Part Builder is an interface that allows you to build and modify pipe network parts. Part Builder is accessed by selecting the drop-down list under Create Design from the Home tab. At first, you may use Part Builder to add a few missing pipes or structure sizes. As you become more familiar with the environment, you may build your own custom parts from scratch.
This section is intended to be an introduction to Part Builder and a primer in some basic skills required to navigate the interface. It isn’t intended to be a robust “how-to” for creating custom parts. Civil 3D includes three detailed tutorials for creating three types of custom structures. The tutorials lead you through creating a cylindrical manhole structure, a drop inlet manhole structure, and a vault structure. You can find these tutorials by going to Help Tutorials and then navigating to Part Builder Tutorials.
Back Up the Part Catalogs
Here’s a warning: before exploring Part Builder in any way, it’s critical that you make a backup copy of the part catalogs. Doing so will protect you from accidentally removing or corrupting default parts as you’re learning and will provide a means of restoring the original catalog.
The catalog (as discussed in the previous section) can be found by default at:
C:ProgramDataAutodeskC3D 2012enuPipes Catalog
To make a backup, copy this entire directory and then save that copy to a safe location, such as another folder on your hard drive or network, or to a CD.
We recommend that you do this and use the backup file for the exercises here. To do this, you will have to point to the new location by clicking the drop-down list in the Create Design panel and selecting Set Pipe Catalog Location. Select the icon next to catalog folder and point it to your saved location.
The parts in the Civil 3D pipe network catalogs are parametric. Parametric parts are dynamically sized according to a set of variables, or parameters. In practice, this means you can create one part and use it in multiple situations.
For example, in the case of circular pipes, if you didn’t have the option of using a parametric model, you’d have to create a separate part for each diameter of pipe you wanted, even if all other aspects of the pipe remained the same. If you had 10 pipe sizes to create, that would mean 10 sets of partname.dwg, partname.xml, and partname.bmp files, as well as an opportunity for mistakes and a great deal of redundant editing if one aspect of the pipe needed to change.
Fortunately, you can create one parametric model that understands how the different dimensions of the pipe are related to each other and what sizes are allowable. When a pipe is placed in a drawing, you can change its size. The pipe will understand how that change in size affects all the other pipe dimensions such as wall thickness, outer diameter, and more; you don’t have to sort through a long list of individual pipe definitions.