IMAGINiT Civil Solutions Blog

Civil 3D Tip – Controlling Glyphs

Leo Lavayen | Applications Expert

If a Civil 3D label content is edited in any way it will be marked with a Glyph.  This function does not plot by default and can be turned ON or OFF on by Viewports. From the Annotate Ribbon tab> Label Text panel > flyout button > Show [or] Hide

This function can be controlled globally for the AutoCAD session.  From the Options dialog box > AEC Editor tab > Solutions Tips area

From the Help File

Drafting Displays the warning marker in the drawing window. Plotting/Publishing Displays the warning marker in plotted or published output.

NOTE: If both of these checkboxes are cleared, the warning marker will not be displayed on any alignment, profile, or pressure network objects that violate the specified design criteria.

Civil 3D – Push My Buttons: Using Keyboard Shortcuts

Leo Lavayen | Applications Expert

Keyboard shortcuts provide access to functions within AutoCAD and Civil 3D, below are some examples:

** A special shout out to Boris Tillet from WITHERS for reminding me of these basics **

Ctrl + Select = Nested Selections

Useful when dealing with Civil 3D Alignment and Profile labels as they are grouped.  And isolation allows for right-click menu access to edit content, change styles or erase.

Another use is for this nested selection ability, is to highlighting Contours or Grids.  Unfortunately, there is no extra functionality to show off here.

 Shift + Select = Remove Selection

Typically, selection commands allow users to continuously add to selection sets.  The chance to remove items from a selection is done (by default) by holding the Shift key and selecting the objects again.

We can control this from the Options dialog box > Selection tab > Selection modes

The behavior is controlled by the PICKADD system variable, the default value is 2.

Value	Description
0	Turns off PICKADD. The objects most recently selected become the selection set. Previously selected objects are automatically removed from the selection set.
1	Turns on PICKADD. Each object selected, either individually or by windowing, is added to the current selection set.
2	Turns on PICKADD. Each object selected, either individually or by windowing, is added to the current selection set. If the SELECT command is used, keeps objects selected after the command ends.

At times users have accidentally changed the variable from the Properties tool palette.

Shift + Hold to Flip Between Trim/Extend

The AutoCAD Trim and Extend commands are sister commands, in that while one of the commands is active the same selections will complement each other when holding the SHIFT key.  In the example below the vertical blue line is selected as the boundary or cutting edge.

Shift + Hold = Ortho Lock

The option to have the ORTHOMODE enabled (keyboard shortcut F8) is great but working in a locked 0° or 90° mode can be restrictive.

Optionally, with ORTHOMODE off, we can hold the SHIFT key and restrict the mouse movements.

Shift + Right Click [or] Ctrl + Right Click = Osnap Shortcut

The running Object Snaps can be helpful on a daily basis (keyboard shortcut F3)

Sometimes we need just one extra OSNAP, just ONE – a single-use – this is where Object Snaps Overrides come to save the day.  Just hold either the SHIFT or CTRL and right-click to access the applicable menu of options to choose from.

Civil 3D – Volumes Dashboard vs Composite Volumes

Leo Lavayen | Applications Expert

Autodesk Civil 3D provides great tools for calculating surface volumes.  Early releases of Civil 3D (pre-2012) analyzed composite Surface volumes in the Panorama vista as a simple calculator. Whereas since 2012, when comparing surfaces in the dashboard a Volume Surfaces will be created.

Surface Volumes:  THEN the Composite Volumes tab

The command used to be found from the Ribbon Analyze tab > Volumes and Materials panel > Volumes button > will open the Panorama vista.  Once the panel is closed the window will reset itself.

The question is, “Can we still get the old Panorama vista, that only computes and does not create surfaces?”  From the command line use the  REPORTSURFACEVOLUME command.

Surface Volumes:  NOW the Volumes Dashboard tab

From the Ribbon Analyze tab > Volumes and Materials panel > Volumes Dashboard button > will open the Panorama vista.  This will create a New Volume Surface and keep track of it.

If a Volume type surface is created it can be added here.  Also, the function of creating area-specific Bounding Volumes is an option.

Civil 3D –Creating Depth Profiles from Existing Grade

Leo Lavayen | Applications Expert

Civil 3D Profiles that are generated from Surfaces are locked by default.  They are dynamically tied to their source Surface and if the terrain or alignment changes, it will be automatically updated.  But we have some options to create copies to show minimum or maximum depth profiles.

OPTION 1:

Creating a copy of the EG surface profile will be an exact match and with similar behaviors.

1. Create a copy of EG Profile using the AutoCAD or Civil 3D commands. The copy will be stacked.
2. From the Profile Properties dialog box:
   1. Information tab > change style and Rename it to something that makes sense to you.
   2. Profile Data tab > Update Mode column > change from “Dynamic” to “Static”
3. Lower it using the AutoCAD command or using the Profile Tools.

This works, but if the Alignment path was to change or Surface was to be edited the copy would not be up-to-date.

OPTION 2:

Creating a Feature Line from the Alignment and EG Profile.

1. Ribbon Home Tab > Create Design panel > Feature Line flyout > Create Feature Lines from Alignment button
2. In the creation dialog box uncheck the Create Dynamic Link to the Alignment checkbox and set weeding options as needed
3. Select the Profile View to activeate the contextual Ribbon > Launch Pad panel > Project Objects to Profile View button
4. Select the new Feature Line
5. Make sure the “Use Object” is set for elevations in the Dialog Box Options
6. Lower the Feature Line using AutoCAD or Civil 3D commands

Again if the Alignment path were to change or Surface was to be edited the Feature Line would not be up-to-date.

OPTION 3:

Create a Surface with EG pasted into it, NOT just a copy, for we want the copied surface to mirror the original. The downside here is duplicating a large TIN surface will cause file bloating.

1. Use the AutoCAD Copy command to make a copy of the TIN Surface and rename it.
2. Then use the Surface Edit command Raise/Lower Surface to drop the elevation
3. Sample the new Surface

I hope one of the three methods scripted above can help you in creating depth profiles.

Automated Project Folder Creation in BIM360 Docs from Civil 3D

Matt Miyamoto | ISD Project Manager

With the incorporation of BIM360 Docs capabilities in the Civil 3D 2020.2 and later versions, civil design teams now have access to a cloud-based file storage system when working on projects.  Similar to working from your local or network drive, the BIM360 location appears as a virtual System Drive that you can access through file dialog boxes.

When setting up a design project, it’s fairly common to establish a standard folder structure for how and where files and related documents will be stored.  If you’re in charge of this process, automating the task through Civil 3D’s New Data Shortcut Project Folder command can speed things up and increase efficiency and consistency.

First, you’ll need to have a BIM360 Design Project already established and have Folder Control to create and edit project folders.  This should be the default for Project Administrators but can also be assigned to invited project members through the Permission Level options.

With Folder Control permission, you can right-click on Project Files within the BIM360 Docs online platform to add sub-folders one by one as needed.  If your organization has CAD standards that dictate the name, number and level of folder structure for design projects, you may need to repeat this process over and over before your entire project folder structure is established.  A faster way to do this is to leverage the Project Template option within the New Data Shortcut Project dialog box in Civil 3D.

Setting up a Project Template is relatively easy.  All you need is a set of empty folders that represents a reference folder structure for your projects.  In this example, I have three project folder structures that I can choose from. 

The BASIC Civil Project folder includes four sub-folders for XREFs, DWGs, DOCs, and IMAGEs.  The COLLABORATION Project includes sub-folders for Arch, MEP, Electrical, Structural and Civil, and the FULL Civil Project contains 129 folders and sub-folders for various stages of a sample design project, all which can be automatically created by Civil 3D and published to BIM360 Docs using the Autodesk Desktop Connector.  The bulk of the time spent here is establishing the folder structure for the templates.  Once this is done, they can be used to generate new folders for any new project in the future.

Automating folder creation works the same here as it would from Civil 3D to a Network or Local drive through the Data Shortcuts section of the Prospector tab. 

First, remember to set the Working Folder, this time selecting the BIM360 Project that you established earlier.  Next, right-click on Data Shortcuts or use the Manage tab of the Ribbon to launch the New Shortcuts Folder Command.

When the dialog box appears, check the option for Use Project Template and navigate to the location where you established your reference project folder structures.

Select a Project template name from the Select the desired Project Template list and click OK.  Civil 3D will take over from there and do the rest for you. In a few seconds, the folder structure, including sub-folders will appear in the BIM360 Docs online portal.

At the time of the creation of this blog post, there are some documented known limitations with using the Desktop Connector, which can be found here:

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/bim-360/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/ENU/BIM360D-Desktop-Connector/files/What-s-New-October-2018/GUID-F51FEDF0-0235-4B84-A1A1-935718BD0545-html.html

Dragging and dropping empty folder structures can cause BIM 360 to fail silently (no messages) in the background, so leveraging Civil 3D to establish the empty folders for you is an easier and better alternative.

If you’re getting started with BIM360 for Civil 3D and are looking for a way to quickly establish your standard project folder structure in new projects, give this a try.