draw grid in civil 3d 2019

Back

June 10th, 2019

Using Templates and Drawing Settings for Civil 3D Implementation

Introduction

AutoCAD® Civil 3D® is complex software with many different and connecting parts working together to provide solutions to ceremonious design projects. In this article we are going to explore how to use template files to capture feature and object settings that yous can use to commencement your new drawing or reference into an existing drawing. For a successful implementation, the CAD manager or designer tin can create, update, and distribute template files to all users to ensure a standard and uniform approach to design work.

Templates

Any new drawing in Civil 3D starts with a default drawing template or a custom template you lot can create. Drawing template files are drawings that shop styles, settings, layers, and layouts in a drawing including title blocks.

Standard Template Process

When you lot create a new drawing based on a drawing template, the new drawing gets a re-create of the styles in the template, but it is a old copy. The connection is not maintained; therefore, if y'all update the template it will not update your cartoon file. For instance, if you update the surface styles in your template and you lot wanted your drawings to get those same updates, you needed to manually copy or import those inverse styles into your drawings.  You tin can do this by dragging and dropping or selecting the import tab on the Ribbon every bit shown in Effigy 1.

Figure 1: Import styles

Templates are besides listed nether the Cartoon Templates collection in the Prospector tree Master View as shown in Figure ii.  Observe the two Civil 3D templates supplied from Autodesk.

Figure 2:  Templates under the Principal View in Prospector

Two templates are provided when yous install Civil 3D.  The path for these templates tin exist plant within the options dialog box under the Files > Templates folder.  We are going to open the _Autodesk Ceremonious 3D (Regal) NCS.dwt and save this to C3D_Standard.dwt. The two AutoCAD Civil 3D drawing templates are based on the United states of america National CAD Standard®.

• _AutoCAD Civil 3D (Imperial) NCS
• _AutoCAD Ceremonious 3D (Metric) NCS

These templates contain an extended set of styles and settings. When y'all beginning a new cartoon with the New control on the Application menu, y'all can choose which template you want to use.

The QNEW command, which is available on the Quick Access toolbar, automatically uses the template specified in the AutoCAD Options dialog box.

Effigy 3: The main templates provided

Nosotros are at present going to modify the settings of our template file (Figure 4). Open the template file yous created named C3D_Standard.dwt on the Home tab of the Ribbon > Palettes panel > Open Toolspace.

1. On the palette, movement to the Settings tab.
2. Make sure you are in the Active Drawing Settings View and correct-click C3D Standard every bit shown.
3. Select Edit Drawing Settings.

Notation: If you motility up and down on this palette there are hundreds of different settings that can exist applied to all types of Ceremonious 3D object data.

Figure iv: Drawing settings

C3D Cartoon Settings

Settings in Ceremonious 3D control many preset values, such as drawing units, scale, and coordinate system. Ceremonious 3D has cartoon, feature, and command settings. All three levels of settings in AutoCAD Ceremonious 3D are saved with the drawing, and they can be saved to a drawing template.

1. Drawing settings: Establish values for the whole drawing.
2. Feature settings: Command beliefs for a feature, such as Surfaces or Parcels.
3. Command settings: Apply to individual commands within a feature, such every bit the AddParcelAreaLabel command inside the Parcels feature.

You modify each level of settings at a different location in the Settings tree, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5: Setting tree

Let'south focus on the chief cartoon Drawing-Level Settings and Characteristic Level Settings. To access drawing-level settings, right-click the drawing name C3D_Standard in the settings tree and click Edit Drawing Settings as shown in Figure half-dozen.

Figure six:  Edit Drawing settings

At the drawing level, the Edit Settings dialog box contains full general tabs for the cartoon (or template) as shown in Figure vii.  We practice non want to alter any of these settings except for the Object Layers. Ambient Settings can be altered, merely volition be overridden by the drawing and feature settings.

Figure seven: Drawing settings

To illustrate how this works, we will edit one of these settings in the Object Layers department.  Movement to the Object Layers tab on the dialog box and scroll downwards to Tin Surface equally shown in Figure 8. We are going to add together a suffix to the default characterization using a wildcard to ensure that our surface is always on the C-Topo- layer with a suffix of the surface name (i.e., C-Topo-EG).

Figure 8: Object layers

1. Motility to the C-TOPO layer.
2. Change the value to Suffix.
3. Add a -* to the value field.  The hyphen will be added to C-TOPO and the surface name will be appended to the end of the layer (i.due east., C-TOPO-EG).

You accept now created a standard for Tin Surface layers in Civil 3D and tin implement this process. Explore other options at the drawing settings level to ensure your template is ready to go.

Effigy 9: Object Layer modifications

Characteristic-Level Settings

Use the object collection level in the Settings tree to control all settings that pertain to the object type. Access the object or characteristic-level settings by correct-clicking the object collection in the Settings tree and clicking Edit Feature Settings.  For this example, we are going to select the Point Collection.

Figure 10: Point Feature settings

At the object level, this dialog box besides contains object-specific settings, such as default point styles. In this section we can control how our indicate label styles are in our drawing equally default. If we desire all the points to be brought in as a particular fashion or maker, we can edit these values as our default within our template file. Figure 11 shows the Point Label Style and the dialog box to change the value within the object feature settings.

Figure 11: Edit Feature settings

Control-Level Settings

Utilize the Commands collection level in the Settings tree to override both the object-level settings and drawing ambient settings on a command-by-command basis. You tin as well specify control-specific settings. Access the control-level settings by expanding the Commands collection for an object blazon in the Settings tree, correct-clicking the command, and clicking Edit Command Settings. Figure 12 shows us editing the command level settings for a surface.

Figure 12: Command-level setting

Layer Standards in Templates

Maintaining a standard for the use of layers in your cartoon is easier if you have a drawing template with predefined layers, and styles that reference those layers when objects are created.

For consistency, save your template as an AutoCAD® standards file (.dws format). And so, in the template, enter the STANDARDS command and in the Configure Standards dialog box, link the standards file to the template. If you lot want to enforce the standards, you can click the Settings button and activate notifications of standards violations or override such violations. For additional information on the CAD Standards Manager see CSI: CAD Standards Implementation at Autodesk University 2017. https://autode.sk/2T0ozBa

The layers created in the AutoCAD Civil 3D 2018 templates follow the National CAD Standard (NCS) rules. For more data about the National CAD Standard layering settings, run into http://www.nationalcadstandard.org.

Now that you have many of your standards in place for your template, we demand to ensure that the template is used on new drawings.  From the application menu, select New and your open dialog box will be displayed as shown (Figure thirteen). Select the C3D_Standard.dwt and all your settings will be inside the new drawing.

Figure xiii: New template

Note: To command the location of template files and QNEW, review the options nether the FILES carte > template settings.

Reference Templates

New to Civil 3D 2022 is a procedure called reference templates. The command can exist institute on the Manage tab of the Ribbon > Styles palette > Reference, as shown in Figure xiv

Figure 14: Import styles

When you attach a reference template to a drawing, the AutoCAD Ceremonious 3D styles that are in that reference template are copied into the drawing, and the connectedness between the drawing and the reference templates is maintained. Drawings tin be updated on an ongoing basis either automatically or manually with changes to the styles in the templates.  Nosotros are going to add a reference to our electric current cartoon file (Effigy 15).

Figure 15: Adhere Reference Template

Every bit we piece of work on our project, changes to the reference templates are pushed to the drawing so it is kept up to appointment:

• New or inverse styles in reference templates are copied to the drawing.
• Styles that are deleted from reference templates are removed from the cartoon if the styles are non in use. If a style is in use, a local copy of the way is fabricated in the drawing.

Select the update button for the template to be added to the drawing. In the Toolspace Settings tree, styles that have been referenced into the drawing are marked with a paper clip icon every bit shown in Figure 16.  Notice how the surface styles are now beingness controlled by the reference template and non the drawing settings.

Effigy sixteen: The Paper Prune

As y'all continue to update and/or add together new styles to the projection standards template, those changes are pushed to the drawings that reference that template.

The post-obit AutoCAD Civil 3D components can be imported and referenced by a reference template.

• AutoCAD Layers
• AutoCAD blocks, text styles, and linetypes
• Settings
• Drawing Settings
• Abbreviations
• Ambient Settings
• Object Layers
• Feature Settings
• Characterization Way Defaults
• Styles
• Label Styles
• Object Styles
• Table Styles
• Pipe and Structure Rules
• Pressure Network Parts lists
• Quantity Takeoff Criteria

If yous try to edit a surface style (i.due east., rename a layer colour) you volition get the following error indicating that your fashion is being controlled by a referenced template or a visitor standard. You do have options to override the setting as shown in Effigy 17, but this is a good reminder to all of us while we piece of work on drawings and maintain our company standards.

Figure 17: The warning

Conclusion

In a perfect world, your drawing templates and settings will take the perfect set up of styles for your projects. This typically takes fourth dimension to abound and tin can be considered a living template. Consider designing styles to reflect the data requirements at different times in the project.  The templates are there as a guide to provide you with the basic information needed to begin your design project efficiently. You can create styles and templates for many dissimilar disciplines and nonetheless follow your company standard. Keep the implementation process going and create your template to help guide your users and your visitor to a improve, more standard approach to design piece of work.

Sam Lucido is a CAD Services Manager with Haley & Aldrich, Inc. He has more than 25 years of experience involving pattern, user back up, and customization. Sam is an Autodesk certified professional and an Skilful Elite Member. He uses his vast knowledge well-nigh AutoCAD and Ceremonious 3D to assistance provide support to applied science and design teams by holding easily on workshops and online training. Sam is a elevation-rated Autodesk University and Midwest University Speaker as well equally being an AUGI Board Member. You can reach Sam at CADProTips.com or by email
at lucido1373@gmail.com.

rocheantly1936.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.augi.com/articles/detail/using-templates-and-drawing-settings-for-civil-3d-implementation

Share this post