CI124786 – CI147335

AutoCAD Civil 3D: Tips, Tricks and Unnatural Acts

Jerry Bartels – Sr. Infrastructure Technical Specialist, Autodesk, Inc.
Jeff Bartels – Sr. Infrastructure Technical Specialist, Autodesk, Inc.
Alan Gilbert – Sr. Infrastructure Technical Specialist, Autodesk, Inc.

Learning Objectives
 Learn how to automate several tasks
 Learn how to make more use of underutilized features
 Learn how to use several standard functions in new ways
Discover several useful undocumented commands

Description
This session is dedicated entirely to productivity techniques that will help improve your daily
operations when working with AutoCAD Civil 3D software. These tips include automating
regular tasks, using standard functions in new ways, exploring underutilized features, and even
exploiting a handful of undocumented commands. We’ll present the information using a real-
world problem-solving context, rather than simply going feature by feature, so you can fully
appreciate the “why” in addition to the “how.” Come join us for this 90-minute session as we
show you numerous ways to help you get the most from your AutoCAD Civil 3D investment.

About the speakers

[email protected]
For more than 25 years, Jerry has worked in all areas of civil engineering, surveying, and
mapping. At Autodesk, Jerry specializes in civil infrastructure solutions and currently provides
presales, training, and support services throughout the country. He has received several awards
from Autodesk for his presentations.

[email protected]
For 20 years Jeff has worked in the civil engineering industry. He was one of the early adopters
of Civil 3D, migrating his frim to a BIM workflow in 2008. As a member of Autodesk’s
Infrastructure Technical Specialist Team, Jeff provides training and support for many of
Autodesk’s civil infrastructure applications. Since 2008, he has published more than 25 titles on
AutoCAD and Civil 3D.

[email protected]
Alan is an Autodesk Technical Specialist supporting the efforts of the AEC sales team. This
coverage includes everything from small engineering firms up to large government customers
such as departments of transportation. He is registered as a Professional Engineer and
Professional Land Surveyor in the state of Alabama.

Jerry, Jeff and Alan are also authors on an Autodesk Infrastructure Industry Blog where they
post weekly Tips, Tricks and Workflows. http://civilimmersion.typepad.com/
Tool for Tuesday: GeographicLocation
You can get there from here!!
Have you ever wanted to find a location in your model using a property address? I know I have. For
example, I’m going to start working on a project and I have its address. I also have access to tons of
aerial imagery within Civil 3D that I would love to start reviewing for my project site and its
surrounding area. The problem is that Civil 3D works off of coordinates and not addresses. I can set
the correct coordinate projection but have found it hard to quickly locate my proposed project site.
So what do I do…. I go to Google Earth and find the site by address. From there, I review the imagery
but I can’t really start doing too much because that work needs to be done in Civil 3D. So I look for
ways to jump from one environment to the other. (And I have seen some pretty creative workflows
over the years. :) )
If only an interface existed in Civil 3D where we could find a location based on a simple property
address.
The exciting news is that the interface we need already exists in Civil 3D!!! We just need to exploit
AutoCAD’s “GeographicLocation” tool.

Check out the video below to see how it works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzA9lOH2PmM
-Jerry
Tool for Tuesday: Draw3DEntityProfile

Ok, today’s tool is really more of a "feature

of a workflow" than it is an official tool. :)
Having said this, it helps us do a really cool
thing. Create a section style view from
Point Objects!!
Some background…
For years, field crews have collected points
in a linear fashion to represent cross sections of swales, ditches, roads… Having said this, once the
points were brought into Civil 3D, we see only points. If we wanted to see a cross sectional
representation of even a single row of points, we needed to create a surface, alignment, profile
view…. In short, I for one was always looking for an easier way to quickly visualize my point
information.
Today is that day!!
There is a little known option of the Feature Line Elevation Editor that will do exactly what we
want. (Create a section type view without having to build a Surface)
You simply connect the points together that represent your section using a 3D polyline, convert that
polyline into a Feature line and display a Quick Profile of the Feature Line using the
Draw3DEntityProfile option of the Feature Line Elevation Editor dialog box. (Takes longer to read than
do!! :) )
Check out the video below to see how it works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9jmJtfDLSE
-Jerry
Tool for Tuesday: LineworkTrim & LineworkDivide
Today is a special day! Not only do we have two tools for
Tuesday but they are undocumented commands. (At least
as it relates to Civil 3D :) )
Being equipped with these tools extends your abilities when
it comes to working with AutoCAD Blocks.
Let me set the stage…
From the beginning of time, there are just some things you
cannot do with AutoCAD Blocks. For example Trim. If you
try and Trim a Block, it is simply ignored.
Additionally, you cannot break a Block into two
pieces. (Sure you can explode them but then the entire
Block returns to numerous native AutoCAD entities)
You might be thinking, where would this be helpful? I
thought the same thing too because I had never really
considered the possibilities. Working with Blocks in this way
was never really something I had ever thought about because it violated my understanding of all that is
good in the AutoCAD universe. :)
In short, these tools can be helpful in a number of situations from creating exhibits, creating details or
even creating a Model Space representation of a Paperspace viewport. As my mind slowly expands to
accept this new reality, I’m finding more uses for them every day.
Check out the video below to see how they work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2L7CHYI51k
-Jerry
Tool for Tuesday: AECCREPORTPOINTPROX
Today’s tool is all about QA/QC as it relates to our Civil
3D Point Objects.
In short, having duplicate Points or Points in very close
proximity to each other can indicate a problem
especially when the Points represent existing
conditions.
Maybe the same object was collected from different
setups and their elevations vary more than an
acceptable amount. Maybe Points were inadvertently
inserted multiple times into the same model. Maybe the
redundant information is causing issues with Surface
triangulation…
There are many reasons why duplicate (or nearly
duplicate) Points should be identified and evaluated.
Unfortunately, until recently, there was not an easy way for us to identify these Points.
In Civil 3D 2016 there was a Transportation Extension module that was released mid-year. This module
contained an AECCREPORTPOINTPROX tool designed specifically to evaluate our Points and generate a
report of any Points that fell within our user defined proximity tolerance. This report could then be
used to go back and evaluate the affected Points and determine if any resolution was required.
Very cool!!
I know what you are thinking… Where do I get my hands on this Transportation Extension so I can try it
out. In short, if you have Civil 3D 2018, you already have it!! The Transportation Extension tools have
been rolled into the "out of the box" Civil 3D installation.
Check out the video below to see where to find it and how it works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8CCcuiP5rQ
-Jerry
Tool for Tuesday: Delete Duplicate Points
It’s like Ketchup, more isn’t better. :)
Today’s installment definitely falls into the “strategy” container.
I created this one because I am often asked for ways to deal with
duplicate Points. In last week’s Blog Post we looked at a tool that can
identify and list duplicate Point objects in a
report. (AECCREPORTPOINTPROX)
The challenge remains that the user is left with a report which still requires them to
address each duplicate Point situation manually. (At the end of the day, this is truly
the best and safest way!!)
Having said this, what if we already know what caused the problem? For example, someone
inadvertently inserted the same Points into our model multiple times. In this instance, manually
deleting all of the duplicates can be tedious and time consuming.
Because this is a common issue that folks are faced with, numerous strategies exist on how best to
resolve it.
So today, I created a video that walks through what I do.
Note: It requires both Civil 3D and some simple Excel.
As I go through the workflow, I try and do it in a logical order from a complete removal and
replacements of the Points, to a more surgical approach to the point removal, to a non-destructive
approach where the duplicate Points are simply hidden.
Check out the video below to see how it works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9MbWs6eoVI
-Jerry
Tool for Tuesday: ShowCT

Today’s tool is all about tracking your coordinate position in real-time.

For those folks that have used Autodesk software for a number of years, you may remember a
coordinate tracking utility in Land Desktop. Essentially, it was a tool that would display the X,Y,Z
position of your crosshairs in real-time as you moved around the screen. The Z elevation came from
the current surface. (Remember when we used to have to assign which surface was current? :) )
Whether you remember the old tool or not, this functionality is also available in Civil 3D including some
improvements!
Not only can we track coordinates in real-time, but we can also capture them, edit them and pass
them on to be used in future commands.
Check out the video below to see how the ShowCT tool works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFZ5JHWbB2c
-Jerry
Finish Strong Friday: "The Disappearing Curb" - Using Offset
Assemblies for Perpendicularity
For this week's post, I decided to pull out a crowd favorite from my previous blog and share on Civil
Immersion.

The problem is simple: how can I model a curb and gutter shape around a curb return that maintains
perpendicular to the return instead of the baseline horizontal alignment. The answers are
many: intersection wizard, manually building your own "intersection wizard-like" regions, multiple
corridors, or grading objects. I'm sure there are more, but you get the point. Offset Assemblies give us
an additional option and allow us to model a simple intersection in a single corridor region. You need
an alignment to control the horizontal of the Offset Assembly object-which isn't a problem since you
will generally have the curb return geometry. The trick is controlling the vertical position of the Offset
Assembly...

Check out the video below to see this workflow in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3l55BuKP_8&t=409s

-Alan
Finish Strong Friday: Finding Last Surface Intersection with
Subassembly Composer
I was recently asked how one could create a subassembly that would automatically find the last
possible intersecting point on a particular surface target along a given slope. The use case was shoring
slopes and computing resulting quantities on things like earthen channels and mines. Thanks to
Auxiliary Points in Subassembly Composer (which I call ghost points), we can accomplish this without
too much trouble.

Check out the video below to see this technique in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUqrQhkHD5g&t=2s

-Alan
Finish Strong Friday: Using Traverse Editor/Adjustment
Tools on Connecting Traverse
We've seen several iterations of a traverse editor over the last several years starting back with the
Cogo Editor. I'm confident that the product team will continue to expand the Traverse Editor and
Traverse Adjustment tools over time, but I doubt you'll see any more major interface overhauls any
time soon as the current platform has been solid.

Today, I wanted to show a workflow using these tools to analyze a closed-connecting traverse. Thanks
to the updated Traverse Adjustment functionality, we can run closure checks and angular balancing on
these types of traverses (in addition to classical loop traverses).

Check out the video below to see this workflow in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrF29Zqeryo

-Alan
Finish Strong Friday: Using “Mapcheck” for Record Survey
and Plat Analysis
Civil 3D gives us several methods for analyzing and adjusting survey, parcel, and plat data. There are
times however, when our record/plat data isn’t as clean as we would like or we would like to analyze
several possible property boundary scenarios without creating lots of parcels and polygons. In these
cases, the Mapcheck tool in Civil 3D may be just what you need.

Check out the video below to see some workflows where the Mapcheck command could come in handy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq3UY7eN2YI&t=6s

-Alan
Adding Driveways to a Civil 3D Corridor using
Minimal Targeting

If you’ve modeled driveways in the past, you may have found them to be
one of the more challenging things to add to a Civil 3D corridor model. In
today’s installment, I’m going to show you a way to add driveways using
a simple pair of targets.
The workflow revolves around a custom part that I created using
Subassembly Composer. If you’d like to experiment with (or reverse
engineer) this part, it can be downloaded here - http://autode.sk/2zoVhkR
To present the workflow, I’ve recorded a “triple feature” that walks through everything. If you are
interested, I’ve provided hyperlinks below to all three sessions.

Part 1 – “Exploring the Custom Driveway Subassembly”

https://youtu.be/fDjeI69UX94

Part 2 – “Adding Driveways to a Civil 3D Corridor Model”

https://youtu.be/Op3N6X7-rC8

Part 3 – “Modeling Driveways Along Corridor Curves”

https://youtu.be/RbBE5ba0a6U

Let me say up front that this workflow isn’t intended to be the “end all” way to create driveways, that
being said, I do think it can be used to model many of them. In addition, I’m hoping what I show here
may give you some new ideas, allowing you to take this concept even further on your own.

-Jeff