Chapter 21

Object Styles

As you learned in the previous chapter, styles control the display properties of labels but they also control the display properties of objects. Object styles control the starting display of AutoCAD^® Civil 3D^® objects such as points, surfaces, alignments, pipes, sections, and so on.

Consider a Civil 3D surface. Sometimes you want to see the surface as contours, other times you want to see the surface as triangles, and sometimes you don't want to see it at all. With styles changing what you see is not usually just a matter of freezing and thawing layers, but it is a matter of changing the active style. Think of the active style on an object as a wrapper. A surface model will have many potential wrappers depending on what you want to see. The underlying data does not change, but the representation of the data will change.

Understanding and applying object styles correctly can mean the difference between getting a job out in several hours, and fighting with your CAD drawing for days.

In this chapter, you will learn to:

• Override object styles with other styles
• Create a new surface style
• Create a new profile view style

Getting Started with Object Styles

Before you get your hands on specific object styles, it is nice to understand some general things all styles have in common.

There are several ways to enter the various dialogs used for editing styles. The easiest, most direct way into any style is from the Settings tab. Right-click on any style you see listed and select Edit, as shown in Figure 21.1.

Figure 21.1 Every style can be edited by right-clicking on the style name from the Settings tab of Toolspace.

You can also enter the styles' dialogs from the properties of any object by clicking the Edit button. Figure 21.2 shows the active styles on a surface, with the Edit button to the right. Editing at this level affects all objects that use the style, the same as it would if you had entered the style from the Settings tab. The downside to editing a style in this manner is that you will not immediately be able to click Apply to see your change. You'll need to exit the style's dialog and click Apply at the object level before seeing your style update.

Making Sense of Child Styles and Overrides

Civil 3D styles are customizable at several levels. In the Drawing Settings area discussed in Chapter 1, “The Basics,” you saw overall settings that initially affect the entire drawing. The Drawing Settings are the highest level of the settings hierarchy (the main parent settings). You will find the same settings at the object level that can diverge from the overall drawing settings. Farther down the hierarchy are the command settings. The term “child” in Civil 3D refers to any style that can also be controlled at a higher level.

For example, for most objects a precision of two decimal places (0.00) is adequate for your station work. However, for corridor creation it is advantageous to see more decimal places of precision. At the drawing level, keep the station precision to 0.00. At the Corridor level, right-click on the object and select Edit Feature Settings.

Inside the Edit Feature Settings – Corridor dialog, you will have a feeling of déjà vu from when you edited the Ambient Settings tab in the Drawing Settings dialog. All the same settings (and a few more object-specific ones) are here. The difference is that changing the setting here will only affect corridors.

The check mark in the Override column indicates that this setting differs from settings higher up in the hierarchy of settings. At the bottom of the dialog further information is provided regarding the parent and its value.

An arrow in the Child Override column indicates that further down the chain of command a style or setting differs. To force these subordinate styles to match the style of the parent, click the arrow so that a red X appears. The red X indicates that the change you make, in the dialog you are looking at, will get pushed to its child styles or settings.

The Lock column allows you to lock a setting, which prevents it from changing any of its child styles.

As you are designing the styles for use in your office, be sure to keep an eye on the overrides that are set.

---

Figure 21.2 An object's properties reveal the current style, which can be edited, as in this Surface Properties dialog.

Frequently Seen Tabs

Object styles control the display of Civil 3D objects such as points, surfaces, alignments, pipes, sections, and so on.

Consider a Civil 3D surface. Sometimes you want to see the surface as contours, other times you want to see the surface as triangles, and sometimes you don't want to see it at all. Changing what you see is not a matter of freezing and thawing layers, but it is a matter of changing the active style. Think of the active style on an object as a wrapper. A surface model will have many potential wrappers depending on what you want to see. The underlying data does not change, but the representation of the data will change.

On the Settings tab of Toolspace, if you click the Expand button next to the drawing name, you see the full array of objects that Civil 3D uses to build its design model. Each of these has special features unique to the object being described, but there are some common features as well.

Information Tab

The Information tab (Figure 21.3) controls the name of the style. You will see this tab in every object style dialog.

Figure 21.3 The Information tab exists for all object styles.

The description is always optional, but we recommend that you add some information to the style. The description can be seen in tooltip form as you search through the Settings tab, as shown in Figure 21.4.

Figure 21.4 Tooltip showing style information, including the description

On the right side of the dialog you will see the name of the style, the date when it was created, and the last person who modified the style. These names are initially pulled from the Windows login information and only the Created By field can be edited.

Display Tab

On the Display tab, you will see a list of the various components that can be displayed for the object you are working with. You will see this tab in every object style dialog. The Display tab controls the look of the object in Plan, Model, Profile, and Section views. Not every object type will have all of these views available. In Figure 21.5 you can see that a general-purpose marker contains only one component (the marker itself), and a surface model has components for contours, triangles, points, and more.

Figure 21.5 The display of a simple marker style (above) and a more complex surface style (below)

While other tabs in an object style control the specifics of how certain components look, the Display tab controls if the component displays at all. The visibility lightbulb indicates whether the component will be displayed when the style is applied to the object. In the Surface Style dialog shown in Figure 21.5, you can see that triangles, border, major contours, and minor contours will all display for the Surface object style but the other components will not be displayed in plan view.

Each component will have a layer designation. You may be wondering, “Didn't I set a surface layer back in the Drawing Settings on the Object Layers tab back in Chapter 1?” Yes, you did. Those were overall object layers. The layers you see here are component layers. Using the analogy of a base AutoCAD^® block, the Object layer can be thought of in the same way as a block insertion layer. The object component layers can be thought of in the same way as layers inside the block definition.

This is Civil 3D, of course, so the objects exist in three dimensions. View Direction controls the display of an object depending on how you are looking at it. Certain items, such as a profile view, are intended to only be seen in plan, so they do not have multiple view directions listed. Surface models make an appearance in plan, model, and section, as shown previously in Figure 21.5. A marker, on the other hand, can be shown in plan, model, profile, or section, as seen in Figure 21.6.

Figure 21.6 View Directions for the marker style

Summary Tab

The Summary tab is exactly what it sounds like — that is, a summary of all other settings that exist in the style. You will see this tab in every object style dialog. The information from other tabs in list form as well as their override status is shown in Figure 21.7.

Figure 21.7 Summary tab of a marker style

You can click the + or – button next to each category branch to expand to see further settings. At the bottom-right corner of the dialog are three buttons. The top button collapses all of the category branches, the middle button expands all of the category branches, and the bottom button (which is sometimes not selectable) overrides all child dependencies. In addition, at the bottom of this dialog, additional information will be shown for the property selected.

General Settings

The General collection contains settings and styles that are applied to various objects across the entire product. The General collection serves as the catchall for styles that apply to multiple objects and for settings that apply to no objects. The General collection has three collections (or branches):

• Multipurpose Styles
• Label Styles
• Commands

You learned about the Label Styles collection in Chapter 20, “Label Styles,” but let's look a little closer at the Multipurpose Styles and Commands collections.

Multipurpose Styles

If you expand the Multipurpose Styles collection, you will see seven folders, as shown in Figure 21.8.

Figure 21.8 General ⇒ Multipurpose Styles

These styles are used in many objects to control the display of components in objects. For example, the Marker Styles and Link Styles collections are typically used in cross-section views, whereas the Feature Line Styles collection, shown in Figure 21.9, is used in grading and other commands.

Figure 21.9 Feature Line Styles collection

Commands

Almost every branch in the Settings tree contains a Commands folder. Expanding this folder, as shown in Figure 21.10, shows the typical long, unspaced command names that refer to the parent object. Various commands have been discussed throughout this book.

Figure 21.10 Commands folder

Point and Marker Object Styles

Markers are used in many places throughout Civil 3D. They are called from other styles to show vertices on Civil 3D objects, as label location marks, or even as a marker to indicate the start of a flow line.

Marker Tab

Marker styles and point styles both contain a Marker tab (Figure 21.11). The Marker tab controls what symbol or block is used, its rotation, and how it should be sized when it is placed in the drawing.

Figure 21.11 Marker tab for the Benchmark point style.

Three symbol types can be used. Use Custom Marker and Use AutoCAD BLOCK Symbol For Marker are the best options. Use AutoCAD POINT For Marker is a poor choice because it uses the symbol specified by the DDPTYPE setting and is difficult to control. When you choose the Use Custom Marker option, you can select a combination of symbols to mix and match, one symbol from the left of the vertical and either or none of the symbols from the right of the vertical line.

When you choose the Use AutoCAD BLOCK Symbol For Marker option, you will be able to access a listing of blocks in your drawing. If the block you want to use does not yet exist in the drawing, you can right-click in the block listing and choose Browse, as shown in Figure 21.12.

Figure 21.12 Right-click to browse for a block if it is not already defined in your drawing.

The Size options control how the symbol is scaled when inserted in the drawing (Figure 21.13):

Figure 21.13 Size options for marker display

Use Drawing Scale

Use Drawing Scale allows you to specify the plotted size of the symbol. The modelspace size of the symbol will be the size specified in the style multiplied by your annotation scale.

Use Fixed Scale

Use Fixed Scale will scale the symbol based on the X, Y, and Z scale set in the style. This option will also use the Fixed scale factor in the description key set when used with a survey point.

Use Size In Absolute Units

Use Size In Absolute Units is the option you will use in point styles that vary in size based on a survey description. For example, if this is a TREE symbol and you want the size of the symbol to reflect the trunk diameter in feet, set this to 1.

Size Relative To Screen

Size Relative To Screen allows you to specify the size of the symbol as a percentage of your screen. This setting can quickly become annoying, because the marker will constantly change size as you zoom in or out. We do not recommend that you enable it.

Orientation Reference (as seen in the bottom-right corner of Figure 21.11) controls whether the symbol stays rotated with the view, world coordinate system, or, in the case of survey points, the object. In most cases, the Orientation Reference setting should be set to World Coordinate System or View.

Create a Marker Style

Now to get your hands on some object styles. You will start with simple styles and work your way up in complexity as this chapter progresses. In this first exercise you will create a marker style.

Your VPI marker will now be listed in the General ⇒ Multipurpose Styles ⇒ Marker Styles branch. By creating this marker style in a drawing template, you have made it accessible for any future projects that use this template to start from. Keep this drawing template open for the next portion of the exercise.

Create a Survey Point Style

Survey point styles contain many of the same options as marker styles. As you work through the following example, you will perform many of the same steps you did in the previous exercise:

1. Continue working in the drawing template from the previous exercise.

2. From the Settings tab of Toolspace, expand Point ⇒ Point Styles.

3. Right-click Point Styles and select New.

4. On the Information tab, do the following:

a. Set Name to TRUNK.

b. Add the description Simple circle representing trunk diameter in inches (or Simple circle representing trunk diameter in mm).

5. On the Marker tab, do the following:

a. Click the Use Custom Marker radio button.

b. Click the blank marker option from the group of symbols on the left.

c. Click to add the circle option on the right.

d. Verify that Size Options is set to Use Size In Absolute Units and set the size to 0.0833 (or 0.001 for metric).

This value will scale down the symbol so the trunk diameter represents inches (or millimeters). Leave all other Marker settings at their defaults. Instead of entering these values as a decimal, you could alternatively enter it as a fraction such as 1/12 or 1/1000.

6. On the Display tab with View Direction set to Plan, do the following:

a. Click in the Layer column for the Marker component to display the Layer Selection dialog.

b. In the Layer Selection dialog, set the Marker layer to V-NODE-TREE and click OK.

c. Use steps a and b to set the Layer for the Label component to V-NODE-TREE.

Leave the other settings at their defaults.

Hint! To save time in this step you could alternatively use the Shift key to multiselect the Marker and Label components, as shown in Figure 21.14. By selecting both first, when you select the layer for one component, it will apply to both components.

Figure 21.14 Use the Shift key on your keyboard as you click the components to multiselect.

7. Repeat step 6 for View Direction set to Model, Profile, and Section.

8. Click OK to complete the creation of a new point style.

You can save and keep this drawing template open to continue on to the next exercise, or use the saved copy of this drawing template (PointObjectTemplate_FINISHED.dwt or PointObjectTemplate_METRIC_FINISHED.dwt) available from the book's web page at www.sybex.com/go/masteringcivil3d2013.

Linear Object Styles

In this section, you will see some linear styles such as alignments, profiles, and parcels. Hopefully, you are already seeing that concepts from one type of style often apply to other types of object styles. For alignment styles and profile styles, this is especially true.

Both alignment styles and profile styles have a Design tab, as shown in Figure 21.15. In the case of the alignment styles, the Enable Radius Snap option restricts the grip-edit behavior of alignment curves. If you enable this option and set a value of 0.5', the resulting radius value of curves will be rounded to the nearest 0.5'. In the case of profiles, the curve tessellation distance is a little more abstract. Curve tessellation refers to the smoothing factor applied to the profile when viewing it in 3D. Most users leave these settings at their default values.

Figure 21.15 Design tabs exist in both alignment and profile object styles.

Alignment styles and profile styles have very similar Markers tabs. This tab is where you can place markers (like the one you created in the first exercise of the chapter) at specific geometry points. Figure 21.16 shows the markers assigned to various locations along an alignment.

Figure 21.16 Markers for an alignment style.

At the bottom of Figure 21.16 you see Arrowhead information. Both alignment styles and profile styles have the option of showing a direction arrow on each segment. Most people choose to omit this by turning the Arrow component off in the Display tab or setting the component to a layer that is set to No Plot. You should consider the latter, as knowing the direction of an alignment comes in handy when designing roundabouts, as you saw in Chapter 11, “Advanced Corridors, Intersections, and Roundabouts.”

Figure 21.17 shows some commonly highlighted geometry points and components in an alignment. The markers in Figure 21.17 correspond to the markers defined in Figure 21.16.

Figure 21.17 Example alignment with alignment points labeled

Figure 21.18 shows the Markers tab for the profile style. It looks pretty similar to the alignment Markers tab, don't you think?

Figure 21.18 Markers for a profile style

The markers in Figure 21.19 correspond to the markers defined in Figure 21.18.

Figure 21.19 Example profile with profile points labeled

Alignment Style

Alignment styles can be helpful in identifying key design components, as well as showing the stationing direction. Use multiple alignment styles to visually differentiate centerline alignments from supplemental alignments such as offset alignments and curb return alignments.

In the following exercise, you will create a style that restricts radius grip edits to five-foot increments and displays basic alignment components:

Figure 21.20 Centerline alignment style.

When this exercise is complete, you can close the drawing template. A saved copy of this drawing template is available from the book's web page with the filename AlignmentObjectTemplate_FINISHED.dwt or AlignmentObjectTemplate_METRIC_FINISHED.dwt.

Parcel Styles

The parcel styles have several unique features that make them different from other styles.

In the Design tab of a parcel (shown at the top in Figure 21.21), you see parcel-specific options. A fill distance can be specified to place a hatch pattern along the perimeter of the parcel. This setting is useful to differentiate “special” parcels such as parks, limits of disturbance, or environmentally sensitive areas.

Figure 21.21 Parcel style options (above) and the resulting parcel graphic (below)

The fill distance indicates the width of the hatch pattern. The Component Hatch Display characteristics, including the pattern, angle, and scale, are specified at the bottom of the Display tab. Be sure to put the hatch component on its own layer so that it can be turned off independently from the parcel itself, as hatches tend to slow down the graphics. The bottom of Figure 21.21 shows the parcel graphic resulting from the design settings shown.

Feature Line Styles

Feature lines are found in quite a few different places. They are created automatically as part of corridors, created as a result of grading, or can be created independently by the user. Because their scope crosses functionality, you will find feature line styles in the General ⇒ Multipurpose Styles collection in Settings.

By definition, a feature line is a 3D object; therefore, its style can be controlled in plan, profile, and section. As shown in Figure 21.22, a feature line can use markers at geometry points.

Figure 21.22 Feature line profile marker options (left) and section marker option (right)

Surface Styles

Surface styles are the most widely used styles in any Civil 3D project. Depending on which style is active, certain editing options may be restricted. For example, you need to see points before Civil 3D will let you use the Delete Point command.

Each tab in the Surface Style dialog corresponds to components listed in the Display tab. Remember, the Display tab determines the component's layer, color, linetype, and so forth, but it does not control the specifics of the component's properties (such as contour interval or point symbol).

Once a surface is created, you can display information in many ways. The most common so far has been contours and triangles, but these are the basics. By using varying styles, you can show a large amount of data with one single surface. Not only can you do simple things such as adjust the contour interval, but also Civil 3D can apply a number of analysis tools to any surface:

Contours

Allows the user to specify a more specific color scheme or linetype as opposed to the typical minor-major scheme. Commonly used in cut-fill maps to color negative colors one way, positive contours another, and the balance or zero contours yet another color.

Directions

Draws arrows showing the normal direction of the surface face. This tool is typically used for aspect analysis, helping site planners review the way a site slopes with regard to cardinal directions and the sun.

Elevations

Creates bands of color to differentiate various ranges of elevations. You can use this tool to create a simple weighted distribution to help in creation of marketing materials, hard-coded elevations to differentiate floodplain, and other elevation-driven site concerns, or ranges to help a designer understand the earthwork involved in creating a finished surface.

Slopes

Colors the face of each triangle on the basis of the assigned slope values. While a distributed method is the normal setup, a common use is to check site slopes for compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements or other site slope limitations, including vertical faces (where slopes are abnormally high).

Slope Arrows

Displays the same information as a slope analysis, but instead of coloring the entire face of the TIN, this option places an arrow pointing in the downhill direction and colors that arrow on the basis of the specified slope ranges. This is useful in confirming surface flow direction for site drainage.

User-Defined Contours

Refers to contours that typically fall outside the normal intervals. These user-defined contours are useful to draw lines on a surface that are especially relevant but don't fall on one of the standard levels. A typical use is to show the normal water surface elevation on a site containing a pond or lake.

Watersheds

Used for watershed analysis, this style allows you to examine how water flows along and off of a surface. Using the surface TIN, the drain targets and watersheds are defined. An example of creating a watersheds surface style is provided later in this section.

In the following exercises, you will walk through the steps of creating or modifying surface styles.

Contour Style

Contouring is the standard surface representation on which land development plans are built. In this example, you'll copy an existing surface contouring style and modify the interval to a setting more suitable for commercial site design review:

1. Open the SurfaceStylesContours.dwg or SurfaceStylesContours_METRIC.dwg file, which you can download from this book's web page.

2. From the Settings tab of Toolspace, expand Surface ⇒ Surface Styles.

3. Right-click Surface Styles and select New.

4. On the Information tab, do the following:

a. Set Name to Exaggerated Existing Contours.

b. Add the description 2′ minor contours with a 5× exaggeration when viewed in 3D (or 1m minor contours with a 5× exaggeration when viewed in 3D for metric).

5. On the Contours tab, do the following:

a. Expand the Contour Intervals category.

b. Set the Minor Interval to 2′ (or 1 m).

Notice that the Major Interval automatically adjusts to 10′ (or 5 m).

c. Expand the Contour Smoothing category (you may have to scroll down).

d. Set Smooth Contours to True, which activates the Contour Smoothing slider bar near the bottom.

Don't change this Smoothing value, but keep in mind that this gives you a level of control over how much Civil 3D modifies the contours it draws.

---

Surface vs. Contour Smoothing

Remember, contour smoothing is not surface smoothing. Contour smoothing applies smoothing at the individual contour level but not at the surface level. If you want to make your surface contouring look fluid, you should be smoothing the surface.

---

The Contours tab will now look similar to Figure 21.23.

Figure 21.23 The Contours tab in the Surface Style dialog

6. On the Triangles tab, do the following:

a. Change Triangle Display Mode to Exaggerate Elevation.

b. Set Exaggerate Triangles By Scale Factor to 5 (see Figure 21.24).

Figure 21.24 Exaggerate the elevations seen in the Object Viewer.

7. On the Display tab with the View Direction set to Plan, do the following:

a. Shift+click to highlight all the components.

b. Click in the Color column for one of the components to display the Color Selection dialog.

c. In the Select Color dialog, click the ByLayer button and then click OK.

d. While all the components are still highlighted, set Linetype to ByLayer using a similar procedure to steps b and c.

---

ByLayer or ByStyle

If you are a true CAD stickler, you will try to make as many items as possible set to ByLayer. This approach greatly simplifies things if you need to change color or linetype by use of the Layer Manager. Alternatively, you can define the color and linetype independently through the style.

---

You will only be using the Minor Contour in this style, but later on you will copy this style and your efforts will be carried forward.

e. Use on the lightbulb icons to turn on the visibility for Minor Contour and turn it off for all other components.

f. Set the Minor Contours layer to C-TOPO-MINR.

Your Display tab should now resemble Figure 21.25.

Figure 21.25 Minor Contour flying solo in plan

The surface should be rendered faster than you can read this sentence, even with the contour interval you've selected with only the minor contours displayed. After the style is applied to the surface model, you should see simple contours in plan view (the left image in Figure 21.26) and an exaggerated surface model in the Object Viewer (the right image in Figure 21.26).

Figure 21.26 A portion of the surface showing your new style shown in plan (left) and in model (right) as shown in the Object Viewer

You skipped over one portion of the surface contours that many people consider a great benefit of using Civil 3D: depression contours. If this option is turned on via the Contours tab, ticks will be added to the downhill side of any closed contours leading to a low point. This is a stylistic option, and usage varies widely.

You can save and keep this drawing open to continue on to the next exercise or use the saved copy of this drawing available from the book's web page (SurfaceStyleContours_FINISHED.dwg or SurfaceStyleContours_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg).

Triangle and Points Surface Style

The next style you create will help facilitate surface editing. To work with the Swap Edge or Delete Line Surface edits, you must be able to see triangles. To work with the Delete Point, Modify Point, and Move Point commands, you must be able to see triangle vertices.

It is important to note that the points you see in the surface style do not refer to survey points. The points you are working with in this exercise are triangle vertices. The triangle vertices and survey points will initially be in the same locations for a surface built from points. However, as breaklines are added or edits are made to the triangle vertices, the surface model will differ from the original survey.

1. If it's not still open from the previous exercise, open SurfaceStyleContours_FINISHED.dwg or SurfaceStyleContours_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg

You can download either file from this book's web page.

2. From the Settings tab of Toolspace, expand Surface ⇒ Surface Styles.

3. Right-click the Exaggerated Existing Contours style you created in the previous exercise, and select Copy, as shown in Figure 21.27.

Figure 21.27 Access Copy by right-clicking directly on the style name.

4. On the Information tab, do the following:

a. Rename the surface style to Surface Editing.

b. Add the description Points and triangles.

5. On the Points tab, do the following:

a. Expand Point Display and click the ellipsis for Data Point Symbol.

b. Set the point type to the X symbol, as shown in Figure 21.28.

Figure 21.28 Change the point display so triangle vertices stand out.

6. On the Triangles tab, remove the exaggeration by setting the Triangle display mode back to Use Surface Elevation.

7. On the Display tab with the View Direction set to Plan, do the following:

a. Use the lightbulb icons to turn off visibility for Minor Contour, and turn it on for Points and Triangles.

b. Click in the Layer column for the Points components to display the Layer Selection dialog.

c. In the Layer Selection dialog, click the New button to create a new layer for the Points.

d. In the Create Layer dialog, set Layer Name to C-TINN-PNTS, set Color to Red, and click OK.

e. In the Layer Selection dialog, set the layer to C-TINN-PNTS and click OK.

f. Click in the Layer column for the Triangles components to display the Layer Selection dialog.

g. In the Layer Selection dialog, set the Triangles layer to C-TINN-VIEW.

Your Display tab will resemble Figure 21.29.

Figure 21.29 Change the Points and Triangles layers in the Display tab.

8. Click OK to complete the style.

9. Use the same procedure from the previous exercise to apply the Surface Editing style to the surface.

Your surface will now resemble Figure 21.30.

Figure 21.30 Triangles and points shown using the new surface style

With the points and triangles displayed, you can now edit the surface, such as deleting points or swapping edges.

You can save and keep this drawing open to continue on to the next exercise or use the saved copy of this drawing available from the book's web page (SurfaceStyleTriangles_FINISHED.dwg or SurfaceStyleTriangles_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg).

Analysis Styles

Analysis styles are unique in several ways. To see the style applied to your design, you must run the analysis in the surface properties in addition to applying the style to the surface. The elevation and slope analysis styles do not let you set a layer for the components because the colors and behavior are set on the Analysis tab.

These distribution methods show up in nearly all the surface analysis methods. Here's what they mean:

You looked at an elevations, slopes, and slope arrows earlier in Chapter 4, “Surfaces.” In the following exercise, you will create a surface style for watershed analysis. To apply the new style to the surface, you must also run the analysis.

Figure 21.31 Changing the hatch options for watershed areas

Figure 21.32 Set the color scheme and arrow length on the Analysis tab.

Figure 21.33 You must run the analysis in surface properties before the watershed style kicks in.

Figure 21.34 The isolated surface using the Watershed Analysis style

Now that the watershed analysis has been run, you could provide further information by generating a dynamic Watershed table similar to how you generated a table showing other surface information in Chapter 4.

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

Pipe and Structure Styles

In Chapter 14, “Pipe Networks,” you learned that the best way to manage pipes and structures was in a parts list. One of the functions of a parts list is to associate styles to pipes and structures. In this section, you will learn how to create the pipe and structure styles that are used by a parts list.

In your template, you will have multiple styles for the various parts lists. You will want to have separate styles for water systems, storm sewers, and sanitary sewers. Additionally, you may want to have separate styles for existing and proposed systems. The main difference between the styles for the different systems will be the layers you set in the Display tab.

Pipe Styles

It seems like no two municipalities want pipes displayed the same way on construction documents. Luckily, Civil 3D is very flexible in how pipes are shown. With a single pipe style, you can control how a pipe is displayed in plan, profile, and section views. You can use multiple pipe styles to graphically differentiate larger pipes from smaller ones. This section explores all the options.

Plan Tab

The tab you see in Figure 21.35 controls what represents your pipe when you're working in plan view.

Figure 21.35 The Plan tab in the Pipe Style dialog

Options on the Plan tab include the following:

Pipe Wall Sizes

You have a choice of having the program apply the part size directly from the catalog part (that is, the literal pipe dimensions as defined in the catalog), or specifying your own constant or scaled dimensions.

Pipe Hatch Options

If you choose to show pipe hatching, this part of the tab gives you options to control that hatch. You can hatch the entire pipe to the inner or outer walls, or you can hatch the space between the inner and outer walls only, as shown in Figure 21.36. There are also options to align the hatch to the pipe, and to clean up pipe-to-pipe connections.

Figure 21.36 Pipe hatch to inner walls (a), outer walls (b), and hatch walls only (c)

Pipe End Line Size

If you choose to show an end line, you can control its length with these options. An end line can be drawn connecting the outer walls or the inner walls, or you can specify your own constant or scaled dimensions. The pipes from Figure 21.36 are all shown with pipe end lines drawn to outer walls.

Pipe Centerline Options

If you choose to show a centerline, you can display it by the lineweight established in the Display tab, or you can specify your own part-driven, constant, or scaled dimensions. You could use this option for your sanitary pipes in places where the width of the centerline widens or narrows on the basis of the pipe diameter.

Profile Tab

The Profile tab (see Figure 21.37) is almost identical to the Plan tab, except the controls here determine what your pipe looks like in profile view. The only additional settings on this tab are the crossing-pipe hatch options. If you choose to display crossing pipe with a hatch, these settings control the location of that hatch.

Figure 21.37 The Profile tab in the Pipe Style dialog

Section Tab

If you choose to show a hatch on your pipes in section, you control the hatch location on this tab (see Figure 21.38).

---

Pressure Pipe Styles

Pressure pipes are a new object for Civil 3D 2013, and with a new object comes new styles. You will find that the Pressure Pipe Styles dialog looks very similar to the Pipe Style dialog, with a Plan and Profile tab that have similar behavior to that discussed for regular pipes.

The biggest two differences are the lack of Section tab and Crossing Pipe Hatch options on the Plan tab. There are a few other minor changes to how the user can define sizes.

---

Figure 21.38 The Section tab in the Pipe Style dialog

In the examples that follow, you will create various types of pipe styles.

The first style is for a situation where the pipe must be shown in plan view with a single line, the thickness of which matches the pipe inner diameter. In profile, the pipe will show the inner diameter lines, and in section it will show as a hatch-filled ellipse.

1. Open the PipeStyle.dwg or PipeStyle_METRIC.dwg file, which you can download from this book's web page.

2. From the Settings tab of Toolspace, expand Pipe ⇒ Pipe Styles.

3. Right-click Pipe Styles and select New.

4. On the Information tab, set Name to Proposed Sanitary CL.

5. On the Plan tab, do the following:

a. Verify that Pipe Centerline Options is set to Specify Width.

b. Set Specify Width to Draw To Inner Walls.

6. On the Profile tab, no changes are needed.

7. On the Section tab, verify that Crossing Pipe Hatch Options is set to Hatch To Inner Walls.

8. On the Display tab with the View Direction set to Plan, do the following:

a. Turn off the display for all components except Pipe Centerline.

b. Set the Pipe Centerline layer to C-SSWR-PIPE.

9. On the Display tab, change View Direction to Profile and do the following:

a. Turn off the display for all components except Inside Pipe Walls.

b. Set the layer to C-SSWR-PROF.

10. On the Display tab change View Direction to Section and do the following:

a. Set Crossing Pipe Inside Wall to the C-SSWR-PIPE layer and make it visible.

b. Set Crossing Pipe Hatch to the C-SSWR-PIPE-PATT layer and make it visible.

c. Turn off Crossing Pipe Outside Wall.

d. At the bottom of the dialog, click in the Pattern column for the Crossing Pipe Hatch component type to display the Hatch Pattern dialog.

e. Set the hatch pattern to Solid Fill, as shown in Figure 21.39, and click OK.

Figure 21.39 Setting the hatch pattern display for the section view direction

11. Click OK to complete creation of a new pipe style.

12. From the Prospector tab of Toolspace, expand Pipe Networks ⇒ Networks ⇒ Sanitary Network ⇒ Pipes.

13. Select all of the pipes in the Item List using the Shift key.

14. Right-click the heading of the Style column and select Edit.

15. In the Select Pipe Style dialog, select Proposed Sanitary CL and click OK.

16. Examine the pipe in plan, profile, and cross section, as shown in Figure 21.40.

Figure 21.40 Proposed Sanitary CL pipe style shown in plan (a), profile (b), and section (c)

You can save and keep this drawing open to continue to the next exercise, or use the saved copy of this drawing available from the book's web page (PipeStyle_FINISHED.dwg or PipeStyle_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg).

---

Hey! Why Does My Pipe Look like an Octagon?

Civil 3D helps itself perform better on large drawings by knocking down the resolution of 3D curved objects, such as the pipe in the cross section view in the previous steps.

The system variable you can use to make these pipes look nicer is Facet Deviation, or FACETDEV. The default FACETDEV value for any Imperial unit drawing is 0.5 inches. In metric drawings, the default is 10 millimeters. The lower the FACETDEV value, the smoother the 3D curve.

Note that another variable, FACETMAX, controls the maximum number of facets on any curved object. The Civil 3D default of 500 facets is usually more than enough to display a Civil 3D pipe smoothly.

---

In the next pipe style example, you will create a style that uses several options for hatching pipe walls for a pipe:

1. If not still open from the previous exercise, open PipeStyle_FINISHED.dwg or PipeStyle_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg.

2. From the Settings tab of Toolspace, expand Pipe ⇒ Pipe Styles.

3. Right-click Pipe Styles and select New.

4. On the Information tab, set Name to Proposed Hatch Wall.

5. On the Plan tab, verify that the Pipe Hatch Options is set to Hatch Walls Only.

6. On the Profile tab, do the following:

a. Verify that the Pipe Hatch Options is set to Hatch Walls Only.

b. Verify that Align Hatch To Pipe is selected.

7. On the Display tab with View Direction set to Plan, do the following:

a. Verify that the only components turned on are Inside Pipe Walls, Outside Pipe Walls, Pipe End Line, and Pipe Hatch components.

b. Set all four layers to C-SSWR-PIPE.

8. On the Display tab, change View Direction to Profile and do the following:

a. Verify that the only components turned on are Inside Pipe Walls, Outside Pipe Walls, Pipe End Line, and Pipe Hatch.

b. Set all four of these layers to C-SSWR- PROF.

9. Click OK to complete creation of a new pipe style.

10. From the Prospector tab of Toolspace, expand Pipe Networks ⇒ Networks ⇒ Sanitary Network ⇒ Pipes.

11. Select all of the pipes in the Item List using the Shift key.

12. Right-click the heading of the Style column and select Edit.

13. In the Select Pipe Style dialog, select Proposed Hatch Wall, and click OK.

14. Examine the pipe in plan and profile as shown in Figure 21.41.

Figure 21.41 Proposed Hatch Wall pipe style shown in plan (a), profile (b), and section (c)

As you can see depending on your drawing's scale, it may or may not be worth it to you to add a pipe wall hatch since with thin walls it may be hard to see, as shown in Figure 21.41a.

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

You could also do this same exercise for a pressure pipe style. The only difference would be setting the layers to C-WATR-PIPE instead of C-SSWR-PIPE, or C-WATR-PROF instead of C-SSWR-PROF.

Structure Styles

The following tour through the structure-style interface can be used for reference as you create company-standard styles:

Model Tab

The Model tab (Figure 21.42) controls what represents your structure when you're working in 3D. Typically, you want to leave the Use Catalog Defined 3D Part radio button selected so that when you look at your structure, it looks like your flared end section or whatever you've chosen in the parts list.

Figure 21.42 The Model tab in the Structure Style dialog

Plan Tab

The Plan tab (Figure 21.43) enables you to compose your object style to match that specification.

Figure 21.43 The Plan tab in the Structure Style dialog

Options on the Plan tab include the following:

Use Outer Part Boundary

This option uses the limits of your structure from the parts list and shows you an outline of the structure as it would appear in the plan.

User Defined Part

This option uses any block you specify. In the case of your flared end section, you chose a symbol to match the CAD standard. When using a User Defined Part you also must provide Size Options. The options in this drop-down are similar to what you see in other places in Civil 3D. Use Size In Absolute Units is a common way to represent a manhole at actual size. Use Drawing Scale will treat the object like an annotative block.

Enable Part Masking

This option creates a wipeout or mask inside the limits of the structure. Any pipes that connect to the center of the pipe appear trimmed at the limits of the structure.

Profile Tab

Once you know what your structure must look like in the profile, you use the Profile tab (Figure 21.44) to create the style.

Figure 21.44 The Profile tab in the Structure Style dialog

Options on the Profile tab include the following:

Display As Solid

This option uses the limits of your structure from the parts list, and shows you the mesh of the structure as it would appear in profile view.

Display As Boundary

This option uses the limits of your structure from the parts list, and shows you an outline of the structure as it would appear in profile view. You'll use this option for the sanitary manhole.

Display As Block

This option uses any block you specify. When using a Structure displayed as a block you also must provide Size Options.

Enable Part Masking

This option creates a wipeout or mask inside the limits of the structure. Any pipes that connect to the center of the pipe appear trimmed at the limits of the structure.

Section Tab

Once you know what your structure must look like in section view, you use the Section tab (Figure 21.45) to create the style.

Figure 21.45 The Section tab in the Structure Style dialog

You will notice that these options look (and behave) very similar to the Profile tab options listed earlier.

In the following exercise, you'll create a new structure style that uses a block in plan view to represent a sanitary manhole. Because the block is drawn at actual size, you will use the size option Use Fixed Scale.

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

While this example discussed creating object styles for a structure, you will find that the same procedure is applicable to the Appurtenances and Fittings styles used in pressure pipe networks.

Profile View Styles

When you are looking at a profile view that contains data, you are seeing many styles in play. The profiles themselves (existing and proposed) have a profile object style applied to them. The labeling has several styles applied to it, as you learned in Chapter 20. Additionally, you will see profile view styles and band styles in action.

This section focuses on the profile view. A profile view controls many aspects of the display. The profile view style has a large role in determining:

• Vertical exaggeration
• Grid spacing
• Elevation annotation
• Title annotation

Figure 21.46 shows the basic anatomy of the profile view you have been working with throughout this book.

Figure 21.46 Profile view style and basic anatomy

In the example that follows, you will be making major modifications to a profile view style. The profile view that you will be practicing with does not contain any bands. Later on in this section, you will learn the ins and outs of band creation and modification.

Figure 21.47 Accessing the profile view style

Figure 21.48 Change Vertical Exaggeration on the Graph tab of the Profile View Style dialog.

Figure 21.49 The Grid tab of the Profile View Style dialog

Figure 21.50 Working with the Graph View Title size and placement

Figure 21.51 The bottom axis controls grid spacing.

Figure 21.52 Don't forget to change the settings for both Left and Right axes in this tab.

• Graph Title
• Left Axis
• Left Axis Annotation Major
• Right Axis
• Right Axis Annotation Major
• Top Axis
• Bottom Axis
• Bottom Axis Annotation Major
• Grid Horizontal Major
• Grid Horizontal Minor
• Grid Vertical Major
• Grid Vertical Minor

Your profile view should resemble Figure 21.53.

Figure 21.53 Profile view that you started with (above) and after the style is completed (below)

Profile View Bands

Data bands are horizontal elements that display additional information about the profile or alignment that is referenced in a profile view. The most common band type is the profile data band. The other band types are not frequently used, but can be helpful to designers by showing schematic representations of design as it relates to the profile stationing.

Bands can be applied to both the top and bottom of a profile view, and there are six band types: Profile Data Bands, Vertical Geometry Bands, Horizontal Geometry Bands, Superelevation Bands, Sectional Bands, and Pipe Data Bands. These band types were discussed in Chapter 7, “Profiles and Profile Views,” but a graphic reminder of the various band types is shown in Figure 21.54 through Figure 21.59.

Figure 21.54 Profile Data Band showing existing and proposed elevation in addition to major stations

Figure 21.55Vertical Geometry Band

Figure 21.56Horizontal Geometry Band

Figure 21.57Superelevation Data Band

Figure 21.58Section Data Band

Figure 21.59 Pipe Data Band showing invert elevations and slope schematic

Bands can be saved in band sets. Like alignment label sets and profile label sets, a band set determines which bands are applied to a profile view and will dictate the placement. The most common use for a band set is to create a single, viewable band and an additional nonvisible band for spacing purposes in plan and profile sheet generation.

In the following exercise, you will create a band that contains existing and proposed profile elevations:

Figure 21.60 Band Details tab

The completed band should resemble Figure 21.61.

Figure 21.61 Text along the bottom of your profile view in the form of a band

As you can see, profile bands can provide a lot of information in a compact manner. In this example you only provided information at the major stations, but you could also provide information at minor stations, horizontal geometry points, vertical geometry points, station equations, and incremental distances.

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

Section View Styles

Section view styles share many of the same concepts as creating profile view styles. In fact, the Section View Style dialog has all the same tabs and looks nearly identical to the Profile View style.

In this section, you will walk through the creation of a section view style suitable for creating a section sheet:

• Graph Title
• Left Axis Annotation Major
• Right Axis Annotation Major
• Bottom Axis Annotation Major

Figure 21.62 Yes, this is correct! A very stripped-down section view.

Why the bare-bones section view? The section view grid will come from the group plot style, so the only information you really need is in this simple style.

You can save and keep this drawing open to continue on to the next exercise or use the saved copy of this drawing available from the book's web page (SectionStyles_FINISHED.dwg or SectionStyles_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg).

Group Plot Styles

The driver behind how section sheets get laid out on a page is the group plot style. Upon section creation, the group plot style takes the Section template file and fits sections inside the paperspace viewport:

1. If not still open from the previous exercise, open SectionStyles_FINISHED.dwg or SectionStyles_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg

You can download either file from this book's web page. This file contains section views created with the default settings.

2. From the Settings tab of Toolspace, expand Section View ⇒ Group Plot Styles.

3. Right-click Basic and select Edit.

4. On the Array tab, change the column spacing to 4″ (or 100 mm). Change the row spacing to 2″ (or 50 mm), as shown in Figure 21.63.

Figure 21.63 The Array tab controls section view spacing.

These spacing changes will allow more cross sections per page and additional room for scooting the views up and right to fit on the page better in the upcoming steps.

5. On the Plot Area tab, leave all the default settings as shown in Figure 21.64.

Figure 21.64 The Plot Area tab is where grid spacing on sheets comes from.

This is where the grid spacing you will be using on your sheets comes from.

6. On the Display tab, do the following:

a. Verify that the visibility is turned on for Major Horizontal Grid and Major Vertical Grid.

b. Verify that the visibility is turned off for Minor Horizontal Grid and Minor Vertical Grid.

c. Verify that the layers for all of the grid components are set to C-ROAD-SCTN-GRID.

d. Verify that the layers for Print Area and Sheet Border are set to C-ROAD-SCTN-TTLB.

e. Set Color for Major Horizontal Grid and Major Vertical Grid to 9.

f. Set Color for Print Area to Cyan and Sheet Border to Green. Your Display tab will look like Figure 21.65.

Figure 21.65 Group plot style display components

7. Click OK to complete the group plot style edits.

Your section view sheets should be shaping up to the point where you could almost generate sheets. There may be instances when some text oozes out of the cyan line that represents the viewport border. In the next steps you will use a nonvisible section band to prevent this from happening and push the views onto the page.

8. From the Settings tab of Toolspace, expand Section View ⇒ Band Styles ⇒ Section Data.

9. Right-click Section Data and select New.

10. On the Information tab, set Name to _NO DISPLAY.

Prefixing the style name with the underscore ensures it will be alphabetized to the top of the style list.

11. On the Band Details tab, do the following:

a. Set Band Height to 0.2″ (or 5 mm).

b. Set Text Box Width to 0.2″ (or 10 mm).

c. Set Offset From Band to 0″ (or 0 mm).

Even though the band is not visible, Civil 3D still accounts for this spacing when placing the views on the sheet. In this step, you are using this to your advantage.

12. On the Display tab, verify that the visibility is turned off for all components.

13. Click OK to complete the creation of a new section data band style.

14. Select any section view by clicking on the station label or the elevation labels.

15. From the Section View contextual tab ⇒ Modify View panel, choose View Group Properties to display the Section View Group Properties dialog.

16. On the Section Views tab, do the following:

a. Click the ellipsis in the Change Band Set column, as shown in Figure 21.66.

Figure 21.66 Changing the band set in use for all section views

You may need to widen the columns to view the full titles.

The Section View Group Bands dialog will appear.

b. Verify Band Type is set to Section Data.

c. Set the band style as _NO DISPLAY and click Add.

d. Set the Gap distance to 0, as shown in Figure 21.67, and click OK to dismiss the Section View Group Bands dialog.

Figure 21.67 Add the data band and set the gap to 0.

e. Click OK to exit the View Group Properties dialog.

17. From the Section View contextual tab ⇒ Modify View panel, select Update Group Layout.

The cross section sheets should look like Figure 21.68.

Figure 21.68 The completed exercise

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

With all of the object styles, you have a great deal of control over every detail, even ones that may seem trivial. Instead of being bogged down trying to understand every option, don't be afraid to try a “trial and error” approach. If you make a change you don't like, you can always edit the style until you get it right.

The Bottom Line

Override object styles with other styles.

In spite of the desire to have uniform styles and appearances between objects within a single drawing, project, or firm, there are always going to be changes that need to be made.

Master It

Open the MasteringStyles.dwg or MasteringStyles_METRIC.dwg file and change the alignment style associated with Alignment B to Layout. In addition, change the surface style used for the EG surface to Contours And Triangles, but change the contour interval to be 1′ and 5′ (or 0.5 m and 2.5 m) and the color of the triangles to be yellow.

Create a new surface style.

Almost every set of plans that you send out of the office is going to include a surface, so it is important to be able to generate multiple surface styles that match your company standards. In addition to surface styles for production, you may find it helpful to have styles to use when you are designing that show a tighter contour spacing as well as the points and triangles needed to make some edits.

Master It

Open the MasteringSurfaceStyle.dwg or MasteringSurfaceStyle_METRIC.dwg file and create a new surface style named Micro Editing. Set this style to display contours at 0.5′ and 1.0′ (or 0.1 m and 0.2 m), as well as triangles and points. Set the EG surface to use this new surface style.

Create a new profile view style.

Everyone has their preferred look for a profile view. These styles can provide a lot of information in a small space, so it is important to be able to create a profile view that will meet your needs.

Master It

Open the MasteringProfileViewStyle.dwg or MasteringProfileViewStyle_METRIC.dwg file and create a new profile view style named Mastering Profile View. Set this style to not clip the vertical or horizontal grid. Set the bottom horizontal ticks at 50′ and 10′ intervals (25 m and 5 m). Set the left and right vertical ticks at 10′ and 2′ intervals (5 m and 1 m). In addition, turn off the visibility of the Graph Title, Bottom Axis Annotation Major, and Bottom Axis Annotation Horizontal Geometry Point. Set the profile view in the drawing to use this new profile view style.