, and model views.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Object Styles.

This exercise continues from Exercise 1: Setting Up the Drawing Window
(page 17).

Modify the display of a surface

NOTE This tutorial uses Intro-2.dwg from the previous tutorial.

1 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, expand the tree under the drawing

name. Expand the Surfaces collection to see the surface name XGND.

2 Right-click the surface, XGND, and click Surface Properties.

Exercise 2: Changing the Display of an Object | 19

3 In the Surface Properties dialog box, on the Information tab, under Surface

Style, select a different style, such as Border & Elevations.

4 Click Apply.

The appearance of the surface now reflects the settings of the style you
selected.

5 To show a different view of the surface, repeat steps 2 through 4, selecting

a different style.

6 After you have explored other styles, set the original style, Visualization.

Click Apply. Leave the Surface Properties dialog box open.

Examine the object style settings

1 In the Surface Properties dialog box, on the Information tab, in the Default

Styles area, notice the Render Material list.

This list indicates the material that is applied to the surface object. When
the surface is rendered in model view, the surface will be displayed using
this material.

2 Click Cancel.

3 In the right viewport, zoom in to one of the profile grids. Select the blue,

layout profile line. Right-click. Click Profile Properties.

4 In the Profile Properties dialog box, on the Information tab, in the Object

Style area, click .

5 In the Profile Style dialog box, click the Display tab. In the View Direction

list, make sure that Profile is selected.

The table identifies how the profile components are displayed in a profile
view. The basic appearance of the individual object components is

controlled on this tab. Components that have in the Visibility column
are visible when the profile is displayed in a profile view. The Layer, Color,
Linetype, LT Scale, and Lineweight of the components are controlled on
this table. In the drawing window, notice that the layout profile line is
blue, as identified in the Color column.

Other AutoCAD Civil 3D object styles use the same basic structure to
control display components. Most other objects, such as alignments,
have a Plan view direction in place of the Profile view direction. The Plan
view direction identifies how the object components are displayed in
plan view.

20 | Chapter 2 Getting Started Tutorials

6 In the View Direction list, select Model.

In the table, notice that the Layer and Color settings are different from
the Profile view direction. When the layout profile line is viewed in model,
it uses the display settings listed in this table.

NOTE In the View Direction list, notice that a Section selection is available.
This View Direction specifies how the surface will be displayed when it is
viewed as part of a corridor section. You will learn about viewing and editing
corridor sections in the Viewing and Editing Corridor Sections tutorial (page

477).

7 Click Cancel to close the Profile Style and Profile Properties dialog boxes.

8 Press Esc to deselect the layout profile.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 3: Viewing a Drawing in Model (page

21).

Exercise 3: Viewing a Drawing in Model

In this exercise, you will learn some ways to view drawing objects in
three-dimensional views.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Help topic Use 3D Viewing Tools.

This exercise continues from Exercise 2: Changing the Display of an Object
(page 19).

Examine object display in model views

NOTE This tutorial uses Intro-2.dwg from the previous tutorial.

1 Click the left viewport to make it active.

2 Click View panel ➤ Views panel ➤ views list ➤ SE Isometric.

A Southeast isometric view of the surface is displayed in the left viewport,
and the right viewport stays in plan view.

3 Zoom in to the isometric view of the surface.

Notice the green and blue lines. The green lines are the layout profiles
that you examined in profile view. They are green because the Model
view direction in its style indicated that they will display as green. The

Exercise 3: Viewing a Drawing in Model | 21

blue lines under the surface are the horizontal alignments from which
the profiles were created.

Change the visual style of the surface

1 Click View panel ➤ Views panel Visual Styles drop-down ➤ 3D

Wireframe.

AutoCAD visual styles give a fast, basic visualization of an object that is
useful for on-screen presentation in AutoCAD Civil 3D. The 3D Wireframe
visual style displays the surface in model view without applying a fill
material to the object.

22 | Chapter 2 Getting Started Tutorials

Notice that a cube is displayed in the upper right-hand corner. This is
the AutoCAD ViewCube, which provides visual feedback of the current
orientation of a model. You can use the ViewCube to adjust the viewpoint
of the model when a visual style has been applied.

2 Click a corner of the ViewCube, and drag it to a new position. Experiment

with dragging the ViewCube to various positions. When you are finished,

click to return the model and ViewCube to their original positions.

3 Click View panel ➤ Views panel Visual Styles drop-down ➤

Conceptual.

The Conceptual visual style shades the object and smooths the edges
between polygon faces. The shading in this style uses the Gooch face
style, a transition between cool and warm colors rather than dark to light.
The effect is not realistic, but it can make the details of the model easy
to see.

Exercise 3: Viewing a Drawing in Model | 23

4 Click View panel ➤ Views panel Visual Styles drop-down ➤ Realistic.

The Realistic visual style shades the surface and smooths the edges
between polygon faces. The render material that is specified in the surface
style is displayed.

24 | Chapter 2 Getting Started Tutorials

Points Tutorials

3

These tutorials will get you started working with coordinate geometry (COGO) points, which
are the basis for modeling land surfaces. These tutorials demonstrate how to import survey
points into a drawing from a database, and how to classify a large set of points into more
manageable groups.

Before you import a large set of points, it is a good idea to structure your drawing environment
so that as the points are created, they are sorted into meaningful groups, with appropriate
styles and other attributes.

NOTE All drawings used in these tutorials are available in the tutorial drawings folder (page

819). If you want to save your work from these tutorials, save the drawings to the My Civil

Tutorial Data folder (page 819) so that you do not overwrite the original drawings.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Understanding Points.

Tutorial: Creating Point Data

This tutorial demonstrates several useful setup tasks for organizing a large set
of points.

In this tutorial, you will learn about managing a set of points related to
stormwater manholes and detention ponds. You will create description keys
and point groups to sort the points as they are imported into a drawing. Then,
you will import the points from an existing file.

Description keys can help you automate many point-handling tasks at the time
that points are created or imported. A description key uses the raw description
code of a point to determine how to process the point. For example, you can
configure a description key to apply different styles or place points on different
drawing layers.

You can classify a set of points into several point groups, based on the type of
point, elevation, date of creation, source, or other criteria. Then you can run

25

various queries or operations for point display against a point group, rather
than the whole set.

Points can be imported from a text file or a Microsoft Access database. Data
created in Autodesk Land Desktop can be migrated to AutoCAD Civil 3D by
importing points directly from a project database.

You can create a large point set and organize it later. However, it is usually
more efficient to classify points into several groups as they are being created.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Creating Points.

Exercise 1: Creating Description Keys

In this exercise, you will create description keys to sort the points as they are
imported into a drawing.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Description Keys.

Create a description key set

1 Open Points-1.dwg, which is located in the tutorial drawings folder (page

819).

2 In Toolspace, on the Settings tab, expand the Point collection.

3 Right-click Description Key Sets. Click New.

4 In the Description Key Set dialog box, Name field, enter Stormwater Keys.

5 In the Description field, enter Stormwater manhole and pond points.

6 Click OK.

The new description key set is created.

Create description keys

1 In Toolspace, on the Settings tab, expand the Description Key Sets

collection. Right-click Stormwater Keys. Click Edit Keys. The DescKey
Editor vista is displayed in the Panorama window.

In the DescKey Editor, you will enter the raw description codes, and
specify how AutoCAD Civil 3D handles new points that have these codes.
All entries in the Code column of the DescKey Editor are case sensitive.

2 In DescKey Editor, in the Code column, click the default entry. Change

it to POND*.

26 | Chapter 3 Points Tutorials

The asterisk is a wild-card character. The asterisk causes any imported
point with a description code that begins with POND, followed by any
other characters, to be handled according to the settings in this table
row.

3 In both the Style and Point Label Style columns, clear the check box to

deactivate these settings.

Clearing these settings allows you to control these settings by using point
group properties.

NOTE The Format column contains the entry $*, which specifies that a point’s
raw description is copied without changes and used for the full description
in the point label. This is an acceptable setting for the POND points.

4 In the Layer column, select the check box. Click the cell to open the Layer

Selection dialog box.

5 In the Layer Selection dialog box, select V-NODE-STRM. Click OK.

This setting means that the POND points reference the V-NODE-STRM
layer for their display attributes. In the next few steps, you create another
description key.

6 In the Code column, right-click the POND* entry. Click New.

7 In the new description key, click the default Code entry and change it

to MHST*.

8 Set the same styles and layer as you did for POND* by repeating Steps 3

through 5.

9 In the Format column, enter STORM MH.

This setting ensures that points with a raw description of MHST*
(stormwater manholes) are labeled in the drawing as STORM MH.

10 Click to save the description keys and close the editor.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 2: Creating Point Groups (page 27).

Exercise 2: Creating Point Groups

In this exercise, you will create point groups to sort the points as they are
imported into a drawing.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Point Groups.

Exercise 2: Creating Point Groups | 27

This exercise continues from Exercise 1: Creating Description Keys (page 26).

Create point groups

NOTE This exercise uses Points-1.dwg with the modifications you made in the

previous exercise.

1 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, right-click the Point Groups

collection. Click New.

2 In the Point Group Properties dialog box, on the Information tab, in the

Name field, enter Detention Pond. Optionally, enter a short description
in the Description field.

3 On the Raw Desc Matching tab, select POND*. Click Apply.

This option specifies that all points with the POND* raw description are
added to the Detention Pond point group.

Notice how the description key setting is recorded on both the Include
and Query Builder tabs. If you know SQL, you can see how you could
add more criteria to the Query Builder tab to select a more specific set of
points for the point group.

4 Click OK.

5 Create another point group by repeating Steps 1 through 4, but use the

following parameters:

Name: Storm Manholes

Raw Desc Matching: MHST*

Your drawing should now contain the same description keys and point
groups shown in sample drawing Points-1a.dwg.

NOTE The _All Points point group is created automatically. A point can
belong to other point groups in the drawing, but it is always a member of
the _All Points point group. For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D
Help topic The _All Points Point Group.

Change the point group label style

1 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, expand the Point Groups collection.

2 Right-click the _All Points collection. Click Properties.

3 In the Point Group Properties dialog box, on the Information tab, change

the Point Label Style to Standard.

28 | Chapter 3 Points Tutorials

4 Click OK to close the Point Group Properties dialog box.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 3: Importing Points from a Database
(page 29).

Exercise 3: Importing Points from a Database

In this exercise, you will import points from a database to a drawing that uses
description keys to sort points into groups.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Importing and
Exporting Points.

This exercise continues from Exercise 2: Creating Point Groups (page 27).

Import points from a database

NOTE This exercise uses Points-1.dwg with the modifications you made in the

previous exercise, or you can open Points-1a.dwg from the tutorial drawings folder
(page 819).

1 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, right-click Points. Click Create.

2 In the Create Points dialog box, click . Expand the Default Layer

parameter, then change the value to V-NODE.

3 In the Create Points dialog box, click Import Points.

4 In the Format list, select External Project Point Database.

5 Click . Browse to the tutorial folder (page 820). Select points.mdb. Click

Open.

6 In the Import Points dialog box, clear the Advanced Options check boxes.

7 Click OK.

The points are imported.

8 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, right-click the _All Points point

group. Click Zoom To.

The points are displayed both in the drawing and in tabular form in the
Toolspace list view. In the drawing window, if you move the cursor over
a point, a tooltip displays basic data about the point. Notice that the two
stormwater point groups appear to be empty. This is because they have

Exercise 3: Importing Points from a Database | 29

not been updated with their new content. In the next few steps, you will
see how AutoCAD Civil 3D provides several ways to check the point data
before adding it to your drawing.

Update point groups

1 Right-click the Point Groups collection. Click Properties.

The Point Groups dialog box is displayed. Point groups are listed here
according to their display order, with the highest priority group at the
top. Arrows at the side of the dialog box allow you to change the display

order. The icon indicates that an update is pending for a point group.

2 To show the contents of the update for each point group, click . Review

the list of points that the application is prepared to add to the Storm
Manholes and Detention Pond point groups.

3 In the Point Group Changes dialog box, click Close.

4 To update the point groups, click . Click OK.

Alternatively, you can right-click the Point Groups collection and click
Update.

The point groups update. Now, you can display their points in the list
view and zoom to them in the drawing.

5 Right-click a point group. Click Edit Points.

The points are displayed in the Point Editor table. Review and change
their attributes.

NOTE For information about changing the contents and display of the
Panorama window, see the Using the Panorama Window tutorial (page 12).

To continue to the next tutorial, go to Displaying and Editing Points (page

30).

Tutorial: Displaying and Editing Points

This tutorial demonstrates how to use point groups, layers, external references,
and styles to display points. It also explains the various ways to edit points
using standard AutoCAD tools.

30 | Chapter 3 Points Tutorials

You can use point groups to organize points and to control their appearance
in a drawing. While points are independent objects that do not have to be
categorized into specific point groups, every point in a drawing is always part
of the _All Points point group. The point group display order determines which
point group’s properties take precedence. For example, if a point belongs to
a point group that is higher in the display order than the _All Points point
group, the higher group’s properties override the properties set in the _All
Points point group.

The point layer controls the display attributes of the point. To see this, open
the Point Group Properties dialog box, click the Point List tab, and look at the
Point Layer column. This column also appears in the Prospector list view when
the point group is selected. The point layer can be assigned by using a
description key. If a point layer is not assigned during creation, points are
placed on the default point layer specified in the drawing settings.

An external reference drawing (xref) is a useful way to see points in relation
to other surface features without adding these features to your drawing. You
can reference another drawing and make it appear as an underlay in your
current drawing. Then, you can detach the external drawing when you no
longer need it.

Changing the point or label style of a point group can help you distinguish
these points more easily from other points in the drawing.

Each point is an object that can be individually selected and manipulated.
Point objects have commands, property attributes, and grip behavior that are
similar to other AutoCAD entities.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Controlling the
Appearance of Points in a Drawing.

Exercise 1: Displaying an Externally Referenced Drawing

In this exercise, you will use a standard AutoCAD operation to display another
drawing of the region around your set of points.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Help topic Attach Drawing References
(Xrefs).

This exercise continues from the Creating Point Data (page 25) tutorial.

Exercise 1: Displaying an Externally Referenced Drawing | 31

Display an externally referenced drawing

NOTE This exercise uses Points-1a.dwg with the modifications you made in the

previous tutorial, or you can open Points-2.dwg from the tutorial drawings folder
(page 819).

1 Click Insert tab ➤ Reference panel ➤ Attach.

2 In the Select Reference File dialog box, make sure that Files Of Type is set

to Drawing (*.dwg). Navigate to the tutorial drawings folder (page 819) and
open Existing Basemap.dwg. Select it and click Open.

3 In the External Reference dialog box, specify the following parameters:

■ Reference Type: Overlay

■ Insertion Point: Cleared

■ Scale: Cleared

■ Rotation: Cleared

4 Click OK.

The basemap appears on the screen, allowing you to see the points of
interest in relation to the road design and other contextual features. This
external reference remains separate from your drawing. There is no risk
of unexpected changes to your drawing. In a later exercise, you will learn
how to detach the external reference.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 2: Changing the Style of a Point Group
(page 32).

Exercise 2: Changing the Style of a Point Group

In this exercise, you will change the style of a point group. Point styles can
help you distinguish the points more easily from other points in the drawing.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Changing the
Properties of a Point Group.

This exercise continues from Exercise 1: Displaying an Externally Referenced

Drawing (page 31).

32 | Chapter 3 Points Tutorials

Change the style of a point group

NOTE This exercise uses Points-2.dwg and Existing Basemap.dwg with the

modifications you made in the previous exercise.

1 Zoom in to the upper left area of the screen where you can clearly see

the labels for several POND points and one or more STORM MH points.
Notice that both types of points use the same marker style (X).

2 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, right-click the point group _All

Points. Click Properties.

3 In the Point Group Properties dialog box, on the Information tab, change

the Point Label Style to <none>.

4 Click OK.

Labels for all points that do not have a label style set in another point
group are hidden. The point markers are still visible because markers are
controlled by the point style, which you did not change.

5 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, right-click the point group Storm

Manholes. Click Properties.

6 In the Point Group Properties dialog box, on the Information tab, change

the Point Style to Storm Sewer Manhole.

7 Click OK.

The stormwater manhole points are now marked with the symbol defined
in the Storm Sewer Manhole point style.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 3: Changing Point Group Display

Order (page 33).

Exercise 3: Changing Point Group Display Order

In this exercise, you will use the point group display order to change the
appearance of points.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Changing the Point
Group Display Order.

Exercise 3: Changing Point Group Display Order | 33

Change the point group display order

NOTE This exercise uses Points-2.dwg and Existing Basemap.dwg with the

modifications you made in the previous exercise.

1 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, expand the Point Groups collection.

Notice the order of the point groups in the Prospector tree. The point
group display order determines how points that belong to more than one
point group are displayed in a drawing. When a drawing is opened or
regenerated, AutoCAD Civil 3D searches down the point group display
order to determine how the point will appear.

For example, if a point belongs to all three groups, AutoCAD Civil 3D
will first look in the Storm Manholes point to determine if a point label
style has been assigned to that point group. If it has not, AutoCAD Civil
3D will look in the Detention Pond point group, and then the _All Points
group until the point label style setting is found.

2 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, right-click the Point Groups

collection. Click Properties.

3 In the Point Groups dialog box, select the Storm Manholes point group.

4 Click to move the Storm Manholes point group to the bottom of the

display order.

5 Click OK.

Notice that the point style for the STORM MH points has changed to an
X, and the label has disappeared. This happened because when the Storm
Manholes point group was placed below the _All Points point group, the
_All Points point group’s point style and point label style settings took
precedence over those of the Storm Manholes point group.

6 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, right-click the _All Points point

group. Click Properties.

7 In the Point Group Properties dialog box, on the Overrides tab, select the

Point Label Style box. Click OK.

This option ensures that the Point Label Style setting of the point group
overrides the Point Label Style setting of the individual points included
in the point group.

8 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, right-click the Point Groups

collection. Click Properties.

34 | Chapter 3 Points Tutorials

9 In the Point Groups dialog box, select the _All Points point group. Click

to move the _All Points point group to the top of the display order.

10 Click OK.

Notice that all point labels in the drawing are hidden. This happened
because the _All Points point group’s point label style set to <none>, and
you placed the _All Points point group at the top of the display order.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 4: Removing an Externally Referenced

Drawing (page 35).

Exercise 4: Removing an Externally Referenced Drawing

In this exercise, you will remove the externally referenced drawing that you
added previously.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Help topic Detach Referenced Drawings.

This exercise continues from Exercise 3: Changing Point Group Display Order
(page 33).

Remove an externally referenced drawing

NOTE This exercise uses Points-2.dwg and Existing Basemap.dwg with the

modifications you made in the previous exercise.

1 Click any entity in Existing Basemap.dwg to select the whole drawing.

2 Right-click, and click Xref Manager.

3 In the External References dialog box, right-click the reference name

Existing Basemap. Click Detach.

The reference drawing disappears from view.

4 Close the External References dialog box.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 5: Editing Points (page 35).

Exercise 5: Editing Points

In this exercise, you will use standard AutoCAD commands to move and rotate
point objects to improve their position in the drawing.

Exercise 4: Removing an Externally Referenced Drawing | 35

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Editing Points.

Change the point style

NOTE This exercise uses Points-3.dwg, which is similar to the drawing you used

in the other exercises in the Displaying and Editing Points (page 30) tutorial.

1 Open Points-3.dwg, which is located in the tutorial drawings folder (page

819).

2 Locate point 992 near the right side of the drawing.

Notice that the label for point 992 is obscured by the hatching. In the
next few steps, you will change the point marker style. You will rotate
the point marker so that it is parallel with the nearby road, and then
move the label to a more readable location.

3 Select point 992. Right-click. Click Properties. The AutoCAD Properties

palette displays the properties of individual points.

4 Under Information, select Catch Basin in the Style property.

Rotate the point

1 In the drawing window, click the grip. The grip turns red.

This is the point rotation grip, which rotates the point marker around
the center point.

TIP To rotate a group of points, use the AutoCAD ROTATE command.

2 Rotate the point clockwise until the point marker is parallel to the edge

of the road, then click to position the point.

The point marker now matches the angle of the road, but the label is still
obscured by the hatching. You will correct this in the following steps.

Drag the point label

1 Examine the grip that is offset from the center of the point.

2 This is the drag label grip. Click the grip above the drag label grip.

This toggles the display of the drag label grip. Three grips are available.
These grips can be used to drag each line in the point label independently.

3 Click the grip to return the drag label grip to its original state.

36 | Chapter 3 Points Tutorials

4 Click the drag label grip.

5 Drag the label down and to the left, until it is in an unobstructed area.

Click to place the label in its new orientation.

To continue to the next tutorial, go to Adding User-Defined Properties to

Points (page 37).

Tutorial: Adding User-Defined Properties to
Points

This tutorial demonstrates how to add custom properties to points.

A user-defined property can be any useful attribute, such as date of acquisition
or source. To create user-defined properties, you first create a property
classification, which is a container for one or more related properties.

If you want to define a value for a point, but the applicable property does not
exist, you can define it as a custom, user-defined property.

You assign classifications and their associated properties to the points in your
drawing using point groups. After you have added the user-defined properties
to a point group, you can add values for each property either by editing the
properties of individual points or by importing values from an external point
file.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic User-Defined
Property Classifications.

Exercise 1: Creating User-Defined Properties

In this exercise, you will learn how to create a user-defined property
classification and add items to it.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic User-Defined
Property Classifications.

Create a user-defined property classification

1 Open Points-4a.dwg, which is located in the tutorial drawings folder (page

819).

The drawing is similar to the ones you used earlier in the Points tutorials,
except only the points for storm manholes and the detention pond are
visible.

Tutorial: Adding User-Defined Properties to Points | 37

2 In Toolspace, on the Settings tab, expand the Point collection. Right-click

User-Defined Property Classifications. Click New.

3 In the User-Defined Property Classification dialog box, enter Manhole

UDP.

4 Click OK.

The new classification is created and added to the list of user-defined
property classifications.

5 Repeat Steps 2 to 4 to create an additional user-defined property

classification named Trees.

Define classification properties

1 On the Settings tab, expand User-Defined Property Classifications.

Right-click Manhole UDP. Click New.

2 In the New User-Defined Property dialog box, for Name, enter MH_Pipe

In Invert.

3 In the Property Field Type list, select Elevation.

4 Use the default values for all other properties. Click OK.

The property is added to the list of Manhole UDP properties.

5 Repeat Steps 1 to 4 to add additional properties to the Manhole UDP

classification, using the following parameters:

NOTE The next exercise uses Points-4b.dwg, which contains all of the
properties and classifications. To save time, you can skip Steps 5 and 6 and
proceed to Exercise 2: Creating a Label Style That Displays a User-Defined

Property (page 39).

er

38 | Chapter 3 Points Tutorials

Property Field TypeName

StringMH_Material

DimensionMH_Diameter

DimensionMH_Pipe In Diamet-

StringMH_Pipe In Material

Property Field TypeName

ElevationMH_Pipe Out Invert

DimensionMH_Pipe Out Dia-

meter

StringMH_Pipe Out Mater-

ial

6 Repeat Steps 1 to 4 to add properties to the Trees classification using the

following parameters:

Property Field TypeName

StringTree_Common

Name

StringTree_Genus

StringTree_Species

DimensionTree_Diameter

DistanceTree_Height

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 2: Creating a Label Style That Displays

a User-Defined Property (page 39).

Exercise 2: Creating a Label Style That Displays a
User-Defined Property

In this exercise, you will create a label style that displays user-defined property
information for a point.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Creating and
Editing Label Styles.

This exercise continues from Exercise 1: Creating User-Defined Properties
(page 37).

Exercise 2: Creating a Label Style That Displays a User-Defined Property | 39

Create a label style that displays user-defined property information

1 Open Points-4b.dwg, which is located in the tutorial drawings folder (page

819).

2 In Toolspace, on the Settings tab, expand the Point collection. Expand

the Label Styles collection.

3 Under Label Styles, right-click Standard. Click Copy.

4 In the Label Style Composer, on the Information tab, for Name, enter

Manhole UDP.

5 On the Layout tab, in the Preview list on the upper right side of the tab,

select Point Label Style.

Now, any edits you make to the point label style will be displayed in the
preview pane.

6 Click to create a text component for the label.

7 For the new text component, specify the following parameters:

■ Name: Invert In

■ Anchor Component: Point Description

■ Anchor Point: Bottom Left

■ Text Attachment: Top Left

8 Under Text, for Contents, click the default value. Click .

9 In the Text Component Editor – Label Text dialog box, on the Properties

tab, specify the following parameters:

■ Properties: MH_Pipe In Invert

■ Precision: 0.01

10 Click .

11 In the text editing window, delete the text “Label Text” from the label.

Enter Invert In: before the property field, which is enclosed in angle
brackets(<>). The text in the editor should look like this:

12 Click OK.

40 | Chapter 3 Points Tutorials

13 In the preview pane, your label should look like this:

14 Click OK.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 3: Assigning User-Defined Properties

to Points (page 41).

Exercise 3: Assigning User-Defined Properties to Points

In this exercise, you will use point groups to associate user-defined properties
with points in your drawing.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Assigning
User-Defined Properties to Point Groups.

This exercise continues from Exercise 2: Creating a Label Style That Displays

a User-Defined Property (page 39).

Assign user-defined properties to points

1 Open Points-4c.dwg, which is located in the tutorial drawings folder (page

819).

2 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, click Point Groups.

3 In the item view, click the Storm Manholes entry. In the Classification

column, select Manhole UDP.

Apply the user-defined property point label style

1 In the Prospector tree view, expand Point Groups. Click Storm Manholes.

2 In the item view, right-click in a column heading.

3 Clear the check mark from all items in the list, except the following:

■ Point Number

■ Point Label Style

Exercise 3: Assigning User-Defined Properties to Points | 41

■ MH_Pipe In Invert

■ MH_Pipe In Material

Clearing the check boxes turns off the display of columns you do not
need to see for this exercise.

4 Click the row for point 307.

5 Click the Point Label Style cell to display the Select Label Style dialog

box.

6 In the Select Label Style dialog box, select Manhole UDP as the label style.

Click OK.

7 Repeat Steps 4 to 6 to apply the Manhole UDP for point 667.

Specify user-defined property values

1 For point 307, click the MH_Pipe In Invert cell. Enter 93.05.

2 Right-click the row for point 307. Click Zoom To.

The value is displayed with the other point information in the drawing
window.

3 For point 667, click the MH_Pipe In Invert cell. Enter 93.00.

4 Right-click the entry for point 667. Click Zoom To.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 4: Importing Points with User-Defined

Properties (page 42).

Exercise 4: Importing Points with User-Defined
Properties

In this exercise, you will create a custom point file format, and then import
point information that includes user-defined properties from an external file.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Importing and
Exporting User-Defined Property Classifications.

This exercise continues from Exercise 3: Assigning User-Defined Properties to

Points (page 41).

42 | Chapter 3 Points Tutorials

Create a point file format for importing user-defined properties

1 Open Points-4d.dwg, which is located in the tutorial drawings folder (page

819).

2 In Toolspace, on the Settings tab, expand the Point collection. Right-click

Point File Formats. Click New.

3 In the Point File Formats – Select Format Type dialog box, select User

Point File. Click OK.

4 In the Point File Format dialog box, specify the following properties:

■ Format Name: Manhole Data

■ Comment Tag: #

■ Format Options: Delimited By

■ Delimited By: , (a comma)

5 In the table of column names, click the first column heading (labeled

<unused>).

6 In the Point File Formats – Select Column Name dialog box, in the

Column Name list, select Point Number. Click OK.

7 Repeat steps 5 and 6 to name additional columns using the following

values:

■ Column 2: MH_Material

■ Column 3: MH_Diameter

■ Column 4: MH_Pipe In Invert

■ Column 5: MH_Pipe In Diameter

■ Column 6: MH_Pipe In Material

■ Column 7: MH_Pipe Out Invert

■ Column 8: MH_Pipe Out Diameter

■ Column 9: MH_Pipe Out Material

8 Click OK.

Exercise 4: Importing Points with User-Defined Properties | 43

Import user-defined property data from a text file

1 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, ensure that the Point Groups

collection is expanded, and select the Storm Manholes group.

In the item view, note that this group contains only nine points, and
some of the data columns are blank.

2 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, right-click Points. Click Create.

3 In the Create Points dialog box, click Import Points.

4 In the Import Points dialog box, in the Format list, select Manhole Data.

5 Click . Browse to the tutorial folder (page 820). Select manhole_data.txt.

Click Open.

6 Click OK.

7 In the Duplicate Point Number dialog box, in the Resolution list, select

Merge. Click OK.

The point data is imported.

8 On the Prospector tab, click the Storm Manholes point group.

The point data from the file import is displayed in the item view,
including specific values for manhole data.

9 Close the Create Points dialog box.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 5: Querying User-Defined Property

Information (page 44).

Exercise 5: Querying User-Defined Property Information

In this exercise, you will create a point group. The list of points included in
the group is determined by a query that contains user-defined properties.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Creating a Point
Group Using the Query Builder.

This exercise continues from Exercise 4: Importing Points with User-Defined

Properties (page 42).

44 | Chapter 3 Points Tutorials

Create a point query

1 Open Points-4e.dwg, which is located in the tutorial drawings folder (page

819).

2 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, right-click Point Groups. Click New.

3 In the Point Group Properties dialog box, on the Information tab, for

Name, enter Storm Manholes - Invert In.

4 On the Query Builder tab, select Modify Query.

5 Right-click the Query Builder table. Click Insert Row.

6 Click the row you created. Click Name in the Property column. In the

Property list, select MH_Pipe In Invert.

7 Click the Operator value. In the Operator list, select < (less than).

8 Click the Value value. Enter 93.

9 Click OK.

10 On the Prospector tab, click Storm Manholes - Invert In.

A list of points that match your query is displayed in the item view. Points
number 307 and 667 are excluded, because in a previous exercise you set
their values for MH_Pipe In Invert to 93.05 and 93.00.

Exercise 5: Querying User-Defined Property Information | 45

46

Point Cloud Tutorials

4

These tutorials will get you started working with point clouds, which are dense collections
of point data that are obtained from LiDAR scanning.

NOTE All drawings used in these tutorials are available in the tutorial drawings folder (page

819). If you want to save your work from these tutorials, save the drawings to the My Civil

Tutorial Data folder (page 819) so that you do not overwrite the original drawings.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Point Clouds.

Tutorial: Working with Point Clouds

This tutorial demonstrates how to create a AutoCAD Civil 3D point cloud object
from imported LiDAR data, modify the object display, and then create a surface
from a subset of point cloud points.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Understanding Point
Cloud Objects.

Exercise 1: Importing Point Cloud Data

In this exercise, you will import a LiDAR data file to create an AutoCAD Civil
3D point cloud object.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Creating Point Cloud
Objects.

1 Open Point Cloud-1.dwg, which is located in the tutorial drawings folder

(page 819).

2 Click Home tab ➤ Create Ground Data panel Create Point Cloud.

47

Specify basic point cloud information

1 In the Create Point Cloud dialog box, on the Information page, specify

the following parameters:

■ Name: Point Cloud - Tutorial

■ Point Cloud Style: Single Color

■ Point Cloud Layer: V-SITE-SCAN

2 Click Next.

Specify the source data

1 On the Source Data page, under Source Data, select Create A New Point

Cloud Database.

2 Under Select A Point Cloud File Format, select LAS.

3 Under Files To Be Imported Into The New Point Cloud Database, click

.

4 In the Select File dialog box, navigate to the tutorial folder (page 820). Select

Point Cloud.las. Click Open.

5 Under New Point Cloud Database, under Specify New Point Cloud

Database, click .

6 In the Select File dialog box, navigate to the My Civil Tutorial Data folder

(page 819). For File Name, enter Point Cloud - Tutorial.isd. Click Open.

NOTE The Point Cloud Database Coordinate System and Current Drawing’s
Coordinate System settings should match. The coordinate system is not set
in this tutorial, but the settings come from the following sources:

■ Point Cloud Database Coordinate System: This value is taken from

the point cloud source file. Click to change the coordinate system
when the data is imported into the point cloud database.

■ Current Drawing’s Coordinate System: This value is taken from the

Drawing Settings dialog box, on the Units and Zone tab.

7 Click Next.

48 | Chapter 4 Point Cloud Tutorials

Verify the point cloud parameters and create the point cloud object

1 On the Summary page, expand the collections in the Property table, and

ensure that the properties match what you specified earlier in this exercise.

If the property values do not match, use the links on the left side of the
dialog box to return to the previous pages.

2 Click Finish.

A dialog box notifies you that the point cloud database is being processed
in the background, and that you may continue to work in the drawing.

3 Click Close.

After a few minutes, a notification appears in the status bar, indicating
that the point cloud database has been processed, and the point cloud
object has been created.

Examine the point cloud object

1 In the status bar notification, click Click Here To Zoom.

The drawing window zooms to the point cloud object.

2 Zoom in until you can see the points that make up the point cloud.

Exercise 1: Importing Point Cloud Data | 49

Examine the points. The point cloud points are stored in the point cloud
database, and they cannot be manipulated individually.

3 Zoom to the extents of the point cloud object.

4 Click View tab ➤ Views panel ➤ SE Isometric.

A three-dimensional view of the point cloud object is displayed. the white
box that surrounds the point cloud is the bounding box, which identifies
the extents of the point cloud object. The size and geometry of the
bounding box component depend on the point cloud object minimum
and maximum coordinate values. The bounding box serves as a point
cloud object proxy when the point cloud source data is not accessible.

5 Click View tab ➤ Views panel ➤ Top.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 2: Working with Point Cloud Styles
(page 50).

Exercise 2: Working with Point Cloud Styles

In this exercise, you will use styles to view the point cloud object in different
ways, as well as to filter the display of imported point cloud data.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Displaying and
Stylizing Point Clouds.

This exercise continues from Exercise 1: Importing Point Cloud Data (page

47).

Display point cloud points by elevation

1 In the drawing, select the point cloud.

2 Click Point Cloud tab ➤ Modify panel ➤ Point Cloud Properties

drop-down ➤ Point Cloud Properties.

3 In the Point Cloud Properties dialog box, on the Information tab, under

Point Cloud Style, select Elevation Ranges.

This point cloud style displays point cloud points as a specified color,
based on their elevation value.

4 On the Elevation Ranges tab, click Reset From Style.

50 | Chapter 4 Point Cloud Tutorials

This action specifies that the point cloud style parameters determine the
display properties of the point cloud.

5 Click OK.

The point cloud now shows the major differences in elevation between
the point cloud points. In the following steps, you will view point cloud
points by the classification code that was assigned to them as they were
created.

Display point cloud points by classification

1 In the drawing, select the point cloud.

2 Click Point Cloud tab ➤ Modify panel ➤ Point Cloud Properties

drop-down ➤ Point Cloud Properties.

3 In the Point Cloud Properties dialog box, on the Information tab, under

Point Cloud Style, select LIDAR Point Classification. Click OK.

The point cloud now shows the color-coded point cloud points. This is
a useful way to see different features that were captured during the scan.
In the following steps, you will adjust the point cloud style to filter
unwanted features from the point cloud.

Exercise 2: Working with Point Cloud Styles | 51

Filter points by classification

1 In the drawing, select the point cloud.

2 Click Point Cloud tab ➤ Modify panel ➤ Point Cloud Properties

drop-down ➤ Edit Point Cloud Style.

3 In the Point Cloud Style dialog box, on the Classification tab, click

.

For this exercise, you will specify that the style display only the ground
points.

NOTE The classifications in this table are based on ASPRS American Society
of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing standards.

4 In the LIDAR Classification table, select the 2 Ground check box.

As shown in the Color column, the point cloud points that are assigned
the 2 classification are displayed as brown.

5 Click OK.

52 | Chapter 4 Point Cloud Tutorials

In the drawing, only brown, Ground points are displayed. In the next
exercise, you will learn how to create a AutoCAD Civil 3D surface from
this subset of point cloud points.

NOTE If the display does not change, enter REGEN on the command line.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 3: Adding Point Cloud Data to a

Surface (page 53).

Exercise 3: Adding Point Cloud Data to a Surface

In this exercise, you will create a surface from a subset of imported point cloud
points, and then examine the relationship between the point cloud and surface
objects.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Adding Point Cloud
Points to Surfaces.

This exercise continues from Exercise 2: Working with Point Cloud Styles
(page 50).

Exercise 3: Adding Point Cloud Data to a Surface | 53

Adjust the visible point density

1 In the drawing, select the point cloud.

On the Point Cloud tab, on the Point Cloud Tools panel, the Point Density
slider enables you to adjust the density of points displayed at once for
all point clouds in the drawing view. When the slider is set to 100, the
drawing will display either 750000 point cloud points, or all the point
cloud points that exist in the visible area, whichever is less.

2 In the field next to the Point Density slider, enter 10. Press Enter.

The density of the points that are visible in the visible drawing area is
reduced.

Add point cloud points to a surface

1 Click Home tab ➤ Layers panel ➤ Layer drop-down. Next to

_TOPO-BOUNDARY, click . Click in the drawing to exit the Layer list.

A closed polygon is displayed in the drawing. In the following steps, you
will create a surface from the point cloud points that are inside this
polygon.

2 In the drawing, select the point clout object.

54 | Chapter 4 Point Cloud Tutorials

3 Click Point Cloud tab ➤ Point Cloud Tools panel ➤ Add Points to

Surface.

4 In the Add Points to Surface wizard, on the Surface Options page, specify

the following parameters:

■ Name: Point Cloud Surface

■ Surface Style: Contours 0.5’ and 2.5’ with Points

NOTE You may also add the point cloud points to an existing surface in the
current drawing.

5 Click Next.

6 On the Region Options page, under Specify a Region Option, select Object.

7 Click Define Region in Drawing.

8 In the drawing, select the polygon.

9 Click Next.

10 On the Summary page, expand the collections in the Property table, and

ensure that the properties match what you specified earlier in this exercise.

If the property values do not match, use the links on the left side of the
dialog box to return to the previous pages.

11 Click Finish.

The gray surface contours and cyan surface points are displayed in the
drawing, and a surface object is displayed in Toolspace on the Prospector
tab.

Exercise 3: Adding Point Cloud Data to a Surface | 55

Modify the surface

1 Press Esc to deselect the point cloud object.

2 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, expand the Surfaces collection.

Right-click Point Cloud Surface. Click Rebuild - Automatic.

3 Zoom in to the surface.

NOTE As you zoom in, AutoCAD Civil 3D honors the point cloud density

setting by displaying more point cloud points.

4 Select the surface.

5 Click TIN Surface tab ➤ Modify panel ➤ Edit Surface drop-down ➤

Delete Point.

6 On the command line, enter C to use crossing selection.

7 Draw a window around a group of cyan points. Press Enter.

The cyan surface points are removed, and the contours update. The brown
point cloud points are still present because they are stored in the point
cloud database, and are not affected by edits to the surface.

56 | Chapter 4 Point Cloud Tutorials

8 Press Enter to end the command.

9 In the drawing, select the polygon that you used to create the surface.

10 Select one of the grips, and drag it to a new location. Click to place the

grip.

The surface updates to include the point cloud data that is enclosed in
the new area.

Further exploration: On the right-hand side of the surface, the surface contours
extend beyond the extents of the polygon. The surface triangulated outside
that side of the surface. You may use the polygon as an outer boundary to
prevent triangulation outside the surface extents. For more information, see
the Adding an Outer Boundary to a Surface (page 70) exercise.

Exercise 3: Adding Point Cloud Data to a Surface | 57

58

Surfaces Tutorials

5

These tutorials will get you started working with land surfaces. A surface is a central object
for AutoCAD Civil 3D, and can be referenced by alignments, parcels, and other objects
throughout the design process.

NOTE All drawings used in these tutorials are available in the tutorial drawings folder (page

819). If you want to save your work from these tutorials, save the drawings to the My Civil

Tutorial Data folder (page 819) so that you do not overwrite the original drawings.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Understanding Surfaces.

Tutorial: Creating and Adding Data to a Surface

This tutorial demonstrates how to create a TIN surface, and then add contour,
breakline, and boundary data to the surface.

When you create a surface, its name is displayed in the Surfaces collection in
Toolspace on the Prospector tab. From this location, you can perform other
operations, such as adding data and editing the surface. When first created, the
surface is empty, so it is not visible in the drawing.

After data has been added to a surface, it becomes visible in the drawing in
accordance with the display settings specified in the referenced surface style.

TIN Surfaces

A TIN surface is composed of the triangles that form a triangulated irregular
network. A TIN line is one of the lines that makes up the surface triangulation.

To create TIN lines, AutoCAD Civil 3D connects the surface points that are
closest together. The TIN lines form triangles. The elevation of any point in the
surface is defined by interpolating the elevations of the vertices of the triangles
that the point lies in.

59

Contour Data

Contours are graphical illustrations of surface elevation changes. You can
create a surface from contours drawn as simple 3D polylines, which have x,
y, and z coordinate data.

Boundaries

Boundaries are closed polylines that affect the visibility of the triangles either
inside or outside the polylines. An outer boundary defines the extents of the
surface. All triangles inside the boundary are visible, and all triangles that are
outside the boundary are invisible.

Areas hidden by boundaries are not included in calculations, such as total
area and volume.

Surface boundaries are defined by selecting existing polygons in the drawing.
The surface definition displays the numerical ID and a list of vertices for each
boundary.

60 | Chapter 5 Surfaces Tutorials

Tutorial: Creating and Adding Data to a Surface | 61

Breaklines

Breaklines define linear surface features, such as retaining walls, curbs, tops
of ridges, and streams. Breaklines force surface triangulation to run along the
breakline; triangles do not cross a breakline.

Breaklines are critical to creating an accurate surface model. Breaklines are
important because it is the interpolation of the data, not just the data itself,
that determines the shape of the model.

You can use 3D lines or 3D polylines as breaklines. Each vertex on the polyline
is converted to a TIN point with the same XYZ coordinates. For 3D lines, each
line that you select is defined as a two-point breakline.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topics Creating Surfaces
and Adding and Editing Surface Data.

62 | Chapter 5 Surfaces Tutorials

Exercise 1: Creating a TIN Surface

In this exercise, you will create an empty TIN surface in a new drawing.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Creating a TIN
Surface.

Create a TIN surface in a new drawing

1 Click ➤ New.

2 In the Select Template dialog box, browse to the tutorial folder (page 820).

Select Surface.dwt. Click Open.

3 Click Home tab ➤ Create Ground Data panel ➤ Surfaces

drop-down ➤ Create Surface .

4 In the Create Surface dialog box, for Type, select TIN surface.

NOTE By default, a new Surface Layer will be created named C-TOPO-

followed by the name you enter in the Name cell. You can also click to
specify an existing layer for the surface.

5 In the Properties table, specify the following parameters:

■ Name: EG

■ Description: Existing Ground surface from imported point data

■ Style: Points and Border

TIP To select the style, click the Value cell, and then click to display
the Select Surface Style dialog box.

■ Render Material: ByLayer

6 Click OK.

7 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, expand the Surfaces collection.

The new surface name is displayed in the Surfaces collection in
Toolspace on the Prospector tab, but this surface does not contain any
data.

Exercise 1: Creating a TIN Surface | 63

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 2: Adding Point Data to a Surface
(page 64).

Exercise 2: Adding Point Data to a Surface

In this exercise, you will import point data from a text file into the current
drawing.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Contours.

This exercise continues from Exercise 1: Creating a TIN Surface (page 63).

Import point data into the current drawing

1 Open drawing Surface-1A.dwg , which is available in the tutorial drawings

folder (page 819).

This drawing contains an empty surface definition, which is named EG.

2 Click Modify tab ➤ Ground Data panel ➤ Surface.

3 Click Surface tab ➤ Modify panel ➤ Add Data ➤ Point Files.

4 In the Add Point File dialog box, under Format, select PENZD (Space

Delimited).

5 Under Source File, click .

6 In the Select Source File dialog box, browse to the tutorial folder (page

820). Select EG-Surface-PENZD (space delimited).txt. Click Open.

7 In the Add Point File dialog box, click OK.

8 At the command line, enter ZE.

The surface, which contains the imported point data, is displayed in the
drawing.

64 | Chapter 5 Surfaces Tutorials

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 3: Adding Breaklines to a Surface (page

65).

Exercise 3: Adding Breaklines to a Surface

In this exercise, you will cause the surface to triangulate along a linear feature.

Breaklines are used to define surface features and to force triangulation along
the breakline. Surfaces do not triangulate across breaklines, creating more
accurate TIN surface models.

In this exercise, you will create breaklines along the edge of pavement for an
existing road. Breaking the surface along features produces a more accurate
surface rendering.

Exercise 3: Adding Breaklines to a Surface | 65

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Breaklines.

This exercise continues from Exercise 2: Adding Point Data to a Surface (page

64).

Display the source polylines and change the surface style

NOTE This exercise uses the drawing you created in the previous exercises, or you

can open Surface-1B.dwg from the tutorial drawings folder (page 819).

1 Click Home tab ➤ Layers panel ➤ Layer drop-down. Next to the

_EG_BREAKLINES layer, click .

The 3D polylines that represent the edge of pavement (EP) of an existing
road are displayed on the east side of the site.

NOTE The EP polylines were included in the drawing template you used in

Exercise 1: Creating a TIN Surface (page 63).

2 Select the surface. Right-click. Click Surface Properties.

3 In the Surface Properties dialog box, on the Information tab, for Surface

Style, select Contours and Triangles. Click OK.

66 | Chapter 5 Surfaces Tutorials

The surface now shows contours and triangles that illustrate the EG
surface triangulation.

Create breaklines from the polylines

1 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, expand the Surfaces ➤ EG ➤

Definition collections. Right-click Breaklines. Click Add.

2 In the Add Breaklines dialog box, for Description, enter Edge of pavement

- existing road. Use the default values for the other fields. Click OK.

3 The Select Objects prompt becomes active. While in this command, use

the Zoom and Pan commands to locate the two blue 3D polylines on the
east side of the site.

Zoom in close so you can see that the triangles cross over the polylines.

Exercise 3: Adding Breaklines to a Surface | 67

4 Select the polylines. Press Enter.

The surface triangulation is modified. The edge of pavement breaklines
are applied, and the TIN surface is adjusted along the breakline edges,
modifying the surface triangulation.

68 | Chapter 5 Surfaces Tutorials

5 Click Home tab ➤ View panel ➤ views drop-down ➤ Extents.

The drawing window zooms to the extents of the surface. With the
breakline data added, the layer that contained the source data for the
breaklines can be frozen.

6 Click Home tab ➤ Layers panel ➤ Layer drop-down. Next to the

EG_BREAKLINES layer, click .

Further exploration: Notice that, along some portions of the polylines, the

surface triangulation incorrectly crosses the breakline. This happened because
the surface contours also act as breaklines. The new breaklines are not added
because the contours are already acting as breaklines, and the current surface
setting does not allow more than one breakline to affect the surface at a given
point. To override this behavior, you can perform any of the following tasks:

■ Build the surface with contours and breaklines: In the Surface Properties

dialog box, on the Definition tab, expand the Build collection. Set Allow
Crossing Breaklines to Yes, and then set Elevation to Use to Use Last
Breakline Elevation at Intersection.

Exercise 3: Adding Breaklines to a Surface | 69

■ Modify the surface: Use the DeleteSurfacePoint command to delete surface

points that are located exactly on the polylines.

■ Modify the polylines: Add a vertex to the polylines at each location where

it crosses a surface contour.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 4: Adding an Outer Boundary to a

Surface (page 70).

Exercise 4: Adding an Outer Boundary to a Surface

In this exercise, you will insert a polyline from an external DWG file and
create an outer surface boundary from the polyline.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Boundaries.

This exercise continues from Exercise 3: Adding Breaklines to a Surface (page

65).

70 | Chapter 5 Surfaces Tutorials

Create an outer boundary from a polyline

NOTE This exercise uses Surface-1B.dwg with the modifications you made in the

previous exercise.

1 Click Home tab ➤ Layers panel ➤ Layer drop-down. Next to the

_EG-BNDY layer, click . Click in the drawing to exit the Layer Control

list.

A blue polyline, which represents the extents of the site, is displayed.
This polyline was imported with the original surface contours.

2 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, expand the Surfaces ➤ EG ➤

Definition collections. Right-click Boundaries. Click Add.

3 In the Add Boundaries dialog box, specify the following parameters:

■ Name: EG - Outer

■ Type: Outer

■ Non-Destructive Breakline: Cleared

■ Mid-Ordinate Distance: 1.000

4 Click OK.

5 Select the blue polyline.

Exercise 4: Adding an Outer Boundary to a Surface | 71

The boundary is added to the surface definition, and the surface display
in the drawing is clipped to the area that is defined by the new outer
boundary.

Hide the polyline and change the surface style

1 Click Home tab ➤ Layers panel ➤ Layer drop-down. Next to the

_EG-BNDY layer, click .

2 Select the surface. Right-click. Click Surface Properties.

3 In the Surface Properties dialog box, on the Information tab, for Surface

Style, select Contours 5' and 25' (Background). Click OK.

In the selected surface style, contours are displayed in muted colors at
broad intervals. This display allows the major surface features to remain
visible while you focus on other aspects of the site design.

72 | Chapter 5 Surfaces Tutorials

To continue to the next tutorial, go to Working with Large Surfaces (page 73).

Tutorial: Working with Large Surfaces

This tutorial demonstrates several features that can help you manage large
surfaces efficiently in AutoCAD Civil 3D.

Because surfaces can contain large amounts of data, it is important to use only
as much data is necessary for the current task. For example, when building a
surface from LIDAR data, the corresponding point file can contain millions
of points. If all of those points are included in the surface definition, it can
take a considerable amount of time to rebuild the surface. If you restrict the
points that the surface uses to a given area, the surface rebuilds faster and the
drawing size is smaller.

The exercises in this tutorial demonstrate how to insert a relatively dense
LIDAR point file into a surface, but restrict the amount of data that is actually
used.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Adding and Editing
Surface Data.

Tutorial: Working with Large Surfaces | 73

Exercise 1: Limiting Imported Surface Data

In this exercise, you will use a data clip boundary to restrict the quantity of
points that is referenced by a surface.

Points that are in the point file, but outside the specified data clip boundary,
will be ignored when the surface is built and during any subsequent surface
editing operations.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Boundaries.

Add a data clip boundary to a surface

1 Open Surface-2.dwg, which is located in the tutorial drawings folder (page

819).

2 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, expand the Surfaces collection.

Expand the EG surface.

The EG surface is currently empty. In the following steps, you will use
the red polyline in the drawing to create a Data Clip boundary, which
will restrict imported surface data to the extents of the boundary. Then,
you will import a relatively dense LIDAR point file and examine the
results.

3 Expand the EG surface ➤ Definition collection. Right-click Boundaries.

Click Add.

4 In the Add Boundaries dialog box, specify the following parameters:

■ Name: Site

■ Type: Data Clip

■ Mid-Ordinate Distance: 1.000’

5 Click OK.

6 In the drawing window, click the red polyline.

The polyline is added to the EG surface definition as a boundary. The

presence of a boundary in the surface definition is indicated by the
marker next to the Boundaries item on the Prospector tab. When the
Boundaries collection is selected, the boundaries that have been added
to the surface appear in the Prospector list view.

In the following steps, you will add a relatively dense LIDAR point file
to the surface definition. The point file will be added only within the
extents of the data clip boundary that you just added.

74 | Chapter 5 Surfaces Tutorials

Import surface data from a point file

1 Expand the EG surface ➤ Definition collection. Right-click Point Files.

Click Add.

2 In the Add Point File dialog box, in the Format list, select ENZ (Comma

Delimited).

3 Click at the end of the Source File(s) field.

4 In the Select Source File dialog box, ensure that the Files Of Type field is

set to (*.csv).

5 Navigate to the tutorial folder (page 820). Select LIDAR_ENZ (comma

delimited).csv. Click Open.

6 In the Add Point File dialog box, clear both the Do Elevation Adjustment

If Possible and Do Coordinate Transformation If Possible check boxes.
Click OK.

The point data is added to the drawing.

A reference to the point file is added to the EG surface definition. The

presence of point data in the surface definition is indicated by the
marker next to the Point Files item on the Prospector tab.

7 Zoom in to the lower right corner of the surface.

Notice that only points that are inside the data clip boundary have been
imported, and that a green border was created from the imported data.

The border is outside the red data clip boundary in some areas, and inside
the data clip boundary in other areas. This happened because points in
the point file that are outside the data clip boundary were excluded during
the import operation. The green border is formed by the points at the
outermost extents of the points that were imported.

Exercise 1: Limiting Imported Surface Data | 75

Surface with points imported within a data clip boundary (left) and detail of the surface
(right)

8 On the command line, enter ZE to zoom to the extents of the drawing.

Restrict the surface data to a smaller area

1 Click Home tab ➤ Layers panel ➤ Layer drop-down. Next to the

C-TOPO-BNDY-CORR layer, click .

This layer contains an orange polyline that you will use to create a second
data clip boundary.

2 Expand the EG surface ➤ Definition collection. Right-click Boundaries.

Click Add.

3 In the Add Boundaries dialog box, specify the following parameters:

■ Name: Corridor

■ Type: Data Clip

■ Mid-Ordinate Distance: 1.000’

4 Click OK.

5 In the drawing window, click the orange polyline.

76 | Chapter 5 Surfaces Tutorials

The polyline is added to the EG surface definition as a boundary, but the
point data did not change. Data clip boundaries only affect surface editing
operations that are performed after the data clip boundary has been
added. Because the points were added to the surface before the Corridor
boundary, the boundary currently does not affect the point data.

In the following steps, you will rearrange the surface definition operations
so that the points will be restricted to the extents of the new Corridor
data clip boundary.

6 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, right-click the EG surface. Click

Surface Properties.

7 In the Surface Properties dialog box, on the Definition tab, in the

Operation Type column, examine the order of the operations.

The operations you performed in this exercise are listed in the order in
which they were performed. The Site data clip boundary was added first,
and it affects the operations that follow it. The Corridor data clip
boundary was added last, so it currently does not affect any other
operations.

8 Select the last Add Boundary operation in the list. Click to move the

Add Boundary operation to the top of the list.

9 Select the other Add Boundary operation. Click to move the Add

Boundary operation to the bottom of the list.

10 Click Apply.

11 In the Surface Properties - Rebuild Surface dialog box, click Rebuild the

Surface.

When the surface rebuilds, the points outside the orange Corridor data
clip boundary are excluded from the surface.

Exercise 1: Limiting Imported Surface Data | 77

Surface with Corridor data clip boundary applied

Further exploration: Rearrange the surface definition operations and

observe the results. Before you continue to the next exercise, make sure
that the Operation Type table is in the following order:

■ Add Boundary: Corridor

■ Import Point File

■ Add Boundary: Site

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 2: Simplifying a Surface (page 79).

78 | Chapter 5 Surfaces Tutorials

Exercise 2: Simplifying a Surface

In this exercise, you will reduce the number of points that are used to define
a surface.

A surface can be simplified by removing either TIN edges or points. When the
simplify surface command is complete, new points and TIN edges are calculated
based on specified parameters. The original surface points are still contained
in the referenced point file, but are not used in the surface triangulation.

In this exercise, you will use the Point Removal method of simplifying a
surface. This method randomly selects points from the surface, and removes
them based on the point density at different areas of the surface. More points
are removed from areas in which the concentration of points is very dense
than from areas that contain fewer points.

NOTE You cannot specify which points to remove. Points that are used to define
surface borders and breaklines are not removed with the Simplify Surface command.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Simplifying Surfaces.

This exercise continues from Exercise 1: Limiting Imported Surface Data (page

74).

Simplify a surface

NOTE This exercise uses Surface-2.dwg with the modifications you made in the

previous exercise.

1 Click Home tab ➤ Layers panel ➤ Layer drop-down. Next to the

C-TOPO-CONT-MAJR-ORIG and C-TOPO-CONT-MINR-ORIG layers, click

.

These layers contains polylines that represent the original major and
minor contours. These polylines will enable you to observe the results of
the Simplify Surface command.

2 Click Modify tab ➤ Ground Data panel ➤ Surface.

3 Click Surface tab ➤ Modify panel ➤ Edit Surface drop-down ➤ Simplify

Surface .

4 In the Simplify Surface wizard, on the Simplify Methods page, select the

Point Removal option.

5 Click Next.

Exercise 2: Simplifying a Surface | 79

6 On the Region Options page, specify the following parameters:

■ Select Objects: Selected

■ Mid-Ordinate Distance: 1.000’

7 Click Pick In Drawing.

8 In the drawing, click the orange corridor boundary.

In the Simplify Surface wizard, notice the value for Total Points Selected
In Region. This is the current number of points in the selected region.

9 Click Next.

10 On the Reduction Options page, specify the following parameters:

■ Percentage Of Points To Remove: Selected, 50%

■ Maximum Change In Elevation: Cleared

11 Click Apply.

At the bottom of the wizard, notice the Total Points Removed value. This
value is the number of points that the simplify surface command removed
within the selected boundary.

NOTE You can click Apply again to repeat the Simplify Surface command
and keep the wizard open. If you click Finish, the Simplify Surface command
is repeated and the wizard is closed.

12 Click Cancel.

13 Zoom in to the surface.

Notice that the points are not as dense as they were at the beginning of
the exercise, and the new, gray surface contours are very similar to the
original contours. The Simplify Surface command reduced the amount
of data that the surface uses without sacrificing much surface accuracy.

80 | Chapter 5 Surfaces Tutorials

Simplified surface

To continue to the next tutorial, go to Changing the Surface Style and Display
(page 81).

Tutorial: Changing the Surface Style and Display

This tutorial demonstrates how to change and constrain the surface styles and
display.

Using styles is an efficient way to control surface display. Rather than
answering prompts for numerous variables every time you create a surface,
you can reference a predefined style that sets all the variables as required.

Tutorial: Changing the Surface Style and Display | 81

Surface styles are managed the way all object styles are managed in AutoCAD
Civil 3D, by using the Toolspace Settings tree. All objects have a standard
object style grouping on the Settings tree, called an object style collection.
You can create, edit, copy, and delete the styles for an object.

Surface styles define how the surface components are displayed in the drawing.
If you want to change the appearance of a component, either apply a different
style or edit the style.

The surface styles contain the following component parameters and component
display settings for the creation of surface data objects:

■ Borders — Interior and exterior border and datum display

■ Contours — Minor, major, depression, and user-defined contour lines

display

■ Grid — Primary and secondary grid display

■ Points — All surface points for the TIN or Grid surfaces

■ Triangles — TIN face information

■ Watersheds — Watershed analysis display

■ Analysis — Directions, elevations, slopes, and slope arrows

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Surface Styles and
Display.

Exercise 1: Editing the Surface Style

In this exercise, you will hide the display of the points on the surface and turn
on the display of depression contours.

Depression contours form closed loops around areas of descending elevation.
These are areas where lakes or ponds can form if the rainfall and soil conditions
are right.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Surface Styles and
Visualization.

Edit the surface style

1 Open Surface-3.dwg, which is located in the tutorial drawings folder (page

819).

82 | Chapter 5 Surfaces Tutorials

2 In Toolspace, on the Settings tab, expand the Surface ➤ Surface Styles

collection.

This collection contains the existing surface styles in the drawing.

3 The style (Standard) that is being referenced by a surface in the drawing

is designated with an orange marker:

4 Right-click the Standard surface style. Click Edit.

5 In the Surface Style dialog box, click the Display tab.

6 In the Component Display table, turn off the visibility of Points in the

surface. To do this, click in the Visible column. Click Apply.

7 Click the Contours tab.

8 Expand the Contour Depressions property group. Specify the following

parameters:

■ Display Depression Contours: True

■ Tick Mark Length: 5

9 Click OK.

10 Depression contours are now visible in the drawing, with tick marks along

their length.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 2: Using a Different Style for a Surface
(page 83).

Exercise 2: Using a Different Style for a Surface

In this exercise, you will change the surface style, which the surface is
referencing, to display different views of the surface.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Surface Styles and
Visualization.

This exercise continues from Exercise 1: Editing the Surface Style (page 82).

Exercise 2: Using a Different Style for a Surface | 83

Change the surface style

NOTE This exercise uses Surface-3.dwg with the modifications you made in the

previous exercise.

1 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, expand the Surfaces collection.

Right-click the XGND surface. Click Surface Properties.

2 In the Surface Properties dialog box, on the Information tab, in the Surface

Style list, select Border & Triangles & Points.

This style is set to display the borders and the TIN faces with 3x vertical
exaggeration. These display settings make it easier to see the vertical relief
of the surface.

3 Click OK.

The surface representation updates to display the TIN triangles and border.

4 Click View tab ➤ Navigate panel ➤ Orbit drop-down ➤ Free Orbit.

5 Using the Free Orbit tool, rotate the surface in the drawing to display the

exaggerated elevations. These elevations are most evident along the
bottom of the surface where a prominent ridge appears.

6 To return to the regular plan view of the surface, click View tab ➤ Views

panel ➤ Views drop-down ➤ Top.

7 Follow steps 1 to 3 to return the surface style to Standard.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 3: Labeling a Surface (page 84).

Exercise 3: Labeling a Surface

In this exercise, you will add labels across surface contours. You will place
individual labels manually and a series of labels automatically, using AutoCAD
polylines as a guide.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Adding Surface
Labels.

This exercise continues from Exercise 2: Using a Different Style for a Surface
(page 83).

84 | Chapter 5 Surfaces Tutorials

Draw a polyline to use as a guide

NOTE This exercise uses Surface-3.dwg with the modifications you made in the

previous exercise.

1 Click View tab ➤ Views panel ➤ views list ➤ Surface Labels.

2 On the command line, enter PLine.

3 When prompted for a start point, click in the green circle in the upper

left corner of the view.

4 Click in the middle circle, then the lower right circle. Press Enter to end

the PLine command.

Label surface contours along the polyline

1 Click Annotate tab ➤ Labels & Tables panel ➤ Add Labels

menu ➤ Surface ➤ Add Surface Labels .

2 In the Add Labels dialog box, set the Label Type to Contour - Multiple.

Leave the other settings at their defaults. Click Add.

3 On the command line, enter O to specify that you will select an object

to use as a guide.

4 On the command line, enter Y to delete the polyline after the labels have

been created.

5 In the drawing window, select the polyline. Press Enter to end the

selection command.

The labels are created along the path you specified with the polyline.
This method of surface labeling is useful when you want to lay out the
path of surface contour labels before you create the labels. If you wanted
to create the path and labels simultaneously without first drawing a
polyline, you would click Annotate tab ➤ Labels & Tables panel ➤ Add

Labels menu ➤ Surface ➤ Contour - Multiple , then draw the path.

6 In the drawing window, click the line on which the surface labels were

drawn. Grips appear on the line.

7 Select the grip in the circle at the upper left. It turns red, indicating that

it is active.

8 Drag the grip to a new location and click. Notice that the labels update

automatically to reflect their new position.

Exercise 3: Labeling a Surface | 85

Add spot elevation labels

1 In the Add Labels dialog box, specify the following parameters:

■ Label Type: Spot Elevation

■ Spot Elevation Label Style: Standard

2 Click Add. When prompted, click a point along the ridge to place a label.

3 In the Add Labels dialog box, set the Spot Elevation Label Style to Foot

Meter.

4 Click Add. When prompted, click a point along the ridge to place a label.

Using the Add Labels dialog box, you can change label properties as
needed while you create surface labels.

5 Click Close.

To continue to the next tutorial, go to Editing Surface Data (page 86).

Tutorial: Editing Surface Data

This tutorial demonstrates some common surface editing tasks, including edge
swapping, TIN line deletion, and surface smoothing. You will also hide part
of the surface using a hide boundary.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Surface Editing
Operations.

Edge Swapping

Edge swapping is used to change the direction of two triangle faces in the
surface, to create a more accurate surface model. For example, edges can be
swapped to match the triangle edges to ridges or swales.

86 | Chapter 5 Surfaces Tutorials

Deleting TIN Lines

Deleting TIN lines may be required, for example, if the surface has TIN triangles
on the perimeter that are long and narrow. In this case, the triangles might
not be accurate for the surface, and should be deleted.

Surface TIN or Grid lines can also be deleted within a pond, for example, to
create a void area. By removing these lines, you can prevent contours from
being drawn through the void areas.

When an edge is removed, either an interior border that follows the adjacent
lines is created, or the exterior border is modified to follow the new lines.

Hide Boundaries

Hide boundaries mask areas of the surface so triangulation, and therefore
contours, are not visible in the area. Use hide boundaries to create holes in a
surface, for example, to mark a building footprint.

NOTE When you use a hide boundary, the surface is not deleted. The full surface
remains intact. If there are surface TIN lines that you want to permanently remove
from the surface, use the Delete Line command.

Tutorial: Editing Surface Data | 87

Surface Smoothing

Surface smoothing is an operation that adds points at system-determined
elevations using Natural Neighbor Interpolation(NNI) or Kriging methods.
The result is smoothed contours, with no overlap.

You perform smoothing as an edit operation on a surface. You can specify
smoothing properties and then turn them on or off. When the smoothing is
turned off, the surface reverts back to its original state. However, the smoothing
operation remains in the surface operation list, and it can be turned on again.

NNI is a method used to estimate the elevation (Z) of an arbitrary point (P)
from a set of points with known elevations.

This method uses information in the triangulation of the known points to
compute a weighted average of the elevations of the natural neighbors of a
point.

To use NNI, specify only the output locations of the interpolated points. The
elevations of the interpolated points are always based on the weighted average
of the elevations of the existing neighboring points. NNI interpolates only
within the surface.

Exercise 1: Swapping TIN Edges

In this exercise, you will swap several TIN edges in a surface.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Swapping Edges.

88 | Chapter 5 Surfaces Tutorials