When you start a project with the correct template file (defined by a file extension), the repetitive task of defining the basic framework for your drawing is already completed. Since Civil 3D runs on top of AutoCAD, the template will have two parts. The first part of the Civil 3D template is the AutoCAD side of the template, and it will contain the following:
- Unit type (architectural or decimal) and insertion scale (meters or feet)
- Layers and their respective linetypes, colors, and other properties
- Text, dimension, tables, and multileader styles
- Layouts and plot setups
- Block definitions
The second part is represented by the specific Civil 3D side. Therefore, in addition to the items just listed, you will encounter the following:
- More specific unit information (international feet, survey feet, or meters), together with the coordinate systems defined within the Drawing Settings dialog that you’ve learned about.
- Civil object layers, defined with the object layers.
- Ambient settings.
- Label styles and formulas (expressions).
- Object styles.
- Command settings.
- Object-naming templates defined by macros within command settings.
- Report settings that can be found within the Toolbox tab of Toolspace.
- Description key sets.
Now that you’ve learned what makes up the Civil 3D template, make sure to start your design adventure using the proper template. Many times you will receive files from people who don’t use Civil 3D as their design platform. When these files are opened for the first time in Civil 3D, the template will create standard settings and styles. For this reason, opening a file within Civil 3D, when accessing the
Settings tab of
Toolspace, you will see that for each of the objects a
Standard style is defined. This style is created for both object and labels and defines all of its properties using .
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| A non–Civil 3D DWG will list all styles as Standard, which is the Civil 3D equivalent to drawing on Layer 0. |
Also, there will be no specific object layers defined since all of them will be set to
Layer 0, so any Civil 3D object you create will be placed by default in that layer. You will learn in this section about a feature that allows you to import the settings and styles from a template, taking away all the hassle of redefining that data for every drawing.
