Setting up Civil 3D

Course overview

When you begin a project in Civil 3D, it is crucial that it is set up so that the design acts as a dynamic single source of truth. Learn how external references, data shortcuts, templates, and styles are used effectively to standardize object display, layers, and drawing settings across a project.

This course will teach you how to:

Utilize external references (Xrefs) and data shortcuts (Drefs) in a Civil 3D project.
Set up standard styles, layers, and labels in drawing templates.
Share Civil 3D object catalogs, references, and styles across drawings.

Course outline

13 min.

Civil 3D Data management practices

Learn how you can implement the best practices that leverage external references (Xrefs), data reference shortcuts (Drefs), and other data management tools built into Civil 3D.

Module outline

When working with infrastructure projects, thinking about how you and your team manage your projects and data ahead of time is crucial to streamlining your work. Learn how you can implement the best practices that leverage external references (Xrefs), data reference shortcuts (Drefs), and other data management tools built into Civil 3D.

After completing, you will be able to:

Identify and compare different ways to manage data for AEC projects in Civil 3D.
Attach and work with an external reference file in Civil 3D.
Create and use data shortcuts as reference links in Civil 3D projects.

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4 min.

Sharing Civil 3D objects and AutoCAD entities

Learn how you can leverage the AutoCAD Insert gallery and tool palettes in your Civil 3D projects, as well as how to build your own customized objects and catalogs.

Module outline

Civil 3D shares many tools and objects with AutoCAD. Learn how you can leverage the AutoCAD Insert gallery and tool palettes in your Civil 3D projects, as well as how to build your own customized objects and catalogs. Then, you can easily share these customizations with other project members, which can help to maintain consistency and standards throughout the project.

After completing, you will be able to:

Insert blocks into a drawing and create and populate a tool palette with multiple content types.
Share a custom pipe catalog with assigned rules and share a subassembly palette by exporting a custom profile.

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15 min.

Civil 3D drawing templates and styles

In Civil 3D, it is important to set up your drawing templates to facilitate the design process across your entire team. Learn how to speed up the creation of elements such as layers, object styles, title blocks, and annotation.

Module outline

Properly configuring your drawing templates beforehand ensures that your model content is accurate, and all your team members are working within the same standards. In Civil 3D, it is important to set up your drawing templates to facilitate the design process across your entire team. Learn how to speed up the creation of elements such as layers, object styles, title blocks, and annotation.

After completing, you will be able to:

Customize and apply object styles to control how objects display within your model, as part of the template creation process.
Add a label to an item within your Civil 3D drawing, apply and adjust the label style, and share a label style across drawings.
Modify an existing template to add a new layout and understand why it is important to use templates when generating plan and profile sheets.