Chapter 7

Profiles and Profile Views

Profile information is the backbone of vertical design. The AutoCAD^® Civil 3D^® software takes advantage of sampled data, design data, and external input files to create profiles for a number of uses. Profiles will be an integral part of corridors, as we'll discuss in Chapter 10, “Basic Corridors.” In this chapter we'll look at using profile creation tools, editing profiles, and generating and editing profile views, and you'll learn ways to get your labels just so.

In this chapter, you will learn to:

• Sample a surface profile with offset samples
• Lay out a design profile on the basis of a table of data
• Add and modify individual entities in a design profile
• Apply a standard band set

The Elevation Element

The whole point of a three-dimensional model is to include the elevation element that's been missing for years on two-dimensional plans. But to get there, designers and engineers still depend on a flat 2D representation of the vertical dimension as shown in a profile view (see Figure 7.1).

Figure 7.1 A typical profile view of the surface elevation along an alignment

A profile is nothing more than a series of data pairs in a station, elevation format. There are basic curve and tangent components, but these are purely the mathematical basis for the paired data sets. In AutoCAD Civil 3D, you can generate profile information in one of the following four ways:

This section looks at all four methods of creating profiles.

Surface Sampling

Working with surface information is the most elemental method of creating a profile. This information can represent any of the surfaces already in your drawing, such as an existing surface or any number of other surface-derived data sets. Surfaces can also be sampled at offsets, as you'll see in the next series of exercises. Follow these steps:

1. Open the ProfileSampling.dwg file (or the ProfileSampling_METRIC.dwg file for metric users) shown in Figure 7.2. Remember, all data files can be downloaded from this book's web page at www.sybex.com/go/masteringcivil3d2013.

Figure 7.2 The drawing you'll use for this exercise

2. From the Create Design panel on the Home tab, choose Profile ⇒ Create Surface Profile to display the Create Profile From Surface dialog (Figure 7.3).

Figure 7.3 The Create Profile From Surface dialog

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A Quick Tour  around the Create Profile From Surface Dialog

This dialog has a number of important features, so take a moment to see how it breaks down:

The upper-left quadrant is dedicated to information about the alignment. You can select the alignment from a drop-down list, or you can click the Pick On Screen button. The Station Range area shows the starting and ending stations of the alignment and sets the To Sample range automatically to run from the beginning to the end of the alignment. You can control it manually by entering the station ranges in the To Sample text boxes or by using the Pick A Station buttons.

• The upper-right quadrant controls the selection of the surface that will be sampled as well as the offsets. You can select a surface from the list, or you can click the Pick On Screen button. Beneath the Select Surfaces box is a Sample Offsets check box. The offsets aren't applied in the left and right direction uniformly. You must enter a negative value to sample to the left of the alignment or a positive value to sample to the right. You can add multiple offsets in a comma-delimited list here, for example: -50, 25, -10, -5, 0, 5, 10, 25, 50. In all cases, whether or not you are sampling offsets, the profile isn't generated until you click the Add button.
• The Profile List box displays all profiles associated with the alignment currently selected in the Alignment drop-down menu. This area is generally static (it won't change), but you can modify the Update Mode, Layer, and Style columns by clicking the appropriate cells in this table. You can stretch and rearrange the columns to customize the view. The columns can only be modified in this location as they are created. Upon returning to the Create Profile From Surface dialog, the profiles previously created will have static values and can be changed in the Profile Properties dialog instead.

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3. Select the Syrah Way option from the Alignment drop-down menu if it isn't already selected.

4. In the Select Surfaces box, select EG.

5. Click Add to add the centerline profile to the Profile list.

6. Select the Sample Offsets check box to make the entry box active.

7. Enter -25, 25 (or -7.5, 7.5 for metric users) to sample at the left and right right-of-way lines and click Add again.

8. In the Profile List, select the cell in the Style column that corresponds to the negative (left offset) value (see Figure 7.4) to activate the Pick Profile Style dialog. If you need to widen the columns, you can do so by clicking the line between the column headings.

Figure 7.4 The Create Profile From Surface dialog with styles assigned on the basis of the Offset value

9. Select the Left Sample Profile option from the drop-down list, and click OK to dismiss the Pick Profile Style dialog.

The style changes from Existing Ground Profile to Left Sample Profile in the table.

10. Select the cell in the Style column that corresponds to the positive (right offset) value to activate the Pick Profile Style dialog.

11. Select the Right Sample Profile option from the drop-down list, and click OK to dismiss the Pick Profile Style dialog.

12. Click Draw In Profile View to dismiss this dialog and open the Create Profile View wizard, as shown in Figure 7.5.

Figure 7.5 The Create Profile View – General wizard page

13. Verify that the Select Alignment drop-down list shows Syrah Way and Profile View is selected in the Profile View Style drop-down list, and click Next.

14. On the Create Profile View – Station Range wizard page, verify that the Automatic option has been selected (Figure 7.6). Click Next.

Figure 7.6 The Create Profile View – Station Range wizard page

15. On the Create Profile View – Profile View Height wizard page, verify that the Automatic option has been selected (Figure 7.7). Click Next.

Figure 7.7 The Create Profile View – Profile View Height wizard page

We will examine split profile views in a later exercise.

16. On the Create Profile View – Profile Display Options wizard page, look at the settings but do not make any changes (Figure 7.8). Click Next.

Figure 7.8 The Create Profile View – Profile Display Options wizard page

17. On the Create Profile View – Data Bands Options wizard page, verify that the band set is set to EG-FG Elevations And Stations (Figure 7.9). Notice that in the Set Band Properties area both profiles are set to the same profile by default. We will look at data bands in greater detail a bit later.

Figure 7.9 The Create Profile View – Data Bands wizard page

Notice that you could continue to click Next to step through the remainder of the wizard; however, you have no need to adjust further options at this time.

18. Click the Create Profile View button to dismiss the dialog.

19. Pick a point on the screen somewhere to the right of the site to draw the profile view, as shown in Figure 7.10.

Figure 7.10 The complete profile view for Syrah Way

If the Events tab in Panorama appears, telling you that you've sampled data or if an error in the sampling needs to be fixed, then click the green check mark or the X to dismiss Panorama.

Keep the drawing open for the next portion of the exercise.

Profiles are dependent on the alignment they're derived from, so they're stored as profile branches under their parent alignment on the Prospector tab, as shown in Figure 7.11.

Figure 7.11 Alignment profiles on the Prospector tab

By maintaining the profiles under the alignments, you make it simpler to review what has been sampled and modified for each alignment. Note that the profiles from surface that you just created are dynamic and continuously update, as you'll see in this next portion of the exercise:

20. From the View tab ⇒ Model Viewports panel, choose the drop-down list on the Viewport Configuration button and select Two: Horizontal.

21. Click in the top viewport to activate it.

22. On the Prospector tab, expand the Alignments branch to view the alignment types, and expand the Centerline Alignments branch.

23. Right-click Syrah Way, and select the Zoom To option.

24. Click in the bottom viewport to activate it.

25. Expand the Alignments ⇒ Centerline Alignments ⇒ Syrah Way ⇒ Profile Views branches.

26. Right-click the profile view named Syrah Way1, and select Zoom To.

Your screen should now look similar to Figure 7.12.

Figure 7.12 Splitting the screen for plan and profile editing

27. Click in the top viewport.

28. Zoom out so you can see more of the plan view.

29. Pick the alignment to activate the grips, and stretch the western end grip to lengthen and/or move the alignment, as shown in Figure 7.13.

Figure 7.13 Grip-editing the alignment

30. Click to complete the edit.

The alignment profile automatically adjusts to reflect the change in the starting point of the alignment. Note that the offset profiles move dynamically as well.

31. Press Ctrl+Z enough times to undo the movement of your alignment and return it to its original location.

32. Select the top viewport and then switch back to a single viewport by once again clicking the Viewport Controls in the upper-left corner of one of the modelspace viewports and selecting Viewport Configuration List ⇒ Single.

Keep the drawing open for the next brief exercise.

By maintaining the relationships between the alignment, the surface, the sampled information, and the offsets, the software creates a much more dynamic feedback system for designers. This system can be useful when you're analyzing a situation with a number of possible solutions, where the surface information will be a deciding factor in the final location of the alignment. Once you've selected a location, you can use this profile view to create a vertical design, as you'll see in the next section.

In the following short exercise you will generate a profile view which displays right to left:

You may need to move the profile view since the insert point of the profile view will now be in the lower-right corner instead of the lower-left corner as it was previously.

When this exercise is complete, you may close the drawing. A finished copy of this drawing is available from the book's website with the filename ProfileSampling_FINISHED.dwg or ProfileSampling_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg.

Changing a profile view style is straightforward, but because of the large number of settings in play with a profile view style, the changes can be dramatic. A profile view style includes information such as labeling on the axis, vertical scale factors, grid clipping, and component coloring.

Using various styles lets you make changes to the view to meet requirements without changing any of the design information associated with the profile. To learn more about editing and creating profile styles, refer to Chapter 21, “Object Styles.”

Layout Profiles

Working with sampled surface information is dynamic, and the improvement over previous generations of Autodesk^® civil design software is profound. Moving into the design stage, you'll see how these improvements continue as you look at the nature of creating design profiles. By working with layout profiles as a collection of components that understand their relationships with each other as opposed to independent finite elements, you will realize the power of the AutoCAD Civil 3D software as a design tool in addition to being a drafting tool.

You can create layout profiles in two basic ways:

You'll work with both methods in the next series of exercises to illustrate a variety of creation and editing techniques. First, you'll focus on the initial layout, and then you'll edit the various layouts.

Layout by PVI

PVI layout is the most common methodology in transportation design. Using long tangents that connect PVIs by derived parabolic curves is a method most engineers are familiar with, and it's the method you'll use in the first exercise:

1. Open the LayoutByPVI.dwg file or the LayoutByPVI_METRIC.dwg file.

2. From the Home tab ⇒ Create Design panel, choose Profile ⇒ Profile Creation Tools.

3. At the Select profile view to create profile: prompt, pick the Syrah Way profile view by clicking one of the grid lines to display the Create Profile – Draw New dialog.

4. Set Name to Syrah Way FG.

5. On the General tab, set Profile Style to Design Profile and Profile Label Set to Complete Label Set, as shown in Figure 7.14.

Figure 7.14 The Create Profile – Draw New dialog, General tab

6. Switch to the Design Criteria tab to examine the options provided.

Criteria-based design operates in profiles similar to Chapter 6 in that the software compares the design speed to a selected design table (typically AASHTO 2001 in the North America releases) and sets minimum values for curve K values. This can be helpful when you're laying out long highway design projects, but most site and subdivision designers have other criteria to design against. We won't be using the option in this exercise so you can leave everything unchecked.

7. Click OK to display the Profile Layout Tools toolbar shown in Figure 7.15.

Figure 7.15 Profile Layout Tools toolbar

Notice that the toolbar is modeless, meaning it stays open even if you do other AutoCAD operations such as Pan or Zoom.

8. On the Profile Layout Tools toolbar, click the drop-down arrow next to the Draw Tangents button on the far left.

9. Select the Curve Settings option.

The Vertical Curve Settings dialog opens, as shown in Figure 7.16.

Figure 7.16 The Vertical Curve Settings dialog

The Select Curve Type drop-down menu should be set to Parabolic, and the Length values in both the Crest Curves and Sag Curves areas should be 150.000′ (or 45.000 m for metric users), as shown in Figure 7.15. Selecting a Circular or Asymmetric curve type activates the other options in this dialog.

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To K or Not to K

You don't have to choose. Realizing that users need to be able to design using both, the software lets you modify your design based on what's important. You can enter a K value to see the required length, and then enter a length with a nice round value that satisfies the K. The choice is up to you.

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10. Click OK to dismiss the Vertical Curve Settings dialog.

11. On the Profile Layout Tools toolbar, click the drop-down arrow next to the Draw Tangents button on the far left again. This time, select the Draw Tangents With Curves option.

12. Use a Center Osnap to pick the center of the circle at the far right in the profile view.

A jig line, which will be your layout profile, appears. Remember, the profile is reversed so that station 0+00 is lined up with the plan. Therefore, station 0+00 is on the right of the profile. You need to draw your profile from low station to high station, which in this case is left to right.

13. Continue working your way across the profile view, picking the center of each circle right to left with a Center Osnap.

14. Right-click or press after you select the center of the last circle.

15. The profile labels will default to a location; however, you can click on any of the profile labels and use the grips to move them to a more legible location.

Your drawing should look similar to Figure 7.17.

Figure 7.17 A completed layout profile with labels

16. Close the Profile Layout Tools toolbar.

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

The layout profile is labeled with the Complete Label Set you selected in the Create Profile dialog. As you'd expect, this labeling and the layout profile are dynamic. If you select the profile and then zoom in on this profile line, not the labels or the profile view, you'll see something like Figure 7.18.

Figure 7.18 The types of grips on a layout profile

The PVI-based layout profiles include the following unique grips:

Although this simple pick-and-go methodology works for preliminary layout, it lacks a certain amount of control typically required for final design. For that, you'll use another method of creating PVIs:

1. Open the LayoutByPVITransparent.dwg or LayoutByPVITransparent_METRIC.dwg file.

2. Verify that the Transparent Commands toolbar (Figure 7.19) is displayed somewhere on your screen. If it is not shown, from the View tab ⇒ User Interface panel, choose Toolbars ⇒ CIVIL ⇒ Transparent Commands.

Figure 7.19 The Transparent Commands toolbar

3. From the Home tab ⇒ Create Design panel, choose Profile ⇒ Profile Creation Tools.

4. Pick the Cabernet Court profile view (located at the lower right inside a rectangle) by clicking on one of the grid lines to display the Create Profile – Draw New dialog.

5. Set the name to Cabernet Court FG.

6. On the General tab, set Profile Style to Design Profile and Profile Label Set to Complete Label Set, and then click OK to display the Profile Layout Tools toolbar.

7. On the Profile Layout Tools toolbar, click the drop-down arrow next to the Draw Tangents button on the far left, and select the Draw Tangents With Curves option, as in the previous exercise.

8. Use a Center Osnap to snap to the center of the circle near the left edge of the profile view.

Unlike in the previous exercise, this profile view is set up left to right.

9. On the Transparent Commands toolbar, select the Profile Station Elevation transparent command.

For those who prefer using the command line, the key-in command for this transparent command is ‘PSE.

10. Pick a grid line on the Cabernet Court profile view to select it.

If you move your cursor within the profile grid area, a vertical red line, or jig, appears; it moves up and down and from side to side. Notice the tooltips currently show the station values of the jig location.

11. Enter 365 (or 112.8 for metric users) at the command line for the station value.

If you move your cursor within the profile grid area, a horizontal and vertical jig appears (see Figure 7.20), but it can only move vertically along the station just specified.

Figure 7.20 A jig appears when you use the Profile Station Elevation transparent command

12. Enter 795 (or 242.5 for metric users) at the command line to set the elevation for the second PVI.

13. Press Esc only once.

The Profile Station Elevation transparent command is no longer active, but the Draw Tangents With Curves button that you previously selected on the Profile Layout Tools toolbar continues to be active.

14. On the Transparent Commands toolbar, select the Profile Grade Station transparent command.

For those who prefer using the command line, the key-in command for this transparent command is ‘PGS.

Notice that you did not need to select a profile view this time; that's because you are still in the same command (Draw Tangents With Curves in this case). The transparent command will default to the same profile view that was previously selected.

15. Enter 10 at the command line for the profile grade.

16. Enter 430 (or 131 for metric users) for the station value at the command line.

17. Press Esc only once to deactivate the Profile Grade Station transparent command.

18. On the Transparent Commands toolbar, select the Profile Grade Length transparent command.

For those who prefer using the command line, the key-in command for this transparent command is ‘PGL.

19. Enter -1.5 at the command line for the profile grade.

20. Enter 120 (or 36.5 for metric users) for the profile grade length.

21. Press Esc only once to deactivate the Profile Grade Length transparent command.

22. Continue defining the profile using the Profile Grade Station transparent command using the following input:

a. -3.5 , 850 (-3.5 , 259 for metric users)

b. 10 , 1035 (10 , 315.5 for metric users)

c. 3.5 , 1165 (3.5 , 355 for metric users)

23. Press Esc only once to deactivate the Profile Grade Station transparent command and to continue using the Draw Tangent With Curves command.

24. Use a Center Osnap to select the center of the circle along the far-right side of the profile view.

25. Press to complete the profile.

Your profile should look like Figure 7.21.

Figure 7.21 Using the Transparent Commands toolbar to create a layout profile

26. Close the Profile Layout Tools toolbar.

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

Using PVIs to define tangents and fitting curves between them is the most common approach to create a layout profile, but you'll look at an entity-based design in the next section.

Layout by Entity

Working with the concepts of fixed, floating, and free entities as you did with alignments in Chapter 6, you'll lay out a design profile in this exercise:

6. On the Profile Layout Tools toolbar, click the drop-down arrow next to the Tangent Creation button, and select the Fixed Tangent (Two Points) option.

7. Using a Center Osnap, pick the circle at the left edge of the profile view labeled A.

A rubber-banding line appears.

8. Using a Center Osnap, pick the circle labeled B.

A tangent is drawn between these two circles.

9. Using a Center Osnap, pick the circle labeled B again as the start point and the circle labeled C as the endpoint.

A tangent is drawn between these two circles. Notice that the tangent does not automatically continue from the previous two-point fixed tangent; therefore, you have to select the B circle again.

10. Using a Center Osnap, pick the circle labeled D as the start point and the circle labeled E as the endpoint.

A tangent is drawn between these two circles.

11. On the Profile Layout Tools toolbar, click the drop-down arrow next to the Vertical Curve Creation button and select the More Free Vertical Curves ⇒ Free Vertical Curve (PVI Based) option.

Notice that the image shown to the left of the drop-down arrow for the Tangent Creation button and Vertical Curve Creation button will match the last type of entity you selected from the drop-down menu.

12. At the Pick point near PVI or curve to add curve: prompt, pick the circle labeled B as the PVI.

13. At the Specify curve length or [Passthrough K]: prompt, enter 450 (or 137 for metric users) as the curve length.

14. Press to end the command.

Your drawing should now look similar to Figure 7.22. Notice that although you have added the tangent between D and E, it is not yet labeled since it is not connected with the main portion of the profile created up until this point.

Figure 7.22 Some tangent and vertical curve entities placed on Frontenac Drive

15. On the Profile Layout Tools toolbar, click the drop-down arrow next to the Vertical Curve Creation button and select the Free Vertical Curve (Parameter) option.

16. Select the tangent between B and C as the first entity and the tangent between D and E as the next entity.

Remember to pick the tangent line and not an end circle.

17. At the Specify curve length or [Radius K]: prompt, enter 300 (or 90 for metric users) as the curve length and press again to end the command.

Notice with this command the tangents do not have to meet at a PVI, unlike the previous Free Vertical Curve (PVI Based) curve.

18. On the Profile Layout Tools toolbar, click the drop-down arrow next to the Vertical Curve Creation button and select the More Fixed Vertical Curves ⇒ Fixed Vertical Curve (Entity End, Through Point) option.

19. At the Select entity to attach to: prompt, select the tangent between D and E to attach the fixed vertical curve.

Remember to pick the tangent line and not the end circle. Also, you have to select the tangent between the midpoint and the endpoint of the tangent at the circle labeled E. Selecting too close to the endpoint at the circle labeled D will give a result of End of selected entity already has an attachment. A rubber-banding curve appears. If you move the cursor on the wrong side of the tangent endpoint, it will become a large red circle with an X across it indicating that you cannot select that point.

20. At the Specify end point: prompt, using a Center Osnap, pick the circle labeled F and press to end the command.

21. On the Profile Layout Tools Toolbar, click the drop-down arrow next to the Tangent Creation button and select the Float Tangent (Through Point) option.

22. At the Select entity to attach to: prompt, select the curve between E and F to attach the floating tangent.

A rubber-banding curve appears.

23. At the Select through point: prompt, using a Center Osnap, select the circle labeled G.

24. Press or right-click to end the Fixed Tangent (Through Point) command; then close the Profile Layout Tools toolbar.

Your drawing should look like Figure 7.23.

Figure 7.23 Completed profile built using entities

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

With the entity-creation method, grip editing works in a similar way to other layout methods based on the fixed, floating, and free constraints.

Profile Layout Tools

Although we have touched on many of the available tools in the Profile Layout Tools toolbar, as shown in Figure 7.24, there are still many that we have not.

Figure 7.24 Profile Layout Tools toolbar

The Best Fit Profile

You've surveyed along a centerline, and you need to closely approximate the tangents and vertical curves as they were originally designed and constructed.

The Create Best Fit Profile option is found in the Home tab ⇒ Create Design panel, on the Profile drop-down. Once you select a profile view, the Create Best Fit Profile dialog appears, as shown in Figure 7.25.

Figure 7.25 Create Best Fit Profile dialog

Similar to the best fit alignment we discussed in Chapter 6, a best fit profile can be based on an Input Type setting of AutoCAD Blocks, AutoCAD 3D Polylines, AutoCAD Points, COGO Points, Surface Profile, or Feature Lines. The most common option is Surface Profile.

The command attempts to run a complex algorithm to determine the best fit profile, including both tangents and vertical curves. However, the only best fit option available for determining vertical curves is the maximum curve radius. The maximum curve radius is a formula rarely used in the design of parabolic curves, the most common curves found in roadway design. Once the analysis is run, a Best Fit Report is provided; however, unlike the Best Fit command for lines and curves as seen in Chapter 1, “The Basics,” this command has no options for selecting or deselecting points, making the command somewhat cumbersome.

In some cases, the commands you choose to use in a given scenario, as promising as the name may sound, may actually prove to be more of a hindrance than a help. The Best Fit Profile command may be one of these cases. The command attempts to perform an analysis on all the sampled existing ground profile points in a profile view, the options are limited, and in the end, you may find a good pair of eyes and graphical analysis using other profile creation methods are less time consuming and produce an equally valid result.

It is important to understand all the commands at your disposal, but you are not required to use each one in a production environment. If results don't meet your needs and you've spent considerable time with a single method, find another method, or methods, that accomplish the same task. Remember, at the end of the day, you still have sheets to cut and plans to get out the door. You're limited only by your selection of commands and your creativity.

Creating a Profile from a File

Working with profile information in the AutoCAD Civil 3D environment is nice, but it isn't the only place where you can create or manipulate this sort of information. Many programs or analysis packages generate profile information. One common case is the plotting of a hydraulic grade line against a stormwater network profile of the pipes. When information comes from outside the program, it is often output in myriad formats. If you convert this format to the format required by AutoCAD Civil 3D, the profile information can be input directly.

There is a specific format that is required for creating a profile from a text file. Each line is a PVI definition (station and elevation) listed in ascending order. The station should not include the plus character (use 100, not 1+00 or 0+100). Curve information is an optional third bit of data on any line except for the first and last lines in the file. The vertical curve that is created will be a parabolic curve, which is the most popular type of vertical curve. Note that each line is space delimited. Here's one example of a profile text file:

0 550.76
127.5 552.24
200.8 554 100
256.8 557.78 50
310.75 561

In this example, the third and fourth lines include the curve length as the optional third piece of information. The only inconvenience of using this input method is that the information in Civil 3D doesn't directly reference the text file. Once the profile data is imported, no dynamic relationship exists with the text file, but other methods can be used to edit the profile once imported.

In this exercise, you'll import a small text file to see how the function works:

Figure 7.26 Completed profile created from a file

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

Now that you've tried the three main ways of creating profile information, you'll edit a profile in the next section.

Editing Profiles

The methods just reviewed let you quickly create profiles. You saw how sampled profiles reflect changes in the parent alignment and how to lay out a design profile using a few different methodologies. You also imported a text file with profile information. In all these cases, you just left the profile as originally designed with no analysis or editing.

This section will begin to look at some of the profile editing methods available. The most basic is a more precise grip-editing methodology, which you'll learn about first. Then you'll see how to modify the PVI-based layout profile, how to change out the components that make up a layout profile, and how to use some other miscellaneous editing functions.

Grip Profile Editing

Once a profile layout is in place, sometimes a simple grip edit will suffice. But for precision editing, you can use a combination of the grips and the buttons on the Transparent Commands toolbar, as in this short exercise:

1. Open the GripEditingProfiles.dwg file (or the GripEditingProfiles_METRIC.dwg file).

2. Zoom to the Cabernet Court profile view (located inside a rectangle) and pick the Cabernet Court FG profile (the blue line) to activate its grips.

3. Locate the PVI around Sta. 8+50 (or 0+260 for metric users) and pick the vertical triangular grip on the vertical sag curve to begin a grip stretch of the PVI, as shown in Figure 7.27.

Figure 7.27 Grip-editing a PVI

The command line states Specify stretch point or [Base point Copy Undo eXit]:.

4. On the Transparent Commands toolbar, select the Profile Station Elevation command. That's ‘PSE for the command-line users.

5. At the Select a profile view: prompt, pick a grid line on the Cabernet Court profile view to select.

6. At the Specify station: prompt, enter 835 (or 255 for metric users).

7. At the Specify elevation: prompt, enter 788 (or 240.5 for metric users).

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

The grips can go from quick-and-dirty editing tools to precise editing tools when you use them in conjunction with the transparent commands in the profile view. They lack the ability to precisely control a curve length, though, so you'll look at editing a curve next.

Parameter and Panorama Profile Editing

Beyond the simple grip edits, but before changing out the components of a typical profile, you can modify the values that generate an individual component. In this exercise, you'll use the Profile Layout Parameter dialog and the Panorama to modify the curve properties on your design profile:

1. Open the ParameterEditingProfiles.dwg file (or the ParameterEditingProfiles_METRIC.dwg file).

2. Zoom to the Cabernet Court profile view (located inside a rectangle) and pick the Cabernet Court FG profile (the blue line) to activate the Profile contextual tab.

3. From the Profile contextual tab ⇒ Modify Profile panel, choose the Geometry Editor.

4. On the Profile Layout Tools toolbar, click the Profile Layout Parameters button to open the Profile Layout Parameters dialog and place the dialog somewhere on your screen so that you can still see the profile view.

5. On the Profile Layout Tools toolbar, click the Select PVI button.

If the Select Entity button is showing on the toolbar instead, from the PVI or Entity Based drop-down button select the PVI Based option.

6. Zoom in to click near the PVI at station 11+65 (or 0+355 for metric users) to populate the Profile Layout Parameters dialog (Figure 7.28).

Figure 7.28 The Profile Layout Parameters dialog

Values that can be edited are in black; the rest, shown grayed out, are mathematically derived and can be of some design value but can't be directly modified. The two buttons at the top of the dialog adjust how much information is displayed. The one on the left is the Show More/Show Less button and the one on the right is the Collapse All Categories/Expand All Categories button.

7. In the Profile Layout Parameters dialog, change the K Value to 19 (or 7 for metric users). Notice that the curve changes but the label does not update. This is because you are still in the command. Once you end the command, all appropriate labels will update.

8. Click near the PVI at station 10+35 (or 0+315.5 for metric users) to repopulate the Profile Layout Parameters dialog with a different curve.

9. In the Profile Layout Parameters dialog, change Profile Curve Length to 130 (or 42 for metric users) and press or right-click to end the command and apply the changes to the profile.

10. Close the Profile Layout Parameters dialog by clicking the X in the upper-right corner.

11. On the Profile Layout Tools toolbar, click the Profile Grid View tool to activate the Profile Entities tab in Panorama.

Panorama allows you to view all the profile components at once, in a compact form.

12. Scroll right in Panorama until you see the Profile Curve Length column.

You can show and hide columns by right-clicking on one of the column headings. You can also resize the columns by dragging on the breaks between the columns or by double-clicking on the break between columns to auto-size to the column contents.

13. Double-click in the cell for the Entity 5 value in the Profile Curve Length column (see Figure 7.29), and change the value from 150′ to 250′ (or from 45 to 78 for metric users).

Figure 7.29 Direct editing of the curve length in Panorama

14. Close Panorama and the Profile Layout Tools toolbar, and zoom out to review your edits.

Your complete profile should now look like Figure 7.30.

Figure 7.30 The completed editing of the curve length in the layout profile

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

You can use these tools to modify the PVI points or tangent parameters, but they won't let you add or remove an entire component. You'll do that in the next section.

Component-Level Editing

In addition to editing basic parameters and locations, sometimes you have to add or remove entire components. In this exercise, you'll delete a PVI, remove a curve from an area in order to revise a nearby PVI location, and insert a new curve into the layout profile:

1. Open the ComponentEditingProfiles.dwg file (or the ComponentEditingProfiles_METRIC.dwg file).

2. Zoom to the Cabernet Court profile view (located inside a rectangle) and pick the Cabernet Court FG profile (the blue line) to activate the Profile contextual tab.

3. From the Profile contextual tab ⇒ Modify Profile panel, choose the Geometry Editor to display the Profile Layout Tools toolbar.

4. On the Profile Layout Tools toolbar, click the Delete PVI button.

5. Pick a point near the 4+30 station (or the 0+131 station for metric users) and right-click or press to end the command.

The profile is adjusted accordingly. The vertical curves that were in place are also modified to accommodate this new geometry.

6. On the Profile Layout Tools toolbar, click the Delete Entity button.

7. Zoom in, and pick the curve entity near station 3+65 (or 0+112.8 for metric users) to delete it and right-click or press to end the command.

Notice that the incoming and outgoing tangents remain.

8. Using one of the methods discussed previously, change the PVI currently at Station 5+50 (or 0+167.5 for metric users) to PVI Station 4+70 and PVI Elevation 802.30 (or PVI Station 0+143 and PVI Elevation 244.650 for metric users).

9. On the Profile Layout Tools toolbar, click the drop-down arrow next to the Vertical Curve Creation button.

10. Select the More Free Vertical Curves ⇒ Free Vertical Parabola (PVI Based) option.

11. Pick near the PVI where you removed the vertical curve in step 7 to re-add a curve.

12. At the Specify curve length or [Passthrough K]: prompt, enter 50 (or 25 for metric users) at the command line to set the curve length.

13. Right-click or press to end the command and update the profile display.

14. Close the Profile Layout Tools toolbar.

Your drawing should look similar to Figure 7.31.

Figure 7.31 The completed editing of the curve using component-level editing

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

Editing profiles using any of these methods gives you precise control over the creation and layout of your vertical design. In addition to these tools, some of the tools on the Profile Layout Tools toolbar are worth investigating and somewhat defy these categories. You'll look at them next.

Other Profile Edits

Some handy tools exist on the Profile Layout Tools toolbar for performing specific actions. These tools aren't normally used during the preliminary design stage, but they come into play as you're working to create a final design for grading or corridor design. They include raising or lowering a whole layout in one shot, as well as copying profiles. Try this exercise:

1. Open the OtherProfileEdits.dwg file (or the OtherProfileEdits_METRIC.dwg file).

2. Zoom to the Cabernet Court profile view (located inside a rectangle) and pick the Cabernet Court FG profile (the blue line) to activate the Profile contextual tab.

3. From the Profile contextual tab ⇒ Modify Profile panel, choose the Geometry Editor to display the Profile Layout Tools toolbar.

4. On the Profile Layout Tools toolbar, click the Copy Profile button to display the Copy Profile Data dialog, shown in Figure 7.32.

Figure 7.32 The Copy Profile Data dialog

5. Click OK to create a new layout profile directly on top of Cabernet Court FG.

6. In Prospector, expand the Alignments ⇒ Centerline Alignments ⇒ Cabernet Court ⇒ Profiles branch to see that a profile named Cabernet Court FG [Copy] has been added.

7. Select the Cabernet Court FG [Copy] profile in the profile view on the screen to have the Profile Layout Tools toolbar reference the new profile.

8. On the Profile Layout Tools toolbar, click the Raise/Lower PVIs button to display the Raise/Lower PVI Elevation dialog, shown in Figure 7.33.

Figure 7.33 The Raise/Lower PVI Elevation dialog

9. Set Elevation Change to -1 (or -0.3 for metric users).

10. Click the Station Range radio button, and set the Start value to 3+16 (or 0+097 for metric users) and leave the default End value to modify all the PVIs after the starting PVI.

11. Click OK to dismiss the Raise/Lower PVI Elevation dialog.

12. Close the Profile Layout Tools toolbar.

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

Generating a copy is useful if you want to remember a conceptual profile layout but would like to experiment with a different layout. The copies do not stay dynamically related to one another.

Using the layout and editing tools discussed in these sections, you should be able to design and draw any combination of profile information presented to you.

Matching Profile Elevations at Intersections

Up to now, you have learned how to use some of the available tools for modifying profiles, but you might be wondering about the intersecting roads and how the profiles will interact with one another. Have no fear; we are going to discuss those later in Chapter 10 when we discuss corridor intersections.

Profile Views

Working with vertical data is an integral part of building the model. Once profile information has been created in any number of ways, displaying it to make sense is another task. It can't be stated enough that profiles and profile views are not the same thing. The profile view displays the profile data. A single profile can be shown in an infinite number of views, with different grids, exaggeration factors, labels, or linetypes. In this section, you'll look at the various methods available for creating profile views.

Creating Profile Views during Sampling

The easiest way to create a profile view is to draw it as an extended part of the surface sampling procedure as shown in the first exercise. By combining the profile sampling step with the creation of the profile view, you have avoided one more trip to the menus. This is the most common method of creating a profile view, but we'll look at a manual creation in the next section.

Creating Profile Views Manually

Once an alignment has profile information associated with it, any number of profile views might be needed to display the proper information in the right format. To create a second, third, or even tenth profile view once the sampling is done, you must use a manual creation method. In this exercise, you'll create a profile view manually for an alignment that already has a surface-sampled profile associated with it:

Figure 7.34 The completed profile view of Cabernet Court using the Full Grid profile view style

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

Using these two creation methods, you've made short, simple profile views, but in the next exercise we will look at a longer alignment, as well as some more of the options available in the Create Profile View wizard.

Splitting Views

Dividing up the data shown in a profile view can be time consuming. The Profile View wizard is used for simple profile view creation, but the wizard can also be used to create manually limited profile views, staggered (or stepped) profile views, multiple profile views with gaps between the views, and stacked profiles (aka three-line profiles). You'll look at these variations on profile view creation in this section.

Creating Manually Limited Profile Views

Continuous profile views like you made in the exercises prior to this point work well for design purposes, but they are often unusable for plotting or exhibiting purposes. In this exercise, you'll use the Profile View wizard to create a manually limited profile view. This variation will allow you to control how long and how high each profile view will be, thereby making the views easier to plot.

1. Open the ProfileViewsSplit.dwg file (or the ProfileViewsSplit_METRIC.dwg file).

2. From the Home tab ⇒ Profile & Section Views panel, choose Profile View ⇒ Create Profile View to display the Create Profile View wizard.

3. Verify that the Select Alignment drop-down list shows Frontenac Drive, Profile Name is set to Frontenac Drive Limited Full Grid, and Full Grid is selected in the Profile View Style drop-down list; then click Next.

4. On the Station Range wizard page, select the User Specified Range radio button.

5. Enter 0 for the Start station and 800 for the End station (or 0 and 245 for metric users), as shown in Figure 7.35. It isn't necessary to include the + when entering station data.

Figure 7.35 The start and end stations for the user-specified profile view

Notice the preview picture now shows a clipped portion of the total profile.

6. Click Next.

7. On the Profile View Height wizard page, select the User Specified radio button.

8. Set the Minimum height to 780 and the Maximum height to 820 (or 238 and 250 for metric users). It isn't necessary to include the foot mark (′) or m for meters when entering elevations.

9. Click the Create Profile View button and pick a point on screen to draw the profile view.

Your screen should look similar to Figure 7.36. When this exercise is complete, you may save and keep the drawing open to continue on to the next exercise. If you would like to view the result of this exercise, it is included in the finished drawing (along with the finished portions of the next two exercises) available from the book's web page (ProfileViewsSplit_FINISHED.dwg or ProfileViewsSplit_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg).

Figure 7.36 Applying user-specified station and height values to a profile view

Creating Staggered Profile Views

When large variations occur in profile height, the profile view must often be split just to keep from wasting much of the page with empty grid lines. In this exercise, you use the Profile View wizard to create a staggered, or stepped, view:

1. You may continue using the file from the previous exercise or start this exercise with the ProfileViewsSplit.dwg file (or the ProfileViewsSplit_METRIC.dwg file).

2. From the Home tab ⇒ Profile & Section Views panel, choose Profile View ⇒ Create Profile View to display the Create Profile View wizard.

3. Verify that the Select Alignment drop-down list shows Syrah Way, Profile Name is set to Syrah Way Staggered Full Grid, and Full Grid is selected in the Profile View Style drop-down list; then click Next.

4. Verify that Station Range is set to Automatic to allow the view to show the full length, and click Next.

5. In the Profile View Height field, select the User Specified option and set the values to 790.00′ and 805.00′ (or 240 and 246 for metric users), as shown in Figure 7.37. These heights are only important in that they set the height of the profile view (15′ or 6 m in this case).

Figure 7.37 Split Profile View settings

6. Check the Split Profile View option and set the view styles to First View, Intermediate View, and Last View, as shown in Figure 7.37.

7. Click the Create Profile View button and pick a point on screen to draw the staggered display, as shown in Figure 7.38.

Figure 7.38 A staggered (stepped) split profile view created via the wizard

The profile view is split into views according to the settings that were selected in the Create Profile View wizard in step 6. The first portion of the profile view shows the profile from 0 to the station where the elevation change of the profile exceeds the limit for height. The next portion of the profile view displays the same, and so on for the rest of the profile. Each of these portions is part of the same profile view and can be adjusted via the Profile View Properties dialog.

When this exercise is complete, you may save and keep the drawing open to continue on to the next exercise. If you would like to view the result of this exercise, it is included in the finished drawing (along with the finished portions of the previous exercise and next exercise) available from the book's web page (ProfileViewsSplit_FINISHED.dwg or ProfileViewsSplit_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg).

Creating Gapped Profile Views

Profile views must often be limited in length and height to fit a given sheet size. Gapped views are a way to show the entire length and height of the profile, by breaking the profile into different sections with “gaps” or spaces between each view.

When you are using the Plan and Production tools (covered in Chapter 17, “Plan Production”), the gapped profile views are automatically created.

In this exercise, you will use a variation of the Create Profile View wizard called the Create Multiple Profile Views wizard to create gapped views automatically:

1. You may continue using the file from the previous exercise or start this exercise with the ProfileViewsSplit.dwg file (or the ProfileViewsSplit_METRIC.dwg file).

2. From the Home tab ⇒ Profile & Section Views panel, choose Profile View ⇒ Create Multiple Profile Views to display the Create Multiple Profile Views wizard.

3. Verify that the Select Alignment drop-down list shows Frontenac Drive, Profile Name is set to Frontenac Drive Gapped Full Grid, and Full Grid is selected in the Profile View Style drop-down list, as shown in Figure 7.39; then click Next.

Figure 7.39 The Create Multiple Profile Views – General wizard page

4. On the Station Range wizard page, verify that the Automatic option is selected.

5. Set the length of each view to 650 (or 200 for metric users), and click Next.

6. On the Profile View Height wizard page, verify that the Automatic option is selected.

Note that you could use the Split Profile View options from the previous exercise here as well if you use the User Specified profile view height.

7. Click Next.

8. On the Profile Display Options wizard page, scroll across until you get to the Labels column and verify Style is set to _No Labels on both profiles; then click Next.

9. On the Data Bands wizard page, verify that the band set is EG-FG Elevations And Stations, and click the Multiple Plot Options link in the left sidebar of the wizard to jump ahead to that wizard page. We will look at the data bands in further depth a little later in this chapter.

The Multiple Plot Options wizard page shown in Figure 7.40 is unique to the Create Multiple Profile Views wizard. This wizard page step controls whether the gapped profile views will be arranged in a column, a row, or a grid. The Frontenac Drive alignment is fairly short, so the gapped views will be aligned in a row. However, it could be prudent with longer alignments to stack the profile views in a column or a compact grid, thereby saving screen space.

Figure 7.40 The Create Multiple Profile Views – Multiple Plot Options wizard page

10. Click the Create Profile Views button and pick a point on screen to create a view similar to Figure 7.41.

Figure 7.41 The staggered and gapped profile views of the Frontenac alignment

The gapped profile views are the three profile views on the bottom of the screen and, just like the staggered profile view, show the entire alignment from start to finish. Unlike the staggered view, however, the gapped view is separated by a “gap” into three profile views. In addition, the gapped profile views are independent of each other so they can be modified to have their own styles, properties, and labeling associated with them, making them useful when you don't want a view to show information that is not needed on a particular section. This is also the primary way to create divided profile views for sheet production.

When this exercise is complete, you may close the drawing. A finished copy of this drawing showing the results of the previous three exercises is available from the book's web page with the filename ProfileViewsSplit_FINISHED.dwg or ProfileViewsSplit_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg.

Creating Stacked Profile Views

In some parts of the United States, a three-line profile view is a common requirement. In this situation, the centerline is displayed in a central profile view, with left and right offsets shown in profile views above and below the centerline profile view. These are then typically used to show top-of-curb design profiles in addition to the centerline design. In this exercise, you look at how the Create Profile View wizard makes generating these stacked views a simple process:

1. Open the StackedProfiles.dwg file (or the StackedProfiles_METRIC.dwg file). This drawing has sampled profiles for the Syrah Way alignment at center as well as left and right offsets.

2. From the Home tab ⇒ Profile & Section Views panel, choose Profile View ⇒ Create Profile View to display the Create Profile View wizard.

3. Verify that the Select Alignment drop-down list shows Syrah Way, Profile Name is set to Syrah Way Stacked Full Grid, and Full Grid is selected in the Profile View Style drop-down list.

4. Check the Show Offset Profiles By Vertically Stacking Profile Views option on the General wizard page.

Notice that by checking this box an additional link named Stacked Profile is added to the left sidebar of the wizard.

5. Click Next.

6. On the Create Profile View – Station Range wizard page, verify that the Station Range is set to Automatic, and click Next.

7. On the Create Profile View – Profile View Height wizard page, verify that Profile View Height is set to Automatic, and click Next.

8. On the Create Profile View – Stacked Profile wizard page, set the gap between views to 10 (or 4 for metric users).

9. Set the view styles to Top Stacked View, Middle Stacked View, and Bottom Stacked View, as shown in Figure 7.42.

Figure 7.42 The Create Profile View – Stacked Profile wizard page

10. Set the Gap Between Views value to 15 (or 5 for metric users) and click Next.

11. On the Create Profile View – Profile Display Options wizard page, select Top View in the Select Stacked View To Specify Options For list box.

12. Toggle the Draw option for the left offset profile (EG - Syrah Way -25.000 or EG - Syrah Way -7.500), as shown in Figure 7.43. If you need to widen the columns, you can do so by clicking the line between the column headings.

Figure 7.43 Setting the stacked view options for each view

Remember that the negative offset denotes a left profile whereas a positive offset denotes a right profile.

13. Select Middle View - [1] in the Select Stacked View To Specify Options For list box.

14. Toggle the Draw option for the sampled centerline profile (EG - Syrah Way) as well as the layout centerline profile (Syrah Way FG).

15. Select Bottom View in the Select Stacked View To Specify Options For list box.

16. Toggle the Draw option for the right offset profile (EG - Syrah Way 25.000 or EG - Syrah Way -7.500) profile, and click Next.

17. On the Data Bands wizard page, verify that the band set is set to EG-FG Elevations And Stations.

18. Click the Create Profile View button and pick a point on the screen to draw the stacked profiles, as shown in Figure 7.44.

Figure 7.44 Completed stacked profiles

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

Like the gapped profile views that you generated in a previous exercise, the profile views are independent of one another so they can be modified to have their own styles, properties, and labeling associated with them. The stacking here simply automates a process that many users previously found tedious. At this point you do not have finished grade information at the offsets, but you can add it to these views later by editing the Profile View Properties for those profile views.

When you create a profile, the profile will automatically be visible in all profile views based on that same alignment by default. In the Profile View Properties dialog, you can always turn the Draw option off for any profile that you don't want visible in a profile view.

Editing Profile Views

Once profile views have been created, things get interesting. Any number of modifications to the view itself can be applied, even before editing the styles, which makes profile views one of the most flexible objects of the AutoCAD Civil 3D package. In this series of exercises, you'll look at a number of changes that can be applied to any profile view in place.

Profile View Properties

Picking a profile view from the Profile View contextual tab ⇒ Modify View panel and choosing Profile View Properties yields the dialog shown in Figure 7.45. The properties of a profile include the style applied, station and elevation limits, the number of profiles displayed, and the bands associated with the profile view. If a pipe network is displayed, a tab labeled Pipe Networks will appear. These tabs should look very similar to the links in the sidebar of the Create Profile View wizard.

Figure 7.45 Typical Profile View Properties dialog

Adjusting the Profile View Station Limits

In spite of the wizard, there are often times when a profile view needs to be manually adjusted. For example, the most common change is to limit the length of the profile view that is being shown so it fits on a specific size of paper or viewport. You can make some of these changes during the initial creation of a profile view (as shown in a previous exercise), but you can also make changes after the profile view has been created.

One way to do this is to use the Profile View Properties dialog to make changes to the profile view. The profile view is an AutoCAD Civil 3D object, so it has properties and styles that can be adjusted in this dialog to make the profile view look like you need it to.

1. Open the ProfileViewProperties.dwg file (or the ProfileViewsProperties_METRIC.dwg file).

2. Zoom to the Cabernet Court Full Grid profile view (located inside a rectangle labeled “Cabernet Court Adjust Stations”).

3. Pick a grid line, and from the Profile View contextual tab ⇒ Modify View panel, choose Profile View Properties to display the Profile View Properties dialog.

4. On the Stations tab, click the User Specified Range radio button, and set the value of the End station to 700 (or 200 for metric users), as shown in Figure 7.46. Note that you do not need to type the + symbol.

Figure 7.46 Adjusting the end station values for Cabernet Court

5. Click OK to dismiss the dialog.

The profile view will now reflect the updated end station value.

One of the nice things about Civil 3D is that copies of a profile view retain the properties of that view, making a gapped view easy to create manually if it was not created with the wizard.

6. Press F8 on your keyboard to enable Ortho mode.

7. Enter Copy on the command line. Pick the Cabernet Court profile view you just modified. Make sure you are selecting the grid representing the profile view and not the linework that represents the profile.

8. Pick a base point and move the crosshairs to the right.

9. When the crosshairs reach a point where the two profile views do not overlap, pick that as your second point, and press to end the Copy command.

10. Pick the copy just created and from the Profile View contextual tab ⇒ Modify View panel, choose Profile View Properties to display the Profile View Properties dialog.

11. On the Stations tab, change the stations again.

12. This time, set the Start field to 700 (or 200 for metric users) and the End field to 1253.18 (or 381.94 for metric users).

13. Click OK to dismiss the dialog.

The total length of the alignment will now be displayed on the two profile views, with a gap between the two views at station 7+00 (or 0+200 for metric users).

You may want to move the copied profile view since it held the station location, thus shifting it further right than originally.

Once this exercise is complete, your drawing will look like Figure 7.47.

Figure 7.47 A manually created gap between profile views

When this exercise is complete, you may save and keep the drawing open to continue on to the next exercise. If you would like to view the result of this exercise, it is included in the finished drawing (along with the finished portions of the next two exercises) available from the book's web page (ProfileViewProperties_FINISHED.dwg or ProfileViewProperties_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg).

In addition to creating gapped profile views by changing the profile properties, you could show phase limits by applying a different style to the profile in the second view.

Adjusting the Profile View Elevations

Another common issue is the need to control the height of the profile view. Civil 3D automatically sets the datum and the top elevation of profile views on the basis of the data to be displayed. In most cases this is adequate, but in others, this simply creates a view too large for the space allocated on the sheet or does not provide the adequate room for layout PVIs to be laid out.

1. You may continue using the file from the previous exercise or start this exercise with the ProfileViewProperties.dwg file (or the ProfileViewProperties_METRIC.dwg file).

2. Zoom to the Syrah Way Full Grid profile view (located inside a rectangle labeled “Cabernet Court Adjust Elevation Step 2”).

3. Pick a grid line, and from the Profile View contextual tab ⇒ Modify View panel, choose Profile View Properties to display the Profile View Properties dialog.

4. On the Elevations tab, in the Elevation Range section, check the User Specified Height radio button and set the maximum height to 830 (or 255 for metric users), as shown in Figure 7.48.

Figure 7.48 Modifying the height of the profile view

5. Click OK to dismiss the dialog.

The profile view of Syrah Way should reflect the updated elevations, as shown in Figure 7.49.

Figure 7.49 The updated profile view with the heights manually adjusted

The Elevations tab can also be used to split the profile view and create the staggered view that you previously created with the wizard.

6. Pick the Syrah Way Full Grid (1) profile view (located inside a rectangle labeled “Cabernet Court Adjust Elevations Step 6”).

7. Right-click a grid line, and select the Profile View Properties option to open the Profile View Properties dialog.

8. Switch to the Elevations tab.

9. In the Elevations Range area, click the User Specified Height radio button.

10. Check the Split Profile View option, and verify that the Automatic radio button is selected.

Notice that the Height field is now active.

11. Set the Height to 16 (or 7 for metric users), as shown in Figure 7.50.

Figure 7.50 Defining a Split Profile View on the Elevations tab

12. Click OK to exit the dialog.

13. Enter REGEN on the command line.

The profile view should look like Figure 7.51.

Figure 7.51 A split profile view for the Syrah Way alignment

When this exercise is complete, you may save and keep the drawing open to continue on to the next exercise. If you would like to view the result of this exercise, it is included in the finished drawing (along with the finished portions of the previous exercise and next exercise) available from the book's web page (ProfileViewProperties_FINISHED.dwg or ProfileViewProperties_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg).

Automatically creating split views is a good starting point, but you'll often have to tweak them as you've done here. The selection of the proper profile view styles is an important part of the Split Profile View process. We'll look at object styles in Chapter 21.

Profile Display Options

AutoCAD Civil 3D allows the creation of literally hundreds of profiles for any given alignment. Doing so makes it easy to evaluate multiple design solutions, but it can also mean that profile views get very crowded. In this exercise, you'll look at some profile display options that allow the toggling of various profiles within a profile view:

Figure 7.52 The Cabernet Court profile view with the Draw option toggled off for the EG profile

Toggling off the Draw option for the EG surface has created a profile view style in which a profile of the existing ground surface will not be drawn on the profile view.

The sampled profile from the EG surface still exists under the Cabernet Court alignment; it simply isn't shown in the current profile view.

When this exercise is complete, you may close the drawing. A finished copy of this drawing showing the results of the previous three exercises is available from the book's web page with the filename ProfileViewProperties_FINISHED.dwg or ProfileViewProperties_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg.

Now that you've modified a number of styles, let's look at another option that is available on the Profile View Properties dialog: bands.

Profile View Bands

Data bands are horizontal elements that display additional graphical and numerical information about the profile or alignment that is referenced in a profile view. Bands can be applied to both the top and bottom of a profile view, and there are six different band types:

In this exercise, you'll add bands to give feedback on the EG and layout profiles, as well as horizontal and vertical geometry:

1. Open the ProfileViewBands.dwg file (or the ProfileViewBands_METRIC.dwg file).

2. Zoom to the Frontenac Drive profile view.

3. Pick a grid line, and from the Profile View contextual tab ⇒ Modify View panel, choose Profile View Properties to display the Profile View Properties dialog.

4. On the Bands tab (Figure 7.53), in the List Of Bands area, verify that the Location drop-down is set to Bottom Of Profile View and notice that an Elevations And Stations band has already been set during the creation of this profile view.

Figure 7.53 The Bands tab of the Profile View Properties dialog

Selecting the type of band from the Band Type drop-down menu changes the Select Band Style drop-down menu to include styles that are available for that band type. Next to the Select Band Style drop-down menu are the usual Style Edit/Copy button and a preview button. Once you've selected a style from the Select Band Style drop-down, clicking the Add button places it on the profile. The middle portion of this dialog allows you to switch between the bands shown at the Bottom of Profile View or the Top of Profile View; you'll look at that in a moment.

5. Change the Band Type drop-down to the Profile Data option and choose the Cut Data option from the Select Band Style drop-down.

6. Click the Add button to add the Profile Data band to display the Geometry Points To Label In Band dialog shown in Figure 7.54.

Figure 7.54 The Geometry Points To Label In Band dialog showing the Alignment Points tab (left) and the Profile Points tab (right)

7. Click OK to accept the defaults in the Geometry Points To Label In Band dialog.

8. Leave Band Type set to Profile Data, and choose the Fill Data option from the Select Band Style drop-down.

9. Click the Add button to add the Profile Data band to display the Geometry Points To Label In Band dialog.

10. Click OK to accept the defaults in the Geometry Points To Label In Band dialog.

11. Change the Location drop-down to Top Of Profile View.

12. Change the Band Type drop-down to the Horizontal Geometry option and choose the Geometry option from the Select Band Style drop-down.

13. Click the Add button to add the Horizontal Geometry band to the table in the List Of Bands area.

14. Change the Band Type drop-down to the Vertical Geometry option.

Do not change the Select Band Style field from its current selection (Geometry).

15. Click the Add button to also add the Vertical Geometry band to the table in the List Of Bands area.

16. Click OK to exit the dialog.

Your profile view should look like Figure 7.55.

Figure 7.55 Applying bands to a profile view

There are obviously problems with the bands. The Vertical Geometry band is a mess and is located above the title of the profile view, whereas the Horizontal Geometry band overwrites the title. In addition, the elevation information has only the existing ground profile being referenced. Next, you'll fix those issues:

17. Pick the Frontenac Drive profile view.

18. From the Profile View contextual tab ⇒ Modify View panel, choose Profile View Properties to display the Profile View Properties dialog.

19. On the Bands tab, verify that the Location drop-down in the List Of Bands area is set to Bottom Of Profile View.

20. Verify that the “Match major/minor increments to vertical grid intervals” option at the bottom of the page is selected.

Checking this option ensures that the major/minor intervals of the profile data band match the major/minor profile view style's major/minor grid spacing.

Three Profile Data bands are listed in the table in the List Of Bands area (Elevations And Stations, Cut Data, and Fill Data). If you need to widen the columns, you can do so by clicking the line between the column headings.

21. Scroll right in the Profile Data row and notice the two columns labeled Profile1 and Profile2.

22. For all three rows change the value of Profile2 to Frontenac Drive FG, as shown in Figure 7.56.

Figure 7.56 Setting the profile view bands to reference the Frontenac Drive FG profile

23. Change the Location drop-down to Top Of Profile View.

The Horizontal Geometry and the Vertical Geometry bands are now listed in the table as well.

24. Scroll to the right again, and set the value of Profile1 in the Vertical Geometry band to Frontenac Drive FG.

Notice that some of the Profile1 and Profile2 boxes are not available for editing, such as those in the horizontal geometry band in the Top Of Profile View; this is because profile information isn't needed for this band.

25. Scroll back to the left and set the Gap value for the Horizontal Geometry band to 1.5≤ (or 35 mm for metric users).

This value controls the distance from one band to the next or to the edge of the profile view itself and will move the bands to above the profile view title.

26. Click OK to dismiss the dialog.

Your profile view should now look like Figure 7.57.

Figure 7.57 Completed profile view with the Bands set appropriately

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

Bands use the Profile1 and Profile2 designation as part of their style construction. By changing the profile referenced as Profile1 or Profile2, you change the values that are calculated and displayed (e.g., existing versus proposed elevations). These bands are just more items that are driven by object styles, which you will learn more about in Chapter 21.

We will look at using Band Sets a little later in this chapter.

Profile View Hatch

Sometimes it is necessary to shade cut/fill areas in a profile view. The settings on the Hatch tab of the Profile View Properties dialog are used to specify upper and lower cut/fill boundary limits for associated profiles (see Figure 7.58). Shape styles from the General Multipurpose Styles collection found on the Settings tab of Toolspace can also be selected here. These settings include the following:

Figure 7.58 Shape style selection on the Hatch tab of the Profile View Properties dialog

Figure 7.59 shows a cut and fill hatched profile based on the criteria shown previously in Figure 7.58.

Figure 7.59 A portion of the Frontenac Drive Profile shown with cut and fill shading

Mastering Profiles and Profile Views

One of the most difficult concepts to master in AutoCAD Civil 3D is the notion of which settings control which display property. Although the following two rules may sound overly simplistic, they are easily forgotten in times of frustration:

• Every object has a label and an object style.
• Every label has a label style.

Furthermore, if you can remember that there is a distinct difference between a profile object and the profile view object you place it in, you'll be well on your way to mastering profiles and profile views. When in doubt, select an object, right-click, and pay attention to the Civil 3D commands available. Label styles and object styles will be discussed further in Chapters 20 and 21, respectively.

Profile View Labeling Styles

Now that the profile view is created, the profile view grid spacing is set, and the titles all look good, it's time to add some specific callouts and detail information. Civil 3D uses profile view labels and bands for annotating. The specific label styles will be discussed further in Chapter 20, but for now we will just discuss how to apply the labels.

View Annotation

Profile view annotations label individual points in a profile view, but they are not tied to a specific profile object. Profile view labels can be station elevation, depth labels, or projection labels. Station elevation labels can be used to label a single point or the depth between two points in a profile while recognizing the vertical exaggeration of the profile view and applying the scaling factor to label the correct depth. In this exercise, you'll use both the station elevation label and the depth label:

1. Open the ProfileViewLabels.dwg file (or the ProfileViewLabels_METRIC.dwg file).

2. Zoom to the Cabernet Court profile view located in the rectangle.

3. From the Annotate tab ⇒ Labels & Tables panel, choose Add Labels (not the drop-down list) from the Labels & Tables panel to open the Add Labels dialog.

4. In the Feature drop-down, select Profile View.

5. In the Label Type drop-down, verify that Station Elevation is selected.

6. In the Station Elevation Label Style drop-down, verify that Station And Elevation is selected.

7. Verify that the Marker style is set to Basic Circle With Cross.

8. Click the Add button.

9. When prompted to select a profile view, click a grid line in the Cabernet Court profile view and a jig will appear.

10. Zoom in around station 7+85 (or 0+235 for metric users) so that you can see the point where the EG and layout profiles cross.

11. Pick this profile crossover point visually; then pick the same point to set the elevation and press .

Your label should look like Figure 7.60.

Figure 7.60 An elevation label for a profile station

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Snapping to Profiles and Profile Views

For a number of releases now, users have been asking for the ability to simply snap to the intersection of two profiles. We mention this because you'll try to snap and wonder if you've lost your mind. You haven't—it just doesn't work. If you are after a solution (it isn't elegant), you can draw lines on top of the profiles.

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12. In the Add Labels dialog, change both Label Type and Depth Label Style to the Depth option.

13. Click the Add button.

14. Pick the Cabernet Court profile view by clicking one of the grid lines.

15. Pick a point along the layout profile; then pick a point along the EG profile and press .

The depth between the two profiles will be measured, as shown in Figure 7.61.

Figure 7.61 A depth label applied to the Cabernet Court profile view

16. Close the Add Labels dialog.

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

Depth labels can be handy in earthworks situations where cut and fill become critical, and individual spot labels are important to understanding points of interest, but most design documentation is accomplished with labels placed along the profile view axes in the form of data bands. The next section describes these band sets.

Band Sets

Band sets are simply collections of bands, much like the profile label sets or alignment label sets. In this exercise, you'll save a band set and then apply it to a second profile view:

1. Open the ProfileViewBandSets.dwg file (or the ProfileViewBandSets_FINISHED.dwg file).

2. Pick the Frontenac Drive profile view (at the lower right located in a rectangle), and from the Profile View contextual tab ⇒ Modify View panel, choose Profile View Properties to display the Profile View Properties dialog.

3. On the Bands tab, click the Save As Band Set button to display the Band Set – New Profile View Band Set dialog.

4. On the Information tab, in the Name field, enter Cut Fill Elev Station and Horiz Vert Geometry, as shown in Figure 7.62.

Figure 7.62 The Information tab for the Band Set – New Profile View Band Set dialog

5. Click OK to dismiss the Band Set – New Profile View Band Set dialog.

6. Click OK to dismiss the Profile View Properties dialog.

7. Pick the Syrah Way profile view (at the upper right located in a rectangle), and from the Profile View contextual tab ⇒ Modify View panel, choose Profile View Properties to display the Profile View Properties dialog.

8. On the Bands tab, click the Import Band Set button, and the Band Set dialog opens.

9. Select the Cut Fill Elev Station and Horiz Vert Geometry option from the drop-down list and click OK.

10. Select Top Of Profile View from the Location drop-down list.

11. Scroll over on the Vertical Geometry and set Profile1 to Syrah Way FG.

12. Select the Bottom Of Profile View from the Location drop-down list.

13. Scroll over and change the Profile2 to Syrah Way FG for all three rows.

14. Click OK to exit the Profile View Properties dialog.

Your Syrah Way profile view (Figure 7.63) now looks like the Frontenac Drive profile view.

Figure 7.63 Completed profile view after importing the band set and matching properties

Band sets allow you to create uniform labeling and callout information across a variety of profile views. By using a band set, you can apply myriad settings and styles that you've assigned to a single profile view to a number of profile views. The simplicity of enforcing standard profile view labels and styles makes using profiles and profile views simpler than ever.

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

Profile Labels

It's important to remember that the profile and the profile view aren't the same thing. The labels discussed in this section are those that relate directly to the profile but are visible for a specific profile view. This usually means station-based labels, individual tangent and curve labels, or grade breaks.

Applying Labels

As with alignments, you can apply labels as a group of objects separate from the profile. In this portion of the exercise, you'll learn how to add labels along a profile object:

1. Open the ApplyingProfileLabels.dwg file (or the ApplyingProfileLabels_METRIC.dwg file).

2. Zoom to the Cabernet Court profile view in the rectangle and pick the Cabernet Court FG profile (the blue line) to activate the Profile contextual tab.

3. From the Profile contextual tab ⇒ Labels panel, choose Edit Profile Labels to display the Profile Labels dialog (see Figure 7.64).

Figure 7.64 An empty Profile Labels dialog

Selecting the type of label from the Type drop-down menu changes the Style drop-down menu to include styles that are available for that label type. Next to the Style drop-down menu are the usual Style Edit/Copy button and a preview button. Once you've selected a style from the Style drop-down menu, clicking the Add button places it on the profile. The middle portion of this dialog displays information about the labels that are being applied to the profile selected; you'll look at that in a moment.

4. Choose the Major Stations option from the Type drop-down menu.

The name of the second drop-down menu changes to Profile Major Station Label Style to reflect this option.

5. Verify that Perpendicular With Tick is selected in this menu.

6. Click the Add button to apply this label to the profile.

7. Choose Horizontal Geometry Points from the Type drop-down menu.

The name of the Style drop-down menu changes to Profile Horizontal Geometry Point.

8. Select the Horizontal Geometry Station option, and click the Add button again to display the Geometry Points dialog.

This dialog lets you apply different label styles to different geometry points if necessary.

9. Deselect the Alignment Beginning and Alignment End rows, as shown in Figure 7.65, and click OK to dismiss the dialog.

Figure 7.65 The Geometry Points dialog appears when you apply labels to horizontal geometry points.

10. On the Profile Labels dialog, click the Apply button.

11. Drag the dialog out of the way to view the changes to the profile, as shown in Figure 7.66.

Figure 7.66 Labels applied to major stations and alignment geometry points

12. In the middle of the Profile Labels dialog, change the Increment value in the Major Stations row to 50 (or 10 for metric users), as shown in Figure 7.67.

Figure 7.67 Modifying the major station labeling increment

This modifies the labeling increment only, not the grid or other values.

13. Click OK to dismiss the Profile Labels dialog.

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

As you can see, applying labels one at a time could turn into a tedious task. After you learn about the types of labels available, you may want to revisit this dialog and use the Import Label Set and Save Label Set buttons, which work similarly to the Import Band Set and Save Band Set buttons that we discussed previously. A further discussion, including more of the profile labels that are available, is provided in Chapters 20 and 21.

Profile Label Sets

Applying labels to both crest and sag curves, tangents, grade breaks, and geometry with the label style selection and various options can be monotonous. Thankfully, Civil 3D gives you the ability to use label sets, as in alignments, to make the process quick and easy. Just as you saved and imported band sets in a previous example, you can save and import label sets as well.

In all of the previous examples you used either the Complete Label Set or the _No Labels label set, which you specified on the Profile Display Options wizard page.

Label sets are the best way to apply profile labeling uniformly. When you're working with a well-developed set of styles and label sets, it's quick and easy to go from sketched profile layout to plan-ready output. We will discuss profile label sets in further detail and go over an example in Chapter 20.

Profile Utilities

One common requirement is to compare profile data for objects that are aligned similarly but not parallel. Another is the ability to project objects from a plan view into a profile view. The abilities to superimpose profiles and project objects are both discussed in this section.

Superimposing Profiles

In a profile view, a profile is sometimes superimposed to show one profile adjacent to another (e.g., a ditch adjacent to a road centerline). In this brief exercise, you'll superimpose one of your street designs onto the other to see how they compare over a certain portion of their length:

1. Open the SuperimposeProfiles.dwg file (or the SuperimposeProfiles_METRIC.dwg file).

2. From the Home tab ⇒ Create Design panel, choose Profile ⇒ Create Superimposed Profile.

3. At the Select source profile: prompt, zoom to the Frontenac Drive profile view at the bottom right and pick the Frontenac Drive FG profile (the blue line).

4. At the Select destination profile view: prompt, pick the Cabernet Court profile view at the middle right by clicking one of the grid lines to display the Superimpose Profile Options dialog shown in Figure 7.68.

Figure 7.68 The Superimpose Profile Options dialog

5. Click OK to dismiss the dialog, accepting the default settings.

6. Zoom in on the Cabernet Court profile view to see the superimposed data, as shown in Figure 7.69.

Figure 7.69 The Frontenac Drive layout profile superimposed on the Cabernet Court profile view

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

Note that the vertical curve in the Frontenac Drive layout profile has been approximated on the Cabernet Court profile view, using a series of PVIs. Superimposing works by projecting a line from the target alignment (Cabernet Court) to a perpendicular intersection with the other source alignment (Frontenac Drive).

The target alignment is queried for an elevation at the intersecting station and a PVI is added to the superimposed profile. Note that this superimposed profile is still dynamic! A change in the Frontenac Drive layout profile will be reflected on the Cabernet Court profile view.

Object Projection

Some AutoCAD and some AutoCAD Civil 3D objects can be projected from a plan view into a profile view. The list of available AutoCAD objects includes points, blocks, 3D solids, and 3D polylines. The list of available AutoCAD Civil 3D objects includes COGO points, feature lines, and survey figures. These objects can be projected to the objects elevation, a manually selected elevation, a surface, or a profile. In the following exercise, you'll project a 3D object into a profile view:

1. Open the ObjectProjection.dwg file (or the ObjectProjection_METRIC.dwg file).

2. From the Home tab ⇒ Profile & Section Views panel, choose Profile View ⇒ Project Objects To Profile View.

3. At the Select objects to add to profile view: prompt, select the Fire Hydrant object located in the center of the circle near the eastern intersection of Syrah Way and Frontenac Drive and press .

4. At the Select a profile view: prompt, select the Syrah Way profile view (located at the upper right inside a rectangle) by clicking one of the grid lines to display the Project Objects To Profile View dialog.

5. Verify that Style is set to Fire Hydrant, Elevation Options is set to Surface ⇒ EG, and Label Style is set to Projection Dimension Below, as shown in Figure 7.70.

Figure 7.70 A completed Project Objects To Profile View dialog

6. Click OK to dismiss the dialog, and review your results as shown in Figure 7.71.

Figure 7.71 The COGO point object projected into a profile view

We actually wanted the Fire Hydrant to show on the Proposed surface. No problem. Follow these steps:

7. Click on the Fire Hydrant in profile view to activate the Projected Object contextual tab.

8. From the Projected Object contextual tab ⇒ Modify Projected Object panel, choose Projection Properties to display the Projection View Properties dialog.

9. In the Projection View Properties dialog, click the <set all> option in the Elevation Options column and select Syrah Way FG, as shown in Figure 7.72. Click OK.

Figure 7.72 Select the Syrah Way FG elevation

The Fire Hydrant is now reprojected to match the elevation of the Syrah Way Finished Grade (FG) alignment, as shown in Figure 7.73.

Figure 7.73 The COGO point object projected onto the Syrah Way FG profile

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

Once an object has been projected into a profile view, the Profile View Properties dialog will display a new Projections tab. Projected objects will remain dynamically linked with respect to their plan placement. If you move them manually after placing them dynamically, a warning will appear to confirm that you want to break the dynamic setting. Because profile views and section views are similar in nature, objects can be projected into section views in the same fashion. However, projecting a feature line onto a profile view will give you a different result than projecting it onto a section view. On a profile view, it looks more like a superimposed profile. On a section view, it's more like a pipe crossing since it only appears where it intersects the section line.

Quick Profile

There are going to be times when all you want is to quickly look at a profile and not keep it for later use. When this is the case, instead of creating an alignment, a profile, and a profile view, you can instead create a quick profile. A quick profile is a temporary object that will not be saved with the drawing. You can create a quick profile for 2D or 3D lines or polylines, lot lines, feature lines, survey figures, or even a series of points.

From the Home tab ⇒ Create Design panel, choose Profile ⇒ Quick Profile. The command line will state Select object or [by Points]:. Once you select your object (or points), the Create Quick Profiles dialog is displayed, as shown in Figure 7.74.

Figure 7.74 The Create Quick Profiles dialog

You can select which surface you want to sample as well as what profile view style and 3D entity profile style to use.

The Bottom Line