Chapter 17
Plan Production
So you've toiled for days, weeks, or maybe months creating your design in the AutoCAD® Civil 3D® program, and now it's time to share it with the world — or at least your corner of it. Even in this digital age, paper plan sets still play an important role. You generate these plans in Civil 3D using the Plan Production feature. This chapter takes you through the steps necessary to create a set of sheets, from initial setup, to framing and generating sheets, to data management and plotting.
In this chapter, you will learn to:
Before you start generating all sorts of wonderful plan sets, you must address a few concepts and prerequisites. Civil 3D takes advantage of several features and components to build a plan set. Some of these components have existed in AutoCAD and Civil 3D software for years (for example, layout tabs, drawing templates, alignments, and profiles). Others are newer properties of existing features (such as Plan and Profile viewport types), view frames, match lines, and view frame groups. Let's look at what you need to have in place before you can create your plotted masterpieces.
The Plan Production feature draws on several components to create a plan set. Here is a list of these components and a brief explanation of each. Later, this chapter will explore these elements in greater detail:
Drawing Template
Plan Production creates new layouts for each sheet in a plan set. To do this, the feature uses drawing templates with predefined viewports. These viewports have their Viewport Type property set to either Plan or Profile.
For the exercises in this chapter, the default location for the final sheets will refer to the C:MasteringCH 17Final Sheets location. It is recommended that you download all of the files (including the Final Sheets folder) for this chapter from the book's web page (www.sybex.com/go/masteringcivil3d2013) and place them in the C:MasteringCH 17 folder.
Object and Display Styles
Like every other feature in Civil 3D, Plan Production uses objects. Specifically, these objects are view frames, view frame groups, and match lines. Before creating plan sheets, you'll want to make sure you have styles set up for each of these objects.
Alignments and Profiles
In Civil 3D, the Plan Production feature is designed primarily for use in creating plan and profile views. Toward that end, your drawing must contain (or data reference) at least one alignment. If you're creating sheets with both plan and profile views or just profile views, a profile must also be present.
Sample Lines and Sections
Creating section sheets requires an alignment, a sample line group, cross sections, and a sheet template with associated section viewports.
With these elements in place, you're ready to dive in and create some sheets. The general steps in creating a set of plans are as follows:
The next section describes this process in detail and the tools used in Plan Production. The Sheet Set Manager, which is found in basic AutoCAD, is an integral part of this process.
When you create sheets using the Plan Production tools, Civil 3D first automatically helps you divide your alignment into areas that will fit on your plotted sheet and display at the desired scale. To do this, Civil 3D creates a series of rectangular frames placed end to end (or slightly overlapping) along the length of alignment, like those in Figure 17.1. These rectangles are referred to as view frames and are automatically sized and positioned to meet your plan sheet requirements. This collection of view frames is referred to as a view frame group. Where the view frames overlap one another, Civil 3D creates match lines that establish continuity from frame to frame by referring to the previous or next sheet in the completed plan set. View frames and match lines are created in modelspace, using the prerequisite elements described in the previous section.
The first step in the process of creating plan sets is to generate view frames. Civil 3D provides an intuitive wizard that walks you through each step of the view frame creation process. Let's look at the Create View Frames wizard and the various page options. After you've seen each page, you'll have a chance to put what you've learned into practice in an example.
From the Output tab ⇒ Plan Production panel, choose Create View Frames to launch the Create View Frames wizard (Figure 17.2). The wizard consists of several pages. A list of these pages is shown along the left sidebar of the wizard, and an arrow indicates which page you're currently viewing. You move among the pages using the Next and Back navigation buttons along the bottom of each page. Alternatively, as with all wizards, you can jump directly to any page by clicking its name in the list on the left. The following sections walk you through the pages of the wizard and explain their features.
You use the first page of the Create View Frames wizard (shown previously in Figure 17.2) to select the alignment and station range, along which the view frames will be created.
Alignment
In the top area of this page, you select the alignment along which you want to create view frames. You can either select it from the drop-down list or click the Select From The Drawing button to select the alignment on screen.
Station Range
In the Station Range area of the page, you define the station range over which the frames will be created. Selecting Automatic creates frames from the Alignment Start to the Alignment End. Selecting User Specified lets you define a custom range, by either keying in start and end station values in the appropriate box or by clicking the button to the right of the station value fields and graphically selecting the station from the drawing.
An example of when you would want to select specific stations is if you have a subdivision that will be constructed in phases. You have designed an entire roadway but only need to create specific sheets for a specific phase.
You use the second page of the Create View Frames wizard (Figure 17.3) to establish the sheet type and the orientation of the view frames along the alignment. A plan production sheet is a layout tab in a drawing file. To create the sheets, Civil 3D references a predefined drawing template (with the file extension .dwt). As mentioned earlier, the template must contain layout tabs, and in each layout tab the viewport's Viewport Properties must be set to either Plan or Profile. Later in this chapter, you'll learn about editing and modifying templates for use in plan production.
The Plan Production feature provides options for creating three types of sheets:
Plan And Profile
This option generates a sheet with two viewports; one viewport shows a plan view and the other shows a profile view of the section of the selected alignment segment.
Plan Only
As the name implies, this option creates a sheet with a single viewport showing only the plan view of the selected alignment segment.
Profile Only
Similar to Plan Only, this option creates a sheet with a single viewport, showing only the profile view of the selected alignment segment.
After choosing the sheet type, you must define the template file and the layout tab within the selected template that Civil 3D will use to generate your sheets. Several predefined templates ship with Civil 3D and are part of the default installation. Be sure to choose the sheet type before selecting the template, because if the sheet type doesn't match the viewport types in the template then you won't be able to select the necessary layout.
C:Users<username>AppDataLocalAutodeskC3D2013 enuTemplatePlan Production
Notice in the template selected (see Figure 17.4) there are layouts for various sheet sizes as well as various scales that are included in the Plan Production templates that ship with Civil 3D.
Your view frames can be placed in one of two ways: either along the alignment or rotated to north. Use the bottom area of the Sheets page of the wizard to establish the placement.
Along Alignment
This option aligns the long axes of the view frames parallel to the alignment. Refer to the graphic to the right of the radio buttons in the dialog for a visual representation. This graphic is shown at the left in Figure 17.5.
Rotate To North
As the name implies, this option aligns the view frames so they're all rotated to the north direction, regardless of the changing rotation of the alignment centerline. North is defined by the orientation of the drawing. This graphic is shown at the right in Figure 17.5.
Regardless of the view frame placement you choose, you have the option to place the first view frame some distance before the start of the alignment. This option is useful if you want to show a portion of the site, such as an existing offsite road, in the plan view. When this option is selected, the text box becomes active, letting you enter the desired distance.
You use the third page of the Create View Frames wizard (Figure 17.6) to define creation parameters for your view frames and the view frame group to which they'll belong. The page is divided into two areas: the top for the View Frame Group and the bottom for the View Frames themselves.
View Frame Group
Use this area of the View Frame Group page to set the name and an optional description for the view frame group. The name can consist of manually entered text, text automatically generated based on the Name template settings, or a combination of both.
View Frame
Use this area of the View Frame Group page to set various parameters for the view frames, including the layer for the frames, view frame names, view frame object and label styles, and the label location. Each view frame can have a unique name (using an incremental counter), but the other parameters are the same for all view frames.
Name
The Name setting is nearly identical in function to that for the View Frame Group Name discussed earlier. With the settings shown previously in Figure 17.6, the default name results in VF - 1, VF - 2, and so on.
Style
Like nearly all objects in Civil 3D, view frames have styles associated with them. The View Frame Style is simple, with only one component: the View Frame Border. You use the drop-down list to select a predefined style.
Label Style
Also like most other Civil 3D objects, view frames have label styles associated with them. And like other label styles, the View Frame Labels are created using the Label Style Composer and can contain a variety of components. The label style used in Figure 17.6 includes the View Frame Name placed at the top of the frame.
Label Location
The last option on this page lets you set the label location. The default feature setting places the label at the top left of the view frame.
For view frame labels are placed at the top of the frame, the term top is relative to the frame's orientation. For alignments that run left to right across the page, the top of the frame points toward the top of the screen. For alignments that run right to left, the top of the frame points toward the bottom of the screen.
You use the fourth page of the Create View Frames wizard (Figure 17.7) to establish settings for match lines. Match lines are used to maintain continuity from one sheet to the next. They're typically placed at or near the edge of a sheet, with instructions to “See Sheet XX” for continuation.
Insert Match Lines
You have the option whether to automatically insert match lines. Match lines are used only for plan views, so if you're creating Plan And Profile or Plan Only sheets, the option is automatically selected and can't be deselected.
Positioning
Use this area of the Match Lines page to define the initial location of the match lines and provide the ability to later move or reposition the match lines.
Snap Station Value Down To The Nearest
By selecting this option, you override the drawing station settings and define a rounding value specific to match line placement. With the settings shown previously in Figure 17.7, a value of 1 is entered, resulting in the match lines being placed at the nearest whole station. For example, if the station was 8 + 14.83 and the value was 1, it would round down to 8 + 14, but for the same station if the value was set to either 50 or 100 it would round down to 8 + 00.
This feature always rounds down (snap station down as opposed to snap station up). The exception to this is that if the rounding would put the match line at an undesirable location (such as before the previous match line or before the beginning of the alignment), then no rounding would be performed and the calculated station would be used.
Allow Additional Distance For Repositioning (Increases View Overlap)
Selecting this option activates the text box, allowing you to enter a distance by which the views on adjacent sheets will overlap, and the maximum distance that you can move a match line from its original position within the overlap area. While the match line locations are originally created automatically, there are going to be instances when you want to move the match line if it bisects a critical location.
Match Line
Use this area of the Match Lines page to provide the settings for the match line. This area is similar to those for view frames described on the previous page of the wizard. You can define the Layer, the Name, and the Match Line Style.
With the settings shown previously in Figure 17.7, the match lines will be named using a predefined text (ML -) and a next counter: ML - 1, ML - 2, ML - 3, etc.
Labels
The options in this area of the Match Line page are also similar to those for View Frames. Different label styles are used to annotate match lines located at the left and right side of a frame. This lets you define match-line label styles that reference either the previous or next station adjacent to the current frame. You can also set the location of each label independently using the Left and Right Label Location drop-down lists. You have options for placing the labels at the start, end, or middle of the match line, or at the point where the match line intersects the alignment.
With the settings shown previously in Figure 17.7, the label style for use at the left match line is shown in Figure 17.8. This Basic Left label style uses the Match Line Number, Match Line Station Value, and Previous Sheet Number.
The final page of the Create View Frames wizard (Figure 17.9) is optional and will be disabled and skipped if you chose to create Plan Only sheets on the Sheets page of the wizard. Use the drop-down lists to select both the Profile View Style and the Band Set Style. These styles were discussed previously in Chapter 7, “Profiles and Profile Views.”
Civil 3D has difficulty determining the proper extents of profile views. If you find that your profile view isn't positioned correctly in the viewport (for example, the annotation along the sides or bottom is clipped), you may need to create buffer areas in the profile-view band set style by modifying the text box width. The _Autodesk Civil 3D NCS.dwt (both Imperial and metric) file contains styles with these buffers created.
This last page of the wizard has no Next button. To complete the wizard, click the Create View Frames button.
Now that you understand the wizard pages and available options, you'll try them out in this exercise:
C:Users<username>AppDataLocalAutodeskC3D2013 enuTemplatePlan Production
Setting | Value |
View Frame Group Name | VFG - <[View Frame Group Alignment Name(CP)]> - (<[Next Counter(CP)]>) |
View Frame Name | VF - (<[Next Counter(CP)]>) |
Style | Basic |
Label Style | Basic |
Label Location | Top Left |
Setting | Value |
Snap Station Value Down To The Nearest | 1 |
Layer | C-ANNO-MTCH |
Name | ML - (<[Next Counter(CP)]>) |
Style | Basic |
Left Label Style | Basic Left |
Left Label Location | End |
Right Label Style | Basic Right |
Right Label Location | Start |
Setting | Value |
Select Profile View Style | Full Grid |
Select Band Set Style | Plan Profile Sheets - Elevations And Stations |
The view frames and match lines are created as shown in Figure 17.10.
Due to the sheet sizes and scales, the Imperial drawing in this example generates four view frames while the metric drawing generates only two view frames.
When this exercise is complete, you may close the drawing. A saved copy of this drawing is available from the book's web page with the filename ViewFrameWizard_FINISHED.dwg or ViewFrameWizard_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg.
After you've created view frames and match lines, you may need to edit them. Edits to some view frame and match line properties can be made via the Prospector tab in the Toolspace palette by expanding the View Frame Groups branch, as shown in Figure 17.11.
You can change some information in the Preview area of Prospector when you highlight either the View Frames branch or the Match Lines branch. Alternatively, you can make further edits from the View Frame Properties dialog or the Match Line Properties dialog. One way of accessing these dialogs is through the View Frame contextual tab or the Match Line contextual tab. Another method is by right-clicking on the desired object in Prospector and selecting Properties. For both view frames and match lines, you can only change the object's name and/or style via the Information tab in their Properties dialog. All other information displayed on the other tabs is read-only.
You make changes to geometry and location graphically using special grip edits (Figure 17.12). Like many other Civil 3D objects with special editing grips (such as profiles and Pipe Network objects), view frames and match lines have editing grips you use to modify the objects' location, rotation, and geometry. Let's look at each separately.
View frames can be graphically edited in three ways. Once you select a view frame object (the rectangular object selected at the left in Figure 17.12), you can move them, slide them along the alignment, and rotate them as follows:
To Move a View Frame
The first grip is the standard square grip that is used for most typical edits, including moving the object.
To Slide a View Frame
The diamond-shaped grip at the center of the frame lets you move the view frame in either direction along the alignment while maintaining the orientation (Along Alignment or Rotated North) you originally established for the view frame when it was created.
To Rotate a View Frame
The circular handle grip works like the one on pipe-network structures. Using this grip, you can rotate the frame about its center.
Also, selecting multiple objects and then selecting their grips while holding Shift makes each grip “hot” (usually a red color). This allows you to grip-edit one object and all of the “hot” objects will also experience the same grip edit, like sliding a group of view frames along the alignment. You can edit a match line's location and length using special grips. As with view frames, you can slide them along the alignment and rotate them. They can also be lengthened or shortened. Unlike view frames, they can't be moved to an arbitrary location. Once you select a match line object (the object selected at the right in Figure 17.12), you can edit them as follows:
To Slide a Match Line
The diamond-shaped grip at the center of the match line lets you move the match line in either direction along the alignment while maintaining the orientation (Along Alignment or Rotated North) that you originally established for the view frame.
Note that the match line can only be moved in either direction a distance equal to or less than that entered on the Match Line page of the wizard at the time the view frames were created. For example, if you entered a value of 50′ (15 m) for the Allow Additional Distance For Repositioning option, your view frames are overlapped 50′ (15 m) to each side of the match line, and you can slide the match line only 50′ (15 m) in either direction from its original location.
To Rotate a Match Line
The circular handle grip works like the one on a view frame.
To Change a Match Line's Length
When you select a match line, a triangular grip is displayed at each end. You can use these grips to increase or decrease the length of each half of the match line. For example, moving the grip on the top end of the match line changes the length of only the top half of the match line; the other half of the match line remains unchanged. See the sidebar “Don't Forget Your AutoCAD Functions!” for tips on using AutoCAD features. If you select a match line and click one of the triangular grips and then hold Shift and select the other triangular grip, then as you lengthen the match line on one end it will shorten on the other, and vice versa.
The following exercise lets you put what you've learned into practice as you change the location and rotation of a view frame, and change the location and length of a match line:
When this exercise is complete, you may close the drawing. A saved copy of this drawing is available from the book's web page with the filename EditViewFramesAndMatchLines_FINISHED.dwg or EditViewFramesAndMatchLines_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg.
Now that you have generated the view frames and match lines in the drawing and you have placed them where you want them, let's look at using these objects to generate sheets.
The Plan Production feature uses the concept of sheets to generate the pages that make up a set of plans. Simply put, sheets are layout tabs with viewports showing a given portion of your design model, based on the view frames previously created. The viewports have special Viewport Properties set that define them as either Plan or Profile viewports. These viewports must be predefined in a drawing template (DWT) file to be used with the Plan Production feature. You manage the sheets using the standard AutoCAD Sheet Set Manager feature.
After you've created view frames and match lines, you can proceed to the next step of creating sheets. Like view frames, sheets are created using a wizard. Let's look at the Create Sheets wizard and the various page options. After you've seen each page, you'll have a chance to put what you've learned into practice in an example.
From the Output tab ⇒ Plan Production panel, you launch the Create Sheets wizard by choosing Create Sheets. Like the Create View Frames wizard, a list of the Create Sheets wizard's pages is shown along the left sidebar, and an arrow indicates which page you're currently viewing. You move among the pages using the Next and Back navigation buttons along the bottom of each page. Alternatively, you can jump directly to any page by clicking its name in the list on the left. The following sections walk you through the pages of the wizard and explain their features.
You use the first page of the Create Sheets wizard (Figure 17.13) to select the view frame group for which the sheets will be created. It's also used to define how the layouts for these sheets will be generated and which sheets will be created (all or a range).
View Frame Group
In the top area of this page, you select the view frame group. You can either select it from the drop-down list or click the Select From The Drawing button to select the view frame group on screen. After you've selected the group, you use the View Frame Range option to create sheets for all frames in the group or only for specific frames of your choosing.
All
Select this option when you want sheets to be created for all view frames in the view frame group.
Selection
Selecting this option activates the Choose View Frames button. Click this button to display the Select View Frames dialog, where you can select specific view frames from a list. You can select a range of view frames by using the standard Windows selection technique of clicking the first view frame in the range and then holding Shift while you select the last view frame in the range. You can also select individual view frames in nonsequential order by holding Ctrl while you make your view frame selections. Figure 17.14 shows two of the four view frames selected in the Select View Frames dialog.
Layout Creation
In this section, you define where and how the new layouts for each sheet are created, as well as the name format for these sheets, and information about the alignment of the north arrow block.
There are three options for creating layout sheets: the layouts are created in multiple new drawing files (with a limit to the maximum number of layout sheets created in each file), all the new layouts are created in a new drawing file, or all the layout tabs are created in the current drawing (the drawing you're in while executing the Create Sheets wizard).
Number Of Layouts Per New Drawing
This option creates layouts in new drawing files and limits the maximum number of layouts per drawing file to the value you enter in the text box. For best performance, Autodesk recommends that a drawing file contain no more than 10 layouts. On the last page of this wizard you're given the option to select the objects for which data references will be made. These data references are then created in the new drawings.
All Layouts In One New Drawing
As the name implies, this option creates all layouts for each view frame in a single new drawing. Use this option if you have fewer than 10 view frames, to ensure best performance. If you have more than 10 view frames, the previous option is recommended. On the last page of this wizard you're given the option to select the objects for which data references will be made. These data references are then created in the new drawing.
All Layouts In The Current Drawing
When you choose this option, all layouts are created in the current drawing. You need to be aware of two scenarios when working with this option. (As explained later, you can share a view frame group via data shortcuts and reference it into other drawings as a data reference.)
Layout Name
Use this text box to enter a name for each new layout. As with other named objects in Civil 3D, you can use the Name template to create a name format that includes information about the object being named. With the settings shown previously in Figure 17.14, the layouts will be named using a predefined text (Sheet -) and a next counter: Sheet - 1, Sheet - 2, Sheet - 3, etc. Using the Name template you could alternatively use the Parent Drawing Name, View Frame Start/End Raw Station, View Frame Start/End Station Value, View Frame Group Alignment Name, and View Frame Group Name options.
<[View Frame Group Alignment Name]> <[View Frame Start Station Value]> to <[View Frame End Station Value]>
Choose The North Arrow Block To Align In Layouts
If the template file you've selected contains a north arrow block, it can be aligned so that it points north on each layout sheet. The block must exist in the template and be located in the layout. If there are multiple blocks, select the one you want to use from the drop-down list.
You use the second page of the Create Sheets wizard (Figure 17.15) to determine whether a new or existing sheet set (with the file extension .dst) is used and the location of the DST file. The sheet storage location and sheet name are also defined here. Additionally, on this page you decide whether to add the sheet set file (with the file extension .dst) and the sheet files (with the file extension .dwg) to the project vault.
Sheet Set
In the Sheet Set area of the page, you select whether to create a new DST file or add the sheets created by this wizard to an existing DST file.
New Sheet Set
By selecting this option, you create a new sheet set. You must enter a name for the DST file and specify a sheet set storage location. By default, the sheet set is created in the same folder as the current drawing. You can change this by clicking the ellipsis and selecting a new location.
Add To Existing Sheet Set
Selecting this option lets you select an existing sheet-set file to which the new sheets created by this wizard will be added. Click the ellipsis to browse to the existing DST file location. Selecting this option will disable the Sheet Set Storage Location selection on this page.
Sheets
You use the bottom area of the page to set the name and storage location for any new DWG files created by this wizard. On the previous page of the wizard, you had the choice of creating new files or creating the sheet layout in the current drawing. If you chose the latter option, the Sheets area on this page of the wizard is inactive. If you chose the former, here you specify the sheet-files storage location and enter the sheet-file name (with the .dwg extension).
Like many of the previous names, you can use a Name template to specify how the sheet-file name is generated. With the settings shown previously in Figure 17.15, the sheet files will be named using the View Frame Group Name entry and a next counter. Using the Name template you could alternatively use the Parent Drawing Name, View Frame Start/End Raw Station, View Frame Start/End Station Value, and View Frame Group Alignment Name options.
The third page of the Create Sheets wizard (Figure 17.16) lists the profile view style and the band set selected in the Create View Frames wizard. You can't change these selections. You can, however, make adjustments to other profile settings.
Other Profile View Options
The Other Profile View Options area lets you modify certain profile view options either by using an existing profile view in your drawing as an example or by running the Profile View wizard. Regardless of what option you choose, the “other options” you can change are limited to the following in the Profile View wizard:
Align Views
In the Align Views area of the page, you can choose Align Profile And Plan View At Start, Align Profile And Plan View At Center, or Align Profile And Plan View At End.
The final page of the Create Sheets wizard (Figure 17.17) is used to create data references in the drawing files that contain your layout sheets.
Based on the view frame group used to create the sheets and the type of sheets (plan, profile, plan and profile), certain objects are selected by default. You have the option to select additional objects for which references will be made. You can either pick them from the list or click the Pick From The Drawing button and select the objects in the drawing.
It's common to create references to pipe networks that are to be shown in plan and/or profile views. If you choose to create references for pipe network objects, you can also copy the labels for those network objects into the sheet's drawing file. This is convenient in that you won't need to relabel your networks.
After you've completed all pages of the Create Sheets wizard, you create the sheets by clicking the Create Sheets button. Doing so completes the wizard and starts the creation process. If you're creating sheets with profile views, you're prompted to select a profile view origin. Civil 3D then displays several dialogs, indicating the process status for the various tasks, such as creating the new sheet drawings and creating the DST file. Once complete the Panorama Event Viewer vista will list two new events, in this example one stating “Sheets created were added to the sheet set file C:MasteringCH 17Final SheetsVFG - Frontenac Drive - (1).dst.” and one stating “4 layout(s) created in path C:MasteringCH 17Final Sheets.”
If the Sheet Set Manager isn't currently open, it opens with the newly created DST file loaded. The sheets are listed, and the details of the drawing files for each sheet appear (Figure 17.18).
If you double-click to open the new drawing file that contains the newly created sheets, you'll see layout sheet tabs created for each of the view frames as selected in the Create Sheets wizard. The sheets are named using the Name template as defined in the Create Sheets wizard. Figure 17.19 shows the names that result from the following template:
<[View Frame Group Alignment Name]> <[View Frame Start Station Value]> to <[View Frame End Station Value]>
To create the final sheets in this new drawing, Civil 3D externally references (XRefs) the drawing containing the view frames; creates data references (DRefs) for the alignments, profiles, and any additional objects you selected in the Create Sheets wizard; and, if profile sheet types were selected in the wizard, creates profile views in the final sheet drawing.
The following exercise pulls all these concepts together:
<[View Frame Group Name(CP)]> - (<[Next Counter(CP)]>) for Imperial users, or <[View Frame Group Name(CP)]> - (<[Next Counter(CP)]>)_METRIC for metric users.
When this exercise is complete, you may close the drawing. A saved copy of this drawing is available from the book's web page with the filename SheetsWizard_FINISHED.dwg or SheetsWizard_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg. In addition, the downloadable dataset includes the Final Sheets folder, which includes additional files created in this exercise.
Now that you have the Plan and Profile sheets generated, let's look at generating some section sheets using the Plan Production feature.
Similar to the process of creating plan and profile sheets, creating section sheets is a two-step process:
The process of creating the section view group is where you will determine how your section views will be laid out on the page, what labels will be used, and what styles will be used to represent the various components of the model. If you have any questions about section styles or section view styles, refer to Chapter 21, “Object Styles.”
In this exercise, you'll walk through setting up a basic section view group for the main road of our sample set:
When this exercise is complete, you may close the drawing. A saved copy of this drawing is available from the book's web page with the filename MultipleSectionViews_FINISHED.dwg or MultipleSectionViews_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg.
Now that you have a section view group, you can begin the process of creating section sheets for plotting.
Many long transportation projects such as highways, light-rail, or canals require the production of many section sheets. While Civil 3D could produce the views prior to Autodesk Civil 3D 2012, the sheet creation process improved greatly in that release. In this exercise, you'll convert a section view group into a collection of sheets and place them in a new sheet set.
When this exercise is complete, you may close the drawing. A saved copy of this drawing is available from the book's web page with the filename CreatingSectionSheets_FINISHED.dwg or CreatingSectionSheets_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg.
While there are still some tweaks to be made to any sheet, large portions of the mundane details are handled by the wizards and tools. There are some elements that you can modify to customize these details for your organization, and you'll look at those in the next section.
The beginning of this chapter mentioned that there are several prerequisites to using the Plan Production tools in Civil 3D. The list includes drawing templates (DWT) set up to work with the Plan Production feature, and styles for the objects generated by this feature. In this section of the chapter, you'll learn how to prepare these items for use in creating your finished sheets.
Civil 3D ships with several predefined template files for various types of sheets that Plan Production can create. By default, these templates are installed in a subfolder called Plan Production, which is located in the standard Template folder. You can see the Template folder location by opening the Files tab of the Options dialog, as shown in Figure 17.29.
Figure 17.30 shows the default contents of the Plan Production subfolder. Notice the templates for Plan, Profile, and Plan And Profile sheet types. There are Imperial and metric versions of each.
As previously discussed, each template contains layout tabs with pages set to various sheet sizes and plan scales. For example, the Civil 3D (Imperial) Plan and Profile.dwt template has layouts created at various ANSI and ARCH sheets sizes and scales, as shown in Figure 17.31.
If you decide to make your own Plan Production templates, it is good practice to provide multiple drawing sizes and scales so that you have them available when you go to make your sheets. But beyond just having them available, make sure that the layout names that you provide in your Plan Production template are descriptive enough that you know which one to select.
The viewports in these templates must be rectangular in shape and must have Viewport Type set to Plan, Profile, or Section, depending on the intended use. You set Viewport Type on the Design tab of the Properties dialog, as shown in Figure 17.32.
Create view frames.
When you create view frames, you must select the template file that contains the layout tabs that will be used as the basis for your sheets. This template must contain predefined viewports. You can define these viewports with extra vertices so you can change their shape after the sheets have been created.
Master It
Open the MasteringPlanProduction.dwg or MasteringPlanProduction_METRIC.dwg file. Run the Create View Frames wizard to create view frames for Alignment A in the current drawing. (Accept the defaults for all other values.) These view frames will be used to generate Plan and Profile sheets on ARCH D (ISO A1) sheets at 20 scale (1:200 scale) using the plan and profile template MasteringPandPTemplate.dwt or MasteringPandPTemplate_METRIC.dwt. All files should be saved in C:MasteringCH 17.
Edit view frames.
The grips available to edit view frames allow the user some freedom on how the frames will appear.
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Open the MasteringEditViewFrames.dwg or MasteringEditViewFrames_METRIC.dwg file, and move the VF- (1) view frame to Sta. 2+20 (or Sta. 0+050 for metric users) to lessen the overlap. Then adjust Match Line 1 (or Match Line 2 for metric users) so that it is now at Sta. 4+25 (or Sta. 0+200 for metric users) and shorten it so that the labels are completely within the view frames.
Generate sheets and review Sheet Set Manager.
You can create sheets in new drawing files or in the current drawing. The resulting sheets are based on the template you chose when you created the view frames. If the template contains customized viewports, you can modify the shape of the viewport to better fit your sheet needs.
Master It
Open the MasteringCreateSheets.dwg or MasteringCreateSheets_METRIC.dwg file. Run the Create Sheets wizard to create plan and profile sheets in the current drawing for Alignment A using the using the plan and profile template MasteringPandPTemplate.dwt or MasteringPandPTemplate_METRIC.dwt. Make sure to choose a north arrow. (Accept the defaults for all other values.) All files should be saved in C:MasteringCH 17.
Create section views.
More and more municipalities are requiring section views. Whether this is a mile-long road or a meandering stream, Civil 3D can handle it nicely via Plan Production.
Master It
Open the MasteringSectionSheets.dwg or MasteringSectionSheets_METRIC.dwg file. Create section views and Plan Production section sheets in a new sheet set for Alignment A using the using the Road Section section style and the section template MasteringSectionTemplate.dwt or MasteringSectionTemplate_METRIC.dwt. Make sure the sections are set to be generated on ARCH D (ISO A1) sheets at 20-scale (1:200 scale). (Accept the defaults for all other values.) All files should be saved in C:MasteringCH 17.