Handout 3081 AU Class-Final

8/12/2019 Handout 3081 AU Class-Final

1/18

Pointing out Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D Points Tom Pisani U.S. CAD

CI3081- Points have many settings that can help import, create, and manage through style formats,description keys, label components and even layer controls. As we work in Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3Dsoftware, we all start to find ways we can optimize our point data whether its by importing, exporting, orcreation. In this class, you learn tips and tricks that will help you in your process of working with your Civil3D points by display through styles. You learn ways to manage these points through groups and examinesettings as you manage your point drawing. We also dig deeper into a Civil 3D template to help youmanage points through styles and settings. Im excited to show you options to control your points via astyle through layers, text styles, and options using tips Ive learned in the industry and from trainingothers.

At the end of this class, you will be able to:

Feel comfortable working with points in a drawing and using new ways to manage themeffectively

Use point styles to help build a better template for your firm Explain how layers and text styles work in point label styles Share and use tips for controlling points from the 3 previous class objectives

Tom Pisani is a Civil Engineering Technical Specialist and Territory Manager for U.S CAD with over 15years experience in Civil Engineering, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), CAD Management andReseller Channel. Prior to joining the reseller channel, He gained industry experience working onnumerous project types including master planned communities, offsite utility design, and roadway design.In industry, he coordinated design information with survey, transportation, and water resource engineers.He is an Autodesk Certified Instructor and an Autodesk Civil 3D Implementation Certified Expert. Heregularly conduct seminars on the use of Autodesk services, customization, training, and technicalsupport to designers and engineers within the Civil, GIS, Environmental Engineering, and MiningIndustries as well as to numerous governmental agencies in AutoCAD, AutoCAD Raster Design,

AutoCAD Map 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D, and Infraworks.

[email protected]


2/18

Pointing Out Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D Points

2

Introduction2

Point Groups.3

Point Description Keys5

Transparent Commands.6

Styles:

Point Marker Style7

Style Components....8

Dragged State Style....11

Point Note Label Style12

Layer Controls.13

Text Styles-C3D Styles..15

Export Points-LandXML..............................................................16

Conclusion18


3/18


3

In AutoCAD Civil 3D, you can create, work with, and manage points using a variety of commands and

tools. All point tools start from a survey ASCII file such as a .txt or .csv file or by creating them manually.One way to close this gap is by utilizing the Civil 3D drawing template (.dwt) file. Ive included some tipsthat can help you in your process of importing or creating points in Civil 3D. I hope this document helpsyou as we dive into Civil 3D points and where I hope to provide tips to help your workflow in Civil 3D.

Points are AutoCAD Civil 3D objects that can be displayed in the drawing and manipulated graphically.Point appearance is controlled using point styles such as the label and marker.

AutoCAD Civil 3D are individual objects where you can perform the following: You can select points individually in the drawing and graphically change the location and rotation

using grips. You can create a selection set of points to move their elevations to a surface. You can modify point properties in the AutoCAD Properties dialog box which describes both the

basic and specific AutoCAD Civil 3D properties. You can change the Next Point Number settings in the point creation commands.

All Points

Point Groups are a way to manage points when working with various types of shots. Think of it as afolder where subfolders are needed to group these points in each one of the subfolders such as catch

basins or edge of pavement. When using your company template and importing points I suggest creatinga default point group called All Points that is set to a point marker and point label style. This way whenyou are inserting points via a text file from the surveyor then the default marker and label style comes inhow you want them displayed.

No Display Point Group

Another point group I typically add to my template is a No Display point group. This way I dont have touse layers to turn off points but instead utilize the no display group in Civil 3D. When importing points forthe first time in a drawing by using this method you will have to right click Point Groups to update allspecific point groups in your drawing. If you do not update this then youll receive a warning telling you toupdate. (See below image)


4/18


4

Lets create a No Display Point Group:

Steps:

1. Create a Point Group called No Display 2. In the information tab set the Point Style and Point Label Style to none3. In the include tab check mark the include all points located at the bottom left side of the dialog

box4. In the overrides tab make sure style and point label style are toggled


5/18


5

Description Keys are used to automatically control point appearance and some point properties when

creating or importing a point into a drawing.

Use description keys to automatically do the following when the drawing point is created:

Specify a point style, label style, and a layer for the point. (discuss later in this document) Specify scale and rotation of the point symbol. Translate the raw description for the point into a full description.

Create a new Description Key:

Steps:

1. In the Settings tab > Description Key Sets > right click the current description key and select editkeys

2. In the desckey editor right click the last description key and select new3. As an example code it cb, style is catch basin, point label style is description only, and layer

is C-BASN4. Insert the point file. Any description matching whats in the desc key will insert as that block, label

style, and layer

Tip- To Override a description key it is located in the task pane when you highlight your points in theprospector tab under the drawing name. Under Style and Point Label Style column click in the cell tochoose the style you want to override


6/18


7/18


8/18


8

Simply put a component is a label within a style of Civil 3D. For example a point description is onecomponent and an elevation is another. You have the option to add multiple labels in one componentsuch as the point number, elevation, and description or separate each label as one component. Thefollowing example will help define how you like your labels grouped (1 component or more).

Point number, Elevation, and Description (1 or 3 Component)Northing and Easting (1 or 2 Component)

Lets review the Point#-Elevation-Description Style for 3 Components:

Below you see three components name pull down for each label. Each component is separately controlsthe text height, color, attachment, etc. This gives the ability for to use the sub toggle grips to movearound the point label of each component.


9/18


9

Lets create a style using one Component for all three labels:

1. 2. # 3. 4. 5. # 6. 7. (

)8. . .

. ( )9. 10. ( ) , ,

. .

3 1


10/18


10


11/18


11

( )

.

. .

( ). .

1. . #

2.

3. , , . .

4. 5.

( )6. 7.

. 8. 9. 10. #


12/18


12

This last style uses a combination of Point and Alignment objects in a Note Style. Ive had manyquestions as to how Civil 3D works with Points and other objects such as an alignment. When creatingan alignment and adding points along the alignment such as a fire hydrant or streetlight how do you usethe point to see the station or elevation. Unfortunately points cant see alignment station or offset. So tohave these objects work together you can add a note label to see them both. By achieving this youll usewhat is called a Reference Text within the label style. The reference text option allows you toreference other objects within that label. For example well reference a Point label and Alignment stationoffset.

Lets create a Point Style using Text Reference:

1.

2. 3.

4. 5. # 6. ( , , )

7. 8. , 9.

10.


13/18


13

Layers are always an interesting topic when it comes to how to set them within a Style. There are manydifferent options of how to set and control these layers. Here are a few options I hope can help.

( 0)

There are 3 levels of layers in a Survey Point-

Point Object- Ribbon Home tab > Points pull down > Point Creation Tool Point Label Style located under the General tab > Label category Point Style located on the Display tab (See image below)

Layer 0 can control how you turn off the label, marker, or complete point object depending what you dontwant to show. Well us a Pole Sign point as an example:

1. 2. 0

3. 0


14/18


14

, .

( )We might want to set up our layers the traditional way where we have the option to display the layersspecifically in a Point Style for the label and symbol then set them accordingly in the description keys.

Under the Point Style in the Settings tab you have two layers, marker and label, for the point. By settingthe point style to that specific symbol or block to its proper layers of the type of point, such as a firehydrant, street light, or water valve, you can control the display in the layer control properties. Forexample well have a Point Style for each type of symbol. This way each point style will have its ownlayer for the marker and label. See below for the fire hydrant point style.

The following example shows description keys to not only control how labels and blocks are brought inbut also how it places the points on its correct layer.

Steps:

1. In the Settings tab > Description Key Sets > right click the current description key and select editkeys

2. In the desckey editor right click the last description key and select new3. For this example the description keys have all been created but the layers have not been properly

set according to its style4. Insert the point file to make sure all the points are inserted correctly on their proper layers

Below is an example of Point Styles created in my template for specific type of point markers (nodes)

Each Point Style has its own layer for that particularMarker to control the point by layer. Below is someexamples.

The Catch Basin, Electrical Box, Fire Hydrant,Sign, etc. are all on its own layer but the label is onOne common layer such as V-NODE-TEXT(See image above)


15/18


15

In Civil 3D Text heights in styles are controlled by the scale button located at the bottom right of the Civil3D interface. In the past what Ive need to do is create a text styles for each type of label that has aunique text height and/or font.

In Civil 3D Ive been using the Standard style at height 0 to control my text height along with the textheight in the layout tab under Text (See second image below). I then use the scale option to controlhow large my text height is. If I need a label a street name, for example, which requires a larger textheight, then I can create a new text style with a font and height that will be used in my Point Label Style.To add your text style to your Point Label Style it is located under the General tab > Text Style > Valueoption. See below for location. This is where I can control what each point label style uses for its textstyle- L80, L100, etc.


16/18


16

A .txt or .csv is a typical file format to import and export points out of Civil 3D but there is another fileformat to use that works just as well and is a way to share objects such as survey points in all versions ofCivil 3D.

When importing points from a LandXML file that was used to export the points out of the drawing,depending on the how the points where shot, you should verify the setting in the LandXML point importsetting to be use desc then code vs. use code then desc.


17/18


17


18/18


18

In order to maximize the productivity of your template there are many features that can help in maximizing

the performance of your point files whether its importing, exporting, creating, or managing your points.Where youve been using AutoCAD to set up your standards Civil 3D helps you continue to build yourtemplate with Styles as your company standards.

Keep close attention to what layers you like in your styles and how you choose to set them up to displayyour points whether its by description keys or a point group display. You might have multiple text stylesfor different type of text labels with smaller and larger text heights. I hope these features that wereshown and discussed help you in your current workflow. Thank you.

Documents

Handout 3081 AU Class-Final