This tutorial demonstrates several ways to display objects in plan and model views.
There are a variety of ways to view AutoCAD Civil 3D objects. In this tutorial, you will learn how to use some of the most common methods, including viewports, named views, display representations, 3D views, and visual styles.
For more information, see the AutoCAD Help topic Use 3D Viewing Tools.
Exercise 1: Setting Up the Drawing Window
In this exercise, you will configure the drawing window, using named views and viewports.
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For more information, see the AutoCAD Help topics Save and Restore Views and Display Multiple Views in Model Space.
Divide the drawing area into separate viewports
1 Open Intro-2.dwg, which is located in the tutorial drawings folder (page 819).
This drawing contains an existing ground surface, several alignments, and several profile views that contain existing ground and layout profiles.
2 Click View tab ➤ Viewports panel ➤ Viewport Configurations List ➤ Two: Vertical.
Two viewports are displayed. Each viewport is a separate window in which you can pan and zoom to different views of the drawing. You can create custom viewport configurations and save them for later use.
3 Click in each of the viewports.
Notice that as you click in a viewport, the border darkens to indicate which viewport is currently active. Click the viewport on the left side to make it active.
4 On the command line, enter ZE.
The surface and profile views are displayed in the left viewport.
Apply a saved drawing view
1 Click the viewport on the left side to make it active.
2 Click View tab ➤ Views panel ➤ Surface Extents.
The extents of the EG surface appears in the left viewport.
Three views have been created in this drawing. Each named view consists of a specific magnification, position, orientation, and layer status. Named views are saved with a drawing and can be used any time. When your drawing is displaying a specific view to which you want to return, you can save it as a named view by clicking View tab ➤ Views panel ➤ Named Views
To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 2: Changing the Display of an Object (page 19).
Exercise 2: Changing the Display of an Object
In this tutorial, you will change the appearance of a surface by changing its style. You will examine the style settings that affect how an object is represented in plan, profile, and model views.
For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Object Styles.
This exercise continues from Exercise 1: Setting Up the Drawing Window (page 17).
Modify the display of a surface
NOTE This tutorial uses Intro-2.dwg from the previous tutorial.
1 In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, expand the tree under the drawing name. Expand the Surfaces collection to see the surface name XGND.
2 Right-click the surface, XGND, and click Surface Properties.
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3 In the Surface Properties dialog box, on the Information tab, under Surface Style, select a different style, such as Border & Elevations.
4 Click Apply.
The appearance of the surface now reflects the settings of the style you selected.
5 To show a different view of the surface, repeat steps 2 through 4, selecting a different style.
6 After you have explored other styles, set the original style, Visualization.
Click Apply. Leave the Surface Properties dialog box open.
Examine the object style settings
1 In the Surface Properties dialog box, on the Information tab, in the Default Styles area, notice the Render Material list.
This list indicates the material that is applied to the surface object. When the surface is rendered in model view, the surface will be displayed using this material.
2 Click Cancel.
3 In the right viewport, zoom in to one of the profile grids. Select the blue, layout profile line. Right-click. Click Profile Properties.
4 In the Profile Properties dialog box, on the Information tab, in the Object Style area, click .
5 In the Profile Style dialog box, click the Display tab. In the View Direction list, make sure that Profile is selected.
The table identifies how the profile components are displayed in a profile view. The basic appearance of the individual object components is controlled on this tab. Components that have in the Visibility column are visible when the profile is displayed in a profile view. The Layer, Color, Linetype, LT Scale, and Lineweight of the components are controlled on this table. In the drawing window, notice that the layout profile line is blue, as identified in the Color column.
Other AutoCAD Civil 3D object styles use the same basic structure to control display components. Most other objects, such as alignments, have a Plan view direction in place of the Profile view direction. The Plan view direction identifies how the object components are displayed in plan view.
6 In the View Direction list, select Model.
In the table, notice that the Layer and Color settings are different from the Profile view direction. When the layout profile line is viewed in model, it uses the display settings listed in this table.
NOTE In the View Direction list, notice that a Section selection is available.
This View Direction specifies how the surface will be displayed when it is viewed as part of a corridor section. You will learn about viewing and editing corridor sections in the Viewing and Editing Corridor Sections tutorial (page 477).
7 Click Cancel to close the Profile Style and Profile Properties dialog boxes.
8 Press Esc to deselect the layout profile.
To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 3: Viewing a Drawing in Model (page 21).
Exercise 3: Viewing a Drawing in Model
In this exercise, you will learn some ways to view drawing objects in three-dimensional views.
For more information, see the AutoCAD Help topic Use 3D Viewing Tools.
This exercise continues from Exercise 2: Changing the Display of an Object (page 19).
Examine object display in model views
NOTE This tutorial uses Intro-2.dwg from the previous tutorial.
1 Click the left viewport to make it active.
2 Click View panel ➤ Views panel ➤ views list ➤ SE Isometric.
A Southeast isometric view of the surface is displayed in the left viewport, and the right viewport stays in plan view.
3 Zoom in to the isometric view of the surface.
Notice the green and blue lines. The green lines are the layout profiles that you examined in profile view. They are green because the Model view direction in its style indicated that they will display as green. The
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blue lines under the surface are the horizontal alignments from which the profiles were created.
Change the visual style of the surface
1 Click View panel ➤ Views panel Visual Styles drop-down ➤ 3D Wireframe.
AutoCAD visual styles give a fast, basic visualization of an object that is useful for on-screen presentation in AutoCAD Civil 3D. The 3D Wireframe visual style displays the surface in model view without applying a fill material to the object.
Notice that a cube is displayed in the upper right-hand corner. This is the AutoCAD ViewCube, which provides visual feedback of the current orientation of a model. You can use the ViewCube to adjust the viewpoint of the model when a visual style has been applied.
2 Click a corner of the ViewCube, and drag it to a new position. Experiment with dragging the ViewCube to various positions. When you are finished, click to return the model and ViewCube to their original positions.
3 Click View panel ➤ Views panel Visual Styles drop-down ➤ Conceptual.
The Conceptual visual style shades the object and smooths the edges between polygon faces. The shading in this style uses the Gooch face style, a transition between cool and warm colors rather than dark to light.
The effect is not realistic, but it can make the details of the model easy to see.
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4 Click View panel ➤ Views panel Visual Styles drop-down ➤ Realistic.
The Realistic visual style shades the surface and smooths the edges between polygon faces. The render material that is specified in the surface style is displayed.