Chapter 17

Plan Production

So you've toiled for days, weeks, or maybe months creating your design in the AutoCAD^® Civil 3D® program, and now it's time to share it with the world — or at least your corner of it. Even in this digital age, paper plan sets still play an important role. You generate these plans in Civil 3D using the Plan Production feature. This chapter takes you through the steps necessary to create a set of sheets, from initial setup, to framing and generating sheets, to data management and plotting.

In this chapter, you will learn to:

• Create view frames
• Edit view frames
• Generate sheets and review Sheet Set Manager
• Create section views

Preparing for Plan Sets

Before you start generating all sorts of wonderful plan sets, you must address a few concepts and prerequisites. Civil 3D takes advantage of several features and components to build a plan set. Some of these components have existed in AutoCAD and Civil 3D software for years (for example, layout tabs, drawing templates, alignments, and profiles). Others are newer properties of existing features (such as Plan and Profile viewport types), view frames, match lines, and view frame groups. Let's look at what you need to have in place before you can create your plotted masterpieces.

Prerequisite Components

The Plan Production feature draws on several components to create a plan set. Here is a list of these components and a brief explanation of each. Later, this chapter will explore these elements in greater detail:

Drawing Template

Plan Production creates new layouts for each sheet in a plan set. To do this, the feature uses drawing templates with predefined viewports. These viewports have their Viewport Type property set to either Plan or Profile.

For the exercises in this chapter, the default location for the final sheets will refer to the C:MasteringCH 17Final Sheets location. It is recommended that you download all of the files (including the Final Sheets folder) for this chapter from the book's web page (www.sybex.com/go/masteringcivil3d2013) and place them in the C:MasteringCH 17 folder.

Object and Display Styles

Like every other feature in Civil 3D, Plan Production uses objects. Specifically, these objects are view frames, view frame groups, and match lines. Before creating plan sheets, you'll want to make sure you have styles set up for each of these objects.

Alignments and Profiles

In Civil 3D, the Plan Production feature is designed primarily for use in creating plan and profile views. Toward that end, your drawing must contain (or data reference) at least one alignment. If you're creating sheets with both plan and profile views or just profile views, a profile must also be present.

Sample Lines and Sections

Creating section sheets requires an alignment, a sample line group, cross sections, and a sheet template with associated section viewports.

With these elements in place, you're ready to dive in and create some sheets. The general steps in creating a set of plans are as follows:

The next section describes this process in detail and the tools used in Plan Production. The Sheet Set Manager, which is found in basic AutoCAD, is an integral part of this process.

Using View Frames and Match Lines

When you create sheets using the Plan Production tools, Civil 3D first automatically helps you divide your alignment into areas that will fit on your plotted sheet and display at the desired scale. To do this, Civil 3D creates a series of rectangular frames placed end to end (or slightly overlapping) along the length of alignment, like those in Figure 17.1. These rectangles are referred to as view frames and are automatically sized and positioned to meet your plan sheet requirements. This collection of view frames is referred to as a view frame group. Where the view frames overlap one another, Civil 3D creates match lines that establish continuity from frame to frame by referring to the previous or next sheet in the completed plan set. View frames and match lines are created in modelspace, using the prerequisite elements described in the previous section.

Figure 17.1 View frames and match lines

The Create View Frames Wizard

The first step in the process of creating plan sets is to generate view frames. Civil 3D provides an intuitive wizard that walks you through each step of the view frame creation process. Let's look at the Create View Frames wizard and the various page options. After you've seen each page, you'll have a chance to put what you've learned into practice in an example.

From the Output tab ⇒ Plan Production panel, choose Create View Frames to launch the Create View Frames wizard (Figure 17.2). The wizard consists of several pages. A list of these pages is shown along the left sidebar of the wizard, and an arrow indicates which page you're currently viewing. You move among the pages using the Next and Back navigation buttons along the bottom of each page. Alternatively, as with all wizards, you can jump directly to any page by clicking its name in the list on the left. The following sections walk you through the pages of the wizard and explain their features.

Figure 17.2 The Create View Frames – Alignment wizard page

Create View Frames – Alignment Page

You use the first page of the Create View Frames wizard (shown previously in Figure 17.2) to select the alignment and station range, along which the view frames will be created.

Alignment

In the top area of this page, you select the alignment along which you want to create view frames. You can either select it from the drop-down list or click the Select From The Drawing button to select the alignment on screen.

Station Range

In the Station Range area of the page, you define the station range over which the frames will be created. Selecting Automatic creates frames from the Alignment Start to the Alignment End. Selecting User Specified lets you define a custom range, by either keying in start and end station values in the appropriate box or by clicking the button to the right of the station value fields and graphically selecting the station from the drawing.

An example of when you would want to select specific stations is if you have a subdivision that will be constructed in phases. You have designed an entire roadway but only need to create specific sheets for a specific phase.

Create View Frames – Sheets Page

You use the second page of the Create View Frames wizard (Figure 17.3) to establish the sheet type and the orientation of the view frames along the alignment. A plan production sheet is a layout tab in a drawing file. To create the sheets, Civil 3D references a predefined drawing template (with the file extension .dwt). As mentioned earlier, the template must contain layout tabs, and in each layout tab the viewport's Viewport Properties must be set to either Plan or Profile. Later in this chapter, you'll learn about editing and modifying templates for use in plan production.

Figure 17.3 Create View Frames – Sheets wizard page

Sheet Settings

The Plan Production feature provides options for creating three types of sheets:

After choosing the sheet type, you must define the template file and the layout tab within the selected template that Civil 3D will use to generate your sheets. Several predefined templates ship with Civil 3D and are part of the default installation. Be sure to choose the sheet type before selecting the template, because if the sheet type doesn't match the viewport types in the template then you won't be able to select the necessary layout.

1. Click the ellipsis button on this page to display the Select Layout As Sheet Template dialog, as shown in Figure 17.4.

Figure 17.4 Use the Select Layout As Sheet Template dialog to choose which layout you would like to apply to your newly created sheets

This dialog provides the option to select the DWT file and the layout tab within the template.

2. Click the ellipsis button in the Select Layout As Sheet Template dialog to browse to the desired template location.

Typically the default template location is:

C:Users<username>AppDataLocalAutodeskC3D2013
enuTemplatePlan Production

Alternatively, if you are working in a network environment, your templates can be kept in a common folder on the network.

After you select the template you want to use, a list of the layouts contained in the DWT file appears in the Select Layout As Sheet Template dialog.

3. Choose the appropriate layout.

Notice in the template selected (see Figure 17.4) there are layouts for various sheet sizes as well as various scales that are included in the Plan Production templates that ship with Civil 3D.

View Frame Placement

Your view frames can be placed in one of two ways: either along the alignment or rotated to north. Use the bottom area of the Sheets page of the wizard to establish the placement.

Along Alignment

This option aligns the long axes of the view frames parallel to the alignment. Refer to the graphic to the right of the radio buttons in the dialog for a visual representation. This graphic is shown at the left in Figure 17.5.

Figure 17.5 View Frame Placement shown using the Along Alignment option (left) and the Rotate To North option (right)

Rotate To North

As the name implies, this option aligns the view frames so they're all rotated to the north direction, regardless of the changing rotation of the alignment centerline. North is defined by the orientation of the drawing. This graphic is shown at the right in Figure 17.5.

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Twisted North

If you want the north arrow to rotate according to the view twist of the viewport, the block that is being used for the north arrow must be included in the template, and must be located in the layout.

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Set The First View Frame Before The Start Of The Alignment By

Regardless of the view frame placement you choose, you have the option to place the first view frame some distance before the start of the alignment. This option is useful if you want to show a portion of the site, such as an existing offsite road, in the plan view. When this option is selected, the text box becomes active, letting you enter the desired distance.

Create View Frames – View Frame Group Page

You use the third page of the Create View Frames wizard (Figure 17.6) to define creation parameters for your view frames and the view frame group to which they'll belong. The page is divided into two areas: the top for the View Frame Group and the bottom for the View Frames themselves.

Figure 17.6 Create View Frames  – View Frame Group wizard page

View Frame Group

Use this area of the View Frame Group page to set the name and an optional description for the view frame group. The name can consist of manually entered text, text automatically generated based on the Name template settings, or a combination of both.

Name Template

To adjust the Name template settings, click the Edit View Frame Group Name button to open the Name Template dialog, shown here:

With the settings shown previously in Figure 17.6, the name will include manually defined prefix text (VFG -) followed by automatically generated text, which inserts the view frame group alignment name and a sequential counter number. This will result in a view frame group name of VFG - Frontenac Drive - 1.

The Name Template dialog isn't unique to the Plan Production feature. However, the property fields available vary depending on the features to be named. If you need to reset the incremental number counter, use the text box in the lower area of the Name Template dialog. You can change the increment value in the Name Template dialog as well.

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View Frame

Use this area of the View Frame Group page to set various parameters for the view frames, including the layer for the frames, view frame names, view frame object and label styles, and the label location. Each view frame can have a unique name (using an incremental counter), but the other parameters are the same for all view frames.

For view frame labels are placed at the top of the frame, the term top is relative to the frame's orientation. For alignments that run left to right across the page, the top of the frame points toward the top of the screen. For alignments that run right to left, the top of the frame points toward the bottom of the screen.

Create View Frames – Match Lines Page

You use the fourth page of the Create View Frames wizard (Figure 17.7) to establish settings for match lines. Match lines are used to maintain continuity from one sheet to the next. They're typically placed at or near the edge of a sheet, with instructions to “See Sheet XX” for continuation.

Figure 17.7 Create View Frames – Match Lines wizard page

Figure 17.8 An example match line label style

Create View Frames – Profile Views Page

The final page of the Create View Frames wizard (Figure 17.9) is optional and will be disabled and skipped if you chose to create Plan Only sheets on the Sheets page of the wizard. Use the drop-down lists to select both the Profile View Style and the Band Set Style. These styles were discussed previously in Chapter 7, “Profiles and Profile Views.”

Figure 17.9 Create View Frames – Profile Views wizard page

Civil 3D has difficulty determining the proper extents of profile views. If you find that your profile view isn't positioned correctly in the viewport (for example, the annotation along the sides or bottom is clipped), you may need to create buffer areas in the profile-view band set style by modifying the text box width. The _Autodesk Civil 3D NCS.dwt (both Imperial and metric) file contains styles with these buffers created.

This last page of the wizard has no Next button. To complete the wizard, click the Create View Frames button.

Creating View Frames

Now that you understand the wizard pages and available options, you'll try them out in this exercise:

C:Users<username>AppDataLocalAutodeskC3D2013
enuTemplatePlan Production

The view frames and match lines are created as shown in Figure 17.10.

Figure 17.10 Finished view frames and match lines in the drawing

Due to the sheet sizes and scales, the Imperial drawing in this example generates four view frames while the metric drawing generates only two view frames.

When this exercise is complete, you may close the drawing. A saved copy of this drawing is available from the book's web page with the filename ViewFrameWizard_FINISHED.dwg or ViewFrameWizard_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg.

Editing View Frames and Match Lines

After you've created view frames and match lines, you may need to edit them. Edits to some view frame and match line properties can be made via the Prospector tab in the Toolspace palette by expanding the View Frame Groups branch, as shown in Figure 17.11.

Figure 17.11 View Frame Groups in Prospector

You can change some information in the Preview area of Prospector when you highlight either the View Frames branch or the Match Lines branch. Alternatively, you can make further edits from the View Frame Properties dialog or the Match Line Properties dialog. One way of accessing these dialogs is through the View Frame contextual tab or the Match Line contextual tab. Another method is by right-clicking on the desired object in Prospector and selecting Properties. For both view frames and match lines, you can only change the object's name and/or style via the Information tab in their Properties dialog. All other information displayed on the other tabs is read-only.

You make changes to geometry and location graphically using special grip edits (Figure 17.12). Like many other Civil 3D objects with special editing grips (such as profiles and Pipe Network objects), view frames and match lines have editing grips you use to modify the objects' location, rotation, and geometry. Let's look at each separately.

Figure 17.12 View frame and match line grips

View frames can be graphically edited in three ways. Once you select a view frame object (the rectangular object selected at the left in Figure 17.12), you can move them, slide them along the alignment, and rotate them as follows:

Don't Forget Your AutoCAD Functions!

While you're getting wrapped up in learning all about Civil 3D and its great design tools, it can be easy to forget you're sitting on an incredibly powerful AutoCAD application.

AutoCAD features add functionality beyond what you can do with Civil 3D commands alone. First, make sure the Dynamic Input option is enabled by either clicking on the button at the bottom left of your screen as shown here or by pressing F12:

This gives you additional functionality when you're moving a view frame. With Dynamic Input enabled, you can enter an exact station value to precisely locate the frame where you want it. Similar to moving a view frame, with Dynamic Input active you can enter an exact rotation angle. Note that this rotation angle is relative to your drawing settings (for example, 0 degrees is to the left, 90 degrees is straight up, and so on).

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Also, selecting multiple objects and then selecting their grips while holding Shift makes each grip “hot” (usually a red color). This allows you to grip-edit one object and all of the “hot” objects will also experience the same grip edit, like sliding a group of view frames along the alignment. You can edit a match line's location and length using special grips. As with view frames, you can slide them along the alignment and rotate them. They can also be lengthened or shortened. Unlike view frames, they can't be moved to an arbitrary location. Once you select a match line object (the object selected at the right in Figure 17.12), you can edit them as follows:

The following exercise lets you put what you've learned into practice as you change the location and rotation of a view frame, and change the location and length of a match line:

1. Open the EditViewFramesAndMatchLines.dwg or EditViewFramesAndMatchLines_METRIC.dwg file from this book's web page. This drawing contains view frames and match lines.

2. Confirm that Dynamic Input is enabled; if it is not, press F12.

3. Select the view frame, which consists of stations 9+56 to 14+34 (or 0+267 to the end for metric users), and select its diamond-shaped sliding grip.

4. Slide this diamond grip so the overlap with the lower view frame isn't so large. Either graphically slide it to station 11+00 (or 0+360 for metric users) or enter 1100 (360 for metric users) in the Dynamic Input text box.

5. Press Esc to clear your selection.

6. Select the view frame, which consists of stations 14+34 to the end (or 0+267 to the end for metric users), and select the circular rotation grip.

7. Rotate the view frame slightly to better encompass the road. In the Dynamic Input text box, enter 8 .

8. Press Esc to clear your selection.

Next you will adjust the match line's location.

9. Select the match line, which is presently at Station 14+34 (or 0+267 for metric users), and then select its diamond sliding grip.

10. Either graphically slide it to station 13+25 (or 0+250 for metric users) or enter 1325 (250 for metric users) in the Dynamic Input text box.

Notice that the match line label is updated with the revised station.

Next, you'll adjust the length of the match line to fit within the view frame extents.

11. Select the triangular lengthen grip at the west end of the Match Line, and either graphically shorten it to 75′ (or 50 m for metric users) or enter 75 (or 50 for metric users) in the Dynamic Input text box.

12. Select the triangular lengthen grip at the east end of the same match line, and either graphically shorten it to 75′ (or 50 m for metric users) or enter 75 (or 50 for metric users) in the Dynamic Input text box.

13. Press Esc to clear your selection.

When this exercise is complete, you may close the drawing. A saved copy of this drawing is available from the book's web page with the filename EditViewFramesAndMatchLines_FINISHED.dwg or EditViewFramesAndMatchLines_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg.

Now that you have generated the view frames and match lines in the drawing and you have placed them where you want them, let's look at using these objects to generate sheets.

Creating Plan and Profile Sheets

The Plan Production feature uses the concept of sheets to generate the pages that make up a set of plans. Simply put, sheets are layout tabs with viewports showing a given portion of your design model, based on the view frames previously created. The viewports have special Viewport Properties set that define them as either Plan or Profile viewports. These viewports must be predefined in a drawing template (DWT) file to be used with the Plan Production feature. You manage the sheets using the standard AutoCAD Sheet Set Manager feature.

The Create Sheets Wizard

After you've created view frames and match lines, you can proceed to the next step of creating sheets. Like view frames, sheets are created using a wizard. Let's look at the Create Sheets wizard and the various page options. After you've seen each page, you'll have a chance to put what you've learned into practice in an example.

From the Output tab ⇒ Plan Production panel, you launch the Create Sheets wizard by choosing Create Sheets. Like the Create View Frames wizard, a list of the Create Sheets wizard's pages is shown along the left sidebar, and an arrow indicates which page you're currently viewing. You move among the pages using the Next and Back navigation buttons along the bottom of each page. Alternatively, you can jump directly to any page by clicking its name in the list on the left. The following sections walk you through the pages of the wizard and explain their features.

Create Sheets – View Frame Group And Layouts Page

You use the first page of the Create Sheets wizard (Figure 17.13) to select the view frame group for which the sheets will be created. It's also used to define how the layouts for these sheets will be generated and which sheets will be created (all or a range).

Figure 17.13 Create Sheets – View Frame Group And Layouts wizard page

View Frame Group

In the top area of this page, you select the view frame group. You can either select it from the drop-down list or click the Select From The Drawing button to select the view frame group on screen. After you've selected the group, you use the View Frame Range option to create sheets for all frames in the group or only for specific frames of your choosing.

All

Select this option when you want sheets to be created for all view frames in the view frame group.

Selection

Selecting this option activates the Choose View Frames button. Click this button to display the Select View Frames dialog, where you can select specific view frames from a list. You can select a range of view frames by using the standard Windows selection technique of clicking the first view frame in the range and then holding Shift while you select the last view frame in the range. You can also select individual view frames in nonsequential order by holding Ctrl while you make your view frame selections. Figure 17.14 shows two of the four view frames selected in the Select View Frames dialog.

Figure 17.14 Select view frames by using standard Windows techniques

Layout Creation

In this section, you define where and how the new layouts for each sheet are created, as well as the name format for these sheets, and information about the alignment of the north arrow block.

There are three options for creating layout sheets: the layouts are created in multiple new drawing files (with a limit to the maximum number of layout sheets created in each file), all the new layouts are created in a new drawing file, or all the layout tabs are created in the current drawing (the drawing you're in while executing the Create Sheets wizard).

Number Of Layouts Per New Drawing

This option creates layouts in new drawing files and limits the maximum number of layouts per drawing file to the value you enter in the text box. For best performance, Autodesk recommends that a drawing file contain no more than 10 layouts. On the last page of this wizard you're given the option to select the objects for which data references will be made. These data references are then created in the new drawings.

All Layouts In One New Drawing

As the name implies, this option creates all layouts for each view frame in a single new drawing. Use this option if you have fewer than 10 view frames, to ensure best performance. If you have more than 10 view frames, the previous option is recommended. On the last page of this wizard you're given the option to select the objects for which data references will be made. These data references are then created in the new drawing.

All Layouts In The Current Drawing

When you choose this option, all layouts are created in the current drawing. You need to be aware of two scenarios when working with this option. (As explained later, you can share a view frame group via data shortcuts and reference it into other drawings as a data reference.)

• When creating sheets, it's possible that your drawing references the view frame group from another drawing (rather than having the original view frame group in your current drawing). In this case, you're given the option to select the additional objects for which data references will be made (such as alignments, profiles, pipes, and so on). These data references are then created in the current drawing. You select these objects on the last page of the wizard.
• If you're working in a drawing in which the view frames were created (therefore, you're in the drawing in which the view frame group exists), the last page of this wizard is disabled. This is because in order for you to create view frames (and view frame groups), the alignment (and possibly the profile) must either exist in the current drawing or be referenced as a data reference (recall the prerequisites for creating view frames, mentioned earlier).

Layout Name

Use this text box to enter a name for each new layout. As with other named objects in Civil 3D, you can use the Name template to create a name format that includes information about the object being named. With the settings shown previously in Figure 17.14, the layouts will be named using a predefined text (Sheet -) and a next counter: Sheet - 1, Sheet - 2, Sheet - 3, etc. Using the Name template you could alternatively use the Parent Drawing Name, View Frame Start/End Raw Station, View Frame Start/End Station Value, View Frame Group Alignment Name, and View Frame Group Name options.

<[View Frame Group Alignment Name]> <[View Frame Start Station Value]> to <[View Frame End Station Value]>

Choose The North Arrow Block To Align In Layouts

If the template file you've selected contains a north arrow block, it can be aligned so that it points north on each layout sheet. The block must exist in the template and be located in the layout. If there are multiple blocks, select the one you want to use from the drop-down list.

Create Sheets – Sheet Set Page

You use the second page of the Create Sheets wizard (Figure 17.15) to determine whether a new or existing sheet set (with the file extension .dst) is used and the location of the DST file. The sheet storage location and sheet name are also defined here. Additionally, on this page you decide whether to add the sheet set file (with the file extension .dst) and the sheet files (with the file extension .dwg) to the project vault.

Figure 17.15 Create Sheets – Sheet Set wizard page

Sheet Set

In the Sheet Set area of the page, you select whether to create a new DST file or add the sheets created by this wizard to an existing DST file.

Sheets

You use the bottom area of the page to set the name and storage location for any new DWG files created by this wizard. On the previous page of the wizard, you had the choice of creating new files or creating the sheet layout in the current drawing. If you chose the latter option, the Sheets area on this page of the wizard is inactive. If you chose the former, here you specify the sheet-files storage location and enter the sheet-file name (with the .dwg extension).

Like many of the previous names, you can use a Name template to specify how the sheet-file name is generated. With the settings shown previously in Figure 17.15, the sheet files will be named using the View Frame Group Name entry and a next counter. Using the Name template you could alternatively use the Parent Drawing Name, View Frame Start/End Raw Station, View Frame Start/End Station Value, and View Frame Group Alignment Name options.

Create Sheets – Profile Views Page

The third page of the Create Sheets wizard (Figure 17.16) lists the profile view style and the band set selected in the Create View Frames wizard. You can't change these selections. You can, however, make adjustments to other profile settings.

Figure 17.16 Create Sheets – Profile Views wizard page

Create Sheets – Data References Page

The final page of the Create Sheets wizard (Figure 17.17) is used to create data references in the drawing files that contain your layout sheets.

Figure 17.17 Select Create Sheets – Data References wizard page

Based on the view frame group used to create the sheets and the type of sheets (plan, profile, plan and profile), certain objects are selected by default. You have the option to select additional objects for which references will be made. You can either pick them from the list or click the Pick From The Drawing button and select the objects in the drawing.

It's common to create references to pipe networks that are to be shown in plan and/or profile views. If you choose to create references for pipe network objects, you can also copy the labels for those network objects into the sheet's drawing file. This is convenient in that you won't need to relabel your networks.

Managing Sheets

After you've completed all pages of the Create Sheets wizard, you create the sheets by clicking the Create Sheets button. Doing so completes the wizard and starts the creation process. If you're creating sheets with profile views, you're prompted to select a profile view origin. Civil 3D then displays several dialogs, indicating the process status for the various tasks, such as creating the new sheet drawings and creating the DST file. Once complete the Panorama Event Viewer vista will list two new events, in this example one stating “Sheets created were added to the sheet set file C:MasteringCH 17Final SheetsVFG - Frontenac Drive - (1).dst.” and one stating “4 layout(s) created in path C:MasteringCH 17Final Sheets.”

If the Sheet Set Manager isn't currently open, it opens with the newly created DST file loaded. The sheets are listed, and the details of the drawing files for each sheet appear (Figure 17.18).

Figure 17.18 New sheets in the Sheet Set Manager

If you double-click to open the new drawing file that contains the newly created sheets, you'll see layout sheet tabs created for each of the view frames as selected in the Create Sheets wizard. The sheets are named using the Name template as defined in the Create Sheets wizard. Figure 17.19 shows the names that result from the following template:

<[View Frame Group Alignment Name]> <[View Frame Start Station Value]>
to <[View Frame End Station Value]>

Figure 17.19 The template produces the Frontenac Drive tab names shown here.

To create the final sheets in this new drawing, Civil 3D externally references (XRefs) the drawing containing the view frames; creates data references (DRefs) for the alignments, profiles, and any additional objects you selected in the Create Sheets wizard; and, if profile sheet types were selected in the wizard, creates profile views in the final sheet drawing.

The following exercise pulls all these concepts together:

1. Open the SheetsWizard.dwg or SheetsWizard_METRIC.dwg file.

This drawing contains the view frame group, alignment, and profile for Frontenac Drive. Note that the drawing doesn't have profile views.

2. To launch the Create Sheets wizard, from the Output tab ⇒ Plan Production panel, choose Create Sheets.

3. On the View Frame Group And Layouts page, do the following:

A. Verify that View Frame Range is set to All.

B. Verify that Number Of Layouts Per New Drawing is set to 10.

Since this view frame group has less than 10 view frames, only one drawing will be generated, but it is good practice to set this value to 10 nonetheless.

C. Set Layout Name to <[View Frame Group Alignment Name]> <[View Frame Start Station Value]> to <[View Frame End Station Value]>.

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Use a Name Template

To set the Layout Name in step 3 or any of the other steps that require the use of the Name template, don't type all that text into the text box. Instead, follow these simple steps:

1. Click the Edit Layout Name button to the right of the Layout Name text box to display the Name Template dialog.

2. Delete all of the text in the Name text box that you do not want.

3. Using the Property Fields drop-down list, select the first piece of text that you want. In this example it will be View Frame Group Alignment Name.

4. Click Insert.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each of the pieces of text that you want.

At any time you can also insert manual text into the Name text box such as a space or hyphen between property fields or the word “to,” as shown in this example.

Make certain to choose Start/End Station Value and not Start/End Raw Station as required.

6. Once complete, click OK to dismiss the Name Template dialog.

The Layout Name option is now filled in based on the Name template.

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D. From the Choose The North Arrow Block To Align In Layouts drop-down list, select North.

E. Click Next to advance to the next page.

4. On the Sheet Set page, do the following:

A. Select the New Sheet Set option and set Name to VFG - Frontenac Drive (or VFG - Frontenac Drive_METRIC for metric users).

B. For the Sheet Set File Storage Location, use the ellipsis to browse to C:MasteringCH 17Final Sheets, and click Open to dismiss the Browse For Sheet Set Folder dialog.

Notice that by changing this location, the Sheet Files Storage Location entry automatically changes to match.

C. Verify that Sheet File Name is set to:

<[View Frame Group Name(CP)]> - (<[Next Counter(CP)]>) for Imperial users, or
<[View Frame Group Name(CP)]> - (<[Next Counter(CP)]>)_METRIC for metric users.

D. Click Next to advance to the next page.

5. On the Profile Views page, do the following:

A. For Other Profile View Options, select Choose Settings and then click the Profile View Wizard button.

The Create Multiple Profile Views dialog opens.

B. On the left side of the Create Multiple Profile Views dialog, click Profile Display Options to jump to that page.

C. On the Create Multiple Profile Views – Profile Display Options page, verify that the Draw option is only selected for the EG – Surface and the Frontenac Drive – FG surface.

D. Scroll to the right and verify that the Labels setting for the EG – Surface is set to _No Labels and that the Frontenac Drive – FG surface is set to Complete Label Set.

E. On the left side of the Create Multiple Profile Views dialog, click Data Bands to jump to that page.

F. On the Create Multiple Profile Views – Data Bands page, change Profile2 to Frontenac Drive FG for both bands.

G. Click Finish to dismiss the Create Multiple Profile Views wizard and return to the Create Sheets wizard.

H. Verify that Align Views is set to Align Profile And Plan View At Start.

I. Click Next to advance to the next page.

6. On the Data References page, confirm that at minimum, the Frontenac Drive and both the EG and FG profiles are selected, and then click Create Sheets to complete the wizard.

Before creating the sheets, Civil 3D must save your current drawing.

7. Click OK when prompted to save.

The drawing is saved, and you're prompted for an insertion point for the profile view. The location you pick represents the lower-left corner of the profile view grid.

8. Select an open area in the drawing, above the right side of the site plan.

Civil 3D displays a progress dialog, and then the Panorama palette is displayed with information about the results of the sheet creation process.

9. Close the Panorama palette.

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Invisible Profile Views

Note that the profile views are created in the current drawing only if you selected the option to create all layouts in the current drawing. Because you didn't do that in this exercise, the profile views aren't created in the current drawing. Rather, they're created in the sheet drawing files in modelspace in a location relative to the point you selected in this step.

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After the sheet creation process is complete, the Sheet Set Manager window opens.

10. Click the first sheet, as shown in Figure 17.20, named Frontenac Drive 0+00.00 to 4+78.00 (or Frontenac Drive 0+000.00 to 0+250.00_METRIC for metric users).

Figure 17.20 The Sheet Set Manager once the sheet creation process is complete

Notice that the name conforms to the Name template and includes the alignment name and the station range for the sheet.

11. Review the details listed for the sheet. In particular, note the filename and storage location.

12. Double-click this sheet to open the new sheets drawing and display the layout tab for Frontenac Drive 0 + 00.00 to 4 + 78.00 (or Frontenac Drive 0+000.00 to 0+250.00_METRIC for metric users).

13. Review the multiple tabs created in this drawing file as previously shown in Figure 17.19.

The template used also takes advantage of AutoCAD fields, some of which don't currently have values assigned.

When this exercise is complete, you may close the drawing. A saved copy of this drawing is available from the book's web page with the filename SheetsWizard_FINISHED.dwg or SheetsWizard_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg. In addition, the downloadable dataset includes the Final Sheets folder, which includes additional files created in this exercise.

Now that you have the Plan and Profile sheets generated, let's look at generating some section sheets using the Plan Production feature.

Creating Section Sheets

Similar to the process of creating plan and profile sheets, creating section sheets is a two-step process:

Creating Section View Groups

The process of creating the section view group is where you will determine how your section views will be laid out on the page, what labels will be used, and what styles will be used to represent the various components of the model. If you have any questions about section styles or section view styles, refer to Chapter 21, “Object Styles.”

In this exercise, you'll walk through setting up a basic section view group for the main road of our sample set:

1. Open MultipleSectionViews.dwg or the MultipleSectionViews_METRIC.dwg file from the provided dataset.

In this drawing, sample lines have been added along the Frontenac Drive alignment. These lines are sampling the existing and proposed surfaces.

2. From the Home tab ⇒ Profile & Section Views panel, choose Section Views ⇒ Create Multiple Views to display the Create Multiple Section Views wizard, shown in Figure 17.21.

Figure 17.21 Create Multiple Section Views – General wizard page

3. On the General page, do the following:

A. Verify that Section View Style is set to Road Section.

B. Click Next to advance to the next page.

The Section Placement page (Figure 17.22) allows you to specify the section placement options using either a layout from a template file to place production sections on sheet or place draft sections in a grid in modelspace. The Production template and button allow you to navigate to your own sheet template that suits your needs. Notice that if you generate draft sections, no sheets can be created.

Figure 17.22 Create Multiple Section Views – Section Placement wizard page

4. On the Section Placement page, do the following:

A. Verify that you are generating Production sections.

B. Change Template For Cross Section Sheet to ARCH D Section 50 scale (or ISO A1 Section 1 to 500 for metric users).

C. Verify that Group Plot Style is set to Basic.

D. Click Next to advance to the next page.

The Offset Range page (Figure 17.23) determines the width of the section views.

Figure 17.23 Create Multiple Section Views – Offset Range wizard page

5. On the Offset Range page, do the following:

A. Using the User Specified Offset option, change Left Offset Range to -50′ (or -15 m for metric users).

B. Change the Right Offset Range to 50′ (or 15 m for metric users).

C. Click Next to advance to the next page.

The Elevation Range page (Figure 17.24) determines the height of the section views. The options on the Elevation Range page help if you have extra tall sections, allowing you to set some limits manually.

Figure 17.24 Create Multiple Section Views – Elevation Range wizard page

6. On the Elevation Range page, click Next to advance to the next page.

7. On the Section Display Options page, do the following:

A. Verify that in the Change Labels column the EG labels are set to _No Labels and the FG surface labels are set to _No Labels.

B. Verify that in the Style column the EG style is set to Existing Ground, the FG style is set to Finished Ground, and each of the corridor surface styles are set to Basic, as shown in Figure 17.25.

Figure 17.25 Changing styles for the Create Multiple Section View – Section Display Options wizard page

C. Click Next to advance to the next page.

8. On the Data Bands page, do the following:

A. Verify that the Select Band Set drop-down list is set to Offsets Only.

B. Verify that Surface1 is the EG surface and Surface2 is the FG surface.

C. Click Create Section Views to dismiss the wizard and place your section views in the drawing.

9. Click a point to the east of the plan view to draw the section views and sheet outlines.

Your drawing should look something like Figure 17.26.

Figure 17.26 The finished multiple section views operation

When this exercise is complete, you may close the drawing. A saved copy of this drawing is available from the book's web page with the filename MultipleSectionViews_FINISHED.dwg or MultipleSectionViews_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg.

Now that you have a section view group, you can begin the process of creating section sheets for plotting.

Creating Section Sheets

Many long transportation projects such as highways, light-rail, or canals require the production of many section sheets. While Civil 3D could produce the views prior to Autodesk Civil 3D 2012, the sheet creation process improved greatly in that release. In this exercise, you'll convert a section view group into a collection of sheets and place them in a new sheet set.

1. Open the CreatingSectionSheets.dwg or CreatingSectionSheets_METRIC.dwg file.

This file is the result of the previous exercise and contains the section view group for the Frontenac Drive alignment.

2. From the Output tab Plan Production Panel, choose Create Section Sheets to display the Create Section Sheets dialog.

3. In the Create Section Sheets dialog, do the following:

A. Verify that New Sheet Set name is set to CreatingSectionSheets (or CreatingSectionSheets_METRIC).

B. Click the ellipsis to set the Sheet Set Storage Location to C:MasteringCH 17Final Sheets.

The Create Section Sheets dialog should now look similar to Figure 17.27.

Figure 17.27 The Create Section Sheets dialog

Note that in a drawing with more section view groups you would be able to select each one and create sheets quickly and easily.

4. Click Create Sheets to dismiss the dialog and generate sheets.

Before creating the sheets, Civil 3D must save your current drawing.

5. Click OK when prompted to save.

The drawing is saved and Civil 3D will generate new layouts and sheets in a sheet set. The Sheet Set Manager will appear.

6. Switch to the Section Sheet - (2) layout tab.

Your layout should look something like Figure 17.28.

Figure 17.28 A completed section sheet

7. Close the Sheet Set Manager palette.

When this exercise is complete, you may close the drawing. A saved copy of this drawing is available from the book's web page with the filename CreatingSectionSheets_FINISHED.dwg or CreatingSectionSheets_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg.

While there are still some tweaks to be made to any sheet, large portions of the mundane details are handled by the wizards and tools. There are some elements that you can modify to customize these details for your organization, and you'll look at those in the next section.

Drawing Templates

The beginning of this chapter mentioned that there are several prerequisites to using the Plan Production tools in Civil 3D. The list includes drawing templates (DWT) set up to work with the Plan Production feature, and styles for the objects generated by this feature. In this section of the chapter, you'll learn how to prepare these items for use in creating your finished sheets.

Civil 3D ships with several predefined template files for various types of sheets that Plan Production can create. By default, these templates are installed in a subfolder called Plan Production, which is located in the standard Template folder. You can see the Template folder location by opening the Files tab of the Options dialog, as shown in Figure 17.29.

Figure 17.29 Template files location

Figure 17.30 shows the default contents of the Plan Production subfolder. Notice the templates for Plan, Profile, and Plan And Profile sheet types. There are Imperial and metric versions of each.

Figure 17.30 Plan Production DWT files

As previously discussed, each template contains layout tabs with pages set to various sheet sizes and plan scales. For example, the Civil 3D (Imperial) Plan and Profile.dwt template has layouts created at various ANSI and ARCH sheets sizes and scales, as shown in Figure 17.31.

Figure 17.31 Various predefined layouts in standard DWT

If you decide to make your own Plan Production templates, it is good practice to provide multiple drawing sizes and scales so that you have them available when you go to make your sheets. But beyond just having them available, make sure that the layout names that you provide in your Plan Production template are descriptive enough that you know which one to select.

The viewports in these templates must be rectangular in shape and must have Viewport Type set to Plan, Profile, or Section, depending on the intended use. You set Viewport Type on the Design tab of the Properties dialog, as shown in Figure 17.32.

Figure 17.32 Viewport Properties – Viewport Type

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