Using the new Transparent Commands tab in Civil 3D (2019.2)

By Jeff Morris

Transparent commands are nothing new in Civil 3D.

They provide shortcuts whenever Civil 3D is looking for points, when one can reference alignments, profile views, Northings and Eastings, etc. They are still accessible through a toolbar placed by default along the right edge of the Civil 3D drawing areas shown.

The only other toolbar routinely used in Civil 3D is the Point Filter, placed by default directly below the Transparent Commands toolbar. These Point Filters are used  only when  prompted for a point location during the certain transparent commands, such as when specifying Bearing/Distance, Azimuth/Distance, Distance/Distance, etc.

However, in 2019.2, these transparent commands and point filters are also placed in the ribbons and have their own dedicated tab. They also are in the right-click menu when locating a point.

The additions of these valuable tools into the standard Civil 3D ribbons and right-click menu make them more accessible and useful. Furthermore, when using the Station Offset Transparent command (in the Plan panel), another ribbon appears where one can select different alignments and type in Station and Offsets, rather than typing them in on the command line or picking them on the screen.

By adding these tools to the ribbon and right-click menu, the toolbars are no longer needed. However, they are still loaded in the standard CUI of Civil 3D.