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June tenth, 2019

Using Templates and Drawing Settings for Civil 3D Implementation

Introduction

AutoCAD® Civil 3D® is complex software with many dissimilar and connecting parts working together to provide solutions to civil blueprint projects. In this article we are going to explore how to use template files to capture feature and object settings that you lot can utilise to start your new cartoon or reference into an existing cartoon. For a successful implementation, the CAD director or designer tin create, update, and distribute template files to all users to ensure a standard and uniform approach to blueprint work.

Templates

Any new drawing in Civil 3D starts with a default drawing template or a custom template you tin 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 create a new drawing based on a drawing template, the new drawing gets a copy of the styles in the template, but it is a one-time copy. The connection is not maintained; therefore, if you update the template it will not update your drawing file. For example, if you lot update the surface styles in your template and you lot wanted your drawings to get those aforementioned updates, you needed to manually copy or import those changed styles into your drawings.  You can practise this by dragging and dropping or selecting the import tab on the Ribbon equally shown in Effigy one.

Effigy one: Import styles

Templates are besides listed nether the Drawing Templates collection in the Prospector tree Master View equally shown in Figure 2.  Notice the ii Civil 3D templates supplied from Autodesk.

Figure 2:  Templates under the Master View in Prospector

2 templates are provided when yous install Civil 3D.  The path for these templates tin be found within the options dialog box under the Files > Templates folder.  We are going to open the _Autodesk Civil 3D (Imperial) NCS.dwt and salvage this to C3D_Standard.dwt. The two AutoCAD Ceremonious 3D drawing templates are based on the The states National CAD Standard®.

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

These templates incorporate an extended set of styles and settings. When you lot start a new drawing with the New command on the Application carte du jour, yous can choose which template you lot want to utilize.

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

Figure 3: The main templates provided

Nosotros are at present going to alter the settings of our template file (Figure four). Open the template file y'all created named C3D_Standard.dwt on the Habitation tab of the Ribbon > Palettes console > Open up Toolspace.

1. On the palette, motion to the Settings tab.
2. Make sure yous are in the Active Cartoon Settings View and right-click C3D Standard as shown.
3. Select Edit Drawing Settings.

Note: If yous move upward and down on this palette there are hundreds of different settings that tin can be practical to all types of Civil 3D object information.

Effigy 4: Cartoon settings

C3D Cartoon Settings

Settings in Civil 3D command many preset values, such as cartoon units, scale, and coordinate system. Ceremonious 3D has drawing, feature, and command settings. All iii levels of settings in AutoCAD Civil 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: Control beliefs for a feature, such as Surfaces or Parcels.
3. Command settings: Apply to private commands within a feature, such as the AddParcelAreaLabel control within the Parcels feature.

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

Figure 5: Setting tree

Let'south focus on the main drawing Drawing-Level Settings and Feature Level Settings. To access drawing-level settings, right-click the cartoon name C3D_Standard in the settings tree and click Edit Drawing Settings as shown in Figure 6.

Effigy half-dozen:  Edit Drawing settings

At the drawing level, the Edit Settings dialog box contains general tabs for the drawing (or template) equally shown in Effigy 7.  We practise not want to alter whatever of these settings except for the Object Layers. Ambient Settings tin can be altered, simply will be overridden by the drawing and characteristic settings.

Figure 7: Drawing settings

To illustrate how this works, we will edit one of these settings in the Object Layers department.  Move to the Object Layers tab on the dialog box and whorl down to Can Surface as shown in Figure 8. We are going to add a suffix to the default label using a wildcard to ensure that our surface is ever on the C-Topo- layer with a suffix of the surface name (i.e., C-Topo-EG).

Figure 8: Object layers

1. Move to the C-TOPO layer.
2. Modify the value to Suffix.
3. Add together a -* to the value field.  The hyphen will be added to C-TOPO and the surface proper name will be appended to the end of the layer (i.e., C-TOPO-EG).

You have now created a standard for Tin Surface layers in Civil 3D and tin implement this procedure. Explore other options at the cartoon settings level to ensure your template is ready to get.

Effigy nine: Object Layer modifications

Feature-Level Settings

Use the object collection level in the Settings tree to control all settings that pertain to the object blazon. Access the object or feature-level settings past right-clicking the object collection in the Settings tree and clicking Edit Characteristic Settings.  For this instance, we are going to select the Point Drove.

Figure 10: Point Feature settings

At the object level, this dialog box also contains object-specific settings, such as default point styles. In this section we can control how our point label styles are in our drawing as default. If nosotros want all the points to be brought in as a particular way or maker, we can edit these values equally our default within our template file. Effigy 11 shows the Point Label Fashion and the dialog box to alter the value inside the object feature settings.

Figure xi: Edit Feature settings

Command-Level Settings

Use the Commands drove level in the Settings tree to override both the object-level settings and drawing ambient settings on a command-by-command ground. You tin also specify command-specific settings. Access the command-level settings by expanding the Commands collection for an object blazon in the Settings tree, right-clicking the command, and clicking Edit Command Settings. Figure 12 shows u.s. editing the command level settings for a surface.

Effigy 12: Control-level setting

Layer Standards in Templates

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

For consistency, relieve your template as an AutoCAD® standards file (.dws format). Then, in the template, enter the STANDARDS command and in the Configure Standards dialog box, link the standards file to the template. If you want to enforce the standards, you can click the Settings push and actuate notifications of standards violations or override such violations. For additional data on the CAD Standards Director run across CSI: CAD Standards Implementation at Autodesk Academy 2017. https://autode.sk/2T0ozBa

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

Now that you take many of your standards in place for your template, nosotros need to ensure that the template is used on new drawings.  From the application card, select New and your open dialog box volition exist displayed as shown (Figure thirteen). Select the C3D_Standard.dwt and all your settings will exist inside the new cartoon.

Effigy 13: New template

Note: To control the location of template files and QNEW, review the options under the FILES menu > template settings.

Reference Templates

New to Civil 3D 2022 is a process called reference templates. The control tin can be institute on the Manage tab of the Ribbon > Styles palette > Reference, as shown in Figure 14

Effigy fourteen: Import styles

When you attach a reference template to a drawing, the AutoCAD Civil 3D styles that are in that reference template are copied into the drawing, and the connection betwixt the drawing and the reference templates is maintained. Drawings can be updated on an ongoing footing either automatically or manually with changes to the styles in the templates.  We are going to add a reference to our current drawing file (Figure 15).

Effigy fifteen: Attach Reference Template

As nosotros piece of work on our project, changes to the reference templates are pushed to the drawing so it is kept up to date:

• New or changed styles in reference templates are copied to the drawing.
• Styles that are deleted from reference templates are removed from the drawing if the styles are not in use. If a mode is in apply, a local re-create of the style is made in the drawing.

Select the update push 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 prune icon equally shown in Figure 16.  Notice how the surface styles are now existence controlled by the reference template and not the drawing settings.

Figure xvi: The Paper Clip

As you continue to update and/or add new styles to the project standards template, those changes are pushed to the drawings that reference that template.

The following AutoCAD Civil 3D components can be imported and referenced past a reference template.

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

If you endeavour to edit a surface style (i.due east., rename a layer colour) you volition get the post-obit fault indicating that your manner is beingness controlled by a referenced template or a company standard. You do have options to override the setting as shown in Figure 17, only this is a adept reminder to all of us while we work on drawings and maintain our company standards.

Effigy 17: The warning

Decision

In a perfect world, your drawing templates and settings will have the perfect set of styles for your projects. This typically takes time to abound and 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 tin can create styles and templates for many unlike disciplines and still follow your company standard. Proceed the implementation process going and create your template to aid guide your users and your company to a better, more standard approach to design work.

Sam Lucido is a CAD Services Director with Haley & Aldrich, Inc. He has more than 25 years of experience involving pattern, user support, and customization. Sam is an Autodesk certified professional and an Expert Elite Member. He uses his vast knowledge about AutoCAD and Ceremonious 3D to help provide support to engineering and design teams past holding easily on workshops and online training. Sam is a height-rated Autodesk University and Midwest University Speaker likewise as existence an AUGI Board Member. You lot tin can reach Sam at CADProTips.com or past electronic mail
at lucido1373@gmail.com.

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