Creating Surface and Adding Point Data----Civil 3D 2014

Surface is considered as a building block and basic requirement of any Civil 3D project. There are four types of surfaces in Civil 3D: TIN Volume surface, TIN surface, Grid surface and Grid Volume surface. The TIN Volume surface and Grid Volume surface are used for calculating volumes.

In this Blog we will learn all about,

Creating a TIN( Triangulated Irregular Network) surface in Civil 3D.

Adding Point Data File to the TIN surface.

Use the Point file downloaded in the previous blog i.e civil3d_2014_c02_tut02an .txt.

You can download the file from http://www.cadcim.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ISBN=978-1-936646-32-6

After completing the following tutorial the surface image will look like the as shown in  Figure 1.

Figure 1  Surface displaying major and  minor contour lines

Creating the Surface

1.To create a surface, firstly Choose the Create Surface tool from Home > Create Ground Data > Surfaces drop-down; the Create Surface dialog box is displayed.

2. Click in the Value field of the Name property and enter a name of your choice.

3. Choose Add from the shortcut menu; the Add Point File dialog box is displayed.

4. Now, ensure that the TIN surface option is selected in the Type drop-down list of the Create Surface dialog box and choose the OK button; the dialog box is closed, also the surface is created and is added to the Surfaces node in the Prospector tab of the Toolspace palette.

Note : You cannot see the surface at this stage because it is empty and you need to add data to make it visible.

Adding Point File to the Surface

1. Expand Surfaces > EG Surface > Definition in the Prospector tab of the Toolspace palette.

2. Select Point Files from the Definition node and right-click; a shortcut menu is displayed.

3. Choose Add from the shortcut menu; the Add Point File dialog box is displayed.

4. From the Specify point file format list box, select the PENZD (space delimited) option. This file format is used for the point files that are saved with the extension .txt.

Note: If you select the wrong format for the point file from the Specify point file format list box, Civil 3D will display an error message indicating that the wrong file format has been selected.

5. Next, choose the button on the right of the Selected Files list box; the Select Source File dialog box is displayed.

6. Browse to the folder c03 and select civil3d_2014_c03_tut01- PENZD text file and choose the Open button; the file name and path is displayed in the Selected Files list box.

7. Choose the OK button from the Add Point File dialog box; the data is added to the surface.

Viewing the Surface

1. Enter ZE in the command line and then press ENTER; the surface will be displayed with a surface border, major, and minor contour as shown in figure 1. This is due to the default surface style settings of the template file.

Point Groups and Point Styles in Civil 3D 2014

In this blog, we will learn all about

·       Creating a Point Group

·       Creating a new Point Style and assigning it in Civil 3D 2014. Wonder,  these tools are  
   really handy to quicken up the project.  

So what is Point Group and Point Style all about.

Point Groups, is a collection of similar types of points  taken from a survey. These points have similar properties and also have their own styles and labels. Point Styles are defined to points to differentiate with each other in virtue of its properties.

Now let us take an illustration to explain how to create point groups and styles in Civil 3D 2014. To start with open the file that contains points. In this case I will open the civiil3d_point.dwg. You can also use  your own file. To download the file login to https://www.cadcim.com/exploring-autocad-civil-3d-2013 save the file with file name civil3d_2014_c02_tut02.txt.

   

On completing this tutorial blog, the dwg will look as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1  Points displaying the point groups and point styles

·       Start with Opening the New Template

1. Choose New from the Application Menu; the Select template dialog box is displayed. Select the _Autodesk Civil 3D (Imperial) NCS.dwt template and choose the Open button to open the template file.

·       Now, let's Import Points in the drawing, to do so start with following steps:

1. Choose the Point Creation Tools tool from Home > Create Ground Data > Points drop-down; the Create Points toolbar is displayed.

2. Choose the Import Points button from the Create Points toolbar; the Import Points dialog box is displayed.

3. Select the PENZD (space delimited) option from the Specify point file format list box. On doing so, the points are arranged in the order of the point Number (P), Easting (E), Northing (N), Elevation (Z), and Description (D). The points are separated by a space delimiter.

4. Choose the Add files button (button with + sign) on the right of the  Selected Files list box; the Select Source File dialog box is displayed. Browse to the location where you have saved the civil3d_2014_c02_tut02.txt file.

5. Select the file and choose the Open button; the dialog box is closed. Note that the selected file list in the Import Points dialog box shows the path of the selected text file.

6. Next, choose the OK button in the Import Points dialog box; the dialog box is closed and the points are imported.

7. Choose the Prospector tab in the Toolspace palette and note that a black colored symbol is dis­played on the left of the Points node indicating that the points have been added in the drawing,

8. Enter ZE in the command line and press ENTER; the drawing will now display the points. Next, close the Create Points toolbar.

9. Expand the Point Groups node. You will notice that all the points are added to the default _All Points group.

·       Creating the Point Group

1. Choose the Points tool from the Ground Data panel of the Modify tab to invoke the COGO Point tab is displayed in the ribbon.

2. Choose the Edit/List Points tool from the Modify panel of the COGO Point tab; the Panorama window with the Point Editor tab is displayed.

3. Scroll the bar in the Panorama window to view the description of points. On scrolling the bar, you will notice that some of the points have GRND as the point description. Now, you need to create a new point group that will include all the points with GRND as the description.

4. Close the Panorama window after viewing the point description of all points that you have imported.

5. Now, right-click on Point Groups in the Prospector tab of the Toolspace palette; a shortcut menu is displayed. Choose the New option from the shortcut menu; the Point Group Properties - Point Group - (1) dialog box is displayed.

6. In the Information tab, enter Ground Points in the Name edit box.

7. Choose the Include tab and then select the With raw descriptions matching check box. Enter GRND in the corresponding edit box.

8. Next, choose the OK button; the dialog box is closed. All points with GRND as the raw description are added to the Ground Points point group in the Point Groups node.

·       Creating the Point Style

1. Choose the Settings tab of the Toolspace palette Basic point style and expand Point > Point Styles; a triangular symbol on the left of the style name is displayed. The style being used is an existing style named Basic.

2. Right-click on the Point Styles node and then choose the New option from the shortcut menu; the Point Style - New Point Style dialog box is displayed.

3. Accept the default point group name in the Name edit box and choose the Marker tab from the dialog box.

4. Ensure that the Use custom marker radio button is selected and then choose the third button from the Custom marker style options.

5. Select the Use size relative to screen option from the Options drop-down list in the Size area.

6. Enter 4 in the percent edit box.

7. Now, choose the Display tab and make sure that the Plan option is selected in the View Direction drop-down list.

8. Next, in the Component display region, click on the color of the Marker component; the Select Color dialog box is displayed.

9. Select the blue color from the dialog box and choose the OK button to exit the dialog box.

10. Now, choose Apply and then OK from the Point Style - New Point Style dialog box; the dialog box is closed and the point style name is added in the Point Styles node in the Settings tab.

·       Assigning the Point Style to the Point Group

1. Choose the Prospector tab of the Toolspace palette and expand the Point Groups node.

2. Right-click on the Ground Points group; a shortcut menu is displayed. Choose the Properties option from the shortcut menu; the Point Group Properties - Ground Points dialog box is displayed.

3. In the Information tab, select the New Point Style option from the Point style drop-down list in the Default styles.

4. Choose the Apply button from the Point Group Properties - Ground Points dialog box; you will notice that all ground points are displayed in blue color with the selected marker style.