Plan Production (plans, profiles, cross-sections)

Plan and Profile Sheets

Create Plan and Profile Sheet Production Template

1. Create a new drawing based on acadiso.dwt and save it as Plan and Profile.dwt or Plan and Profile.dwg. Civil 3D supports the dwt and dwg formats for plan production templates. Acadiso.dwt is an empty drawing template which uses metric units, it is used for new AutoCAD drawings by default (if not changed by the user):

2. When saving a drawing as a template (dwt), the Files of type must be set to AutoCAD Drawing Template (*.dwt):

3. Switch off the grid in model space (this step is not necessary and can be skipped):

4. Rename Layout 1 to Plan and Profile A0 1_1000 and delete Layout 2:

5. Right-click on the layout name and use the Page Setup Manager command from the menu:

6. Click on the Modify button:

7. Select DWG To PDF.pc3 as the plotter. For the plot style table select Devotech (the version isn't important). Tick the Display plot styles option and for the paper size use ISO A0 (841.00 x 1189.00 MM):

8. Create two viewports, one for the plan view and one for the profile view:

9. Select both viewports, change the scale to 1:1000 and lock them with the padlock icon, in the bottom right corner:

10. Select the top viewport, in the properties change the Viewport Type to Plan:

11. Select the bottom viewport, in the properties set the Viewport Type to Profile:

A north arrow can be placed on sheets. It automatically rotates to point north when the drawings are created.

1. Go to the Layout contextual ribbon, click on the North Arrow command, select a north arrow, choose the top viewport to be linked with the north arrow and specify a location (top right corner). The north arrow will be very small, scale it according to your needs with the standard AutoCAD Scale command:

2. When selecting the north arrow, it can be scaled using the triangular grip point:

3. Use standard AutoCAD tools and methodologies to draw a title block. A sheet template can also contain XRefs, images, blocks, text, etc. Once the title block is finished save the changes.

Create View Frames

1. Switch to the design drawing, make sure that drawing scale is set to 1:1000 and use the Create View Frames command from the Output tab. View frames represent the plan viewports in model space:

2. Specify the alignment you want to create view frames for:

3. Use the Plan and Profile option for the Sheet Settings and click on the ellipsis button to browse for the Plan and Profile sheet template that was created in the previous chapter:

4. When a template is selected, it offers all the layouts from the template which is suitable for the selected sheet type (plan and profile in this case):

5. For the View Frame Placement use the Along Alignment option:

6. All the view frames are part of the View Frame Group. Use default settings in the View Frame Group tab:

7. Match Lines can be used if the plan from the previous and following section should be hidden in the current plan drawing or to define the exact profile view length. To specify the profile view length, tick the Snap station value down to the nearest option and set the value to the desired value (metres), e.g.: 600m for A1 or 1000m for A0. If you set the profile view length to a value which does not fit into the viewport, the Create View Frames command does not create anything:

8. In the Profile Views tab select an appropriate Profile View Style and Profile View Band Set and click on the Create View Frames button:

Created view frames:

View frames have grip points when selected which can be used to move, move along an alignment and rotate the view frame:

Create Plan and Profile Sheets

1. Go to the Output tab in the ribbon and select the Create Sheets command:

2. Specify the View Frame Group, View Frame Range, Layout Creation, Layout Name and choose a North Arrow. Civil 3D also allows the creation of sheets in a new drawing, which is good practice for larger projects:

3. Use the default settings in the Sheet Set tab. Sheet sets are not covered in the Civil 3D Essentials training.

The profile view settings can be taken from an existing profile view otherwise click on the Green Cube icon to specify the settings manually. The profile view settings can also be set after the profile views have been created, this option might be the most suitable.

1. Views can be aligned to the start, center or end, use any suitable option. Click on the Create Sheets button and follow the command prompts:

Created sheets:

1. If the Sheet Set Manager window appears on the screen, close it:

During the sheet creation, new profile views are created for each sheet. These profile views will have to be adjusted according to the available space on the sheet:

1. Go to the Plan and profile 1 layout to check if profile view fits in the viewport.

2. If the profile view does not fit in the viewport, the viewports need to be adjusted, or the profile view length or height needs to be changed to get the desired result. The profile view length and height can be adjusted in the Profile View Properties window which can be opened directly from the layout tab (double click inside the viewport to make model space active, select the profile view, right-click and use the Profile View Properties command):

3. Go to the Stations tab, set the Station Range to User Specified Range and specify the profile view start and end stations:

4. Go to the Elevations tab, set the Elevation Range to User Specified Height and specify a minimum and maximum profile view height:

5. If you want to move the profile view or plan in the viewport then you'll have to Unlock the viewport first. Select the viewport and click on the Pad Lock icon in the bottom-right corner:

6. Only use the Pan command, if you scroll with the mouse wheel the viewport scale will change. If the scale is changed, set the correct scale in the bottom-right corner when the viewport is selected or when the viewport's model space is active:

In the image below the profile view was adjusted but the profile does not fit in the available space:

1. If this problem occurs, split the profile view. Go to the Profile View Properties, Elevation tab, select User Specified Height, tick Split Profile View, select the Manual option, add or remove splitting station and adjust the Split Station and Datum. The Profile View Styles are automatically set to use the correct profile view style, but it can be adjusted from here:

2. Users can define which profile should be used for the split profile data in the Profile tab:

Split profile view:

1. The profile view bands won't display the correct information yet, go to the Profile View Properties and set Profile1 and Profile 2:

Final sheet:

Cross-sections Sheets

Create Cross-sections Sheet Production Template

1. Create a new drawing based on acadiso.dwt and save it as Cross sections.dwt or Cross sections.dwg. Civil 3D supports .dwt and .dwg formats for plan production templates. Acadiso.dwt is an empty drawing template which uses metric units, it is used for new AutoCAD drawings by default (if not changed by the user):

2. When saving a drawing as a template (dwt), the Files of type must be set to AutoCAD Drawing Template (*.dwt):

3. Switch off the grid in model space (this step is not necessary and can be skipped):

4. Rename Layout 1 to Cross Sections A0 1_200 and delete Layout 2:

5. Right-click on the layout name and use the Page Setup Manager command from the menu:

6. Click on the Modify button:

7. For the plotter select DWG To PDF.pc3, for the plot style table use Devotech (it does not matter which version is used), tick the Display plot styles option and for the paper size use ISO A0 (841.00 x 1189.00 MM):

8. Stretch the viewport over the available area:

9. Select the viewport, change the scale to 1:200 and lock it with the padlock icon which is at the bottom-right corner. If the scale 1:200 is not available, create a Custom scale, see image below:

10. Click the Add button:

11. Specify the Name and Drawing Units:

12. Select the viewport and in the Properties window, change the Viewport Type to Section:

13. Use standard AutoCAD tools and methodologies to draw a title block. A sheet template can also contain XRefs, images, blocks, text, etc. Once the title block is finished save the changes.

Create Cross-sections for Sheet Production

1. Switch to the model space, make sure that the drawing scale is set to 1:200, and use the Section Views – Create Multiple Views command from the Home tab in the ribbon:

2. Use the same settings used in the Cross-Sections chapter, except for the settings in the Section Placement, Elevation Range and Data Bands tabs.

3. In the Section Placement tab use the Production option, click on the ellipsis button and browse for the template:

4. Select an appropriate layout:

5. In the Elevation Range tab use the User Specified option with a Height of 10m. For the Sections View Height Options select Follow a Section and select NGL or corridor. Sometimes the NGL works better than using a corridor:

6. In the Data Bands tab use NGL | Offset band set. Select NGL for the Surface 1 as described in the first band name and click on the Create Section Views button:

Created cross-sections (the surrounding rectangles represent the size of the paper and viewport):

1. If the gaps between the cross-sections need to be adjusted go to Toolspace – Settings – Section Views – Group Plot Styles, right-click on All Sections and use the Edit command:

2. Go to Array tab and adjust the space between the columns and rows. Sometimes, when the gaps are only adjusted a few milimetres, the cross-sections don't update. This seems like a Civil 3D bug. Use bigger values if you see no change in the cross-sections gaps.

Create Cross-sections Sheets

If the cross-sections are not centred on the sheet, they can be adjusted either under the settings or they can be adjusted using the AutoCAD Move command and moving the rectangles around the cross-sections, compare the image below with the image above:

1. To create sheets, use the Create Section Sheets command from the Output tab in the ribbon:

2. Specify the Alignment, Sample Line Group, Section View Group and Layout Name:

The created sheets in the sheet list:

The sheet with cross-sections:

1. If some cross-sections are not displaying a corridor, use the Devotech iDAS Modify Views, it allows users to adjust multiple section views at the same time. If you do not have Devotech iDAS, select a section view, right-click and use the Section View Properties command:

2. Go to the Elevations tab, select the User Specified option for the Elevation Range and set the Minimum and Maximum values so the corridor fits into the section view:

Result: