Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Any referenced datasets can be downloaded from "Module downloads" in the module overview.
Transcript
00:11
SHAWN HERRING: Hello and welcome to the "Automate Grading
00:13
Tasks using Grading Optimization in Civil 3D" Accelerator.
00:20
The Autodesk Accelerators are designed
00:22
to help your team stay ahead of the curve with the latest
00:24
workflows.
00:25
These include courses, videos, and live coaching, which
00:28
is what we're here to do today.
00:31
You can see a full list of topics in the Customer Success
00:33
Hub.
00:37
I'll give you a moment here to read the safe harbor statement.
00:40
We may show things that are talking
00:42
about future or planned developments,
00:45
and these statements made in this presentation
00:47
are being made as of this time and the date
00:49
of the live presentation.
00:51
My name is Shawn Herring, and I'm happy to be with you today.
00:54
A little bit about my background--
00:56
I'm based here in Utah.
00:57
I've got about 15 years or so in the civil engineering space,
01:01
and mostly in land development and heavy infrastructure.
01:05
I've spent the last 12 or so years in the AEC marketplace,
01:08
specializing in Autodesk Infrastructure Tools
01:11
and helping adopt and expand and implement the Autodesk
01:15
portfolio into companies.
01:19
So we'll take a quick look at the overall workflow.
01:22
The objectives that we're going to look at today
01:24
are going to be learning how to prepare a drawing for grading
01:27
optimization, understanding the user interface and the Object
01:31
Browser, learning how to assign our grading objects
01:34
to our geometry, and then apply the proper settings
01:37
and constraints to those.
01:39
We'll also learn to work in and understand the Visualization
01:42
Display before we perform a grading optimization
01:46
and return the results back to our drawing.
01:49
So the first step in this process--
01:51
let's take a look at preparing our drawing
01:53
for grading optimization.
01:55
That's going to be our first step.
01:57
We're going to review each one of these workflow steps, one
01:59
by one, as we go through a little bit of understanding
02:01
and then a demo.
02:03
So I want to talk a few things about what GO is,
02:06
or Grading Optimization.
02:08
It's an interactive tool.
02:10
Once that optimization begins, you can continue working.
02:13
You can do other things, but that real-time problem solving
02:15
can be observed as it goes.
02:20
Grading Optimization, once installed
02:21
is found on your Analyze tab of your ribbon.
02:24
To the far right, you'll see a new panel
02:26
called Grading Optimization.
02:29
The Grading Optimization objects are
02:31
applied to your site plan or your 2D concept plan.
02:34
So this could be very early in the stages of a project.
02:37
It doesn't have to be 3D.
02:38
You don't have to have much design done in there-- could
02:41
be as simple as a 2D concept plan, as long
02:44
as we have an existing ground surface.
02:47
We then take that information, either the existing
02:54
And then what that does is that influences
02:55
GO with some very simple settings,
02:58
some simple properties that we can apply to each one.
03:02
And then grading object data is added as a property
03:04
set to our geometry.
03:07
So again, two things that are needed to really start this
03:09
is an existing ground surface and 2D AutoCAD linework,
03:13
or 3D if you need to.
03:17
The image on the right here-- and I'll
03:19
blow it up in just a second.
03:20
But this shows what type of objects
03:23
you can apply a grading object to.
03:27
Let me just blow that up a little bit.
03:28
And you can see here that we can use
03:30
items such as COGO points and AutoCAD points
03:32
to identify low points or bounded points.
03:36
You can use a lot of linework, so just lines,
03:39
or polylines preferred.
03:41
Those lines can be 2D, 3D, or even a feature line.
03:46
And then certain things in there, we'll
03:48
use a lot of zones.
03:49
We've got zones for parking lots.
03:52
We've got zones for building pads.
03:54
We have exclusion zones, all sorts of zones in there.
03:58
But you can utilize the grading objects just
04:00
with your simple day-to-day AutoCAD routine commands.
04:07
Things like a low point-- you can
04:08
use a COGO point or an AutoCAD point,
04:11
and that just identifies the area that you
04:13
want to be a low point.
04:14
You can have one, or you can have several.
04:17
We can also use a pond.
04:19
You'll find that the Pond is actually
04:20
a very valuable, very slick tool that
04:23
will allow us to help size our pond
04:25
and minimize the amount of area that we use for our pond--
04:29
so simply drawing a polyline, that representing the pond,
04:32
and then applying some criteria to it.
04:36
Building pads-- same thing.
04:38
Use a polyline, feature line, or 3D polyline.
04:41
Drain lines, they could be within your parking lot.
04:43
They could be within your road.
04:45
Whatever you're working on, whether that's
04:47
a site plan or a subdivision, you
04:48
can use a drain line that will direct
04:51
the conveyance of your water.
04:55
For curbs, there's a specific object of grading objects
04:58
that you can apply to that line.
04:60
And then the zones--
05:01
the zones, I think, is where you'll really
05:02
add in a lot more information.
05:05
And many types of zones--
05:07
they could be a sidewalk.
05:08
They could be a boundary.
05:09
They could be an exclusion area, all sorts of things there.
05:12
So we'll do several zones.
05:14
And that's typically the items that you'll use
05:17
within Grading Optimization.
05:19
There are several more that we'll explore,
05:20
but once you've drawn those in, then
05:22
you're ready to assign the grading objects to--
05:26
I prefer to use polylines.
05:28
You can use a lot of lines, just disconnected lines,
05:31
but it's easier if you use a line
05:33
and assign those grading objects to the overall lines
05:36
themselves.
05:39
So how I would go about setting up a project for grading
05:43
optimization?
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First, I'd ensure that I have a surface, typically
05:47
your existing ground surface, and then your 2D or 3D layout,
05:52
if you wanted to, as your concept plan.
05:53
So that really starts the project
05:57
or starts the grading optimization itself.
05:59
That's kind of what you need to get going.
06:02
And then you start to add things like your zones.
06:04
I usually work outward in.
06:06
So I'll grab my outer boundaries,
06:08
maybe an overall disturbed area, maybe my parking lots.
06:12
I'll start to exclude zones by using an Exclusion zone, maybe
06:17
an area--
06:18
sensitive lands like wetlands.
06:20
Maybe there's some steep slopes that you don't want to touch.
06:23
Anything that you want to be excluded from the grading
06:26
optimization, you can apply an Exclusion zone to.
06:31
I'll then typically go to my building pad,
06:32
whether that's the entire envelope or the building
06:35
itself, either option.
06:37
I'll set some drain lines, parking lot, or curb and gutter
06:40
of a road, possibly.
06:44
There is a Sidewalk grading optimization tool,
06:46
a grading object.
06:47
You can use a Transition zone, or you
06:50
can use the Sidewalk itself.
06:53
Then we've got detention ponds and your low points.
06:57
So that's typically how I lay out my project.
06:59
Let's take a look at how we do that inside Civil 3D
07:02
by getting our drawing prepared for grading optimization.
07:07
Autodesk Grading Optimization is an interactive tool
07:10
that facilitates grading various land areas such as sites,
07:13
roadway interchanges, subdivisions, and around
07:16
structures.
07:17
It consists of optimized algorithms
07:19
that work towards surface smoothness while accommodating
07:22
user-imposed constraints.
07:25
Once optimization begins, the real-time problem solving
07:28
can be observed.
07:29
Using several themes or by watching
07:31
the trends of your convergence plots,
07:33
you can stop and change designs or let
07:35
it run until you get your desired solution.
07:38
In this video, we will review our drawing
07:40
as we prep it for grading optimization.
07:44
So in this drawing, all surface objects
07:47
are created using your typical Civil 3D command.
07:50
So we just have an existing ground surface here.
07:53
And then things like your parking lot,
07:57
your outer boundary, all that--
07:59
the majority of GO is going to use your day-to-day AutoCAD
08:03
commands.
08:03
So for example, we have a polyline
08:06
that represents kind of our grading area,
08:08
and we don't want grading to exceed that area.
08:11
We have a polyline-- also could be a feature line,
08:14
but we have a line here that represents our parking lot.
08:18
We have various other polylines, such as the building
08:21
pad, maybe an apron around that building pad.
08:26
We have our curbs for our curb islands,
08:30
and we have drain lines to where we want to tell GO to drain to.
08:36
A couple of other features that we have in here--
08:38
we have a polyline that represents our pond.
08:41
This could be top of pond in this case.
08:44
And we also have a COGO point.
08:46
This COGO point could also be an AutoCAD point.
08:48
That COGO point represents what we
08:50
want to show as our low spot.
08:54
So again, nothing typically changes, as far
08:56
as your standard workflow.
08:58
Existing ground surface,
09:01
and that's what we will use to apply grading objects to.
09:06
So now that we have our site plan drawn and thought out,
09:09
we can now review the user interface
09:11
and begin assigning grading objects to that geometry.
09:15
OK, so we have prepared our drawing for now.
09:18
Let's take a quick look at understanding
09:20
the user interface and the Object Browser.
09:25
The interface is really broken down
09:26
into four different sections.
09:28
The first section-- we have the Grading Objects tool palette.
09:31
That allows us to tag our geometry or our drawing
09:34
elements with whatever that is from our tool palette.
09:40
The second thing we see here is the Grading Objects Browser.
09:43
So as we place grading objects, as we tag geometry,
09:46
it's going to show up in our browser.
09:48
Think of that kind of your tool space Prospector,
09:51
where when you create something, it's
09:52
going to show up in the Prospector.
09:54
This will allow you to edit individual items
09:57
or remove individual items as well.
10:01
The third thing we see here is the Visualization Display.
10:05
This is the viewing area for the optimized grading,
10:07
so as we perform a grading optimization,
10:10
we can see as it's molding and moving around that terrain.
10:15
And the fourth thing is the Optimization toolbar.
10:18
That allows you to specify global constraints,
10:21
visualization options.
10:23
You can take a look at your convergence plot,
10:24
which we'll talk about.
10:26
So a pretty simple interface-- pretty easy to use.
10:31
OK, so this shows the Object Browser, just a little bit
10:33
more detail about that browser.
10:35
It allows you to tag those elements.
10:37
Everything is listed in there, and you can right
10:39
click to edit, remove, select.
10:43
The tools include a Low Point.
10:44
That specifies a low point-- exactly what it
10:47
says-- throughout your project.
10:48
A Bounded Point specifies elevation constraints,
10:52
and Aligned Edge forces the surface triangles
10:55
that touch a line to align in the same direction.
10:59
There's a Bend Line.
10:60
There's a Drain Line that you'll use often.
11:01
That specifies a line as a directional constraint
11:05
or a conveyance path.
11:08
But the Zone itself specifies properties
11:10
in-- for a closed polyline or feature line or something.
11:14
Exclusion Zones, like I mentioned-- something
11:16
that you just do not want to be included in the optimization.
11:20
You've got a Pond.
11:21
You've got the Curbs, the Building Pad, and the Reveal.
11:24
The Reveal specifies the reveal along the edge of a building
11:28
pad.
11:30
OK, so there's several features there.
11:31
There's newer features being added to Grading Optimization,
11:34
like Retaining Walls and other options here.
11:37
So let's take a quick look at the interface
11:40
and Object Browser in Grading Optimization.
11:44
So now that we have our geometry in here--
11:47
our surface and our linework--
11:49
we're going to now review the user interface of Grading
11:52
Optimization.
11:54
So once installed, from the Analyze tab of the ribbon
11:57
to the far right, here, you can see a Grading Optimization
11:60
panel.
12:01
Grading Objects can be turned on.
12:04
Those grading objects will appear in your Tool palette.
12:10
Yeah.
12:10
So here, you can see, we've got Low Point, Drain Line, Zones,
12:13
Ponds, Curbs, and so forth.
12:15
So all these can be edited here in the palette.
12:18
You can copy these and create your own.
12:21
So if you want to make a change to the curb and gutter
12:24
settings, for example, you can simply
12:27
copy those, paste those in there,
12:31
and maybe have your own standards for what a curb is.
12:37
So all done from the tool palette--
12:40
once you assign something, so once we grab something
12:42
from the tool palette, assign it to a geometry,
12:45
it now shows up here in the Grading Object Browser.
12:48
So think of this as your Prospector for grading objects.
12:52
As we assign low points and drain
12:54
lines and zones and curves, it's going to show here.
12:56
It's going to populate how many there are.
12:58
You can edit them.
12:59
You can delete them.
13:02
It's going to show up here in that Grading Object Browser.
13:06
The Visualization Display-- so as I turn on the Optimize tool
13:10
here--
13:10
let me just launch that.
13:14
Here in the center you can see the Visualization Display.
13:18
You can adjust the vertical exaggeration.
13:20
So if this maybe is a flat area, you can see there,
13:24
I can adjust the vertical exaggeration on it.
13:27
You can see my xyz here at the bottom, elevations
13:29
along the right side.
13:31
You'll get more numbers once we run the Optimize tool.
13:35
You'll see the cut and fill and the adjustments as you go.
13:41
Here, along the bottom, is the Optimization toolbar.
13:44
So this bottom band of tools allows you
13:46
to specify global constraints.
13:48
So if I just go left to right, here, we've
13:50
got our Model Settings, Qualities, Custom triangle
13:54
size.
13:56
Here along the top, we have our Theme.
13:58
So if we want to see it in Cut and Fill,
13:60
or if you want to see the TIN--
14:04
as opposed to Contours--
14:05
Hydrology, so forth, you can adjust those.
14:11
You can also adjust the convergence plot
14:14
or launch the convergence plot here.
14:16
And the convergence plot will show you,
14:18
as it goes, as it runs the Optimize tool, that--
14:22
where your cut and fills are, what
14:23
iteration it is, your feasibility, and terrain
14:25
smoothness.
14:28
If I come here to the right side, next to Optimize,
14:31
we also have Optimization Options.
14:34
So this allows you to set an Iteration.
14:37
So if I want, instead of 50,000, maybe 2,000,
14:39
you can simply key in the amount of iterations
14:42
you want to go through.
14:44
As far as the Object Weights go, what's more important to you?
14:47
You can say, you know, the balancing of cut and fill
14:50
is pretty important.
14:51
Minimizing earthwork's also important.
14:54
And smooth surface may be important, but not as important
14:57
as others.
14:59
So you can adjust that.
14:60
That way, GO knows what is more important to you.
15:05
So very simple user interface-- everything
15:07
done from the Tool palette, the Grading Object
15:10
Browser, and the floating grading optimization
15:13
visualization tools.
15:16
From here, we can begin to assign grading objects.
15:21
So now let's take a look at assigning our grading
15:23
objects to the geometry that we had prepared.
15:30
OK, just to reiterate, there's the options
15:32
that you have for assigning objects.
15:33
Your low points-- so COGO points, AutoCAD points.
15:36
Lines-- polylines, 2D polylines,
15:39
Those are the top seven items that you'll
15:42
use throughout the process here in Grading Optimization.
15:48
As you select your grading object
15:50
and apply it to the geometry, a palette is going to appear.
15:53
So once I select something from the Grading Objects panel
15:57
and apply it, you'll see the property.
15:59
So this property shows a zone, things
16:00
that you can apply global constraints
16:02
or customized constraints, exclusive drainage areas.
16:07
The other thing you can add in here--
16:08
so let's say it's a parking lot.
16:10
You can add a depth of the material in there.
16:12
So if you want grading optimization
16:14
to go to a subgrade, you can apply a depth of material
16:17
to that, and it's going to know where that is.
16:20
So again, working from the outside
16:21
in is the best way to kind of do that.
16:25
The parking lot, you can set some max slopes
16:27
and some minimum drain slopes.
16:29
Again, I mentioned depth of material.
16:31
You could also tell it that it's a breakline,
16:33
so when this returns it to Civil
16:37
it's going to be a feature line.
16:39
It's going to be a breakline within your surface.
16:44
Curb Properties-- you can simply give it a height and a width.
16:48
Building Pad-- you can set a fixed elevation,
16:51
so if you know the elevation you need that building pad to be,
16:54
you can set that.
16:55
Or you can set the elevation min and max,
16:58
and it's going to find the best location for that building
17:01
based on all the other constraints around you.
17:05
But then the Pond Properties--
17:07
I know I hate going in and just guessing at a pond size,
17:10
grading that pond out, checking the volume,
17:12
and maybe needing a bigger pond or a smaller pond.
17:15
This will allow you to tell it it's a dry or a wet pond,
17:19
and then you can give it the minimum storage volume.
17:22
So if I want this pond to have
17:26
I can tell it that.
17:27
That's my minimum storage I need to get.
17:29
I can give it a maximum depth.
17:31
I can give it more information, such as a safety
17:34
bench or a berm or a freeboard.
17:36
You know, usually you want a pond
17:38
with maybe a foot of freeboard.
17:39
You can input that data into your grading object geometry.
17:45
So it's easy to add that stuff to it.
17:47
Let's jump into the next demo, which
17:48
is assigning grading objects to our drawing geometry.
17:55
So now that we have our site plan drawn out
17:58
and we're more familiar with the user interface,
18:00
we can now begin to assign grading objects
18:03
to the geometry.
18:06
If I come here to the Analyze tab--
18:08
make sure that we've got our grading objects turned on
18:11
as well as our Grading Objects Browser.
18:14
In our Tool palette, we can begin
18:16
placing the objects by assigning them to the Civil 3D elements.
18:20
As you select your grading object
18:22
and apply it to the geometry, the floating palette
18:24
will appear.
18:24
You can choose to adjust settings
18:26
before or after your selection.
18:29
So let's go ahead and assign some grading objects
18:33
to our geometry.
18:35
So let's just start top to bottom.
18:36
We will first assign our low point.
18:38
So I'm just going to select-- left click once,
18:40
here, on the Low Point, and select this COGO point, here,
18:45
that I've marked as my low point within the drawing.
18:47
So I'm going to go ahead and just left click on that
18:49
again and hit Enter.
18:53
Nothing much needs to happen here.
18:55
You can see here that this floating palette, the grading
18:57
properties, pops up.
18:59
We can name it if we want.
19:00
Maybe we have multiple low points.
19:02
And we can change the color.
19:04
Very simple-- nothing major here that we need to change.
19:06
So I'm going to close that.
19:08
You can now see that it is in our Grading Object Browser.
19:13
If I left click it, I can edit it.
19:16
If I right click on it--
19:18
or select it here and right click--
19:20
we can remove the low point.
19:22
So you can remove the objects from the Grading Object Browser
19:26
by selecting it, right clicking, and removing
19:28
whatever that object is.
19:31
OK.
19:32
So that sets our low point.
19:34
Exclusion Zone-- so if we want to not grade in certain areas,
19:40
we can apply an Exclusion Zone to it.
19:44
Same thing with a parking lot-- so you
19:45
can see here, we've got a list of objects.
19:49
We're going to come down here to Parking Lot and select that.
19:53
So I'm just going to left click once on Parking Lot,
19:56
and this gives me my outer extents of the parking lot.
20:01
So I will select this outer polyline, this cyan line here.
20:05
Left click once.
20:06
Hit Enter again.
20:08
Some more properties here-- so I'm just going to expand this.
20:13
We can name it.
20:14
We can use global constraints.
20:15
We can customize the slope constraints.
20:17
So if I use global, you can see it grays out some
20:20
of these custom constraints.
20:22
I can say No slope constraints.
20:25
So I'm going to use Custom slope constraints.
20:26
I'm going to do a Max slope.
20:28
Maybe I don't want this parking lot to exceed 4% anywhere.
20:32
Maybe my minimum drain slope is 1%.
20:35
I'll leave that default.
20:38
Aligned surface, Exclusive drainage,
20:41
Minimum zone inclination, some things like that you can set,
20:44
Depth of material-- very important part of this.
20:48
You can set this Depth of material to whatever you want.
20:52
In this case, I'm going to set it to 1 foot.
20:54
That way, as Grading Optimization
20:56
runs the volumes and the calcs, it's
20:58
not going to take your top surface.
20:60
It's going to take the depth of that material into account.
21:04
Is it a breakline, yes or no?
21:05
I'm going to leave that as yes.
21:07
And then there's some--
21:09
Follow global grading objectives.
21:11
So Balance of cut and fill, Minimize earthworks,
21:14
Smooth surface, you can turn those on or off.
21:18
And once you're done with that, you're
21:19
going to simply close out the grading properties, and that
21:22
has been assigned now, that parking lot, to--
21:26
as a zone.
21:30
Drain Lines-- let's assign a few more objects here.
21:32
So I'm going to select my Tool palette.
21:34
Let's go to Drain Lines.
21:36
If I have several objects, what I can do
21:39
is, I can select them, either isolate the layer,
21:42
or right click, do a Select similar,
21:45
and isolate the object.
21:49
So if I want to assign these to multiple objects--
21:52
I can, say, select my Drain Line, in this case.
21:56
I'm going to window everything.
21:57
I'm going to hit Enter.
22:00
And as I select those, you can see, it's now a drain line.
22:04
Not a lot of information that you have to give it--
22:06
you can name it, tell it's a breakline, yes or no.
22:09
But that's about it, as far as the Drain Line goes,
22:11
and again, you can see it here, in the Object Browser.
22:15
OK.
22:20
And we un-isolate the objects there.
22:27
Now what about the overall boundaries?
22:29
So I want to limit my grading to be within a certain area.
22:32
I'm going to choose that.
22:33
I could define it a little bit more.
22:35
I can choose maybe a smaller area, either option here.
22:41
And I'm going to do this as a zone,
22:45
so I'm going to select my Zone.
22:51
And I'm just going to use this yellow one here.
22:55
Hit Enter.
22:57
More settings in here--
22:59
that's going to be just my zone.
23:00
I want to limit to that area.
23:02
I'm going to leave it default, except those-- fine with me.
23:06
And then we can do our curbs.
23:10
So same thing as our drain lines--
23:11
I want to select my Curb.
23:13
Right click, Select similar, Isolate objects again.
23:18
Tool palette-- and same routine here.
23:20
We're just going to grab the Curbs.
23:22
One thing you can do-- so again, I'm going to right click here.
23:28
I'm going to change the properties before.
23:30
Maybe my curb Width, I'm going to say 0.5.
23:35
My Height as well--
23:39
That way I don't have to change them all individually.
23:41
I can now change it here in my palette.
23:45
Select my Curb, select everything, hit Enter.
23:48
All right, so all those curbs are now
23:50
in the Grading Object Browser.
23:54
There we go-- half a foot, half a foot.
23:58
OK.
23:60
Building Pads-- when we've got building pad, we'll do a pond.
24:03
Let's apply our Building Pad.
24:08
So I'm just going to do the building outline itself.
24:11
I could also do the concrete pad-- maybe the concrete pad
24:15
around it.
24:15
But I'm going to do the building pad.
24:20
Elevation-- you can say between a Minimum
24:24
and a Maximum elevation.
24:25
I'm going to turn that off.
24:27
Now that locks it into a set elevation
24:30
there, if I wanted it.
24:33
Level grading with pad--
24:35
so I want that whole thing to be level.
24:36
I'm going to make sure that is turned on.
24:39
Depth of material-- maybe I had some footings or foundation
24:41
or something you'd want to take out.
24:43
I'm just going to throw a number in there--
24:49
Close that.
24:50
Let's go on here to the pond itself.
24:53
So let's select Pond from our Tool palette--
24:57
Pond.
24:58
I'm going to select that polyline.
25:01
Perfect.
25:02
And this gives us a lot of information about that pond.
25:05
We can name it.
25:06
So if we had multiple ponds, we can name this.
25:09
Pond type, Dry or Wet--
25:10
we're going to leave it Dry.
25:12
Minimum storage volume-- so if you need a minimum storage
25:16
volume, let's just say 25,000 cubic feet,
25:20
we can key that in there, whatever
25:24
that number is that we want.
25:27
Maximum storage depth-- I'm going to leave default of 5.
25:30
Allow boundary change--
25:31
I'm going to check that on, because if it
25:33
needs to be a smaller area, then let's build a smaller pond.
25:37
Safety bench-- I'm just going to turn
25:39
all these on so we can look at some of these properties.
25:42
Once that's turned on and it gives us a little diagram here
25:45
of what those are, I can come in here to the Safety bench
25:48
under Berm.
25:50
Maybe I want a 5 foot berm, a foot of freeboard
25:54
within that pond.
25:57
Inside slope, we'll just leave it 3:1.
25:59
And then my Safety bench, again, I
26:02
can give it parameters for that safety bench.
26:05
It's a little bit more information here
26:07
that you can give to that pond.
26:13
So again, you can take a look at some of these other things.
26:15
We've got the Reveal.
26:16
We've got Grading Limits, Sidewalks, Accessible
26:19
Paths, all sorts of things that we
26:21
can apply prior to running the grading optimization.
26:27
So we've now assigned all this geometry a grading object.
26:32
We are now ready to move on to verifying our settings
26:35
and then on to perform the grading optimization.
26:40
OK, so after we have assigned all that geometry,
26:43
we can then define the system settings and the object
26:46
constraints.
26:51
OK, there are three types of optimization settings.
26:53
There's the model rendering settings.
26:56
There's the global optimization settings.
26:59
And there is the modification of the visualization settings.
27:05
In the model settings, that's where
27:06
we can refine the surface.
27:08
We can tell it what the mesh quality is, so our TIN quality.
27:13
We can remove existing ground points if we wanted to.
27:15
I usually turn that off.
27:18
And then we can customize the maximum triangle size,
27:20
and then you can give it that maximum triangle size.
27:23
So if you want to kind of clean up that surface a little bit
27:25
more, tighten it up, there's some of the model settings
27:28
itself that you can adjust.
27:30
The global optimization setting--
27:32
so you can set this globally, and then
27:34
as you apply certain things, like a zone,
27:37
you can tell that zone to use global settings,
27:39
or you can customize and override that.
27:42
So there's the global constraints,
27:44
and the global constraints defines your base slope grade
27:47
limitations.
27:49
Zones with different minimum and maximum slope settings
27:52
can and will override those settings.
27:55
There's also the object weights, so
27:58
that when you go in there to tell an object weight--
28:01
let's say, for example, that the balance is
28:04
more important of cut and fill.
28:06
You want zero cut and fill leaving the site.
28:09
You can weigh that accordingly.
28:11
You can say, you know, that's 100%.
28:13
That's most important to me.
28:15
I want to balance that site, and so my objective there
28:17
is to balance the site.
28:19
Some of the other settings are smoothing surface--
28:21
so if it's important to you, you can adjust the Smooth surface
28:25
objective.
28:27
And then Minimize the earthwork attempts--
28:29
or try to minimize the earthwork attempt--
28:31
you know, balancing a site is one part of it,
28:34
but balancing a site doesn't really help sometimes.
28:37
If you have to take dirt from the far end of the site all
28:40
the way over to another end of the site,
28:42
that kind of defeats the purpose sometimes
28:43
in balancing out that site, depending on the haul.
28:47
And then there's the Convergence Plot dialog box.
28:49
We'll take a look at that as we jump into the demo
28:51
and review that convergence plot.
28:54
OK, so you can use the Visualization Settings dialog
28:56
box to modify the Contour and the Slope settings.
28:60
We'll look at that when we get into the demo,
29:02
but that's going to show us-- maybe we
29:03
want to see the slope of the site
29:07
as it's performing the optimization.
29:10
Maybe we want to see drainage arrows of the site
29:12
as it's performing it.
29:14
We can turn on some visualization settings there.
29:18
So I'm going to jump over to the demo.
29:19
Let's take a look at defining those system settings
29:22
and verifying the object constraints.
29:26
So one quick check before you run the grading optimization
29:30
is to look at the system settings and the object
29:33
constraints.
29:35
So I'm going to launch the Optimize here,
29:40
and we're going to take a look at the optimization
29:43
constraints.
29:43
There's three different types.
29:44
There's the model settings, the global optimization settings,
29:48
and the visualization settings.
29:52
Here, in the bottom left, we've got our model settings.
29:55
Very simple-- not a lot here.
29:57
We've got Refine surface, Mesh quality--
29:60
do we want that to be low, high, medium--
30:03
Remove existing ground points-- you can turn that on or off--
30:06
Customize max triangle size-- you can turn that on or off--
30:10
and Input a max triangle size.
30:13
So that's the model settings themselves.
30:17
The global optimization settings--
30:23
if I launch these Optimization Options, you can see here,
30:26
I've got some Global constraints, so my Max
30:29
slope, my Minimum drain slope.
30:32
I'm going to put a 1 in there.
30:34
Iteration-- how many times do you
30:36
want this model to go through an iteration
30:40
before it finds the best results and as it goes?
30:43
And you can key in that number.
30:45
You can key in a very large number.
30:52
or go to bed for the night.
30:54
I'm going leave it at 50,000.
30:56
Object weights, again, Balance cut and fill,
30:60
Minimize the earthwork, Smooth the surface--
31:06
whatever you feel like is most important,
31:08
you can adjust those.
31:14
The visualization settings-- so if I turn on the Visualization
31:17
toolbar, across the top, left to right,
31:20
we can see the Cut and Fill.
31:21
May as well turn on your convergence plot as well.
31:26
We've got Cut and Fill.
31:28
We've got Violations, or we don't want
31:30
to see any results as we go.
31:33
I'm going to turn on Cut and Fill.
31:36
As far as the themes go, we've got different themes here.
31:39
So let me turn off Cut and Fill real
31:41
quick to review these themes--
31:42
Elevation, Constant, Grayscale, and Slopes.
31:48
Now, the Topology, we can either see the Contours--
31:50
we can also turn on the TIN, so you
31:52
can see the triangles there.
31:54
And then the Hydrology as well-- so if you
31:56
want to see the drainage patterns as this goes,
31:59
you can turn those things on.
32:02
As I zoom in there, you can see those drainage arrows.
32:05
OK?
32:06
And you can see that based on what we put in there.
32:08
So if you remember, we put the drain lines in there.
32:10
You can see that we've got drainage arrows going
32:12
to the drain lines from all around and those drain
32:15
lines also out.
32:21
We've got the-- you know, as this is performing
32:26
the grading optimization, you can adjust
32:29
the vertical exaggeration.
32:32
So again, if it's a very flat area, you can adjust that,
32:35
and then you can see the elevations on the right.
32:38
So those are some of the settings
32:40
that you can look at prior to hitting the Optimization.
32:45
So now that we're ready-- now that we've assigned objects,
32:47
we've looked at our settings-- we're
32:49
ready to run that optimization.
32:54
OK, so let's take a deeper dive now
32:55
into the Visualization Display.
32:58
So we've got everything defined.
32:60
We've assigned things.
33:01
Let's look at how this Visualization Display works.
33:06
OK, this is going to be broken up into five parts.
33:09
We've got the Visualization toolbar,
33:12
and there are several display themes in there.
33:15
The display themes are things such as Slope or Grayscale,
33:20
or you can turn on the TIN, versus just the colors
33:23
that you see there, the Cut and Fill.
33:25
You can also turn on some hydrology stuff to it
33:27
and see the flow arrows within your site as it's creating it.
33:36
There's the Vertical Exaggeration slider.
33:38
So sometimes on a flat site, it's
33:41
hard to tell what's going on.
33:43
You can adjust that vertical exaggeration
33:45
so that you can really see where are your highs and lows
33:48
and where that grading is taking place.
33:52
There's a Legend toolbar along the right.
33:55
That just displays the color of the ranges
33:57
within the visualization that you see there.
34:02
There's the Optimization status.
34:04
So at all times, it's going to show you the cut, the fill,
34:07
the minimum-- max depth--
34:09
the maximum depth of cut or fill,
34:12
and then it gives you a net volume total.
34:16
So as you run this, as you tell it
34:18
how many times to go through and optimize, what iteration to do,
34:21
you'll see the numbers changing nonstop.
34:26
And then there's just your xyz, your coordinates.
34:28
So if you want to see what your north and east
34:30
and the elevation as you hover over a site,
34:32
it's there in the bottom left.
34:38
Some of the other settings there that we've briefly mentioned--
34:41
we've got the model settings.
34:42
That's going to open up the Preferences dialog to specify
34:46
the surface geometry.
34:49
Visualization settings, that's going
34:50
to open the toolbar at the top of the Visualization Display
34:53
that we just saw.
34:55
Convergence plot-- this is going to give you a convergence plot.
34:58
It's going to monitor the feasibility.
35:00
It's going to monitor the cut and fill.
35:02
It's going to monitor the terrain smoothness.
35:06
Then you've got the Optimization Options.
35:08
That's where, again, you can specify
35:10
the global constraints and the objective weights
35:12
and the amount of iterations that you want to run
35:15
through Grading Optimization.
35:18
And then once you're done, once you're happy with it,
35:20
there's the Send Optimized Results back into Civil 3D.
35:23
Surfaces, feature lines, points all go back into Civil.
35:29
So I mentioned the convergence plot.
35:31
That gives you another perspective
35:32
that you can see inside Grading Optimization.
35:36
So you can see that it's usually broken up into three sections.
35:38
You've got the proximity measurements.
35:41
You've got the Volumes.
35:43
And you have the Terrain Smoothness.
35:46
So that's going to be running the entire time.
35:49
You can see maybe when the plot converges.
35:51
Let's take the volume, for example.
35:53
When that cut and fill converges,
35:54
you know, maybe you can stop the iteration halfway
35:58
through your grading optimization.
36:00
Paying attention to that convergence plot
36:02
will help you go throughout and kind of see and understand
36:04
what's going on in your site.
36:09
And as I mentioned, once you're done with that,
36:11
once that's gone through a successful optimization,
36:13
you can return that stuff back to Civil 3D.
36:17
OK, it's as simple as selecting Optimize, letting
36:20
it run through its process, and then sending that back
36:22
to Civil 3D, where you'll see the surface, feature
36:25
lines, and points.
36:26
So in this next demo, we're going to run the grading
36:29
optimization.
36:30
We're going to look at the interface,
36:32
and we're going to return that data back
36:35
into our Civil 3D model.
36:39
When your grading objects' various constraints
36:41
and objectives are all set, you can start the optimization
36:44
process by clicking Optimize on the Optimization toolbar.
36:48
Once you feel comfortable with the result,
36:50
you can return the data back to Civil 3D.
36:54
So I'm here in the Analyze tab.
36:55
I'm going to select Optimize from the far right.
36:60
This will launch Grading Optimization.
37:02
I'm going to move this just a little bit here,
37:04
and I'm going to open up my convergence plot.
37:06
We'll want to watch this as we run this analysis.
37:11
So all I need to do here is, I need
37:13
to double check, real quick, my Optimization Options.
37:16
So we've got our Global constraints, our optimization
37:19
Iterations, and our Objective weights.
37:21
I'm going to leave those as is.
37:22
I'm going to close this.
37:24
I'm going to simply select Optimize.
37:27
It's going to begin the process by triangulating,
37:30
and you can see, the optimization has begun.
37:34
We've got the total cut, the total fill, the net volume,
37:38
and our min and max depths.
37:41
I can move around in this window.
37:43
I can adjust the vertical exaggeration.
37:45
I'm going to zoom in here a little bit.
37:48
And we can see the elevations along our right side.
37:52
We can also see the convergence plot here.
37:54
So we've got the proximity measure.
37:56
You can see here the feasibility based on the iteration.
38:00
You can see the volume, the cut-fill, and the net,
38:04
and then we've got the terrain smoothness.
38:07
So this will be running as we're running the optimization.
38:10
I can also turn on the Visualization toolbar,
38:14
and I can look at different themes as I go.
38:16
So for example, if I want to turn on my slope arrows,
38:19
I can turn those on.
38:20
If we just zoom in there a little bit more,
38:22
you can see those slope arrows are pointing towards my drain
38:25
lines and away from other things here within that file.
38:30
We can turn on our themes, such as Cut and Fill.
38:34
Our Violations, I'm going to turn that off.
38:37
Theming-- as Elevation, Constant, Grayscale, and Slope.
38:46
And we could also choose to turn on our wireframe and our TIN
38:49
if you want to see it in that way.
38:53
I'm going to turn this back here.
38:56
Let's turn back on our Contours.
39:01
OK, so it's running iteration after iteration.
39:04
You can see here the volume, as this is going down-- maybe
39:07
it's getting close to zero.
39:09
It's not done with the process, but maybe it's
39:11
getting close to zero.
39:12
At any point in time, I can select Stop,
39:15
or I can let it run all the way through.
39:18
I'm going to select Stop.
39:20
Maybe I'm comfortable at this point.
39:21
It looks good.
39:24
Now I want to bring this back into Civil 3D.
39:26
So let me shut down my convergence plot,
39:28
and I'm going to simply select Send Optimized Result.
39:35
So we have one surface, 30 feature lines, and one point
39:39
that it's going to bring into Civil 3D.
39:41
We can update an existing surface if we have one in here,
39:45
or we can create a new surface.
39:46
I'm going to change the name of this new surface to FG dash GO.
39:50
That way I know it came from Grading Optimization.
39:54
I'm going to change my Style to a "1 and 5" design style.
39:59
At that point, if I'm happy with what I'm about to import,
40:02
I will select Finish.
40:06
We'll give it a moment.
40:07
And you can see on the screen here, in a moment,
40:09
that the surface will show up, and all the feature lines
40:13
for all the grading objects that I had set are now apparent.
40:17
So I can adjust those if I wanted to.
40:20
So we've got our surface.
40:22
We have our drain lines.
40:23
We have our feature lines.
40:25
We have our pond down there.
40:27
We now have the finished results from Grading Optimization.
40:32
We could rerun it.
40:33
We could resend it back and override it.
40:36
So you can see how easy it is, with very minimal setup,
40:39
assigning of simple grading objects,
40:41
and performing some changes to Settings, that we
40:43
can successfully run a grading optimization on our project.
40:49
And just a quick wrap-up on this.
40:50
Grading Optimization-- or GO, as it's commonly referred to--
40:54
is going to automate some of those really time-consuming
40:56
grading tasks.
40:57
It's going to take a little bit of trial and error,
40:59
especially in the beginning stages of a project.
41:02
Out of it-- and then you're going
41:03
to start with kind of a already somewhat graded site,
41:07
to where you can further refine it and do a detailed design.
41:11
So the goal of this Accelerator, this "Automate Grading Tasks
41:14
using Grading Optimization Civil 3D"
41:16
Accelerator is just to give you some quick knowledge and how
41:20
to solve those real-time grading problems and constraints,
41:22
all within Civil 3D, all within workflows that you're really
41:26
typical--
41:27
used to with concept plan, site planning, subdivision design.
41:31
It's just taking it a little bit further
41:33
in Grading Optimization.
41:36
Some additional resources-- a great spot to go out there,
41:38
as always, is the Customer Success Hub,
41:41
CustomerSuccess.Autodesk.com.
41:43
You can launch some learning paths in there.
41:45
There's videos.
41:46
There's tutorials.
41:47
There's all sorts of things.
41:48
Autodesk University's also a fantastic site to review.
Video transcript
00:11
SHAWN HERRING: Hello and welcome to the "Automate Grading
00:13
Tasks using Grading Optimization in Civil 3D" Accelerator.
00:20
The Autodesk Accelerators are designed
00:22
to help your team stay ahead of the curve with the latest
00:24
workflows.
00:25
These include courses, videos, and live coaching, which
00:28
is what we're here to do today.
00:31
You can see a full list of topics in the Customer Success
00:33
Hub.
00:37
I'll give you a moment here to read the safe harbor statement.
00:40
We may show things that are talking
00:42
about future or planned developments,
00:45
and these statements made in this presentation
00:47
are being made as of this time and the date
00:49
of the live presentation.
00:51
My name is Shawn Herring, and I'm happy to be with you today.
00:54
A little bit about my background--
00:56
I'm based here in Utah.
00:57
I've got about 15 years or so in the civil engineering space,
01:01
and mostly in land development and heavy infrastructure.
01:05
I've spent the last 12 or so years in the AEC marketplace,
01:08
specializing in Autodesk Infrastructure Tools
01:11
and helping adopt and expand and implement the Autodesk
01:15
portfolio into companies.
01:19
So we'll take a quick look at the overall workflow.
01:22
The objectives that we're going to look at today
01:24
are going to be learning how to prepare a drawing for grading
01:27
optimization, understanding the user interface and the Object
01:31
Browser, learning how to assign our grading objects
01:34
to our geometry, and then apply the proper settings
01:37
and constraints to those.
01:39
We'll also learn to work in and understand the Visualization
01:42
Display before we perform a grading optimization
01:46
and return the results back to our drawing.
01:49
So the first step in this process--
01:51
let's take a look at preparing our drawing
01:53
for grading optimization.
01:55
That's going to be our first step.
01:57
We're going to review each one of these workflow steps, one
01:59
by one, as we go through a little bit of understanding
02:01
and then a demo.
02:03
So I want to talk a few things about what GO is,
02:06
or Grading Optimization.
02:08
It's an interactive tool.
02:10
Once that optimization begins, you can continue working.
02:13
You can do other things, but that real-time problem solving
02:15
can be observed as it goes.
02:20
Grading Optimization, once installed
02:21
is found on your Analyze tab of your ribbon.
02:24
To the far right, you'll see a new panel
02:26
called Grading Optimization.
02:29
The Grading Optimization objects are
02:31
applied to your site plan or your 2D concept plan.
02:34
So this could be very early in the stages of a project.
02:37
It doesn't have to be 3D.
02:38
You don't have to have much design done in there-- could
02:41
be as simple as a 2D concept plan, as long
02:44
as we have an existing ground surface.
02:47
We then take that information, either the existing
02:54
And then what that does is that influences
02:55
GO with some very simple settings,
02:58
some simple properties that we can apply to each one.
03:02
And then grading object data is added as a property
03:04
set to our geometry.
03:07
So again, two things that are needed to really start this
03:09
is an existing ground surface and 2D AutoCAD linework,
03:13
or 3D if you need to.
03:17
The image on the right here-- and I'll
03:19
blow it up in just a second.
03:20
But this shows what type of objects
03:23
you can apply a grading object to.
03:27
Let me just blow that up a little bit.
03:28
And you can see here that we can use
03:30
items such as COGO points and AutoCAD points
03:32
to identify low points or bounded points.
03:36
You can use a lot of linework, so just lines,
03:39
or polylines preferred.
03:41
Those lines can be 2D, 3D, or even a feature line.
03:46
And then certain things in there, we'll
03:48
use a lot of zones.
03:49
We've got zones for parking lots.
03:52
We've got zones for building pads.
03:54
We have exclusion zones, all sorts of zones in there.
03:58
But you can utilize the grading objects just
04:00
with your simple day-to-day AutoCAD routine commands.
04:07
Things like a low point-- you can
04:08
use a COGO point or an AutoCAD point,
04:11
and that just identifies the area that you
04:13
want to be a low point.
04:14
You can have one, or you can have several.
04:17
We can also use a pond.
04:19
You'll find that the Pond is actually
04:20
a very valuable, very slick tool that
04:23
will allow us to help size our pond
04:25
and minimize the amount of area that we use for our pond--
04:29
so simply drawing a polyline, that representing the pond,
04:32
and then applying some criteria to it.
04:36
Building pads-- same thing.
04:38
Use a polyline, feature line, or 3D polyline.
04:41
Drain lines, they could be within your parking lot.
04:43
They could be within your road.
04:45
Whatever you're working on, whether that's
04:47
a site plan or a subdivision, you
04:48
can use a drain line that will direct
04:51
the conveyance of your water.
04:55
For curbs, there's a specific object of grading objects
04:58
that you can apply to that line.
04:60
And then the zones--
05:01
the zones, I think, is where you'll really
05:02
add in a lot more information.
05:05
And many types of zones--
05:07
they could be a sidewalk.
05:08
They could be a boundary.
05:09
They could be an exclusion area, all sorts of things there.
05:12
So we'll do several zones.
05:14
And that's typically the items that you'll use
05:17
within Grading Optimization.
05:19
There are several more that we'll explore,
05:20
but once you've drawn those in, then
05:22
you're ready to assign the grading objects to--
05:26
I prefer to use polylines.
05:28
You can use a lot of lines, just disconnected lines,
05:31
but it's easier if you use a line
05:33
and assign those grading objects to the overall lines
05:36
themselves.
05:39
So how I would go about setting up a project for grading
05:43
optimization?
05:44
First, I'd ensure that I have a surface, typically
05:47
your existing ground surface, and then your 2D or 3D layout,
05:52
if you wanted to, as your concept plan.
05:53
So that really starts the project
05:57
or starts the grading optimization itself.
05:59
That's kind of what you need to get going.
06:02
And then you start to add things like your zones.
06:04
I usually work outward in.
06:06
So I'll grab my outer boundaries,
06:08
maybe an overall disturbed area, maybe my parking lots.
06:12
I'll start to exclude zones by using an Exclusion zone, maybe
06:17
an area--
06:18
sensitive lands like wetlands.
06:20
Maybe there's some steep slopes that you don't want to touch.
06:23
Anything that you want to be excluded from the grading
06:26
optimization, you can apply an Exclusion zone to.
06:31
I'll then typically go to my building pad,
06:32
whether that's the entire envelope or the building
06:35
itself, either option.
06:37
I'll set some drain lines, parking lot, or curb and gutter
06:40
of a road, possibly.
06:44
There is a Sidewalk grading optimization tool,
06:46
a grading object.
06:47
You can use a Transition zone, or you
06:50
can use the Sidewalk itself.
06:53
Then we've got detention ponds and your low points.
06:57
So that's typically how I lay out my project.
06:59
Let's take a look at how we do that inside Civil 3D
07:02
by getting our drawing prepared for grading optimization.
07:07
Autodesk Grading Optimization is an interactive tool
07:10
that facilitates grading various land areas such as sites,
07:13
roadway interchanges, subdivisions, and around
07:16
structures.
07:17
It consists of optimized algorithms
07:19
that work towards surface smoothness while accommodating
07:22
user-imposed constraints.
07:25
Once optimization begins, the real-time problem solving
07:28
can be observed.
07:29
Using several themes or by watching
07:31
the trends of your convergence plots,
07:33
you can stop and change designs or let
07:35
it run until you get your desired solution.
07:38
In this video, we will review our drawing
07:40
as we prep it for grading optimization.
07:44
So in this drawing, all surface objects
07:47
are created using your typical Civil 3D command.
07:50
So we just have an existing ground surface here.
07:53
And then things like your parking lot,
07:57
your outer boundary, all that--
07:59
the majority of GO is going to use your day-to-day AutoCAD
08:03
commands.
08:03
So for example, we have a polyline
08:06
that represents kind of our grading area,
08:08
and we don't want grading to exceed that area.
08:11
We have a polyline-- also could be a feature line,
08:14
but we have a line here that represents our parking lot.
08:18
We have various other polylines, such as the building
08:21
pad, maybe an apron around that building pad.
08:26
We have our curbs for our curb islands,
08:30
and we have drain lines to where we want to tell GO to drain to.
08:36
A couple of other features that we have in here--
08:38
we have a polyline that represents our pond.
08:41
This could be top of pond in this case.
08:44
And we also have a COGO point.
08:46
This COGO point could also be an AutoCAD point.
08:48
That COGO point represents what we
08:50
want to show as our low spot.
08:54
So again, nothing typically changes, as far
08:56
as your standard workflow.
08:58
Existing ground surface,
09:01
and that's what we will use to apply grading objects to.
09:06
So now that we have our site plan drawn and thought out,
09:09
we can now review the user interface
09:11
and begin assigning grading objects to that geometry.
09:15
OK, so we have prepared our drawing for now.
09:18
Let's take a quick look at understanding
09:20
the user interface and the Object Browser.
09:25
The interface is really broken down
09:26
into four different sections.
09:28
The first section-- we have the Grading Objects tool palette.
09:31
That allows us to tag our geometry or our drawing
09:34
elements with whatever that is from our tool palette.
09:40
The second thing we see here is the Grading Objects Browser.
09:43
So as we place grading objects, as we tag geometry,
09:46
it's going to show up in our browser.
09:48
Think of that kind of your tool space Prospector,
09:51
where when you create something, it's
09:52
going to show up in the Prospector.
09:54
This will allow you to edit individual items
09:57
or remove individual items as well.
10:01
The third thing we see here is the Visualization Display.
10:05
This is the viewing area for the optimized grading,
10:07
so as we perform a grading optimization,
10:10
we can see as it's molding and moving around that terrain.
10:15
And the fourth thing is the Optimization toolbar.
10:18
That allows you to specify global constraints,
10:21
visualization options.
10:23
You can take a look at your convergence plot,
10:24
which we'll talk about.
10:26
So a pretty simple interface-- pretty easy to use.
10:31
OK, so this shows the Object Browser, just a little bit
10:33
more detail about that browser.
10:35
It allows you to tag those elements.
10:37
Everything is listed in there, and you can right
10:39
click to edit, remove, select.
10:43
The tools include a Low Point.
10:44
That specifies a low point-- exactly what it
10:47
says-- throughout your project.
10:48
A Bounded Point specifies elevation constraints,
10:52
and Aligned Edge forces the surface triangles
10:55
that touch a line to align in the same direction.
10:59
There's a Bend Line.
10:60
There's a Drain Line that you'll use often.
11:01
That specifies a line as a directional constraint
11:05
or a conveyance path.
11:08
But the Zone itself specifies properties
11:10
in-- for a closed polyline or feature line or something.
11:14
Exclusion Zones, like I mentioned-- something
11:16
that you just do not want to be included in the optimization.
11:20
You've got a Pond.
11:21
You've got the Curbs, the Building Pad, and the Reveal.
11:24
The Reveal specifies the reveal along the edge of a building
11:28
pad.
11:30
OK, so there's several features there.
11:31
There's newer features being added to Grading Optimization,
11:34
like Retaining Walls and other options here.
11:37
So let's take a quick look at the interface
11:40
and Object Browser in Grading Optimization.
11:44
So now that we have our geometry in here--
11:47
our surface and our linework--
11:49
we're going to now review the user interface of Grading
11:52
Optimization.
11:54
So once installed, from the Analyze tab of the ribbon
11:57
to the far right, here, you can see a Grading Optimization
11:60
panel.
12:01
Grading Objects can be turned on.
12:04
Those grading objects will appear in your Tool palette.
12:10
Yeah.
12:10
So here, you can see, we've got Low Point, Drain Line, Zones,
12:13
Ponds, Curbs, and so forth.
12:15
So all these can be edited here in the palette.
12:18
You can copy these and create your own.
12:21
So if you want to make a change to the curb and gutter
12:24
settings, for example, you can simply
12:27
copy those, paste those in there,
12:31
and maybe have your own standards for what a curb is.
12:37
So all done from the tool palette--
12:40
once you assign something, so once we grab something
12:42
from the tool palette, assign it to a geometry,
12:45
it now shows up here in the Grading Object Browser.
12:48
So think of this as your Prospector for grading objects.
12:52
As we assign low points and drain
12:54
lines and zones and curves, it's going to show here.
12:56
It's going to populate how many there are.
12:58
You can edit them.
12:59
You can delete them.
13:02
It's going to show up here in that Grading Object Browser.
13:06
The Visualization Display-- so as I turn on the Optimize tool
13:10
here--
13:10
let me just launch that.
13:14
Here in the center you can see the Visualization Display.
13:18
You can adjust the vertical exaggeration.
13:20
So if this maybe is a flat area, you can see there,
13:24
I can adjust the vertical exaggeration on it.
13:27
You can see my xyz here at the bottom, elevations
13:29
along the right side.
13:31
You'll get more numbers once we run the Optimize tool.
13:35
You'll see the cut and fill and the adjustments as you go.
13:41
Here, along the bottom, is the Optimization toolbar.
13:44
So this bottom band of tools allows you
13:46
to specify global constraints.
13:48
So if I just go left to right, here, we've
13:50
got our Model Settings, Qualities, Custom triangle
13:54
size.
13:56
Here along the top, we have our Theme.
13:58
So if we want to see it in Cut and Fill,
13:60
or if you want to see the TIN--
14:04
as opposed to Contours--
14:05
Hydrology, so forth, you can adjust those.
14:11
You can also adjust the convergence plot
14:14
or launch the convergence plot here.
14:16
And the convergence plot will show you,
14:18
as it goes, as it runs the Optimize tool, that--
14:22
where your cut and fills are, what
14:23
iteration it is, your feasibility, and terrain
14:25
smoothness.
14:28
If I come here to the right side, next to Optimize,
14:31
we also have Optimization Options.
14:34
So this allows you to set an Iteration.
14:37
So if I want, instead of 50,000, maybe 2,000,
14:39
you can simply key in the amount of iterations
14:42
you want to go through.
14:44
As far as the Object Weights go, what's more important to you?
14:47
You can say, you know, the balancing of cut and fill
14:50
is pretty important.
14:51
Minimizing earthwork's also important.
14:54
And smooth surface may be important, but not as important
14:57
as others.
14:59
So you can adjust that.
14:60
That way, GO knows what is more important to you.
15:05
So very simple user interface-- everything
15:07
done from the Tool palette, the Grading Object
15:10
Browser, and the floating grading optimization
15:13
visualization tools.
15:16
From here, we can begin to assign grading objects.
15:21
So now let's take a look at assigning our grading
15:23
objects to the geometry that we had prepared.
15:30
OK, just to reiterate, there's the options
15:32
that you have for assigning objects.
15:33
Your low points-- so COGO points, AutoCAD points.
15:36
Lines-- polylines, 2D polylines,
15:39
Those are the top seven items that you'll
15:42
use throughout the process here in Grading Optimization.
15:48
As you select your grading object
15:50
and apply it to the geometry, a palette is going to appear.
15:53
So once I select something from the Grading Objects panel
15:57
and apply it, you'll see the property.
15:59
So this property shows a zone, things
16:00
that you can apply global constraints
16:02
or customized constraints, exclusive drainage areas.
16:07
The other thing you can add in here--
16:08
so let's say it's a parking lot.
16:10
You can add a depth of the material in there.
16:12
So if you want grading optimization
16:14
to go to a subgrade, you can apply a depth of material
16:17
to that, and it's going to know where that is.
16:20
So again, working from the outside
16:21
in is the best way to kind of do that.
16:25
The parking lot, you can set some max slopes
16:27
and some minimum drain slopes.
16:29
Again, I mentioned depth of material.
16:31
You could also tell it that it's a breakline,
16:33
so when this returns it to Civil
16:37
it's going to be a feature line.
16:39
It's going to be a breakline within your surface.
16:44
Curb Properties-- you can simply give it a height and a width.
16:48
Building Pad-- you can set a fixed elevation,
16:51
so if you know the elevation you need that building pad to be,
16:54
you can set that.
16:55
Or you can set the elevation min and max,
16:58
and it's going to find the best location for that building
17:01
based on all the other constraints around you.
17:05
But then the Pond Properties--
17:07
I know I hate going in and just guessing at a pond size,
17:10
grading that pond out, checking the volume,
17:12
and maybe needing a bigger pond or a smaller pond.
17:15
This will allow you to tell it it's a dry or a wet pond,
17:19
and then you can give it the minimum storage volume.
17:22
So if I want this pond to have
17:26
I can tell it that.
17:27
That's my minimum storage I need to get.
17:29
I can give it a maximum depth.
17:31
I can give it more information, such as a safety
17:34
bench or a berm or a freeboard.
17:36
You know, usually you want a pond
17:38
with maybe a foot of freeboard.
17:39
You can input that data into your grading object geometry.
17:45
So it's easy to add that stuff to it.
17:47
Let's jump into the next demo, which
17:48
is assigning grading objects to our drawing geometry.
17:55
So now that we have our site plan drawn out
17:58
and we're more familiar with the user interface,
18:00
we can now begin to assign grading objects
18:03
to the geometry.
18:06
If I come here to the Analyze tab--
18:08
make sure that we've got our grading objects turned on
18:11
as well as our Grading Objects Browser.
18:14
In our Tool palette, we can begin
18:16
placing the objects by assigning them to the Civil 3D elements.
18:20
As you select your grading object
18:22
and apply it to the geometry, the floating palette
18:24
will appear.
18:24
You can choose to adjust settings
18:26
before or after your selection.
18:29
So let's go ahead and assign some grading objects
18:33
to our geometry.
18:35
So let's just start top to bottom.
18:36
We will first assign our low point.
18:38
So I'm just going to select-- left click once,
18:40
here, on the Low Point, and select this COGO point, here,
18:45
that I've marked as my low point within the drawing.
18:47
So I'm going to go ahead and just left click on that
18:49
again and hit Enter.
18:53
Nothing much needs to happen here.
18:55
You can see here that this floating palette, the grading
18:57
properties, pops up.
18:59
We can name it if we want.
19:00
Maybe we have multiple low points.
19:02
And we can change the color.
19:04
Very simple-- nothing major here that we need to change.
19:06
So I'm going to close that.
19:08
You can now see that it is in our Grading Object Browser.
19:13
If I left click it, I can edit it.
19:16
If I right click on it--
19:18
or select it here and right click--
19:20
we can remove the low point.
19:22
So you can remove the objects from the Grading Object Browser
19:26
by selecting it, right clicking, and removing
19:28
whatever that object is.
19:31
OK.
19:32
So that sets our low point.
19:34
Exclusion Zone-- so if we want to not grade in certain areas,
19:40
we can apply an Exclusion Zone to it.
19:44
Same thing with a parking lot-- so you
19:45
can see here, we've got a list of objects.
19:49
We're going to come down here to Parking Lot and select that.
19:53
So I'm just going to left click once on Parking Lot,
19:56
and this gives me my outer extents of the parking lot.
20:01
So I will select this outer polyline, this cyan line here.
20:05
Left click once.
20:06
Hit Enter again.
20:08
Some more properties here-- so I'm just going to expand this.
20:13
We can name it.
20:14
We can use global constraints.
20:15
We can customize the slope constraints.
20:17
So if I use global, you can see it grays out some
20:20
of these custom constraints.
20:22
I can say No slope constraints.
20:25
So I'm going to use Custom slope constraints.
20:26
I'm going to do a Max slope.
20:28
Maybe I don't want this parking lot to exceed 4% anywhere.
20:32
Maybe my minimum drain slope is 1%.
20:35
I'll leave that default.
20:38
Aligned surface, Exclusive drainage,
20:41
Minimum zone inclination, some things like that you can set,
20:44
Depth of material-- very important part of this.
20:48
You can set this Depth of material to whatever you want.
20:52
In this case, I'm going to set it to 1 foot.
20:54
That way, as Grading Optimization
20:56
runs the volumes and the calcs, it's
20:58
not going to take your top surface.
20:60
It's going to take the depth of that material into account.
21:04
Is it a breakline, yes or no?
21:05
I'm going to leave that as yes.
21:07
And then there's some--
21:09
Follow global grading objectives.
21:11
So Balance of cut and fill, Minimize earthworks,
21:14
Smooth surface, you can turn those on or off.
21:18
And once you're done with that, you're
21:19
going to simply close out the grading properties, and that
21:22
has been assigned now, that parking lot, to--
21:26
as a zone.
21:30
Drain Lines-- let's assign a few more objects here.
21:32
So I'm going to select my Tool palette.
21:34
Let's go to Drain Lines.
21:36
If I have several objects, what I can do
21:39
is, I can select them, either isolate the layer,
21:42
or right click, do a Select similar,
21:45
and isolate the object.
21:49
So if I want to assign these to multiple objects--
21:52
I can, say, select my Drain Line, in this case.
21:56
I'm going to window everything.
21:57
I'm going to hit Enter.
22:00
And as I select those, you can see, it's now a drain line.
22:04
Not a lot of information that you have to give it--
22:06
you can name it, tell it's a breakline, yes or no.
22:09
But that's about it, as far as the Drain Line goes,
22:11
and again, you can see it here, in the Object Browser.
22:15
OK.
22:20
And we un-isolate the objects there.
22:27
Now what about the overall boundaries?
22:29
So I want to limit my grading to be within a certain area.
22:32
I'm going to choose that.
22:33
I could define it a little bit more.
22:35
I can choose maybe a smaller area, either option here.
22:41
And I'm going to do this as a zone,
22:45
so I'm going to select my Zone.
22:51
And I'm just going to use this yellow one here.
22:55
Hit Enter.
22:57
More settings in here--
22:59
that's going to be just my zone.
23:00
I want to limit to that area.
23:02
I'm going to leave it default, except those-- fine with me.
23:06
And then we can do our curbs.
23:10
So same thing as our drain lines--
23:11
I want to select my Curb.
23:13
Right click, Select similar, Isolate objects again.
23:18
Tool palette-- and same routine here.
23:20
We're just going to grab the Curbs.
23:22
One thing you can do-- so again, I'm going to right click here.
23:28
I'm going to change the properties before.
23:30
Maybe my curb Width, I'm going to say 0.5.
23:35
My Height as well--
23:39
That way I don't have to change them all individually.
23:41
I can now change it here in my palette.
23:45
Select my Curb, select everything, hit Enter.
23:48
All right, so all those curbs are now
23:50
in the Grading Object Browser.
23:54
There we go-- half a foot, half a foot.
23:58
OK.
23:60
Building Pads-- when we've got building pad, we'll do a pond.
24:03
Let's apply our Building Pad.
24:08
So I'm just going to do the building outline itself.
24:11
I could also do the concrete pad-- maybe the concrete pad
24:15
around it.
24:15
But I'm going to do the building pad.
24:20
Elevation-- you can say between a Minimum
24:24
and a Maximum elevation.
24:25
I'm going to turn that off.
24:27
Now that locks it into a set elevation
24:30
there, if I wanted it.
24:33
Level grading with pad--
24:35
so I want that whole thing to be level.
24:36
I'm going to make sure that is turned on.
24:39
Depth of material-- maybe I had some footings or foundation
24:41
or something you'd want to take out.
24:43
I'm just going to throw a number in there--
24:49
Close that.
24:50
Let's go on here to the pond itself.
24:53
So let's select Pond from our Tool palette--
24:57
Pond.
24:58
I'm going to select that polyline.
25:01
Perfect.
25:02
And this gives us a lot of information about that pond.
25:05
We can name it.
25:06
So if we had multiple ponds, we can name this.
25:09
Pond type, Dry or Wet--
25:10
we're going to leave it Dry.
25:12
Minimum storage volume-- so if you need a minimum storage
25:16
volume, let's just say 25,000 cubic feet,
25:20
we can key that in there, whatever
25:24
that number is that we want.
25:27
Maximum storage depth-- I'm going to leave default of 5.
25:30
Allow boundary change--
25:31
I'm going to check that on, because if it
25:33
needs to be a smaller area, then let's build a smaller pond.
25:37
Safety bench-- I'm just going to turn
25:39
all these on so we can look at some of these properties.
25:42
Once that's turned on and it gives us a little diagram here
25:45
of what those are, I can come in here to the Safety bench
25:48
under Berm.
25:50
Maybe I want a 5 foot berm, a foot of freeboard
25:54
within that pond.
25:57
Inside slope, we'll just leave it 3:1.
25:59
And then my Safety bench, again, I
26:02
can give it parameters for that safety bench.
26:05
It's a little bit more information here
26:07
that you can give to that pond.
26:13
So again, you can take a look at some of these other things.
26:15
We've got the Reveal.
26:16
We've got Grading Limits, Sidewalks, Accessible
26:19
Paths, all sorts of things that we
26:21
can apply prior to running the grading optimization.
26:27
So we've now assigned all this geometry a grading object.
26:32
We are now ready to move on to verifying our settings
26:35
and then on to perform the grading optimization.
26:40
OK, so after we have assigned all that geometry,
26:43
we can then define the system settings and the object
26:46
constraints.
26:51
OK, there are three types of optimization settings.
26:53
There's the model rendering settings.
26:56
There's the global optimization settings.
26:59
And there is the modification of the visualization settings.
27:05
In the model settings, that's where
27:06
we can refine the surface.
27:08
We can tell it what the mesh quality is, so our TIN quality.
27:13
We can remove existing ground points if we wanted to.
27:15
I usually turn that off.
27:18
And then we can customize the maximum triangle size,
27:20
and then you can give it that maximum triangle size.
27:23
So if you want to kind of clean up that surface a little bit
27:25
more, tighten it up, there's some of the model settings
27:28
itself that you can adjust.
27:30
The global optimization setting--
27:32
so you can set this globally, and then
27:34
as you apply certain things, like a zone,
27:37
you can tell that zone to use global settings,
27:39
or you can customize and override that.
27:42
So there's the global constraints,
27:44
and the global constraints defines your base slope grade
27:47
limitations.
27:49
Zones with different minimum and maximum slope settings
27:52
can and will override those settings.
27:55
There's also the object weights, so
27:58
that when you go in there to tell an object weight--
28:01
let's say, for example, that the balance is
28:04
more important of cut and fill.
28:06
You want zero cut and fill leaving the site.
28:09
You can weigh that accordingly.
28:11
You can say, you know, that's 100%.
28:13
That's most important to me.
28:15
I want to balance that site, and so my objective there
28:17
is to balance the site.
28:19
Some of the other settings are smoothing surface--
28:21
so if it's important to you, you can adjust the Smooth surface
28:25
objective.
28:27
And then Minimize the earthwork attempts--
28:29
or try to minimize the earthwork attempt--
28:31
you know, balancing a site is one part of it,
28:34
but balancing a site doesn't really help sometimes.
28:37
If you have to take dirt from the far end of the site all
28:40
the way over to another end of the site,
28:42
that kind of defeats the purpose sometimes
28:43
in balancing out that site, depending on the haul.
28:47
And then there's the Convergence Plot dialog box.
28:49
We'll take a look at that as we jump into the demo
28:51
and review that convergence plot.
28:54
OK, so you can use the Visualization Settings dialog
28:56
box to modify the Contour and the Slope settings.
28:60
We'll look at that when we get into the demo,
29:02
but that's going to show us-- maybe we
29:03
want to see the slope of the site
29:07
as it's performing the optimization.
29:10
Maybe we want to see drainage arrows of the site
29:12
as it's performing it.
29:14
We can turn on some visualization settings there.
29:18
So I'm going to jump over to the demo.
29:19
Let's take a look at defining those system settings
29:22
and verifying the object constraints.
29:26
So one quick check before you run the grading optimization
29:30
is to look at the system settings and the object
29:33
constraints.
29:35
So I'm going to launch the Optimize here,
29:40
and we're going to take a look at the optimization
29:43
constraints.
29:43
There's three different types.
29:44
There's the model settings, the global optimization settings,
29:48
and the visualization settings.
29:52
Here, in the bottom left, we've got our model settings.
29:55
Very simple-- not a lot here.
29:57
We've got Refine surface, Mesh quality--
29:60
do we want that to be low, high, medium--
30:03
Remove existing ground points-- you can turn that on or off--
30:06
Customize max triangle size-- you can turn that on or off--
30:10
and Input a max triangle size.
30:13
So that's the model settings themselves.
30:17
The global optimization settings--
30:23
if I launch these Optimization Options, you can see here,
30:26
I've got some Global constraints, so my Max
30:29
slope, my Minimum drain slope.
30:32
I'm going to put a 1 in there.
30:34
Iteration-- how many times do you
30:36
want this model to go through an iteration
30:40
before it finds the best results and as it goes?
30:43
And you can key in that number.
30:45
You can key in a very large number.
30:52
or go to bed for the night.
30:54
I'm going leave it at 50,000.
30:56
Object weights, again, Balance cut and fill,
30:60
Minimize the earthwork, Smooth the surface--
31:06
whatever you feel like is most important,
31:08
you can adjust those.
31:14
The visualization settings-- so if I turn on the Visualization
31:17
toolbar, across the top, left to right,
31:20
we can see the Cut and Fill.
31:21
May as well turn on your convergence plot as well.
31:26
We've got Cut and Fill.
31:28
We've got Violations, or we don't want
31:30
to see any results as we go.
31:33
I'm going to turn on Cut and Fill.
31:36
As far as the themes go, we've got different themes here.
31:39
So let me turn off Cut and Fill real
31:41
quick to review these themes--
31:42
Elevation, Constant, Grayscale, and Slopes.
31:48
Now, the Topology, we can either see the Contours--
31:50
we can also turn on the TIN, so you
31:52
can see the triangles there.
31:54
And then the Hydrology as well-- so if you
31:56
want to see the drainage patterns as this goes,
31:59
you can turn those things on.
32:02
As I zoom in there, you can see those drainage arrows.
32:05
OK?
32:06
And you can see that based on what we put in there.
32:08
So if you remember, we put the drain lines in there.
32:10
You can see that we've got drainage arrows going
32:12
to the drain lines from all around and those drain
32:15
lines also out.
32:21
We've got the-- you know, as this is performing
32:26
the grading optimization, you can adjust
32:29
the vertical exaggeration.
32:32
So again, if it's a very flat area, you can adjust that,
32:35
and then you can see the elevations on the right.
32:38
So those are some of the settings
32:40
that you can look at prior to hitting the Optimization.
32:45
So now that we're ready-- now that we've assigned objects,
32:47
we've looked at our settings-- we're
32:49
ready to run that optimization.
32:54
OK, so let's take a deeper dive now
32:55
into the Visualization Display.
32:58
So we've got everything defined.
32:60
We've assigned things.
33:01
Let's look at how this Visualization Display works.
33:06
OK, this is going to be broken up into five parts.
33:09
We've got the Visualization toolbar,
33:12
and there are several display themes in there.
33:15
The display themes are things such as Slope or Grayscale,
33:20
or you can turn on the TIN, versus just the colors
33:23
that you see there, the Cut and Fill.
33:25
You can also turn on some hydrology stuff to it
33:27
and see the flow arrows within your site as it's creating it.
33:36
There's the Vertical Exaggeration slider.
33:38
So sometimes on a flat site, it's
33:41
hard to tell what's going on.
33:43
You can adjust that vertical exaggeration
33:45
so that you can really see where are your highs and lows
33:48
and where that grading is taking place.
33:52
There's a Legend toolbar along the right.
33:55
That just displays the color of the ranges
33:57
within the visualization that you see there.
34:02
There's the Optimization status.
34:04
So at all times, it's going to show you the cut, the fill,
34:07
the minimum-- max depth--
34:09
the maximum depth of cut or fill,
34:12
and then it gives you a net volume total.
34:16
So as you run this, as you tell it
34:18
how many times to go through and optimize, what iteration to do,
34:21
you'll see the numbers changing nonstop.
34:26
And then there's just your xyz, your coordinates.
34:28
So if you want to see what your north and east
34:30
and the elevation as you hover over a site,
34:32
it's there in the bottom left.
34:38
Some of the other settings there that we've briefly mentioned--
34:41
we've got the model settings.
34:42
That's going to open up the Preferences dialog to specify
34:46
the surface geometry.
34:49
Visualization settings, that's going
34:50
to open the toolbar at the top of the Visualization Display
34:53
that we just saw.
34:55
Convergence plot-- this is going to give you a convergence plot.
34:58
It's going to monitor the feasibility.
35:00
It's going to monitor the cut and fill.
35:02
It's going to monitor the terrain smoothness.
35:06
Then you've got the Optimization Options.
35:08
That's where, again, you can specify
35:10
the global constraints and the objective weights
35:12
and the amount of iterations that you want to run
35:15
through Grading Optimization.
35:18
And then once you're done, once you're happy with it,
35:20
there's the Send Optimized Results back into Civil 3D.
35:23
Surfaces, feature lines, points all go back into Civil.
35:29
So I mentioned the convergence plot.
35:31
That gives you another perspective
35:32
that you can see inside Grading Optimization.
35:36
So you can see that it's usually broken up into three sections.
35:38
You've got the proximity measurements.
35:41
You've got the Volumes.
35:43
And you have the Terrain Smoothness.
35:46
So that's going to be running the entire time.
35:49
You can see maybe when the plot converges.
35:51
Let's take the volume, for example.
35:53
When that cut and fill converges,
35:54
you know, maybe you can stop the iteration halfway
35:58
through your grading optimization.
36:00
Paying attention to that convergence plot
36:02
will help you go throughout and kind of see and understand
36:04
what's going on in your site.
36:09
And as I mentioned, once you're done with that,
36:11
once that's gone through a successful optimization,
36:13
you can return that stuff back to Civil 3D.
36:17
OK, it's as simple as selecting Optimize, letting
36:20
it run through its process, and then sending that back
36:22
to Civil 3D, where you'll see the surface, feature
36:25
lines, and points.
36:26
So in this next demo, we're going to run the grading
36:29
optimization.
36:30
We're going to look at the interface,
36:32
and we're going to return that data back
36:35
into our Civil 3D model.
36:39
When your grading objects' various constraints
36:41
and objectives are all set, you can start the optimization
36:44
process by clicking Optimize on the Optimization toolbar.
36:48
Once you feel comfortable with the result,
36:50
you can return the data back to Civil 3D.
36:54
So I'm here in the Analyze tab.
36:55
I'm going to select Optimize from the far right.
36:60
This will launch Grading Optimization.
37:02
I'm going to move this just a little bit here,
37:04
and I'm going to open up my convergence plot.
37:06
We'll want to watch this as we run this analysis.
37:11
So all I need to do here is, I need
37:13
to double check, real quick, my Optimization Options.
37:16
So we've got our Global constraints, our optimization
37:19
Iterations, and our Objective weights.
37:21
I'm going to leave those as is.
37:22
I'm going to close this.
37:24
I'm going to simply select Optimize.
37:27
It's going to begin the process by triangulating,
37:30
and you can see, the optimization has begun.
37:34
We've got the total cut, the total fill, the net volume,
37:38
and our min and max depths.
37:41
I can move around in this window.
37:43
I can adjust the vertical exaggeration.
37:45
I'm going to zoom in here a little bit.
37:48
And we can see the elevations along our right side.
37:52
We can also see the convergence plot here.
37:54
So we've got the proximity measure.
37:56
You can see here the feasibility based on the iteration.
38:00
You can see the volume, the cut-fill, and the net,
38:04
and then we've got the terrain smoothness.
38:07
So this will be running as we're running the optimization.
38:10
I can also turn on the Visualization toolbar,
38:14
and I can look at different themes as I go.
38:16
So for example, if I want to turn on my slope arrows,
38:19
I can turn those on.
38:20
If we just zoom in there a little bit more,
38:22
you can see those slope arrows are pointing towards my drain
38:25
lines and away from other things here within that file.
38:30
We can turn on our themes, such as Cut and Fill.
38:34
Our Violations, I'm going to turn that off.
38:37
Theming-- as Elevation, Constant, Grayscale, and Slope.
38:46
And we could also choose to turn on our wireframe and our TIN
38:49
if you want to see it in that way.
38:53
I'm going to turn this back here.
38:56
Let's turn back on our Contours.
39:01
OK, so it's running iteration after iteration.
39:04
You can see here the volume, as this is going down-- maybe
39:07
it's getting close to zero.
39:09
It's not done with the process, but maybe it's
39:11
getting close to zero.
39:12
At any point in time, I can select Stop,
39:15
or I can let it run all the way through.
39:18
I'm going to select Stop.
39:20
Maybe I'm comfortable at this point.
39:21
It looks good.
39:24
Now I want to bring this back into Civil 3D.
39:26
So let me shut down my convergence plot,
39:28
and I'm going to simply select Send Optimized Result.
39:35
So we have one surface, 30 feature lines, and one point
39:39
that it's going to bring into Civil 3D.
39:41
We can update an existing surface if we have one in here,
39:45
or we can create a new surface.
39:46
I'm going to change the name of this new surface to FG dash GO.
39:50
That way I know it came from Grading Optimization.
39:54
I'm going to change my Style to a "1 and 5" design style.
39:59
At that point, if I'm happy with what I'm about to import,
40:02
I will select Finish.
40:06
We'll give it a moment.
40:07
And you can see on the screen here, in a moment,
40:09
that the surface will show up, and all the feature lines
40:13
for all the grading objects that I had set are now apparent.
40:17
So I can adjust those if I wanted to.
40:20
So we've got our surface.
40:22
We have our drain lines.
40:23
We have our feature lines.
40:25
We have our pond down there.
40:27
We now have the finished results from Grading Optimization.
40:32
We could rerun it.
40:33
We could resend it back and override it.
40:36
So you can see how easy it is, with very minimal setup,
40:39
assigning of simple grading objects,
40:41
and performing some changes to Settings, that we
40:43
can successfully run a grading optimization on our project.
40:49
And just a quick wrap-up on this.
40:50
Grading Optimization-- or GO, as it's commonly referred to--
40:54
is going to automate some of those really time-consuming
40:56
grading tasks.
40:57
It's going to take a little bit of trial and error,
40:59
especially in the beginning stages of a project.
41:02
Out of it-- and then you're going
41:03
to start with kind of a already somewhat graded site,
41:07
to where you can further refine it and do a detailed design.
41:11
So the goal of this Accelerator, this "Automate Grading Tasks
41:14
using Grading Optimization Civil 3D"
41:16
Accelerator is just to give you some quick knowledge and how
41:20
to solve those real-time grading problems and constraints,
41:22
all within Civil 3D, all within workflows that you're really
41:26
typical--
41:27
used to with concept plan, site planning, subdivision design.
41:31
It's just taking it a little bit further
41:33
in Grading Optimization.
41:36
Some additional resources-- a great spot to go out there,
41:38
as always, is the Customer Success Hub,
41:41
CustomerSuccess.Autodesk.com.
41:43
You can launch some learning paths in there.
41:45
There's videos.
41:46
There's tutorials.
41:47
There's all sorts of things.
41:48
Autodesk University's also a fantastic site to review.
How to buy
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