Autodesk® Civil 3D® 101 - Welcome | AUGI · 2011-08-25 · Autodesk® Civil 3D™ 101 2...

Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin ResortOrlando, Florida

11/28/2005 - 10:00 am - 11:30 am Room:Swan 9/10 (Swan)

Autodesk® Civil 3D® 101

Join us for a tour through the fundamentals of Civil 3D 2006 with an introduction to model-based design and style-based displays. Designed for beginners, this class will introduce you to Projects, Points, Alignments, Surfaces, Corridors, Grading, and Pipes -- the complete Civil 3D solution! If you are new to Civil 3D 2006, this class will prepare you to take full advantage of more advanced Civil 3D topics over the course of AU 2005. Co-presented with James Wedding

CV12-1

About the Speaker:

Shawnita Sterett - AutodeskJames Weddingand

For the past 5 years, Shawnita has worked as a civil applications engineer at Autodesk helping engineers in the U.S. find appropriate design solutions through technical demonstrations, seminars, and workshops. Prior to joining Autodesk, Shawnita worked for 7 years as a civil engineering consultant using Autodesk solutions in residential and commercial subdivision development projects. With a primary focus on grading and drainage design, her experience also includes utility planning, roadway design, traffic analysis, and [email protected]

James has carved out a niche in the information technology side of land development. Since joining Jones & Boyd in 1997, his combination of software expertise and engineering knowledge has enabled him to expand the company's services. A part of the gunslinger team for Autodesk Land Desktop since 2001, James led Jones & Boyd's pilot project in Autodesk Civil 3D. JBI was also a gold site for testing AutoCAD 2005 [email protected]

Autodesk® Civil 3D™ 101

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Autodesk® Civil 3D™ 101 Chapter 1

Introduction Autodesk Civil 3D 2006 is the only civil engineering tool that creates intelligent relationships between objects so design changes are dynamically reflected. Data is entered once and the software makes changes automatically according to your preset design rules and criteria. The enhanced 3D interaction makes it easy to explore and visualize what-if scenarios and to correct errors on-the-fly. During this session, we’ll discuss the basics as a means to introduce new users to the terminology, concepts, and workflows utilized by Civil 3D.

Getting Started Drawing Data vs. Project Data We will be introducing the project management aspect of Civil 3D during this class. With Civil 3D, all of our design data may be contained in the drawing itself. If you are familiar with Autodesk Land Desktop, this is a very new concept. Civil 3D also has the ability to work in a shared project environment. During this class, we will explore working with design scenarios contained in a single drawing and the tools for sharing data within a team.

Becoming Familiar with the Civil 3D Interface

You will notice that Civil 3D is built on AutoCAD 2006. If you have used AutoCAD, you will immediately be comfortable with the look and menu configuration. Civil 3D is easy to use, intuitive, and has a consistent look and feel between menus. The following diagram summarizes the four new main interface features of Civil 3D:

1. Toolspace – The Toolspace in Civil 3D actually has two tabs.

a. Prospector Tab – Like a file directory tree, Prospector allows you to “dig into” your drawing design data and execute commands through a number of right-click menus. It also includes a graphical preview and tabular listing area.

b. Settings Tab – The settings tab allows the user to control all of the settings of the current drawing including all styles for the different design objects and labels. It is expandable like a file directory tree and has a number of right-click commands available.

2. Civil 3D pull-down menus

3. C3D Transparent Commands Toolbar

4. Tooltips


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Creating a Civil 3D Drawing When creating a Civil 3D drawing, a template is used to populate settings and styles that will be used during design data creation and display. Styles are the mechanism used in Civil 3D to incorporate CAD standards related to object display and annotation. By beginning with a template appropriately stocked with Civil 3D styles, you may reduce the amount of effort needed in displaying your work correctly. In addition, by standardizing on a template, you can ensure that all members of your organization are beginning with settings that meet the company standards.

Four sample templates are included in Civil 3D 2006 to help you get started creating styles:

1. _Autodesk Civil 3D Imperial By Layer.dwt

2. _Autodesk Civil 3D Imperial By Style.dwt

3. _Autodesk Civil 3D Metric By Layer.dwt

4. _Autodesk Civil 3D Metric By Style.dwt

Most new users will prefer to work with “By Layer” settings which allows users to alter display properties such as, color, linetype, and lineweight via the Layer Manager dialogue box. With “By Style” settings, users will have to access the style editor in Civil 3D to make similar changes.

If you begin with a drawing created in a different application, you could simply insert it into a drawing created from a Civil 3D template to gain access to the sample styles. Alternatively, you may drag and drop styles from one drawing to another on the Settings tab.

Exploring Styles Although the format of this class does not allow an in-depth look at Civil 3D styles, all levels of users should be aware of how they are stored and used for appropriate display and annotation of your design objects.

Styles may be divided into three categories:

1. Object Styles—Control the display and design characteristics of the object. For example, a surface style will contain settings for the display of contours, contour interval, vertical exaggeration in a 3D-view (if any), etc.

2. Label Styles—Define the behavior, appearance, and content of labels. For example, a station offset label style will contain the formatting of label, leader, any border, and what happens when the label is dragged off of its original insertion.

3. Table Styles—Govern how tables are displayed in a drawing.

Model-based Design With Civil 3D, the engineer creates individual objects that are interconnected in a complete engineering model. The benefits of objects and model-based design are numerous. For instance, an individual object may contain properties and behaviors specific to its type. An alignment object may contain rules that keep curves tangent to its line segments. In addition, the alignment may contain properties such as design speeds for different station ranges.

When multiple objects are used together to create a model, the design becomes very dynamic. Objects are interconnected in a hierarchy that defines how a change to one object impacts others. For instance if survey point


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data is modified, a surface created from the data will update. As a result, any contour displays or annotation created from that surface will update. In addition, the change to that surface could update daylighting in a roadway design or site grading element.

This diagram summarizes some of the commonly used objects in Civil 3D and highlights how they are interconnected. If you look at a single object, the arrows show you which other objects in the model will be impacted by its change.

With understanding the concepts of model-based design, many benefits to the engineering process become apparent. For instance, with a complete engineering model, the risk of errors and omissions is greatly reduced. Annotation is derived from the model and, thus, is always in sync with the design. In addition, design changes or iterations aren’t as difficult as they once were to complete. A change is propagated throughout the model without manual effort. A designer may look at more design alternatives than ever to reach the most effective, constructible solution.

Chapter 1 Quiz 1. Question: What do you call the task pane view that allows navigation of design data and access to right-

click commands?

Answer:_______________

2. Question: Which sample template setups will allow users to access CAD display settings from the Layer Manager dialogue box?

Answer:_______________

3. Question: To control the interval of contours displayed on a surface, which style would you edit?

Answer:_______________


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Chapter 2

Working with Alignments In Autodesk Civil 3D, alignments are also dynamic, intelligent objects.. From the alignment layout toolbar, we may create geometry with specific engineering rules or constraints.

As described earlier, alignment geometry appears in different color settings according to its style. Since the alignment is dynamic, we may make design changes while maintaining the defined engineering rules and display properties.

For tabular editing, Civil 3D uses the Panorama Window which will allow you to view different vistas. The alignment vista allows you to see all editable data associated with the alignment at one time. For instance, in any instance that the curve radius is editable, it will show up in black. In addition, we can review all constraints placed on the alignment during layout. Similarly, the Sub-entity Editor allows you to edit one element at a time as opposed to the entire alignment.

Labels for alignments are composed of many different pieces, ie. station increments, tick marks, PCs, PTs, equations, etc. Each of those pieces is controls by a label style. To simplify the creation of labeling for alignments, all of the pieces can be combined into label sets. These sets may be exported or imported to an alignment for easy use.


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Working with Profiles Profile displays in Civil 3D are composed of two components: the profile object and the profile view. Basically, there is a profile object for each ground surface or for each finished grade line that is defined. The profile view is the actual grid on which the alignments are drawn. A single profile may be displayed on multiple profile views.

The Create Profile View dialog is where we can set the display of the view and the display style it uses. Since a profile is also dynamic, as we change our alignment, the profile updates.

Similar to the alignment creation method, you may define rules for layout of the vertical alignment design. Fortunately, the Profile Layout toolbar is very similar to the Alignment Layout toolbar, so the interface will become quickly familiar to new users. Notice that if your profile geometry will not allow the creation of a curve according to your settings, a curve will not be created.

Again, grips allow for easy edit of your profile. In addion, the Panorama Window and Sub-entity editor will allow more specific edits.

Working with Corridor Models A corridor is essentially any linear model that can be defined with an alignment, profile, and typical cross-section. We define the assembly to represent the typical section of our “corridor”.

Assemblies are built from components or subassemblies which represent things like pavement sections, curbs, and sidewalks. Many sample subassemblies are organized in Civil 3D Catalogs. Content located in the Catalog may easily be dropped onto a Tool Palette for quick access by users. These Tool Palette configurations can be shared with all members of the design team.


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Components on the Tool Palette can be dropped into the drawing environment, and the AutoCAD properties window is then used to change the settings of the components used to build the typical section.

By combining the alignment, profile, and assembly, we can easily create a complete corridor model. The corridor model may be used for 3D visualization, volume calculations, and contour representation. Like the other Civil 3D objects, the corridor model will update as our design changes.

Working with Volumes With Civil 3D, we have three ways to calculate earthwork and material volumes.

1. Volume Calculation Utility – Utilizes the composite volume method to quickly compare two surfaces within the Panorama. Can be refreshed when surfaces change. Allows use of all surfaces including corridor surfaces.

2. Volume Surfaces – Useful with all surfaces, including an exported corridor surface. Creates a surface that equals the comparison between two surfaces using either a grid interval or the composite method. May be used to show lines of equal cut/fill and to track cut/fill across the site.

3. Cross-sectional Quantity Takeoff – Utilizes LandXML stylesheets to organize cross-section based volume reports.

Chapter 2 Quiz 1. A group of labels for alignments and profiles is called a ___________________________ .

2. The Vertical Alignment Layout Toolbar looks very similar to the _____________________ layout toolbar.

3. The typical design section in Civil 3D is called an ______________________, and is composed of components called ___________________________.


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Chapter 3

Working With Parcels Parcels are objects similar to the surfaces and alignments. Parcels are related to each other by a sort of network or topology. Changes to one parcel will affect those around it. Parcels and alignments are both contained in what is called a Site. A site could actually be a bounday of a property to be developed or could simply be something arbitrary to contain all of your site specific data like parcels and alignments. Similar to other objects, parcels may easily be managed through the use of Prospector.

During Free Form layout Civil 3D provides a preview of the lot line layout. The previewed lot line changes depending on mouse location. For example if you mouse close to the boundary line, the line will be perpendicular to it. If you mouse closer to the right-of-way, the lot line will be snapped perpendicular to it by default. Simply hitting enter at the end of the command forces the perpendicular. You may also chose a different angle by selecting another point on-screen.

With the placement of each new lot, the lot number label is automatically placed. If annotation was not created during layout, it may be added once they are complete. In addition, a table such as an area table may be created for summary of lot information. Dynamic annotation and tables will update when the parcel layout changes.

With automatic layout tools, lots may be created using both minimum area and minimum frontage settings. Using these tools, you may quickly subdivide a section of parcels using tools such as “Slide Bearing”, which creates lot lines perpendicular to the frontage, or “Slide Direction”, which creates parallel lot lines.

Grading Grading Objects contain the engineering rules to create slopes or relationships in a grading design. The Civil 3D grading object may be thought of simply as containing three parts:

1. Base line (starting point) – may be an open or closed feature line or parcel line. 2D and 3D polylines, lines, and arcs may be converted to features lines to use as a grading baseline.

2. Target (ending point) – may be a surface, distance, elevation, or relative elevation.

3. Projection (relationship between starting and ending points) – normally, this will be a slope or grade, but in different target conditions, this may be a distance, elevation, or relative elevation.

Grading Groups contain interrelated grading objects. For instance, a group may contain the inside slope of a pond, the top bank, and the outside slope. If the inside slope changes from 4:1 to 6:1, it will cause the top bank to be pushed outward and the outside slope will move with it. The grading group also contains rules for surface creation and a reference surface for volume calculation.


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Grading Criteria Sets contain various combinations of rules for creating grading scenarios with target and projection definitions. For instance, one example could describe a 6:1 slope to daylight to a surface. A user would simply chose the appropriate grading scheme and apply it to the grading baseline to establish a 6:1 slope to the surface defined as part of the group.

Working with Pipe Networks Pipe networks consist of pipe and structure objects. Each of these objects understands its connection to the next in the network and has real world design properties. Pipe networks may also contain detached pipes, structures, or both. These parts are all based on true parametric models of the object, with standard construction dimensions and relationships. Also, the network design may be checked against defined design criteria. With pre-built Part Catalogs, new users may take advantage of the existing collection of pipe types and sizes with the relevant part information. Additionally, using the PartBuilder function within Civil 3D, a user may create custom parts.

Each drawing has a parts list generated by opening the Parts Catalog, and adding pieces. For example, users may create lists for sanitary sewer PVC pipes or RCP pipe and RCP culverts for use in storm sewer design. Modifying a network component is as easy as right-clicking and selecting Swap Part… from the context sensitive menu. In this way, users may easily change sizes of pipes or parts used in the network.

Creating a pipe network is very similar to creating an alignment or profile. The layout toolbar lets you set reference surface and alignment information, then allows you to pick each pipe or structure size as you place it.

You may edit a network with the toolbar and move nodes with dragging and dropping of the grips. Additionally, after moving a structure, it can be refit to the surface and design constraints with simple right-click menu selections.

Since pipes networks are three-dimensional objects, profiling is simply a matter of slicing the model along an alignment. Changes in profile are immediately reflected in other profiles, making iterative design a simple and smooth process.

Finally, the Civil 3D style implementation applies to pipes and structures as well, allowing the user to create construction documents to match any CAD standard or labeling requirements.

Chapter 3 Quiz 1. Civil 3D parcels are contained within a _______________________.

2. The three parts of a grading object are __________________________, ________________________, and _______________________.

3. Question: What is the easiest way to change a pipe size?

Answer:_______________


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Chapter 4

Team Collaboration with Civil 3D Although Civil 3D allows much design work to be accomplished in a single drawing, engineering design is normally done within a team environment. Team members must constantly reference each others design components to ensure that their design is in sync. For instance, one member may be responsible for the drainage system in a roadway that is being designed by another team member. With the team collaboration tools in Civil 3D, team members may reference each other’s work and receive notification when changes are made.

Through a tool called Data Shortcuts, a team member may define a surface, alignment, or profile for other team members to reference in their work. Similar to an AutoCAD external reference, a user referencing a data shortcut will receive notification when the design element has changed. AutoCAD external references retrieve an overlay of graphical data where data shortcuts retrieve the actual design data definition. The graphical display and annotation control is retained by the user referencing the original data. In this way, a single design element may be displayed in two different fashions in two different drawings.

In order to utilize data shortcuts, Civil 3D requires the creation of a project. The Master View in Prospector allows users to navigate both drawings and projects. First the team must establish a storage location for projects under the Projects collection in the Prospector tree. Next, users must establish a project name under the appropriate path. Civil 3D will set up folders to contain the project data in a folder with the project name in the appropriate project storage path. An example of the types of folders created is shown at right.

Data Shortcuts may be created for any surfaces, alignments, and profiles in any saved drawing that is attached to a project. To create a data shortcut, a user may simply right-click on the object in the drawing, or right-click on the object name in the Prospector tree. By selecting “Create Shortcut” on either context-sensitive right-click menu, the shortcut is added to the project. Any other drawing attached to the same project may reference the shortcuts. When the original element is revised, the referencing user will see a status bar notifiction as shown at right. By simply chosing Synchronize, the object reference will be updated.

Chapter 4 Quiz 1. Question: What Civil 3D objects may be referenced through the use of data shortcuts?

Answer:__________________, ____________________, & _______________________

2. The Master View on the _____________________ Tab is used to set up projects and manage data shortcuts.

3. Question: What are two ways to create data shortcuts on a Civil 3D objects?

Answer:_____________________________ & _________________________________


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Chapter 5

Implementation Success After you have left AU, it’s time to go home and put this class to work in your office. Let’s talk about a few successful tactics to implement Civil 3D into your firm’s everyday production. Successful implementation of Civil 3D takes more than throwing the box of software into the designer’s inbox and walking away! An implementation project should be considered just like any other project—with distinct phases.

Research You’ve already started on this portion of the project by attending AU. Take time to gather as much information as you can. Review the white papers on the Autodesk website and write questions in the margins. The archived webcasts are a great opportunity to review the technology in action.

Also, use the Autodesk newsgroups as a resource for information. They are one of the most active sources for current commentary and questions being posed by users that are just ahead of you at this stage. Based on the information you read, you can decide which parts of Civil 3D will present the biggest challenge and be ready for any errors you might encounter.

Planning Civil 3D requires a major change in workflow mentality from Land Desktop. Some users have said that learning Civil 3D from scratch is easier than transitioning from Land Desktop. By planning your pilot project well, you can reduce the stress on your design team.

Inevitably, some things will be different from your usual plan set or normal way of designing, and you should be ready to present those changes, recognize the benefit of changing your workflow, or go back to your old methods.

Preparation Start by pulling out your standards or a typical plan set. Then, print out the sample data files from the Civil 3D samples and tutorials and compare them. Look for places where an existing Civil 3D configuration matches closely to your standard construction documents.

Now, create a new drawing from the template that matches the way you work and save it as your own template. As you build styles that match your current construction documents, you’ll put them into this template using the methods discussed previously.

Next, mark up the plans you printed from the sample drawings. Note the way you would want items labeled and displayed. Open up a copy of the sample file, and begin modifying the styles to match your redlines. Modifying an existing style is much easier than starting from scratch. As you finish modifying an object or label style, print it out and give it to a reviewer for comment. When the reviewer asks what they are supposed to notice, you’ve done your job. Copy that object or label style into your template, and move on to the next object or label. When you’ve recreated most of your plans in Civil 3D, you’re ready to call in the team.

What makes a good pilot project?

A soft deadline

An isolated project site

An interested client

A straight-forward design


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Training You are already at AU, so you see the benefit of training. Share that benefit with your team. Moving from LDT to Civil 3D is a mentally difficult jump—like going from a bicycle to a racecar. Civil 3D has a lot of power and fun, but keeping up with all the decisions can be exhausting. Make it easier on your team and yourself by getting training! Training can be done in house by a professional, or it can as simple as allowing people the time to work through the Civil 3D tutorials. Choosing a professional trainer is still recommended, even after working through the tutorials. This trainer should work with you during the pilot project and then be able to work with you to make the transition as painless as possible.

Production You can design the way you always have, but one successful approach has been to use a bullpen setup for the duration of the pilot project. By having all of the design team in one room, they can learn from each other, and ask questions of each other and the implementation leader. This approach also allows the trainer to work with your team, and as a question arises, share the answer with all of them instead of a single person. Be ready to make style on the fly, but note them on a wall board or other location. You will want to get back to them later! Produce your plans, review them, and submit them!

Review Take a day off! You’ve earned it. While your plans are being reviewed, review the pilot project. Take the list of styles that were added during the project and add them to your template. Sit down with your project time and billing and see how you did versus your old methods. A lot of work still must be done in this period.

Revise This is the power of Civil 3D. Because of the model based design, your revisions will go smoother and faster than ever. This is a good time to bring in the boss and show how fast your team is handling comments and redlines!

Analyze The project is done, the plans are approved, the contractor is happy with your clear, precise construction documents. Now, really look at your pilot. What worked? What didn’t? What design or other criteria can Civil 3D simply not handle? Most importantly, how much time did you save?

If you can answer these questions, you’re bound to be happy with your pilot project. Take what you’ve learned, and repeat the process on another project. For faster learning, mix in novices with your now hardened veterans. You’re on your way to a truly successful Civil 3D implementation.

Class Dismissed! You’re graduating to the big leagues. Share the knowledge, take on a project, and make Civil 3D your tool of choice for engineering design.


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Civil 3D Glossary Catalog An interface to browse Civil 3D content such as render materials and subassemblies

for corridor modeling. Often, content may be idropped right into the drawing environment.

Corridor Any path, the length and location of which is typically governed by one or more horizontal and vertical alignments. Examples are roadways, railways, traveled ways, channels, ditches, utility runs, and airport runways.

Panorama A window that displays data in table form for the objects in a collection that is selected in Toolspace. For example, if you select a point group, the Panorama table displays a row for each point.

Part Either a structure or pipe component that has specific properties that may be added to pipe network.

Prospector The part of Toolspace where you access drawing and project objects. Objects are arranged in a tree or hierarchy with folders and subfolders that you navigate through in standard, Windows-Explorer fashion.

Styles A logical collection of settings that applies to a class of objects. Styles simplify the process of apply settings by simply referencing a style. Modifying a style affects all the objects referencing that style.

Tooltips The mechanism in Civil 3D that provides the user immediate feedback on design data at the cursor location, i.e. elevation, station, offset, etc.

Transparent Commands A command that can be run while another command is in progress. Command line entry of transparent commands begin with an apostrophe (‘). Alternatively, Civil 3D contains a Transparent Command toolbar for commonly needed commands in civil engineering and surveying.

Logical Name The process of mapping logical names in subassemblies to actual Autodesk Civil 3D object names, i.e matching the alignment for the edge of pavement to the corresponding point on the subassembly to allow for roadway widening and narrowing.

About the Speakers: For the past 5 years, Shawnita has worked as a civil applications engineer at Autodesk helping engineers in the U.S. find appropriate design solutions through technical demonstrations, seminars, and workshops. Prior to joining Autodesk, Shawnita worked for 7 years as a civil engineering consultant using Autodesk solutions in residential and commercial subdivision development projects. With a primary focus on grading and drainage design, her experience also includes utility planning, roadway design, traffic analysis, and surveying. [email protected]

James has carved out a niche in the information technology side of land development. Since joining Jones & Boyd in 1997, his combination of software expertise and engineering knowledge has enabled him to expand the company's services. A part of the gunslinger team for Autodesk Land Desktop since 2001, James led Jones & Boyd's pilot project in Autodesk Civil 3D. JBI was also a gold site for testing AutoCAD 2005 software. [email protected]

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