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
00:00
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:04
Hi there.
00:05
Welcome to Project Explorer for Civil 3D.
00:08
My name is Stacey Morykin.
00:10
A little bit about me, I have over 20 years
00:14
experience working with Autodesk infrastructure applications
00:17
in both private and public civil engineering practices
00:21
within the mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
00:24
I am an Autodesk expert elite.
00:27
And I'm currently employed as an engineering technology manager.
00:31
In this session, we're going to learn how to review, modify,
00:34
validate, and report information from your Civil 3D
00:37
model using Project Explorer.
00:39
First, we'll give a bit of an overview
00:42
about Project Explorer, talk about some
00:44
of the key benefits, where it fits in your design process,
00:47
and how to access and install.
00:49
Next, we'll navigate the Project Explorer interface,
00:52
show you some right-click keyboard shortcuts,
00:55
then we will review, edit, and create Civil 3D design objects,
00:59
including alignment profiles, some corridors, pipe networks,
01:02
and feature lines.
01:04
Last, we'll generate some output, including some object
01:07
sets, layout, and report, exporting to 2D,
01:10
and giving you some options for creating and exporting reports.
01:15
Here is a detailed list of topics
01:17
included in this presentation.
01:25
So let's get started by talking about Project Explorer, what
01:28
it does, and why we use it.
01:31
Project Explorer is an easy to use
01:33
visual interface that enhances model review editing
01:36
and creation.
01:37
You can only use it in Civil 3D.
01:39
It is only for Civil
01:42
It really provides an efficient single interface
01:46
for working with both objects and sub-objects
01:48
with inside Civil 3D.
01:50
You can also quickly generate custom data reports
01:53
and export 2D drawings generated from Civil 3D designs.
01:58
Some of the benefits of implementing
01:59
Project Explorer for everyday Civil 3D workflow tasks
02:03
will be presented next.
02:05
In the next two demonstrations, I'm
02:06
going to show the typical workflow tasks for reviewing
02:09
and editing a roadway corridor.
02:12
In the first video, we'll demonstrate default Civil 3D
02:15
objects.
02:16
Take note to the number of picks and clicks
02:18
and different access points that you will need to do in order
02:21
to accomplish these tasks.
02:23
In the second video, we're going to do that same workflow,
02:26
but we're going to use Project Explorer.
02:28
Take note in a second demonstration how there
02:30
are less clicks and picks.
02:32
And the detailed design parameters
02:33
are more streamlined and easier to access.
02:37
So here's Civil 3D tasks without Project Explorer.
02:45
We're going to take a look at the alignments, specifically
02:48
Second Street.
02:49
We have two profiles, an existing and a finished grade.
02:53
If we go to the alignment properties,
02:56
we can see the station control, masking,
02:59
point of intersection, constraint, editing, and design
03:02
criteria within the properties window.
03:06
If we go to the geometry editor in this dialog box,
03:09
we have open up a second dialog box in order
03:12
to see all of the parameter constraints.
03:17
For Superelevation is yet another interface and dialog
03:21
box, where we then have to go into a tabular editor
03:26
and take a look at all of these start and end stations
03:29
for our Superelevation.
03:34
In this demonstration, we'll do those same tasks,
03:37
but we'll do it with Project Explorer.
03:41
So from the command, we're going to type in Project Explorer
03:45
to open up the dialog box.
03:50
You notice the alignments at the very top?
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We're going to go to Second Street again.
03:56
If we scroll down a little bit, you'll
03:58
see the existing surface as well as the finished grade surface.
04:02
And below that, you'll see the calculated stations,
04:05
those alignment entities in one easy tabular format.
04:10
We can then go over to the Superelevation critical
04:13
stations and take a look at all of those individual parameters
04:17
in a tabular method as well.
04:24
So as you can see, Project Explorer
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consolidates all of those dialog boxes
04:29
into a single interface in reference
04:32
allowing you to quickly see, edit,
04:34
modify any of those parameters.
04:37
So that is one of the key benefits
04:40
of using Project Explorer within your Civil 3D projects.
04:45
So again, some of the key benefits, just an overview,
04:47
it will streamline your review, editing,
04:49
and reporting of your Civil 3D design objects
04:52
in a single interface.
04:53
It is a modeless dialog box, which
04:55
means it'll float over or beside Civil 3D.
04:58
You can work within your Civil
05:01
space and still have the Project Explorer dialog box open.
05:05
All of your Civil 3D objects and sub-objects
05:07
are easily accessible and can be edited directly
05:11
within that dialog box.
05:13
Some of the design reports or data
05:15
reports that we can export range in popular formats
05:18
from Excel spreadsheets to PDF to text files.
05:22
And that design data can be exported
05:24
to 2D drawings through Project Explorer as well.
05:27
You can also configure the Project Explorer
05:29
and save it for a shared consistency
05:31
and improve the report automation
05:33
throughout your team.
05:35
So the user interface can be configured to suit,
05:37
and you also get some warning tool
05:39
tips for areas of the design which might not
05:41
meet specified rules or design standards the same as you would
05:44
in typical Civil
05:48
So there are a wide array of tools for reviewing and editing
05:51
pipe networks, such as multiple part swap tools and pipe run
05:55
editors.
05:57
So next, let's talk about navigating the Project Explorer
05:60
interface specifically.
06:01
After you install Project Explorer, which
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is a separate install, it can be launched from the add-in ribbon
06:08
in CIVIL 3D 2020 and 2021.
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So you will have to go to the add-in ribbon tab
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in order to launch Project Explorer.
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If you are using Civil 3D
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is located on the home tab.
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So in any version, you can enter Project Explorer at the command
06:27
line, and that interface will appear.
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So here's what the interface looks like.
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At the very top, you're going to get a graphical interface
06:35
for objects that could be viewed in profile or section views.
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In the mid portion of this dialog
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box is where you'll see the object list.
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So it'll list your alignments, parameters, et cetera.
06:47
And then at the very bottom is where
06:48
we view our sub-object list or the specific parameters
06:52
of those.
06:54
So at the very top again is the graphics interface.
06:57
This display depends on the object type that we're using.
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So for profile views, you could see alignments, profiles,
07:04
feature lines, pipe networks, et cetera.
07:06
With section views, you'll be able to view
07:09
assemblies, some sample lines, some corridors.
07:12
And then in your list views, you'll
07:14
be able to see surfaces, parcels, points, and blocks.
07:19
So the plan view is not included in the interface.
07:22
It is assumed to be visible in your drawing canvas.
07:25
So Project Explorer window is more or less
07:27
like I mentioned previously.
07:29
So you can freely move between the Civil 3D window
07:31
and the Project Explorer.
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All this information is live project data
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from the Civil 3D model.
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So Project Explorer will update automatically
07:40
when something is modified or added to the Civil 3D model.
07:45
Inside of Project Explorer, we do have some right-click menu
07:49
options.
07:50
And these options will vary depending on the objects
07:53
and where the right click is actually initiated.
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So in the preview window versus the object
07:58
versus the sub-object, click location
08:01
gives different functionality.
08:03
Functionality is directly accessed
08:05
through streamline tasks for objects and sub-objects.
08:08
So you can zoom or pan to selected objects.
08:11
You can access those Civil 3D properties.
08:14
Similar to the right-click options
08:15
that you would have in the tool space,
08:17
it's just now in the Project Explorer.
08:19
So right clicking on something like the Front Street pipe
08:24
network, you'll see an example of some
08:26
of the right-click options that we
08:28
have here for this, including setting descriptions, setting
08:31
the parts list, label styles for the structure,
08:34
as well as the pipes for this particular pipe network.
08:38
We can also swap parts.
08:40
We can set rule set.
08:41
So all of those same options that we
08:43
would get in a contextual ribbon or in the tool
08:46
space in the Prospector, we do get here right
08:50
in the Project Explorer window.
08:53
So exploring the Control key and selection highlighting.
08:56
If you use the Control key to highlight selected objects
08:58
in the drawing canvas, you can also
09:00
use the Windows item selection method like Shift and Control
09:04
to highlight items.
09:05
And then those columns can be sorted.
09:08
So a complete list of all the keyboard shortcuts
09:10
can be found in the Project Explorer help window.
09:15
So let's talk about the interface
09:17
a little bit, some of the object views,
09:19
the right-click functions, and the preview window options.
09:22
So I'm going to go ahead and get into Civil 3D here.
09:25
I'm going to type in Project Explorer from the command
09:27
prompt so that way I can open this up--
09:31
open up the dialog box here.
09:34
So at the very top, I'm going to go to the alignments tab.
09:37
If you noticed, there's a bunch of tabs
09:38
over to the right, specifically assemblies, corridors,
09:43
some point group surfaces, feature lines.
09:51
We've got our parcels, our pipe networks, our sample line
09:58
groups, AutoCAD blocks.
10:02
At the very least here, we have objects sets.
10:05
So you notice that all across the top
10:06
is all of our Civil 3D objects in each individual tab.
10:11
So if we click on assemblies here,
10:13
you'll notice that we have quite a few assemblies
10:16
already defined.
10:17
And instead of right clicking in our Prospector
10:20
and going to the properties, we have all of the properties
10:23
here for this assembly.
10:25
So again, we can make modifications or edits right
10:27
from the Project Explorer.
10:36
So if we right click on First Street here,
10:38
we can also zoom to that specific alignment
10:41
in our drawing canvas.
10:43
By clicking on First Street inside of Project Explorer,
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we'll select in the drawing Canvas.
10:51
Again, we're going to zoom to second street here.
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And if we click on Second Street,
10:56
notice how it highlights in our drawing canvas.
11:02
Let's take a look at our pipe networks
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here, specifically Second Street North.
11:07
If we click on that pipe network,
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you'll notice all of our structure names
11:11
at the very bottom here in our sub-object list.
11:14
We have all of our structure names,
11:15
as well as our pipes and our pipe runs.
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So if we select multiple, then in our object view area,
11:26
we can view that at a particular scale.
11:30
So let's change it one to one so we can take a look at what
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that exaggeration is.
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Maybe one to five, so we get a little bit more
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of an exaggeration.
11:38
We can also show and hide texts, minimize or maximize
11:43
our zones, et cetera.
11:46
So next, let's take a look at the alignment interface example
11:48
which shows some of the object and sub-objects for alignments,
11:52
some Windows-like selections, and then, again,
11:55
the Control to highlight in the drawing.
11:58
So for our alignment tab, we're going
11:59
to select on Second Street in our sub-objects list here.
12:03
We're going to scroll down to our calculated stations time.
12:08
And we're going to take a look at our curve intervals,
12:11
our spiral intervals with our northing and eastings are.
12:16
And you'll notice that we can also reorganize the column
12:19
headings if we need to if we don't
12:21
like to view it in that way.
12:25
Let's take a look at our alignment.
12:27
And it is so you could see we have several lines and curves.
12:31
All of those specific lengths starting
12:33
to end stations, northing and eastings.
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By clicking on one of those sub entities within that alignment,
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it will select that in our drawing canvas.
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We'll be able to view right in our drawing canvas, where
12:48
we are in our tabular editor here with inside Project
12:52
Explorer.
12:57
So let's take a look at the alignment PIs, same thing.
13:01
If we wanted to select them, it would
13:02
select in the drawing canvas.
13:06
We also have some right-click options specifically here,
13:11
as well as the Control.
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So by holding down the Control key,
13:15
you can select multiple objects or sub-objects at a time.
13:19
In this case, the alignment PIs.
13:23
And lastly, we'll take a look at the Superelevation critical
13:25
stations.
13:27
Again, by selecting the sub-object in this editor,
13:32
it will select it in the drawing canvas.
13:34
Holding down the Control key will
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allow us to select multiple.
13:37
And again, all of these will highlight
13:40
in the drawing canvas.
13:42
In the next example, let's review some violations
13:45
from rebuilding a corridor.
13:48
All right, so at the very top, we're
13:50
going to click on corridor tab so
13:52
that we would get into that portion of the Project Explorer
13:55
interface.
13:57
We're going to select on Second Street.
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You notice how it's red, and we have a warning symbol there?
14:01
If we right click and rebuild corridor,
14:06
then we can rebuild our corridor right from this interface.
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Pretty easy.
14:12
In the next section, we're going to review, edit, and compare
14:15
using Project Explorer.
14:16
So we'll go through two examples specifically, one for corridors
14:20
and one for pipe networks.
14:22
So to edit, compare, and create objects in Project Explorer,
14:25
there are some important user interface items.
14:28
One is to create icons.
14:31
This example is a create alignment and profile.
14:33
The next portion here displays some view options.
14:37
There's a wide variety of profile view options.
14:40
If you're familiar with Civil 3D, that's well known.
14:43
And then also there are some other objects
14:45
that could be used for comparison to the far right
14:47
there.
14:47
So there's a dropdown list of relevant objects.
14:50
In this example, we can add some existing surfaces
14:53
to compare to design data.
14:56
So a little bit about editing objects in Project Explorer.
14:58
It instantly recognizes if objects can be edited.
15:02
Items that are displayed in purple color
15:04
can be edited with a double-click.
15:06
So things like object names, descriptions, and styles
15:09
can easily be changed.
15:11
Sub-object values can also be changed.
15:14
We can also edit more than one object
15:17
at a time using Shift and Control
15:20
as in Windows selections.
15:22
And then some examples of that would
15:23
be changing styles, swapping some part sizes or pipe part
15:27
sizes, or changing some referenced objects.
15:31
This is much easier to accomplish in Project Explorer
15:34
than in classic editing as this is just
15:36
our one stop shop for editing and making modifications.
15:41
So when we use the compare to extend the power of editing,
15:44
only relevant objects will be listed in the compare
15:47
to dropdown list.
15:49
So some of these examples would be comparing point or block
15:52
locations to alignment stations or comparing some link codes
15:56
in corridors.
15:58
So just a little bit of a note about using
16:00
compare to alignment objects, the offset distance
16:04
is displayed when Control is used
16:06
and the compared object is an alignment.
16:10
So there may be some icons including a small warning
16:12
symbol and bold red font.
16:15
Tooltip shows detailed information
16:17
that can be edited in Project Explorer.
16:20
Here are some more examples of violations for alignments.
16:23
So the profile start and end station
16:25
falls outside of the station range.
16:27
Your alignment or profile entity is not tangent,
16:30
or the alignment or profile entity violates one or more
16:33
of the rules that you have assigned in your design check
16:35
set.
16:37
So let's take a look at corridor editing efficiency.
16:41
Let's head into this corridor example.
16:44
So what to watch for in this next demonstration
16:47
is how we save time compared to traditional editing
16:50
methods with direct access and multiple edit capabilities.
16:53
So we're going to talk about the corridor
16:55
tab versus the assembly tab.
16:57
And then any changes in the subassembly
16:59
will result in the corridor collection
17:00
violation of out of date.
17:02
And then we can quickly rebuild it
17:04
while still maintaining and remaining in Project Explorer.
17:08
So let's take a look at this example really quickly.
17:12
So scrolling through stations has no lag.
17:15
And using Control and "zoom to" to find specific sections
17:19
in this drawing.
17:20
Let's go ahead and get started.
17:22
So notice at the top, you're still in corridors.
17:26
The far right here, we're going to compare to EG.
17:31
We're going to go to a specific station along that alignment.
17:36
So notice how we could just scroll using our mouse
17:39
wheel or our down or up arrow.
17:41
We can scroll through and take a look at all of those sections
17:45
pretty quickly and easily.
17:51
She's very nice.
18:03
We can also zoom in and Zoom out of the display
18:07
window at the top there.
18:08
If we right click, we can zoom to that specific station
18:13
or pan to the start.
18:28
So again, a section editor reviewing tips.
18:31
Select Control on your keyboard to see
18:32
stations and drawing plan view.
18:35
Or you could click and just scroll with your mouse wheel
18:38
as another quick trick.
18:40
So next, let's view some link shapes and points
18:43
in the corridors.
18:44
So allow us to easily identify design intent or omissions, how
18:48
we can compare this function in corridor model review.
18:51
It gives us the subassembly objects to reference,
18:53
so things like points, links, and shapes
18:56
in our subassemblies.
18:60
So again, we're still in the corridor tab at the very top
19:02
here.
19:05
We're going to click on one of our corridors, First Street.
19:09
We have an error.
19:09
So We want to make sure that we rebuild all of our corridors.
19:13
So we can either right click or we could use the button
19:15
at the top.
19:17
The right hand side, we can find specific links.
19:22
In this instance, let's use the data link.
19:28
So if we look at the data link, that's
19:30
going to be everything at the very, very bottom
19:32
of our entire assembly here.
19:37
If we want to take a look at the shape codes,
19:40
we can select that from the dropdown.
19:42
And let's take a look at the subbase here.
19:47
So again, that's our shape code.
19:48
It gives us our subbase shape and then
19:51
our specific point codes.
19:53
Right now, it's highlighted as the back of curves.
19:55
As you can see in that view, it's highlighted in yellow.
19:59
If we take a look at the sidewalk out,
20:01
then that point code shows highlighted in yellow.
20:05
So again, really, really easy to pinpoint our point link
20:10
and shape codes with our subassemblies.
20:13
We don't have to guess or go through a bunch of help
20:15
documents to find out what those codes are.
20:19
So next let's talk about a corridor editing example.
20:22
Several corridor editing tasks, again, all in one interface.
20:26
We can quickly make name edits.
20:28
We can change some region assemblies.
20:30
We can edit those subassemblies.
20:32
We can update the corridor and a note
20:33
about transitions and the need for targets
20:36
to ensure smooth transitions.
20:37
So we can also set some targets in here as well.
20:41
So let's take a look at this example really quickly.
20:44
We're still in the corridor.
20:45
We're going to select First Street here.
20:48
As you could see, we have three regions.
20:50
So if we double click on that, we
20:52
can change the name of that region.
20:56
So we're going to change that to Start.
20:58
The second one, we're going to do Middle.
21:00
And then region three here, we'll name that End, right?
21:04
OK there.
21:07
So the start and end stations for each
21:09
of our regions and the assembly assigned
21:12
to that specific region, if we want
21:15
to change that, we can just simply click on the assembly
21:19
there.
21:20
And then choose a different assembly for the middle region
21:23
there.
21:23
And click OK.
21:25
And we will have to right click and rebuild so that way it
21:30
updates our drawing canvas.
21:33
Perfect.
21:38
So if we go to our assembly tab here,
21:41
let's take a look at our wider road
21:43
full section that we need to make
21:46
some modifications to this.
21:48
So we're going to click on that subassembly.
21:51
And instead of that lane Superelevation
21:54
being a value of five, we're going to increase it to seven.
22:01
Let's also take that basic sidewalk
22:03
with there, that buffer area that's selected in the view.
22:09
And let's update that to 3 and 1/2.
22:13
Awesome.
22:14
Great.
22:14
So you noticed that the cameras didn't really update.
22:17
That's because we need to go back to the corridor,
22:19
and we need to rebuild like we typically would
22:22
it through our Prospector tab.
22:23
So once we rebuild, then our drawing canvas
22:27
updates with our modifications and edits.
22:30
It's a really, really quick and efficient way to make edits.
22:35
So next, let's talk about some pipe network editing benefits.
22:39
So what to watch for in these upcoming demos--
22:43
the sub-object tabs for structures, pipes, and runs,
22:46
both structures and the pipes, some direct editing
22:49
of values and some depth examples.
22:52
Defining pipe runs for long or short runs within the network.
22:56
Editing some pipe runs, setting a constant grade example
22:59
while holding start or end elevations.
23:02
Also, swapping multiple parts all at one time
23:04
with multiple selection.
23:06
So first, let's take a look at editing
23:09
the values that are in purple working with some pipe run
23:12
concepts.
23:13
So in this example, we want to change and select the pipe
23:17
network tab at the very top.
23:19
We're going to take a look at the First Street storm.
23:24
So notice we have all of the purple values
23:26
for our structures.
23:27
We've got all of our pipes here under a separate tab
23:32
and then the pipe runs, again, under another tab there.
23:44
So this particular structure, we're
23:46
going to control the sump depth here.
23:50
So you see, our sump depth is currently
23:52
set to zero for all of these.
23:53
Again, if we double click, we can either type in a value
23:57
or we could use the arrows to increase.
24:00
Hit OK, and our sump depth value is updated
24:04
as you can see in our preview window at the top there.
24:08
Let's go ahead and change that back to zero.
24:10
And again, our pipe network updates instantaneously.
24:20
So if we select multiple structures at a time,
24:23
we can modify all four of these at once.
24:27
So we're going to go up to this Edit Pipe Run.
24:30
We could take a look at those structures, specifically 36
24:36
through 39.
24:37
Yep, so we're just changing our view so that way
24:39
we see structures 36 through 37.
24:42
So just one single run, or we could see the entire run.
24:50
So we'll change that back to 39 so we
24:52
could see all four structures in the three runs there.
24:55
And we're going to go ahead, and we're
24:57
going to edit this pipe run.
25:09
So we want to hold the pipe run start elevation.
25:13
We're going to set the pipe elevations by invert.
25:18
We're going to make sure that our pipe runs
25:19
slopes are all the same.
25:22
So we can modify any one of these parameters if we need to
25:26
or if we want to for this entire run.
25:29
So let's say, we want to change the slope of this entire run
25:32
here to one instead of 1.47, so we'll type that in and hit OK.
25:38
Now, you could see all of our slopes are set to 1%.
25:42
And then it adjusts our elevations accordingly.
25:45
So now, we're going to go back to including the structure 35
25:48
there.
25:49
And we are good to go.
25:51
So in the next example, we're going
25:53
to edit multiple structures specifically,
25:55
swapping parts and adding our reference alignments.
25:58
Let's go ahead and kick this off.
25:60
So in this particular example, we
26:02
want to compare it to the finished grade of First Street.
26:06
So as you can see, we've got all of our structures.
26:12
We've got some STORM superstructures here,
26:17
So if we select all of those, we can right click and swap
26:22
all of our parts.
26:23
We can set the reference alignment for all of these.
26:26
So we'll go ahead and do that.
26:29
We'll set the reference alignment to First Street
26:32
and hit OK.
26:33
Now, all of our inverts and our stations
26:36
should adjust accordingly now that we are
26:39
set to a specific alignment.
26:41
Then it will update our stations.
26:49
So for First Street, we're going to right click.
26:51
And we could quickly report or export the 2D AutoCAD DWG file.
26:57
We can also set some plan styles and label styles accordingly.
27:03
So a little bit about some increment values--
27:05
getting more granular to design details,
27:07
we can use this to compare an incremental value
27:10
to examine pipe cover along a specific run.
27:12
Incremental values can be set for a variety of sub-objects
27:15
that are displayed in profile views.
27:18
So let's go ahead and take a look at this example.
27:21
So for our pipe runs here, our intervals
27:23
are set to value of 10.
27:28
So if we select on a particular structure, reference depth,
27:35
surface cover depth.
27:36
You notice that at the interval of 80, 90, or 100, that
27:42
cover depth increases slightly.
27:44
So we could see if there's any dips, any existing grade, where
27:48
we don't have adequate cover along that pipe run.
27:51
It looks like we're OK, but we can
27:54
use Project Explorer to take a look
27:56
at those specific interval details.
27:59
In this next portion, we'll talk about using Project Explorer
28:02
to create objects.
28:03
And in this example, we're going to be creating some feature
28:05
lines.
28:06
So things to watch out for in these demos,
28:08
again, we're going to use Control
28:10
to see feature line vertices in both preview
28:12
and drawing plan view.
28:14
We're going to create a feature line from object with inside
28:17
of Project Explorer.
28:19
We're also going to compare this to an existing surface
28:21
to understand the design intent a little bit better.
28:24
We're going to edit those elevations directly.
28:27
And just so you're aware, notice that they are in purple.
28:30
So that means we can edit them.
28:32
And we're going to use the Shift select and right click
28:34
menu to edit multiple elevations for constant elevation, as well
28:38
as constant grade.
28:40
So the workflow to create a design
28:42
object directly in Project Explorer,
28:44
we're going to use compare to existing surface.
28:46
We're going to rearrange some column data for northing
28:48
and easting preferences.
28:50
We're also going to set some constant grade
28:52
and constant elevations.
28:53
And we're going to edit the name and elevation values.
28:57
So again, at the very top, we're going to go over
28:59
to the feature line tab.
29:08
Notice we have a feature line in our drawing canvas here.
29:12
So we're going to go ahead and we're
29:13
going to create a new feature line from that object that's
29:16
in our drawing canvas.
29:19
So just like we normally get the prongs.
29:22
We're going to select online.
29:23
And we're going to create a feature line.
29:25
Now, put it in Site 1 here.
29:28
We're going to assign elevations.
29:29
And go ahead and click OK.
29:31
So our elevations are going to come from our surface.
29:35
And I don't want to insert immediate grade breaks.
29:38
So once we click OK, you see that now we
29:41
have our feature line created.
29:45
I've got a few PIs or points of index along our feature line.
29:52
So then we can modify these elevations if we need to.
29:55
We can also compare that to our existing grade surface.
30:00
So you notice if we need to make modifications to our feature
30:04
line and compare it to our existing grade,
30:06
we can edit those elevations accordingly.
30:11
So let's go into our layout options here.
30:13
And let's set the column layout for feature line points
30:19
to include our point index, our northing and eastings.
30:25
We'll move the northings up.
30:28
Let's also include some elevations, some grade ahead.
30:35
Let's compare the elevations too.
30:41
So we could change the name.
30:42
Remember, purple text means that we can edit.
30:45
So we're going to edit that and call that the FG elevation.
30:49
And let's move that up a little bit in this list.
30:55
So as you can see, because we changed our layout options,
30:58
we now have our point index, northing, easting elevation,
31:00
and our FG elevations here in our sub-object editor.
31:09
If we multiple select by holding down our Shift key,
31:13
we can right click, and we can set a constant grade
31:16
between those feature lines.
31:17
So we can hold a start point.
31:19
We can set a specific slope or grade, rise or run.
31:23
Let's go ahead and set that to two.
31:26
And click OK.
31:27
Now, you see we have a constant slope of two between those two
31:32
points.
31:34
We're going to set our constant slope with the next one.
31:37
So we'll right click again.
31:39
And this time, we will set it to zero.
31:47
So now, we go flat across.
31:50
Let's set the first elevation to 34 specifically.
31:54
So I'll hit Enter there.
31:56
And we'll double click on the last volume,
31:58
and we'll enter in 34 there.
32:02
Well, let's change the name of this feature line.
32:04
So if we double click, we'll call this EARTHEN DAM.
32:11
Perfect.
32:12
So as you could see, we created our feature line,
32:16
set the elevations, and changed some names
32:19
all through the Project Explorer interface.
32:22
If we go back to our Prospector tab,
32:23
and we go to our site in our feature lines,
32:25
you'll see we have that same feature line right there.
32:28
So we can select it in the tool space
32:30
similar to how we just created it in the Project Explorer
32:34
interface.
32:35
So next, let's talk about creating some custom reports.
32:38
In this section, we'll talk about object sets,
32:41
customizing columns, and saving some report and table
32:44
configurations.
32:45
So particular steps for report generation-- everything
32:48
is controlled and configured with inside the Project
32:51
Explorer interface.
32:53
So we're going to create a name and object set.
32:55
An object set is really just a collection
32:57
of objects and sub-objects that we can report on.
33:00
We're then going to choose the object action.
33:03
So that's going to be the output file
33:05
type and the specific behavior.
33:07
Notice we have a variety of file types
33:10
that we can apply an action to.
33:13
And then select the layout style.
33:15
So we can use an existing layout,
33:16
or we can customize this format and configuration.
33:20
And then we're going to select the report form style.
33:23
So to create a feature line stakeout report,
33:25
we're going to place the report as a dynamic table
33:28
in the drawing.
33:29
We're going to select the alignment for the compare to.
33:32
Then we'll customize the layout column display
33:35
and create a new object set.
33:37
Just go ahead and kick off this demonstration.
33:40
So again, we're still in the feature lines.
33:42
We're going to click on that EARTHEN DAM
33:44
that we just created.
33:46
And this time, let's compare it to First Street.
33:50
Yeah?
33:51
We're going to compare that to the First Street alignment.
33:57
So we're going to reset our interface layout just
34:00
to get it back to default configurations of that layout.
34:04
And we get all the information.
34:08
So once we do that, you'll notice that we are now
34:11
comparing it to First Street.
34:13
So here's the compared station, northing and easting--
34:18
so for the first point of index along our feature
34:23
line there to our fourth.
34:30
So let's go ahead and change some of our layout options
34:33
again.
34:34
Let's set the column layout for the feature line points.
34:37
Let's uncheck everything.
34:39
And this time, let's do our point
34:41
index, our northing and eastings
34:45
Let's put the northing up.
34:48
We'll also add in the elevation there.
34:53
We want to include the compared station and the compared
34:58
offset.
34:59
Just X and Y, I don't think we need Z at this point.
35:03
And for compared station, we'll change that name
35:05
to Center Line Station.
35:08
And compared offset, we'll set that to Center Line Offset.
35:14
OK, we're good.
35:17
So we'll go ahead and click OK there.
35:19
And then notice how now in the sub-object list
35:22
we just have showing what we need.
35:27
The last tab on the right there is the object set.
35:30
So if we go ahead and we create a new object set,
35:33
we're going to give this object set a name.
35:35
Let's call it Featureline Stakeout
35:40
from the center line there.
35:41
We want to give it a description.
35:43
We certainly can.
35:44
And for this object set action, notice
35:47
how we have a bunch of different things
35:48
that we can report to, PDFs, documentation,
35:51
but we can also export to an AutoCAD table.
35:55
So that's what we were going to do.
35:57
Obviously, we're going to set it to dynamic.
35:59
So that way, it updates as we make changes.
36:01
And we're going to use the layout of the Project Explorer
36:04
window that we just set.
36:06
So let's go ahead and pick an insertion point
36:08
on our drawing canvas.
36:10
I'll pick right here.
36:12
Looks good.
36:15
And we'll give that table a name.
36:17
We're going to call it that object name.
36:19
So it'll be called our feature line object name.
36:22
And we're going to use the default table styles.
36:26
So now, we have an object set name.
36:28
We're going to add our objects to this object set table.
36:32
We're going to go to our feature line.
36:34
So we're going to add this EARTHEN DAM feature
36:36
line that we just created.
36:39
So once we click OK, you'll notice
36:41
the table reflects exactly what we see in our sub-object list
36:45
here in Project Explorer.
36:47
So we're going to use the object table.
36:49
We can uncheck that.
36:52
So now, we just get the sub-object table that we want.
36:58
If we want to compare that, we can go ahead and compare that
37:00
to First Street here.
37:03
And once we add a comparison, you
37:05
see our table automatically updates
37:07
to include our comparison.
37:10
We also changed that to CL Station and CL Offset.
37:13
So you notice the difference there
37:15
that it added to our table.
37:17
We did go through that demonstration pretty quickly.
37:20
So in this next session, we'll talk about the specific dialog
37:23
boxes and things to look out for when creating and using objects
37:27
sets.
37:28
So again, an object is just a collection of Civil 3D
37:31
design objects that are used to create reports, tables,
37:34
spreadsheets, or even 2D drawings.
37:37
Defining object sets enables us to be consistent and automate
37:41
that output generation with just a single click.
37:44
So they are received within the drawing
37:45
and can be added or edited or deleted.
37:49
And there is no limit to the number of object sets
37:52
that you can have.
37:54
So object sets are generated in a variety of output.
37:57
The actions are assigned to each object set.
37:60
And this determines the resulting output
38:02
that's created.
38:03
So the output specifically are things
38:05
like text files, Excel spreadsheets, HTML files, PDFs,
38:09
documents, tables in Model Space or a Paper Space,
38:13
and then also some 2D AutoCAD drawing files.
38:16
So creating an object set specifically,
38:19
you can do this in one of two ways.
38:22
Inside of the Project Explorer interface,
38:24
you can navigate to the Objects Sets tab.
38:27
And then click to create the Object Set button.
38:31
Or you can right click on any object in the Project Explorer
38:35
window and select Add to Object Set, Create Object Set menu
38:41
item.
38:42
So again, one of two ways to create that.
38:44
Once the object set dialog box opens, the name must be unique.
38:50
And the description is obviously optional.
38:53
And then you need to set the object action or action type.
38:57
So actions can be assigned and generally
38:59
used to automate a process.
39:00
This parameter determines how the action should be
39:03
triggered, manually or dynamic.
39:06
So if it is manual, you will have to actually run the action
39:09
button in order to update whatever that action is,
39:13
whether that's a table or an export to another document
39:17
or a 2D file.
39:19
So some file output related options.
39:21
Filename can be typed, generated from variables,
39:24
or a combination of both methods.
39:26
When you are using the generate report action,
39:29
an output path must be specified.
39:31
And then a report style is required
39:33
to define the page parameter.
39:35
So you can use a default one or you can use a specific report
39:39
style.
39:39
Some similarities on the AutoCAD table related options,
39:44
you do have to pick an insertion point.
39:46
It's in the top left corner of that table.
39:48
So wherever you select in your drawing canvas
39:51
will be the top left-hand corner of your table.
39:53
The text for the title cell can either be a type
39:56
or it can be generated from a list of variables,
39:59
or it can be a combination of both methods.
40:02
And then again, the table style is required in order
40:05
to define that table parameter.
40:06
You can use a default table style for object sets,
40:09
or you can select a specific table style.
40:13
Adding objects to an object set was pretty easy.
40:17
Again, there are two different methods for adding objects
40:20
to the object set.
40:21
The first way is, again, navigating to the Objects Sets
40:25
tab, clicking the Add Objects to Object Set button, which
40:30
is just that green plus symbol there.
40:32
Or you can right click on any object in Project Explorer
40:36
window and select the Add to Object Set menu item.
40:40
And then select the relevant entry for your object set.
40:44
So just a little note here, an object set
40:46
can contain any number of object set items.
40:50
And it can be reordered, duplicated,
40:52
and removed from an object set.
40:55
So very versatile.
40:57
So let's also take another look at customizing columns.
40:60
We went through that pretty quickly in the demonstration.
41:03
So we'll talk about it in depth here.
41:05
So customizing columns helps you refine
41:08
what data you're reporting on.
41:10
We can arrange the date of you with the column
41:12
values that are needed.
41:14
So an existing grade and finished grade profile example
41:18
or a retaining wall example, you can select the compare objects.
41:22
And you can also customize those columns in any order.
41:26
You can edit the headers.
41:28
And you do have the ability to save and reuse that file
41:31
and reset it to default if need be.
41:33
You could also do some one-time exports from the right click
41:36
menu and the reporting history.
41:39
So changing from the default columns to custom columns,
41:42
let's go ahead and kick off an example here,
41:45
a little demonstration on how to do that.
41:47
We're also going to configure the data
41:48
fields needed for the report.
41:52
All right, so back in the Project Explorer
41:54
from our last demo, you see we have a huge table here
41:57
with lots of information about our EARTHEN DAM feature line.
42:01
At the very bottom there, you will see the layout options.
42:05
By clicking that, we can set the column layout for feature line
42:09
points specifically.
42:12
We can also go ahead and open an XMPT file that we
42:16
have saved from previous.
42:18
We're just going to go ahead and select OK there.
42:21
And now, everything that we had checked and organized
42:24
previously, we're going to go ahead and use it here again.
42:28
So you could see the table then updates automatically,
42:31
because we have that option set to dynamic.
42:35
So saving some custom report settings,
42:37
we can change from default columns to custom columns.
42:39
And then save them as the XMPT.
42:42
So I just showed you an example of how
42:44
to open that saved XMPT file.
42:49
This demonstration will show you how to actually create
42:52
that file, so that way you can pull it up again
42:55
at a future time.
42:56
So once you have it saved, you're
42:58
going to right click on that object set name.
43:01
You're going to right click and go
43:02
to the Object Set Properties.
43:05
Within the Properties dialog box here,
43:08
you're going to make sure that you give it
43:10
the appropriate name.
43:11
And we're going to export, make sure that action is dynamic.
43:16
But this time, we're going to use a specific layout style.
43:19
And we're going to select that feature
43:21
Center Line Station and Offset.
43:25
We already have our insertion point picked.
43:28
We're going to use a specific table style.
43:32
And we're going to edit that style.
43:35
So once we edit that table option style,
43:39
make sure that all of our parameters are set.
43:42
Maybe let's change something here to Ariel.
43:46
Yeah, we definitely want to force all of our texts
43:48
to uppercase for sure.
43:52
We're going to add a title row.
43:54
I think everything is OK there.
43:56
We can set some background colors if we want to.
43:59
Set that to a lighter gray so we could see the text.
44:10
Perfect.
44:10
Go ahead and hit OK there.
44:13
And now, we're going to give our file a name.
44:16
Call this ALL CAPS AERIAL GREY CELLS.
44:22
Go ahead and click OK there.
44:24
And now that we have that specific table
44:26
style set and saved, we can go ahead and click OK.
44:30
Now, if we want to use that specific table
44:32
style at a future time, we can just call and open
44:36
that particular style.
44:38
So we're going to go to the Object Set Properties.
44:42
We're going to go ahead and edit that style again.
44:46
And you could see we now have that
44:47
set to our previous XMPA file.
44:53
Let's go out and make some changes to that.
44:55
We're going to set the data and rows, columns to some block
44:59
text.
45:01
We're going to update that table style and hit OK.
45:04
Now again, that automatically overwrites and saves that table
45:07
style that we had set.
45:09
So in this next session, we'll talk
45:11
about some reporting and table styles and that display.
45:14
Setting precision in civil engineering data displays,
45:17
we can also set that unit precision slopes, angles,
45:20
and directions.
45:21
The station and chainage set in the drawing settings
45:24
when greyed out in Project Explorer layout options.
45:28
So just something to note there.
45:29
Let's go ahead and take a look at this demo
45:31
that we have set up.
45:33
So we are in the Alignment tab.
45:35
We're going to take a look at the First Street
45:38
alignment, the FG First Street.
45:40
We're going to take a look at the symmetric parabolas.
45:46
Notice how we have a high and low point
45:48
station for both of these.
45:54
It looks like we have three parabolas.
46:03
All right, so that's a Sag that we have set at a length of 50
46:07
with the end station.
46:09
And let's go ahead and select that last one, which is a Sag.
46:15
We're going to go ahead and change the layout
46:17
options there.
46:19
Underneath the General tab here to the right,
46:22
we have some general display options.
46:24
So here is where we can change those decimal places to three
46:29
for our elevation and general.
46:31
We're also going to change our grade and slope format.
46:35
But we could change that from percent to rise run.
46:38
But in this instance, we'll keep it to degrees, minutes,
46:41
and seconds, percentage.
46:44
And we'll use the formatted section values.
46:47
So then in our table, we would expect
46:49
to see our elevation set to a precision of three
46:52
automatically.
46:58
So if we were to right click and look at our drawing settings
47:01
and take a look at our ambient settings
47:03
and the precision for our stations,
47:07
it is still set to a precision of two.
47:10
We can set that to three.
47:12
Go ahead and hit OK there.
47:14
And you notice that our high and low point stations also
47:19
change the precision there.
47:23
If we go back into our layout options
47:25
and we go to our general settings,
47:27
we're still at three there as well.
47:32
So Project Explorer tables tiles are controlled with the Project
47:34
Explorer, not AutoCAD or Civil 3D
47:38
as you just saw in our previous example.
47:40
You can save the XMPA file for reuse.
47:44
Project Explorer must be open for changes
47:46
to actually appear on your table style.
47:48
So the style elements are color based.
47:51
They're not AutoCAD based.
47:52
So white does not change to black
47:54
when display settings change.
47:56
And use background color to avoid invisible tables.
48:01
So next, let's talk about some report settings and files.
48:04
So understanding the report settings and files,
48:07
objects sets are held in the DWG.
48:10
And they can be included in DWT or template files.
48:14
The layout columns and report columns
48:17
and the specific outputs are all stored within that object set.
48:22
We can also save and reuse for consistency and automation.
48:27
Notice how the specific layout style is set with the file
48:31
format as an XMPT file.
48:34
But generating the specific table style
48:37
is an XMPA table style.
48:40
Different file formats, so the layout style is an XMPT.
48:45
And the table style is the XMPA.
48:48
Both can be saved and reused for consistency and automation.
48:53
So in this slide, what we're showing here
48:55
is that the layout style is still an XMPT
48:58
but the report style file format is an XMPR.
49:03
So again, a little bit of a difference
49:04
between report styles, table styles, and layout styles.
49:09
So next, let's talk about creating some quick reports.
49:13
So everything is, again, controlled and configured
49:15
in Project Explorer.
49:17
And there are two methods for creating instant reports.
49:20
You can right click or you can copy-clip in a tabular data
49:25
view.
49:27
So this example, we're going to show the copy-clip
49:30
for quick reporting.
49:32
We're going to export the highlighted values for use
49:34
in external applications such as Notepad or Excel.
49:40
So again, we're going to hold down
49:42
Control to select multiples.
49:44
Right click, and we're going to copy you to a clipboard.
49:47
Then if we go ahead and open up Notepad or Excel,
49:50
we could just right click and hit paste.
49:52
And there is all of our information
49:54
that was in Project Explorer.
49:56
Very, very easy to copy and paste from Project Explorer
50:01
into an external application.
50:04
So what file types can we generate from the reporting
50:08
in Project Explorer?
50:09
We can do a number of them.
50:11
We can report to a text file, PDF, document.
50:15
We can make the static or dynamic reporting.
50:18
Just so you're aware, dynamic resorts for tables in drawings.
50:21
So dynamic is for the tables in your drawing.
50:25
And dynamic changes happen only when Project Explorer is open.
50:29
So you use the default layout for reporting fields
50:31
or apply a custom layout style to set the desired columns.
50:36
Let's next talk about exporting Civil content to 2D AutoCAD.
50:40
So when we export to 2D, we can generate 2D versions
50:44
of our Civil 3D designs.
50:45
This generates a DWG file containing 2D Civil 3D content.
50:50
The result is small and efficient file size.
50:53
And we can use some quick exports to 2D AutoCAD files
50:57
or object sets.
50:59
And we could use those object sets
51:00
to create reusable configurations that's
51:03
saved with the host drawing.
51:05
So if you know that you're going to have to repeatedly export
51:08
to 2D to send off to a client or another stakeholder
51:12
on the project, you can set up an object name or an action
51:16
to do this and to export at particular milestones.
51:20
In this example, we are going to include
51:23
in an object set, a surface, parcels, alignments,
51:26
pipe networks, and blocks.
51:27
So when we export this to a 2D drawing file,
51:31
we are going to include all of the surfaces, parcels,
51:34
alignments, and pipe networks, as well
51:36
as the blocks in that export.
51:39
So again, we are in the object sets portion here.
51:42
We're going to create a new object set.
51:44
We're going to call this one plan development to 2D DWG.
51:50
The object set action, we're going
51:51
to export to 2D AutoCAD file as a DWG.
51:57
We're going to keep that all as default. The output path,
52:04
we're going to place in a specific location.
52:06
Now, we have that object set.
52:09
So next thing we want to do is we
52:10
want to add all of our objects, all of our surfaces alignments,
52:16
et cetera.
52:18
So we're going to choose, first, our alignments.
52:20
We're going to choose our First Street,
52:22
Second Street for our surfaces.
52:27
We're going to choose just our existing.
52:33
And our pipe networks, we're going
52:35
to include our First Street Storm, our Second Street
52:38
Storms.
52:40
And for parcels, let's go ahead and right
52:45
click and check all of them.
52:51
And our AutoCAD blocks, we're going
52:53
to go ahead and choose our A_LAMB_400,
52:56
and we're going to hit OK.
52:58
Now, all of those objects have been added to our object set.
53:02
So when we run our selected action,
53:06
it will export all of those to 2D DWG.
53:11
So we can go ahead and open that file now.
53:14
And now that we have it open, you
53:16
can see that this is the name that we gave our DWG.
53:19
And everything within our DWG file
53:22
is 2D, no longer 3D objects.
53:26
So all of our surfaces, our contours are now polylines.
53:30
Our structures and pipes are just
53:32
polylines and block references, arcs and lines,
53:36
no longer any 3D data.
53:38
In summary, Project Explorer allows
53:41
us to review, edit, and create Civil objects
53:44
in a single location.
53:46
It is modeless dialog box displays graphically
53:49
and tabular design data.
53:51
You can easily configure the user interface as you saw.
53:55
Definitely has some pretty robust reporting functionality.
53:58
And just the fact that it will generate a 2D drawing
54:01
export of Civil 3D objects and designs is highly beneficial.
54:07
Some additional learning resources.
54:08
If you want to learn more about Project Explorer,
54:11
you can get some in-product help with the Project Explorer
54:15
tutorials.
54:17
There is also an Autodesk infrastructure YouTube channel
54:20
here.
54:20
So there's a couple of links here for you to use.
54:23
There's also an Autodesk Customer Success Hub.
54:26
If you head on over to customersuccess.autodesk.com,
54:30
there are a number of courses for you to review and learn
54:35
more about, including Project Explorer.
54:38
Last, I would highly recommend the Project Explore topic
54:42
from Jeff Bartels.
54:44
There are two parts to his Project Explorer review
54:48
that you can check out there.
54:50
Highly recommended if you want to learn more
54:52
about Project Explorer.
54:55
Thank you for joining us on this session.
54:57
I hope you found this beneficial.
54:59
And I thank you for joining me on this session of Project
55:02
Explorer.
Video transcript
00:00
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:04
Hi there.
00:05
Welcome to Project Explorer for Civil 3D.
00:08
My name is Stacey Morykin.
00:10
A little bit about me, I have over 20 years
00:14
experience working with Autodesk infrastructure applications
00:17
in both private and public civil engineering practices
00:21
within the mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
00:24
I am an Autodesk expert elite.
00:27
And I'm currently employed as an engineering technology manager.
00:31
In this session, we're going to learn how to review, modify,
00:34
validate, and report information from your Civil 3D
00:37
model using Project Explorer.
00:39
First, we'll give a bit of an overview
00:42
about Project Explorer, talk about some
00:44
of the key benefits, where it fits in your design process,
00:47
and how to access and install.
00:49
Next, we'll navigate the Project Explorer interface,
00:52
show you some right-click keyboard shortcuts,
00:55
then we will review, edit, and create Civil 3D design objects,
00:59
including alignment profiles, some corridors, pipe networks,
01:02
and feature lines.
01:04
Last, we'll generate some output, including some object
01:07
sets, layout, and report, exporting to 2D,
01:10
and giving you some options for creating and exporting reports.
01:15
Here is a detailed list of topics
01:17
included in this presentation.
01:25
So let's get started by talking about Project Explorer, what
01:28
it does, and why we use it.
01:31
Project Explorer is an easy to use
01:33
visual interface that enhances model review editing
01:36
and creation.
01:37
You can only use it in Civil 3D.
01:39
It is only for Civil
01:42
It really provides an efficient single interface
01:46
for working with both objects and sub-objects
01:48
with inside Civil 3D.
01:50
You can also quickly generate custom data reports
01:53
and export 2D drawings generated from Civil 3D designs.
01:58
Some of the benefits of implementing
01:59
Project Explorer for everyday Civil 3D workflow tasks
02:03
will be presented next.
02:05
In the next two demonstrations, I'm
02:06
going to show the typical workflow tasks for reviewing
02:09
and editing a roadway corridor.
02:12
In the first video, we'll demonstrate default Civil 3D
02:15
objects.
02:16
Take note to the number of picks and clicks
02:18
and different access points that you will need to do in order
02:21
to accomplish these tasks.
02:23
In the second video, we're going to do that same workflow,
02:26
but we're going to use Project Explorer.
02:28
Take note in a second demonstration how there
02:30
are less clicks and picks.
02:32
And the detailed design parameters
02:33
are more streamlined and easier to access.
02:37
So here's Civil 3D tasks without Project Explorer.
02:45
We're going to take a look at the alignments, specifically
02:48
Second Street.
02:49
We have two profiles, an existing and a finished grade.
02:53
If we go to the alignment properties,
02:56
we can see the station control, masking,
02:59
point of intersection, constraint, editing, and design
03:02
criteria within the properties window.
03:06
If we go to the geometry editor in this dialog box,
03:09
we have open up a second dialog box in order
03:12
to see all of the parameter constraints.
03:17
For Superelevation is yet another interface and dialog
03:21
box, where we then have to go into a tabular editor
03:26
and take a look at all of these start and end stations
03:29
for our Superelevation.
03:34
In this demonstration, we'll do those same tasks,
03:37
but we'll do it with Project Explorer.
03:41
So from the command, we're going to type in Project Explorer
03:45
to open up the dialog box.
03:50
You notice the alignments at the very top?
03:53
We're going to go to Second Street again.
03:56
If we scroll down a little bit, you'll
03:58
see the existing surface as well as the finished grade surface.
04:02
And below that, you'll see the calculated stations,
04:05
those alignment entities in one easy tabular format.
04:10
We can then go over to the Superelevation critical
04:13
stations and take a look at all of those individual parameters
04:17
in a tabular method as well.
04:24
So as you can see, Project Explorer
04:26
consolidates all of those dialog boxes
04:29
into a single interface in reference
04:32
allowing you to quickly see, edit,
04:34
modify any of those parameters.
04:37
So that is one of the key benefits
04:40
of using Project Explorer within your Civil 3D projects.
04:45
So again, some of the key benefits, just an overview,
04:47
it will streamline your review, editing,
04:49
and reporting of your Civil 3D design objects
04:52
in a single interface.
04:53
It is a modeless dialog box, which
04:55
means it'll float over or beside Civil 3D.
04:58
You can work within your Civil
05:01
space and still have the Project Explorer dialog box open.
05:05
All of your Civil 3D objects and sub-objects
05:07
are easily accessible and can be edited directly
05:11
within that dialog box.
05:13
Some of the design reports or data
05:15
reports that we can export range in popular formats
05:18
from Excel spreadsheets to PDF to text files.
05:22
And that design data can be exported
05:24
to 2D drawings through Project Explorer as well.
05:27
You can also configure the Project Explorer
05:29
and save it for a shared consistency
05:31
and improve the report automation
05:33
throughout your team.
05:35
So the user interface can be configured to suit,
05:37
and you also get some warning tool
05:39
tips for areas of the design which might not
05:41
meet specified rules or design standards the same as you would
05:44
in typical Civil
05:48
So there are a wide array of tools for reviewing and editing
05:51
pipe networks, such as multiple part swap tools and pipe run
05:55
editors.
05:57
So next, let's talk about navigating the Project Explorer
05:60
interface specifically.
06:01
After you install Project Explorer, which
06:04
is a separate install, it can be launched from the add-in ribbon
06:08
in CIVIL 3D 2020 and 2021.
06:11
So you will have to go to the add-in ribbon tab
06:14
in order to launch Project Explorer.
06:16
If you are using Civil 3D
06:20
is located on the home tab.
06:23
So in any version, you can enter Project Explorer at the command
06:27
line, and that interface will appear.
06:30
So here's what the interface looks like.
06:32
At the very top, you're going to get a graphical interface
06:35
for objects that could be viewed in profile or section views.
06:38
In the mid portion of this dialog
06:40
box is where you'll see the object list.
06:42
So it'll list your alignments, parameters, et cetera.
06:47
And then at the very bottom is where
06:48
we view our sub-object list or the specific parameters
06:52
of those.
06:54
So at the very top again is the graphics interface.
06:57
This display depends on the object type that we're using.
07:01
So for profile views, you could see alignments, profiles,
07:04
feature lines, pipe networks, et cetera.
07:06
With section views, you'll be able to view
07:09
assemblies, some sample lines, some corridors.
07:12
And then in your list views, you'll
07:14
be able to see surfaces, parcels, points, and blocks.
07:19
So the plan view is not included in the interface.
07:22
It is assumed to be visible in your drawing canvas.
07:25
So Project Explorer window is more or less
07:27
like I mentioned previously.
07:29
So you can freely move between the Civil 3D window
07:31
and the Project Explorer.
07:33
All this information is live project data
07:36
from the Civil 3D model.
07:37
So Project Explorer will update automatically
07:40
when something is modified or added to the Civil 3D model.
07:45
Inside of Project Explorer, we do have some right-click menu
07:49
options.
07:50
And these options will vary depending on the objects
07:53
and where the right click is actually initiated.
07:56
So in the preview window versus the object
07:58
versus the sub-object, click location
08:01
gives different functionality.
08:03
Functionality is directly accessed
08:05
through streamline tasks for objects and sub-objects.
08:08
So you can zoom or pan to selected objects.
08:11
You can access those Civil 3D properties.
08:14
Similar to the right-click options
08:15
that you would have in the tool space,
08:17
it's just now in the Project Explorer.
08:19
So right clicking on something like the Front Street pipe
08:24
network, you'll see an example of some
08:26
of the right-click options that we
08:28
have here for this, including setting descriptions, setting
08:31
the parts list, label styles for the structure,
08:34
as well as the pipes for this particular pipe network.
08:38
We can also swap parts.
08:40
We can set rule set.
08:41
So all of those same options that we
08:43
would get in a contextual ribbon or in the tool
08:46
space in the Prospector, we do get here right
08:50
in the Project Explorer window.
08:53
So exploring the Control key and selection highlighting.
08:56
If you use the Control key to highlight selected objects
08:58
in the drawing canvas, you can also
09:00
use the Windows item selection method like Shift and Control
09:04
to highlight items.
09:05
And then those columns can be sorted.
09:08
So a complete list of all the keyboard shortcuts
09:10
can be found in the Project Explorer help window.
09:15
So let's talk about the interface
09:17
a little bit, some of the object views,
09:19
the right-click functions, and the preview window options.
09:22
So I'm going to go ahead and get into Civil 3D here.
09:25
I'm going to type in Project Explorer from the command
09:27
prompt so that way I can open this up--
09:31
open up the dialog box here.
09:34
So at the very top, I'm going to go to the alignments tab.
09:37
If you noticed, there's a bunch of tabs
09:38
over to the right, specifically assemblies, corridors,
09:43
some point group surfaces, feature lines.
09:51
We've got our parcels, our pipe networks, our sample line
09:58
groups, AutoCAD blocks.
10:02
At the very least here, we have objects sets.
10:05
So you notice that all across the top
10:06
is all of our Civil 3D objects in each individual tab.
10:11
So if we click on assemblies here,
10:13
you'll notice that we have quite a few assemblies
10:16
already defined.
10:17
And instead of right clicking in our Prospector
10:20
and going to the properties, we have all of the properties
10:23
here for this assembly.
10:25
So again, we can make modifications or edits right
10:27
from the Project Explorer.
10:36
So if we right click on First Street here,
10:38
we can also zoom to that specific alignment
10:41
in our drawing canvas.
10:43
By clicking on First Street inside of Project Explorer,
10:47
we'll select in the drawing Canvas.
10:51
Again, we're going to zoom to second street here.
10:54
And if we click on Second Street,
10:56
notice how it highlights in our drawing canvas.
11:02
Let's take a look at our pipe networks
11:04
here, specifically Second Street North.
11:07
If we click on that pipe network,
11:09
you'll notice all of our structure names
11:11
at the very bottom here in our sub-object list.
11:14
We have all of our structure names,
11:15
as well as our pipes and our pipe runs.
11:20
So if we select multiple, then in our object view area,
11:26
we can view that at a particular scale.
11:30
So let's change it one to one so we can take a look at what
11:33
that exaggeration is.
11:34
Maybe one to five, so we get a little bit more
11:37
of an exaggeration.
11:38
We can also show and hide texts, minimize or maximize
11:43
our zones, et cetera.
11:46
So next, let's take a look at the alignment interface example
11:48
which shows some of the object and sub-objects for alignments,
11:52
some Windows-like selections, and then, again,
11:55
the Control to highlight in the drawing.
11:58
So for our alignment tab, we're going
11:59
to select on Second Street in our sub-objects list here.
12:03
We're going to scroll down to our calculated stations time.
12:08
And we're going to take a look at our curve intervals,
12:11
our spiral intervals with our northing and eastings are.
12:16
And you'll notice that we can also reorganize the column
12:19
headings if we need to if we don't
12:21
like to view it in that way.
12:25
Let's take a look at our alignment.
12:27
And it is so you could see we have several lines and curves.
12:31
All of those specific lengths starting
12:33
to end stations, northing and eastings.
12:36
By clicking on one of those sub entities within that alignment,
12:40
it will select that in our drawing canvas.
12:46
We'll be able to view right in our drawing canvas, where
12:48
we are in our tabular editor here with inside Project
12:52
Explorer.
12:57
So let's take a look at the alignment PIs, same thing.
13:01
If we wanted to select them, it would
13:02
select in the drawing canvas.
13:06
We also have some right-click options specifically here,
13:11
as well as the Control.
13:13
So by holding down the Control key,
13:15
you can select multiple objects or sub-objects at a time.
13:19
In this case, the alignment PIs.
13:23
And lastly, we'll take a look at the Superelevation critical
13:25
stations.
13:27
Again, by selecting the sub-object in this editor,
13:32
it will select it in the drawing canvas.
13:34
Holding down the Control key will
13:35
allow us to select multiple.
13:37
And again, all of these will highlight
13:40
in the drawing canvas.
13:42
In the next example, let's review some violations
13:45
from rebuilding a corridor.
13:48
All right, so at the very top, we're
13:50
going to click on corridor tab so
13:52
that we would get into that portion of the Project Explorer
13:55
interface.
13:57
We're going to select on Second Street.
13:59
You notice how it's red, and we have a warning symbol there?
14:01
If we right click and rebuild corridor,
14:06
then we can rebuild our corridor right from this interface.
14:10
Pretty easy.
14:12
In the next section, we're going to review, edit, and compare
14:15
using Project Explorer.
14:16
So we'll go through two examples specifically, one for corridors
14:20
and one for pipe networks.
14:22
So to edit, compare, and create objects in Project Explorer,
14:25
there are some important user interface items.
14:28
One is to create icons.
14:31
This example is a create alignment and profile.
14:33
The next portion here displays some view options.
14:37
There's a wide variety of profile view options.
14:40
If you're familiar with Civil 3D, that's well known.
14:43
And then also there are some other objects
14:45
that could be used for comparison to the far right
14:47
there.
14:47
So there's a dropdown list of relevant objects.
14:50
In this example, we can add some existing surfaces
14:53
to compare to design data.
14:56
So a little bit about editing objects in Project Explorer.
14:58
It instantly recognizes if objects can be edited.
15:02
Items that are displayed in purple color
15:04
can be edited with a double-click.
15:06
So things like object names, descriptions, and styles
15:09
can easily be changed.
15:11
Sub-object values can also be changed.
15:14
We can also edit more than one object
15:17
at a time using Shift and Control
15:20
as in Windows selections.
15:22
And then some examples of that would
15:23
be changing styles, swapping some part sizes or pipe part
15:27
sizes, or changing some referenced objects.
15:31
This is much easier to accomplish in Project Explorer
15:34
than in classic editing as this is just
15:36
our one stop shop for editing and making modifications.
15:41
So when we use the compare to extend the power of editing,
15:44
only relevant objects will be listed in the compare
15:47
to dropdown list.
15:49
So some of these examples would be comparing point or block
15:52
locations to alignment stations or comparing some link codes
15:56
in corridors.
15:58
So just a little bit of a note about using
16:00
compare to alignment objects, the offset distance
16:04
is displayed when Control is used
16:06
and the compared object is an alignment.
16:10
So there may be some icons including a small warning
16:12
symbol and bold red font.
16:15
Tooltip shows detailed information
16:17
that can be edited in Project Explorer.
16:20
Here are some more examples of violations for alignments.
16:23
So the profile start and end station
16:25
falls outside of the station range.
16:27
Your alignment or profile entity is not tangent,
16:30
or the alignment or profile entity violates one or more
16:33
of the rules that you have assigned in your design check
16:35
set.
16:37
So let's take a look at corridor editing efficiency.
16:41
Let's head into this corridor example.
16:44
So what to watch for in this next demonstration
16:47
is how we save time compared to traditional editing
16:50
methods with direct access and multiple edit capabilities.
16:53
So we're going to talk about the corridor
16:55
tab versus the assembly tab.
16:57
And then any changes in the subassembly
16:59
will result in the corridor collection
17:00
violation of out of date.
17:02
And then we can quickly rebuild it
17:04
while still maintaining and remaining in Project Explorer.
17:08
So let's take a look at this example really quickly.
17:12
So scrolling through stations has no lag.
17:15
And using Control and "zoom to" to find specific sections
17:19
in this drawing.
17:20
Let's go ahead and get started.
17:22
So notice at the top, you're still in corridors.
17:26
The far right here, we're going to compare to EG.
17:31
We're going to go to a specific station along that alignment.
17:36
So notice how we could just scroll using our mouse
17:39
wheel or our down or up arrow.
17:41
We can scroll through and take a look at all of those sections
17:45
pretty quickly and easily.
17:51
She's very nice.
18:03
We can also zoom in and Zoom out of the display
18:07
window at the top there.
18:08
If we right click, we can zoom to that specific station
18:13
or pan to the start.
18:28
So again, a section editor reviewing tips.
18:31
Select Control on your keyboard to see
18:32
stations and drawing plan view.
18:35
Or you could click and just scroll with your mouse wheel
18:38
as another quick trick.
18:40
So next, let's view some link shapes and points
18:43
in the corridors.
18:44
So allow us to easily identify design intent or omissions, how
18:48
we can compare this function in corridor model review.
18:51
It gives us the subassembly objects to reference,
18:53
so things like points, links, and shapes
18:56
in our subassemblies.
18:60
So again, we're still in the corridor tab at the very top
19:02
here.
19:05
We're going to click on one of our corridors, First Street.
19:09
We have an error.
19:09
So We want to make sure that we rebuild all of our corridors.
19:13
So we can either right click or we could use the button
19:15
at the top.
19:17
The right hand side, we can find specific links.
19:22
In this instance, let's use the data link.
19:28
So if we look at the data link, that's
19:30
going to be everything at the very, very bottom
19:32
of our entire assembly here.
19:37
If we want to take a look at the shape codes,
19:40
we can select that from the dropdown.
19:42
And let's take a look at the subbase here.
19:47
So again, that's our shape code.
19:48
It gives us our subbase shape and then
19:51
our specific point codes.
19:53
Right now, it's highlighted as the back of curves.
19:55
As you can see in that view, it's highlighted in yellow.
19:59
If we take a look at the sidewalk out,
20:01
then that point code shows highlighted in yellow.
20:05
So again, really, really easy to pinpoint our point link
20:10
and shape codes with our subassemblies.
20:13
We don't have to guess or go through a bunch of help
20:15
documents to find out what those codes are.
20:19
So next let's talk about a corridor editing example.
20:22
Several corridor editing tasks, again, all in one interface.
20:26
We can quickly make name edits.
20:28
We can change some region assemblies.
20:30
We can edit those subassemblies.
20:32
We can update the corridor and a note
20:33
about transitions and the need for targets
20:36
to ensure smooth transitions.
20:37
So we can also set some targets in here as well.
20:41
So let's take a look at this example really quickly.
20:44
We're still in the corridor.
20:45
We're going to select First Street here.
20:48
As you could see, we have three regions.
20:50
So if we double click on that, we
20:52
can change the name of that region.
20:56
So we're going to change that to Start.
20:58
The second one, we're going to do Middle.
21:00
And then region three here, we'll name that End, right?
21:04
OK there.
21:07
So the start and end stations for each
21:09
of our regions and the assembly assigned
21:12
to that specific region, if we want
21:15
to change that, we can just simply click on the assembly
21:19
there.
21:20
And then choose a different assembly for the middle region
21:23
there.
21:23
And click OK.
21:25
And we will have to right click and rebuild so that way it
21:30
updates our drawing canvas.
21:33
Perfect.
21:38
So if we go to our assembly tab here,
21:41
let's take a look at our wider road
21:43
full section that we need to make
21:46
some modifications to this.
21:48
So we're going to click on that subassembly.
21:51
And instead of that lane Superelevation
21:54
being a value of five, we're going to increase it to seven.
22:01
Let's also take that basic sidewalk
22:03
with there, that buffer area that's selected in the view.
22:09
And let's update that to 3 and 1/2.
22:13
Awesome.
22:14
Great.
22:14
So you noticed that the cameras didn't really update.
22:17
That's because we need to go back to the corridor,
22:19
and we need to rebuild like we typically would
22:22
it through our Prospector tab.
22:23
So once we rebuild, then our drawing canvas
22:27
updates with our modifications and edits.
22:30
It's a really, really quick and efficient way to make edits.
22:35
So next, let's talk about some pipe network editing benefits.
22:39
So what to watch for in these upcoming demos--
22:43
the sub-object tabs for structures, pipes, and runs,
22:46
both structures and the pipes, some direct editing
22:49
of values and some depth examples.
22:52
Defining pipe runs for long or short runs within the network.
22:56
Editing some pipe runs, setting a constant grade example
22:59
while holding start or end elevations.
23:02
Also, swapping multiple parts all at one time
23:04
with multiple selection.
23:06
So first, let's take a look at editing
23:09
the values that are in purple working with some pipe run
23:12
concepts.
23:13
So in this example, we want to change and select the pipe
23:17
network tab at the very top.
23:19
We're going to take a look at the First Street storm.
23:24
So notice we have all of the purple values
23:26
for our structures.
23:27
We've got all of our pipes here under a separate tab
23:32
and then the pipe runs, again, under another tab there.
23:44
So this particular structure, we're
23:46
going to control the sump depth here.
23:50
So you see, our sump depth is currently
23:52
set to zero for all of these.
23:53
Again, if we double click, we can either type in a value
23:57
or we could use the arrows to increase.
24:00
Hit OK, and our sump depth value is updated
24:04
as you can see in our preview window at the top there.
24:08
Let's go ahead and change that back to zero.
24:10
And again, our pipe network updates instantaneously.
24:20
So if we select multiple structures at a time,
24:23
we can modify all four of these at once.
24:27
So we're going to go up to this Edit Pipe Run.
24:30
We could take a look at those structures, specifically 36
24:36
through 39.
24:37
Yep, so we're just changing our view so that way
24:39
we see structures 36 through 37.
24:42
So just one single run, or we could see the entire run.
24:50
So we'll change that back to 39 so we
24:52
could see all four structures in the three runs there.
24:55
And we're going to go ahead, and we're
24:57
going to edit this pipe run.
25:09
So we want to hold the pipe run start elevation.
25:13
We're going to set the pipe elevations by invert.
25:18
We're going to make sure that our pipe runs
25:19
slopes are all the same.
25:22
So we can modify any one of these parameters if we need to
25:26
or if we want to for this entire run.
25:29
So let's say, we want to change the slope of this entire run
25:32
here to one instead of 1.47, so we'll type that in and hit OK.
25:38
Now, you could see all of our slopes are set to 1%.
25:42
And then it adjusts our elevations accordingly.
25:45
So now, we're going to go back to including the structure 35
25:48
there.
25:49
And we are good to go.
25:51
So in the next example, we're going
25:53
to edit multiple structures specifically,
25:55
swapping parts and adding our reference alignments.
25:58
Let's go ahead and kick this off.
25:60
So in this particular example, we
26:02
want to compare it to the finished grade of First Street.
26:06
So as you can see, we've got all of our structures.
26:12
We've got some STORM superstructures here,
26:17
So if we select all of those, we can right click and swap
26:22
all of our parts.
26:23
We can set the reference alignment for all of these.
26:26
So we'll go ahead and do that.
26:29
We'll set the reference alignment to First Street
26:32
and hit OK.
26:33
Now, all of our inverts and our stations
26:36
should adjust accordingly now that we are
26:39
set to a specific alignment.
26:41
Then it will update our stations.
26:49
So for First Street, we're going to right click.
26:51
And we could quickly report or export the 2D AutoCAD DWG file.
26:57
We can also set some plan styles and label styles accordingly.
27:03
So a little bit about some increment values--
27:05
getting more granular to design details,
27:07
we can use this to compare an incremental value
27:10
to examine pipe cover along a specific run.
27:12
Incremental values can be set for a variety of sub-objects
27:15
that are displayed in profile views.
27:18
So let's go ahead and take a look at this example.
27:21
So for our pipe runs here, our intervals
27:23
are set to value of 10.
27:28
So if we select on a particular structure, reference depth,
27:35
surface cover depth.
27:36
You notice that at the interval of 80, 90, or 100, that
27:42
cover depth increases slightly.
27:44
So we could see if there's any dips, any existing grade, where
27:48
we don't have adequate cover along that pipe run.
27:51
It looks like we're OK, but we can
27:54
use Project Explorer to take a look
27:56
at those specific interval details.
27:59
In this next portion, we'll talk about using Project Explorer
28:02
to create objects.
28:03
And in this example, we're going to be creating some feature
28:05
lines.
28:06
So things to watch out for in these demos,
28:08
again, we're going to use Control
28:10
to see feature line vertices in both preview
28:12
and drawing plan view.
28:14
We're going to create a feature line from object with inside
28:17
of Project Explorer.
28:19
We're also going to compare this to an existing surface
28:21
to understand the design intent a little bit better.
28:24
We're going to edit those elevations directly.
28:27
And just so you're aware, notice that they are in purple.
28:30
So that means we can edit them.
28:32
And we're going to use the Shift select and right click
28:34
menu to edit multiple elevations for constant elevation, as well
28:38
as constant grade.
28:40
So the workflow to create a design
28:42
object directly in Project Explorer,
28:44
we're going to use compare to existing surface.
28:46
We're going to rearrange some column data for northing
28:48
and easting preferences.
28:50
We're also going to set some constant grade
28:52
and constant elevations.
28:53
And we're going to edit the name and elevation values.
28:57
So again, at the very top, we're going to go over
28:59
to the feature line tab.
29:08
Notice we have a feature line in our drawing canvas here.
29:12
So we're going to go ahead and we're
29:13
going to create a new feature line from that object that's
29:16
in our drawing canvas.
29:19
So just like we normally get the prongs.
29:22
We're going to select online.
29:23
And we're going to create a feature line.
29:25
Now, put it in Site 1 here.
29:28
We're going to assign elevations.
29:29
And go ahead and click OK.
29:31
So our elevations are going to come from our surface.
29:35
And I don't want to insert immediate grade breaks.
29:38
So once we click OK, you see that now we
29:41
have our feature line created.
29:45
I've got a few PIs or points of index along our feature line.
29:52
So then we can modify these elevations if we need to.
29:55
We can also compare that to our existing grade surface.
30:00
So you notice if we need to make modifications to our feature
30:04
line and compare it to our existing grade,
30:06
we can edit those elevations accordingly.
30:11
So let's go into our layout options here.
30:13
And let's set the column layout for feature line points
30:19
to include our point index, our northing and eastings.
30:25
We'll move the northings up.
30:28
Let's also include some elevations, some grade ahead.
30:35
Let's compare the elevations too.
30:41
So we could change the name.
30:42
Remember, purple text means that we can edit.
30:45
So we're going to edit that and call that the FG elevation.
30:49
And let's move that up a little bit in this list.
30:55
So as you can see, because we changed our layout options,
30:58
we now have our point index, northing, easting elevation,
31:00
and our FG elevations here in our sub-object editor.
31:09
If we multiple select by holding down our Shift key,
31:13
we can right click, and we can set a constant grade
31:16
between those feature lines.
31:17
So we can hold a start point.
31:19
We can set a specific slope or grade, rise or run.
31:23
Let's go ahead and set that to two.
31:26
And click OK.
31:27
Now, you see we have a constant slope of two between those two
31:32
points.
31:34
We're going to set our constant slope with the next one.
31:37
So we'll right click again.
31:39
And this time, we will set it to zero.
31:47
So now, we go flat across.
31:50
Let's set the first elevation to 34 specifically.
31:54
So I'll hit Enter there.
31:56
And we'll double click on the last volume,
31:58
and we'll enter in 34 there.
32:02
Well, let's change the name of this feature line.
32:04
So if we double click, we'll call this EARTHEN DAM.
32:11
Perfect.
32:12
So as you could see, we created our feature line,
32:16
set the elevations, and changed some names
32:19
all through the Project Explorer interface.
32:22
If we go back to our Prospector tab,
32:23
and we go to our site in our feature lines,
32:25
you'll see we have that same feature line right there.
32:28
So we can select it in the tool space
32:30
similar to how we just created it in the Project Explorer
32:34
interface.
32:35
So next, let's talk about creating some custom reports.
32:38
In this section, we'll talk about object sets,
32:41
customizing columns, and saving some report and table
32:44
configurations.
32:45
So particular steps for report generation-- everything
32:48
is controlled and configured with inside the Project
32:51
Explorer interface.
32:53
So we're going to create a name and object set.
32:55
An object set is really just a collection
32:57
of objects and sub-objects that we can report on.
33:00
We're then going to choose the object action.
33:03
So that's going to be the output file
33:05
type and the specific behavior.
33:07
Notice we have a variety of file types
33:10
that we can apply an action to.
33:13
And then select the layout style.
33:15
So we can use an existing layout,
33:16
or we can customize this format and configuration.
33:20
And then we're going to select the report form style.
33:23
So to create a feature line stakeout report,
33:25
we're going to place the report as a dynamic table
33:28
in the drawing.
33:29
We're going to select the alignment for the compare to.
33:32
Then we'll customize the layout column display
33:35
and create a new object set.
33:37
Just go ahead and kick off this demonstration.
33:40
So again, we're still in the feature lines.
33:42
We're going to click on that EARTHEN DAM
33:44
that we just created.
33:46
And this time, let's compare it to First Street.
33:50
Yeah?
33:51
We're going to compare that to the First Street alignment.
33:57
So we're going to reset our interface layout just
34:00
to get it back to default configurations of that layout.
34:04
And we get all the information.
34:08
So once we do that, you'll notice that we are now
34:11
comparing it to First Street.
34:13
So here's the compared station, northing and easting--
34:18
so for the first point of index along our feature
34:23
line there to our fourth.
34:30
So let's go ahead and change some of our layout options
34:33
again.
34:34
Let's set the column layout for the feature line points.
34:37
Let's uncheck everything.
34:39
And this time, let's do our point
34:41
index, our northing and eastings
34:45
Let's put the northing up.
34:48
We'll also add in the elevation there.
34:53
We want to include the compared station and the compared
34:58
offset.
34:59
Just X and Y, I don't think we need Z at this point.
35:03
And for compared station, we'll change that name
35:05
to Center Line Station.
35:08
And compared offset, we'll set that to Center Line Offset.
35:14
OK, we're good.
35:17
So we'll go ahead and click OK there.
35:19
And then notice how now in the sub-object list
35:22
we just have showing what we need.
35:27
The last tab on the right there is the object set.
35:30
So if we go ahead and we create a new object set,
35:33
we're going to give this object set a name.
35:35
Let's call it Featureline Stakeout
35:40
from the center line there.
35:41
We want to give it a description.
35:43
We certainly can.
35:44
And for this object set action, notice
35:47
how we have a bunch of different things
35:48
that we can report to, PDFs, documentation,
35:51
but we can also export to an AutoCAD table.
35:55
So that's what we were going to do.
35:57
Obviously, we're going to set it to dynamic.
35:59
So that way, it updates as we make changes.
36:01
And we're going to use the layout of the Project Explorer
36:04
window that we just set.
36:06
So let's go ahead and pick an insertion point
36:08
on our drawing canvas.
36:10
I'll pick right here.
36:12
Looks good.
36:15
And we'll give that table a name.
36:17
We're going to call it that object name.
36:19
So it'll be called our feature line object name.
36:22
And we're going to use the default table styles.
36:26
So now, we have an object set name.
36:28
We're going to add our objects to this object set table.
36:32
We're going to go to our feature line.
36:34
So we're going to add this EARTHEN DAM feature
36:36
line that we just created.
36:39
So once we click OK, you'll notice
36:41
the table reflects exactly what we see in our sub-object list
36:45
here in Project Explorer.
36:47
So we're going to use the object table.
36:49
We can uncheck that.
36:52
So now, we just get the sub-object table that we want.
36:58
If we want to compare that, we can go ahead and compare that
37:00
to First Street here.
37:03
And once we add a comparison, you
37:05
see our table automatically updates
37:07
to include our comparison.
37:10
We also changed that to CL Station and CL Offset.
37:13
So you notice the difference there
37:15
that it added to our table.
37:17
We did go through that demonstration pretty quickly.
37:20
So in this next session, we'll talk about the specific dialog
37:23
boxes and things to look out for when creating and using objects
37:27
sets.
37:28
So again, an object is just a collection of Civil 3D
37:31
design objects that are used to create reports, tables,
37:34
spreadsheets, or even 2D drawings.
37:37
Defining object sets enables us to be consistent and automate
37:41
that output generation with just a single click.
37:44
So they are received within the drawing
37:45
and can be added or edited or deleted.
37:49
And there is no limit to the number of object sets
37:52
that you can have.
37:54
So object sets are generated in a variety of output.
37:57
The actions are assigned to each object set.
37:60
And this determines the resulting output
38:02
that's created.
38:03
So the output specifically are things
38:05
like text files, Excel spreadsheets, HTML files, PDFs,
38:09
documents, tables in Model Space or a Paper Space,
38:13
and then also some 2D AutoCAD drawing files.
38:16
So creating an object set specifically,
38:19
you can do this in one of two ways.
38:22
Inside of the Project Explorer interface,
38:24
you can navigate to the Objects Sets tab.
38:27
And then click to create the Object Set button.
38:31
Or you can right click on any object in the Project Explorer
38:35
window and select Add to Object Set, Create Object Set menu
38:41
item.
38:42
So again, one of two ways to create that.
38:44
Once the object set dialog box opens, the name must be unique.
38:50
And the description is obviously optional.
38:53
And then you need to set the object action or action type.
38:57
So actions can be assigned and generally
38:59
used to automate a process.
39:00
This parameter determines how the action should be
39:03
triggered, manually or dynamic.
39:06
So if it is manual, you will have to actually run the action
39:09
button in order to update whatever that action is,
39:13
whether that's a table or an export to another document
39:17
or a 2D file.
39:19
So some file output related options.
39:21
Filename can be typed, generated from variables,
39:24
or a combination of both methods.
39:26
When you are using the generate report action,
39:29
an output path must be specified.
39:31
And then a report style is required
39:33
to define the page parameter.
39:35
So you can use a default one or you can use a specific report
39:39
style.
39:39
Some similarities on the AutoCAD table related options,
39:44
you do have to pick an insertion point.
39:46
It's in the top left corner of that table.
39:48
So wherever you select in your drawing canvas
39:51
will be the top left-hand corner of your table.
39:53
The text for the title cell can either be a type
39:56
or it can be generated from a list of variables,
39:59
or it can be a combination of both methods.
40:02
And then again, the table style is required in order
40:05
to define that table parameter.
40:06
You can use a default table style for object sets,
40:09
or you can select a specific table style.
40:13
Adding objects to an object set was pretty easy.
40:17
Again, there are two different methods for adding objects
40:20
to the object set.
40:21
The first way is, again, navigating to the Objects Sets
40:25
tab, clicking the Add Objects to Object Set button, which
40:30
is just that green plus symbol there.
40:32
Or you can right click on any object in Project Explorer
40:36
window and select the Add to Object Set menu item.
40:40
And then select the relevant entry for your object set.
40:44
So just a little note here, an object set
40:46
can contain any number of object set items.
40:50
And it can be reordered, duplicated,
40:52
and removed from an object set.
40:55
So very versatile.
40:57
So let's also take another look at customizing columns.
40:60
We went through that pretty quickly in the demonstration.
41:03
So we'll talk about it in depth here.
41:05
So customizing columns helps you refine
41:08
what data you're reporting on.
41:10
We can arrange the date of you with the column
41:12
values that are needed.
41:14
So an existing grade and finished grade profile example
41:18
or a retaining wall example, you can select the compare objects.
41:22
And you can also customize those columns in any order.
41:26
You can edit the headers.
41:28
And you do have the ability to save and reuse that file
41:31
and reset it to default if need be.
41:33
You could also do some one-time exports from the right click
41:36
menu and the reporting history.
41:39
So changing from the default columns to custom columns,
41:42
let's go ahead and kick off an example here,
41:45
a little demonstration on how to do that.
41:47
We're also going to configure the data
41:48
fields needed for the report.
41:52
All right, so back in the Project Explorer
41:54
from our last demo, you see we have a huge table here
41:57
with lots of information about our EARTHEN DAM feature line.
42:01
At the very bottom there, you will see the layout options.
42:05
By clicking that, we can set the column layout for feature line
42:09
points specifically.
42:12
We can also go ahead and open an XMPT file that we
42:16
have saved from previous.
42:18
We're just going to go ahead and select OK there.
42:21
And now, everything that we had checked and organized
42:24
previously, we're going to go ahead and use it here again.
42:28
So you could see the table then updates automatically,
42:31
because we have that option set to dynamic.
42:35
So saving some custom report settings,
42:37
we can change from default columns to custom columns.
42:39
And then save them as the XMPT.
42:42
So I just showed you an example of how
42:44
to open that saved XMPT file.
42:49
This demonstration will show you how to actually create
42:52
that file, so that way you can pull it up again
42:55
at a future time.
42:56
So once you have it saved, you're
42:58
going to right click on that object set name.
43:01
You're going to right click and go
43:02
to the Object Set Properties.
43:05
Within the Properties dialog box here,
43:08
you're going to make sure that you give it
43:10
the appropriate name.
43:11
And we're going to export, make sure that action is dynamic.
43:16
But this time, we're going to use a specific layout style.
43:19
And we're going to select that feature
43:21
Center Line Station and Offset.
43:25
We already have our insertion point picked.
43:28
We're going to use a specific table style.
43:32
And we're going to edit that style.
43:35
So once we edit that table option style,
43:39
make sure that all of our parameters are set.
43:42
Maybe let's change something here to Ariel.
43:46
Yeah, we definitely want to force all of our texts
43:48
to uppercase for sure.
43:52
We're going to add a title row.
43:54
I think everything is OK there.
43:56
We can set some background colors if we want to.
43:59
Set that to a lighter gray so we could see the text.
44:10
Perfect.
44:10
Go ahead and hit OK there.
44:13
And now, we're going to give our file a name.
44:16
Call this ALL CAPS AERIAL GREY CELLS.
44:22
Go ahead and click OK there.
44:24
And now that we have that specific table
44:26
style set and saved, we can go ahead and click OK.
44:30
Now, if we want to use that specific table
44:32
style at a future time, we can just call and open
44:36
that particular style.
44:38
So we're going to go to the Object Set Properties.
44:42
We're going to go ahead and edit that style again.
44:46
And you could see we now have that
44:47
set to our previous XMPA file.
44:53
Let's go out and make some changes to that.
44:55
We're going to set the data and rows, columns to some block
44:59
text.
45:01
We're going to update that table style and hit OK.
45:04
Now again, that automatically overwrites and saves that table
45:07
style that we had set.
45:09
So in this next session, we'll talk
45:11
about some reporting and table styles and that display.
45:14
Setting precision in civil engineering data displays,
45:17
we can also set that unit precision slopes, angles,
45:20
and directions.
45:21
The station and chainage set in the drawing settings
45:24
when greyed out in Project Explorer layout options.
45:28
So just something to note there.
45:29
Let's go ahead and take a look at this demo
45:31
that we have set up.
45:33
So we are in the Alignment tab.
45:35
We're going to take a look at the First Street
45:38
alignment, the FG First Street.
45:40
We're going to take a look at the symmetric parabolas.
45:46
Notice how we have a high and low point
45:48
station for both of these.
45:54
It looks like we have three parabolas.
46:03
All right, so that's a Sag that we have set at a length of 50
46:07
with the end station.
46:09
And let's go ahead and select that last one, which is a Sag.
46:15
We're going to go ahead and change the layout
46:17
options there.
46:19
Underneath the General tab here to the right,
46:22
we have some general display options.
46:24
So here is where we can change those decimal places to three
46:29
for our elevation and general.
46:31
We're also going to change our grade and slope format.
46:35
But we could change that from percent to rise run.
46:38
But in this instance, we'll keep it to degrees, minutes,
46:41
and seconds, percentage.
46:44
And we'll use the formatted section values.
46:47
So then in our table, we would expect
46:49
to see our elevation set to a precision of three
46:52
automatically.
46:58
So if we were to right click and look at our drawing settings
47:01
and take a look at our ambient settings
47:03
and the precision for our stations,
47:07
it is still set to a precision of two.
47:10
We can set that to three.
47:12
Go ahead and hit OK there.
47:14
And you notice that our high and low point stations also
47:19
change the precision there.
47:23
If we go back into our layout options
47:25
and we go to our general settings,
47:27
we're still at three there as well.
47:32
So Project Explorer tables tiles are controlled with the Project
47:34
Explorer, not AutoCAD or Civil 3D
47:38
as you just saw in our previous example.
47:40
You can save the XMPA file for reuse.
47:44
Project Explorer must be open for changes
47:46
to actually appear on your table style.
47:48
So the style elements are color based.
47:51
They're not AutoCAD based.
47:52
So white does not change to black
47:54
when display settings change.
47:56
And use background color to avoid invisible tables.
48:01
So next, let's talk about some report settings and files.
48:04
So understanding the report settings and files,
48:07
objects sets are held in the DWG.
48:10
And they can be included in DWT or template files.
48:14
The layout columns and report columns
48:17
and the specific outputs are all stored within that object set.
48:22
We can also save and reuse for consistency and automation.
48:27
Notice how the specific layout style is set with the file
48:31
format as an XMPT file.
48:34
But generating the specific table style
48:37
is an XMPA table style.
48:40
Different file formats, so the layout style is an XMPT.
48:45
And the table style is the XMPA.
48:48
Both can be saved and reused for consistency and automation.
48:53
So in this slide, what we're showing here
48:55
is that the layout style is still an XMPT
48:58
but the report style file format is an XMPR.
49:03
So again, a little bit of a difference
49:04
between report styles, table styles, and layout styles.
49:09
So next, let's talk about creating some quick reports.
49:13
So everything is, again, controlled and configured
49:15
in Project Explorer.
49:17
And there are two methods for creating instant reports.
49:20
You can right click or you can copy-clip in a tabular data
49:25
view.
49:27
So this example, we're going to show the copy-clip
49:30
for quick reporting.
49:32
We're going to export the highlighted values for use
49:34
in external applications such as Notepad or Excel.
49:40
So again, we're going to hold down
49:42
Control to select multiples.
49:44
Right click, and we're going to copy you to a clipboard.
49:47
Then if we go ahead and open up Notepad or Excel,
49:50
we could just right click and hit paste.
49:52
And there is all of our information
49:54
that was in Project Explorer.
49:56
Very, very easy to copy and paste from Project Explorer
50:01
into an external application.
50:04
So what file types can we generate from the reporting
50:08
in Project Explorer?
50:09
We can do a number of them.
50:11
We can report to a text file, PDF, document.
50:15
We can make the static or dynamic reporting.
50:18
Just so you're aware, dynamic resorts for tables in drawings.
50:21
So dynamic is for the tables in your drawing.
50:25
And dynamic changes happen only when Project Explorer is open.
50:29
So you use the default layout for reporting fields
50:31
or apply a custom layout style to set the desired columns.
50:36
Let's next talk about exporting Civil content to 2D AutoCAD.
50:40
So when we export to 2D, we can generate 2D versions
50:44
of our Civil 3D designs.
50:45
This generates a DWG file containing 2D Civil 3D content.
50:50
The result is small and efficient file size.
50:53
And we can use some quick exports to 2D AutoCAD files
50:57
or object sets.
50:59
And we could use those object sets
51:00
to create reusable configurations that's
51:03
saved with the host drawing.
51:05
So if you know that you're going to have to repeatedly export
51:08
to 2D to send off to a client or another stakeholder
51:12
on the project, you can set up an object name or an action
51:16
to do this and to export at particular milestones.
51:20
In this example, we are going to include
51:23
in an object set, a surface, parcels, alignments,
51:26
pipe networks, and blocks.
51:27
So when we export this to a 2D drawing file,
51:31
we are going to include all of the surfaces, parcels,
51:34
alignments, and pipe networks, as well
51:36
as the blocks in that export.
51:39
So again, we are in the object sets portion here.
51:42
We're going to create a new object set.
51:44
We're going to call this one plan development to 2D DWG.
51:50
The object set action, we're going
51:51
to export to 2D AutoCAD file as a DWG.
51:57
We're going to keep that all as default. The output path,
52:04
we're going to place in a specific location.
52:06
Now, we have that object set.
52:09
So next thing we want to do is we
52:10
want to add all of our objects, all of our surfaces alignments,
52:16
et cetera.
52:18
So we're going to choose, first, our alignments.
52:20
We're going to choose our First Street,
52:22
Second Street for our surfaces.
52:27
We're going to choose just our existing.
52:33
And our pipe networks, we're going
52:35
to include our First Street Storm, our Second Street
52:38
Storms.
52:40
And for parcels, let's go ahead and right
52:45
click and check all of them.
52:51
And our AutoCAD blocks, we're going
52:53
to go ahead and choose our A_LAMB_400,
52:56
and we're going to hit OK.
52:58
Now, all of those objects have been added to our object set.
53:02
So when we run our selected action,
53:06
it will export all of those to 2D DWG.
53:11
So we can go ahead and open that file now.
53:14
And now that we have it open, you
53:16
can see that this is the name that we gave our DWG.
53:19
And everything within our DWG file
53:22
is 2D, no longer 3D objects.
53:26
So all of our surfaces, our contours are now polylines.
53:30
Our structures and pipes are just
53:32
polylines and block references, arcs and lines,
53:36
no longer any 3D data.
53:38
In summary, Project Explorer allows
53:41
us to review, edit, and create Civil objects
53:44
in a single location.
53:46
It is modeless dialog box displays graphically
53:49
and tabular design data.
53:51
You can easily configure the user interface as you saw.
53:55
Definitely has some pretty robust reporting functionality.
53:58
And just the fact that it will generate a 2D drawing
54:01
export of Civil 3D objects and designs is highly beneficial.
54:07
Some additional learning resources.
54:08
If you want to learn more about Project Explorer,
54:11
you can get some in-product help with the Project Explorer
54:15
tutorials.
54:17
There is also an Autodesk infrastructure YouTube channel
54:20
here.
54:20
So there's a couple of links here for you to use.
54:23
There's also an Autodesk Customer Success Hub.
54:26
If you head on over to customersuccess.autodesk.com,
54:30
there are a number of courses for you to review and learn
54:35
more about, including Project Explorer.
54:38
Last, I would highly recommend the Project Explore topic
54:42
from Jeff Bartels.
54:44
There are two parts to his Project Explorer review
54:48
that you can check out there.
54:50
Highly recommended if you want to learn more
54:52
about Project Explorer.
54:55
Thank you for joining us on this session.
54:57
I hope you found this beneficial.
54:59
And I thank you for joining me on this session of Project
55:02
Explorer.
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