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CIVIL 3D (2008)**REMEMBER TO SAVE OFTEN**1 of 9HELPFUL HINTSTABLE OF CONTENTSAdd the Toolspace toolbar 3Change the point marker . 3Change the point label colors . 3Change the contour interval . 3Smooth contours 3Change contour colors . 3Delete Contour Labels 3Rotate text with viewport angle . .4Change the visibility of point labels . .4Add a drawing to your drawing or template . .4Restore the dialog box . . 5Add Survey Link to your menu . . . 5Add Landowner, Designer, Date, etc. to all printable layouts (pages) . .5Add an image (aerial photo clip, for example) .5Add a Points table (i.e soil borings, TBMs) . .5Water Drop function (flow length) . .6Measuring X-Y Distance of a 3D line . .6Having trouble getting a CAD license . .6Taskbar for Multiple Drawings .6If you lose your “command” line . .6Getting text from points, sections, profiles, etc.to come into a viewport without being huge 6Changing the annotation scale separately from the viewport scale .6Transforming a single known point from State Plane Coordinateinto a County Coordinate. .6Transforming survey points in one coordinate system to thedrawing coordinate system .7Adding Auto Fill Fields 8Tips.docx02/2010USDA-NRCS

CIVIL 3D (2008)**REMEMBER TO SAVE OFTEN**2 of 9HELPFUL HINTSRotating Viewport 8Changing the Points Datum. . 9PICKFIRST Variable .9Add shapefile to Civil 3D 9Use shapefile points to create a surface 9If you lose your layout tabs .9Tips.docx02/2010USDA-NRCS

CIVIL 3D (2008)**REMEMBER TO SAVE OFTEN**3 of 9HELPFUL HINTSTo add the Toolspace toolbar:Select the “Show Toolspace” iconTo change the point marker:Toolspace toolbar,Settings tabExpand PointExpand Point StylesRight-click NRCSSelect Edit Go to the Summary tabExpand MarkerPoint Description mode [ ] change to [.] (0)OR, go to:Toolspace toolbar,Settings tabSurfaceSurface StylesRight click on ContoursSelect Edit Points tabPoint displayData point symbolChange to [.] (0)To change the point label colors:Toolspace toolbar,Settings tabExpand PointExpand Label StylesRight-click NRCS (or the style you’re using)Select Edit Go to the Summary tabExpand each component(1) Point Number(2) Point Elevation(3) Point DescriptionText: Color – change to your preferenceTo change the contour interval:Tips.docx02/2010Toolspace toolbar,Settings tabSurfaceSurface StylesRight click on ContoursSelect Edit Contours tabChange minor and/or major intervalTo smooth contours:Toolspace toolbar,Settings tabSurfaceSurface StylesRight click on ContoursSelect Edit Contours tabContour SmoothingSmooth Contours TRUEUse the scale at the bottom of the window toadjust the contour smoothingTo change contour colors:Toolspace toolbar,Settings tabSurfaceSurface StylesRight click on ContoursSelect Edit Contours tabMajor display and Minor displayTo Delete Contour LabelsIf the contour lines were labeled using the“Contour Multiple” feature: Click on any one of the labels and a blueline will appear. Pick blue line and hit the “delete” keyIf the contour lines were labeled using the“Contour Single” feature: Click on each label and hit the “delete”key.To have text rotate with viewport angle:Toolspace toolbar,USDA-NRCS

CIVIL 3D (2008)**REMEMBER TO SAVE OFTEN**4 of 9HELPFUL HINTSSettings tabRight click on PointSelect “Edit Label Style DefaultsExpand BehaviorFor Orientation Reference, use drop-down toselect ViewClick OK.To change the visibility of point labels:Toolspace toolbar,Settings tabExpand PointExpand Label StylesRight-click NRCS (or the style you’re using)Select Edit Go to the Summary tabExpand the component you want to turn on/off(1) Point Number(2) Point Elevation(3) Point DescriptionGeneral: Visibility – change to True/FalseTo add a drawing to your page layouts:Save the drawing you want to add somewhere on your computer (i.e. if you are downloading adrawing from the NRCS website either in *.dwg or *.dwt format, first go to the website and save itsomewhere on your computer).In Civil 3D, right click on any of the page layout tabs at the bottom of the screenSelect “From Template”Navigate to where you saved the drawing you want to add and click on it. If the drawing hasmultiple pages, highlight all the pages you want by holding the “shift” key down while selecting,then hit “OK”Tips.docx02/2010USDA-NRCS

CIVIL 3D (2008)**REMEMBER TO SAVE OFTEN**5 of 9HELPFUL HINTS Go to the Survey menu and make sure thatSurvey Link is listedTo Restore the dialog boxSometimes the following dialog boxdisappears when you do a “save as”Note: AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008 Service Pack 2must be installed before you install Survey Link.Check this by selecting HELP, About AutocadCivil 3D, Product Information and the ProductService Pack should AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008SP2To Add Landowner, Designer, Date, etc. to allprintable layouts (pages)To get it back:Type “FILEDIA" at the command line andchange variable to 1.To Add Survey Link to your menu At the command prompt, enter CUI. In the Customize User Interface dialog box,under All Customization Files, expand Menus Survey Menu. Right-click the Geodetic Calculator menuitem. On the Shortcut menu, click InsertSeparator. Under Command List, click theCreate A NewCommand icon (blue star with yellow dot). In the Properties section, under Command, clickthe Name field and enter Survey Link. In the Macro field, click the [.] button. In the Long String Editor dialog box, enter thefollowing string: C CStartSurveyLink Click OK. In the Command List, select Survey Link, andthen drag the command to the end of the Surveymenu. Click OK to close the Customize User Interfacedialog box.Tips.docx02/2010The template drawing already contains textfields that will automatically update afterentering the necessary information just once. Go to File Menu DrawingProperties. Click on the Custom tab. In the Custom Properties table, click onthe cell under the Value columncorresponding to each field and enter avalue. After all your values have beenassigned, click OK. At the command line, type REGENALLto see your changes.To Add an image (aerial photo clip, for example) Map Image Insert From the pop-up window, navigate towhere you saved the image and selectopen. From the “Image Correlation” pop-upwindow, select OK. Now select zoom extents to locate yourimageTo Add a Points table (i.e soil borings, TBMs) Points Add Table Select point group by clicking on “NoPoint Groups Selected” or pickindividual points by clicking on “NoPoints Selected”. After you’ve selected your points, hit“OK” and place the table.USDA-NRCS

CIVIL 3D (2008)**REMEMBER TO SAVE OFTEN**6 of 9HELPFUL HINTSTo Do Water Drop Function (flow length) From the pull down menuSurfaces Utilities Water Drop Select “OK” in the pop up windowSelect location on screen to start flow pathHit “ESC” or “Enter” to exitClick on line and type “List” at thecommand line to see the length.Measuring X-Y Distance of 3D line Select distance icon or type “dist” atthe command line Type .xy at the command line Click on starting point Click on ending point twiceGetting text from points, sections,profiles, etc. to come into a viewportwithout being huge change the Viewport scale, then do aRegenall. Your annotative scale willnow match your viewport scaleChanging the annotation scale separatelyfrom the viewport scale. In paperspace, select the viewport rightclick select propertiesSet Annotation scaleSet Standard (viewport) scaleLock the DisplayIn Modelspace (in the viewport) do a“regenall” and the text size should thenchange.If having trouble getting a CAD license In Windows, go to Start ControlPanel System Advanced tab Environment Variables Then in the upper half of the screen inthe User Variables portion click on the“New” button Variable name: FLEXLM TIMEOUTVariable value: 1000000Then Click OK to close each dialogbox. Note that a value of 10000000 ismicroseconds so it might be necessaryto increase that value.Taskbar for Multiple DrawingsIf you have multiple drawings open andwant to see them at the bottom of yourscreen: Type TASKBAR at the command line Type “1” to activate taskbarIf you lose your “command” line CTRL 9.Tips.docx02/2010USDA-NRCS

CIVIL 3D (2008)**REMEMBER TO SAVE OFTEN**7 of 9HELPFUL HINTSTransforming survey points in onecoordinate system to the drawing coordinatesystem, if different from each other. oClick “Coordinate Zone Transform”onoSelect blue “world” to select coordzone.Enter your category (USA,Wisconsin) and coordinate systemthat your points are in and selectOK until back to the command line.Once you have opened a new drawing usingthe NRCS template and selected yourdrawing coordinate system, create a newpoint file format:o From Toolspace, select Settings tabo Pointo Point File FormatsoooooRight click on one that matches theformat your point data is in (ex.PNEZD (comma delimited))Select “Copy”Type in a new “Format Name” (ex.PNEZD SPC(comma delimited)Change the “Default File Extension”to what your point file is saved as(ex. csv, txt, xyz, etc.)You should now have a new pointfile format that can be used toimport point files that have thispoint file’s format and coordinatesystem.When you import points, make sure tocheck “Do coordinate transformation ifpossible”o Adding Auto Fill Fields From the pull down menu:o File, Drawing Propertieso Select “Add”Tips.docx02/2010USDA-NRCS

CIVIL 3D (2008)**REMEMBER TO SAVE OFTEN**8 of 9HELPFUL HINTSo Select “Custom Property Name”and type in a field nameo Select OK and keep selecting “ADD”until you have added all the fieldsyou would like. Leave the “Value”blank for all fields. When done,select OK. In your drawing, click on the location to adda field and from the pull down menuo Insert, FieldoSelect the field name you want oadd and hit OK and pick a spot onyour drawing to click to insert.Repeat to add other fields.Rotating Viewport Make sure your viewport isunlocked Type MVSETUP at the commandlineo Select “a” for Aligno Select “r” for rotateo Follow the command lineinstructionso When done, move thedrawing around in theviewport and set a scale.Changing the Points Datum Right click on the point group and EDIT,highlight the group of points and right clickagain, and you can change the datum there.Setting the PICKFIRST VariableIf the PICKFIRST variable is set to 0, then you willhave to select the command first and then selectthe object. If PICKFIRST is set to 1, then you canselect the object or command in any order. Type PICKFIRST at the command line Type 1, EnterAdd shapefile to Civil 3D At command line, type MAPIMPORT andselect the shapefileUse shapefile points to create a surface Create a new surface Definition Right click on Drawing Objectso Select ADDo Follow directionsoTips.docxUnder “Field Category”, drop downand select “Document”. A list offields you can add is displayed.02/2010If you lose your layout tabs: OptionsUSDA-NRCS