Autodesk CIVIL3D - CIVILDESIGNCOMP 2007 SLM CD, AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011 Tutorials Manual
AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011
Tutorials
April 2010
©
2010 Autodesk, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by Autodesk, Inc., this publication, or parts thereof, may not be
reproduced in any form, by any method, for any purpose.
Certain materials included in this publication are reprinted with the permission of the copyright holder.
Trademarks
The following are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and other countries:
3DEC (design/logo), 3December, 3December.com, 3ds Max, Algor, Alias, Alias (swirl design/logo), AliasStudio, Alias|Wavefront (design/logo),
ATC, AUGI, AutoCAD, AutoCAD Learning Assistance, AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD Simulator, AutoCAD SQL Extension, AutoCAD SQL Interface,
Autodesk, Autodesk Envision, Autodesk Intent, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Map, Autodesk MapGuide, Autodesk Streamline, AutoLISP, AutoSnap,
AutoSketch, AutoTrack, Backburner, Backdraft, Built with ObjectARX (logo), Burn, Buzzsaw, CAiCE, Civil 3D, Cleaner, Cleaner Central, ClearScale,
Colour Warper, Combustion, Communication Specification, Constructware, Content Explorer, Dancing Baby (image), DesignCenter, Design
Doctor, Designer's Toolkit, DesignKids, DesignProf, DesignServer, DesignStudio, Design Web Format, Discreet, DWF, DWG, DWG (logo), DWG
Extreme, DWG TrueConvert, DWG TrueView, DXF, Ecotect, Exposure, Extending the Design Team, Face Robot, FBX, Fempro, Fire, Flame, Flare,
Flint, FMDesktop, Freewheel, GDX Driver, Green Building Studio, Heads-up Design, Heidi, HumanIK, IDEA Server, i-drop, ImageModeler, iMOUT,
Incinerator, Inferno, Inventor, Inventor LT, Kaydara, Kaydara (design/logo), Kynapse, Kynogon, LandXplorer, Lustre, MatchMover, Maya,
Mechanical Desktop, Moldflow, Moonbox, MotionBuilder, Movimento, MPA, MPA (design/logo), Moldflow Plastics Advisers, MPI, Moldflow
Plastics Insight, MPX, MPX (design/logo), Moldflow Plastics Xpert, Mudbox, Multi-Master Editing, Navisworks, ObjectARX, ObjectDBX, Open
Reality, Opticore, Opticore Opus, Pipeplus, PolarSnap, PortfolioWall, Powered with Autodesk Technology, Productstream, ProjectPoint, ProMaterials,
RasterDWG, RealDWG, Real-time Roto, Recognize, Render Queue, Retimer,Reveal, Revit, Showcase, ShowMotion, SketchBook, Smoke, Softimage,
Softimage|XSI (design/logo), Sparks, SteeringWheels, Stitcher, Stone, StudioTools, ToolClip, Topobase, Toxik, TrustedDWG, ViewCube, Visual,
Visual LISP, Volo, Vtour, Wire, Wiretap, WiretapCentral, XSI, and XSI (design/logo).
All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.
Disclaimer
THIS PUBLICATION AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS MADE AVAILABLE BY AUTODESK, INC. "AS IS." AUTODESK, INC. DISCLAIMS
ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE REGARDING THESE MATERIALS.
Published By: Autodesk, Inc.
111 Mclnnis Parkway
San Rafael, CA 94903, USA
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
Loading...