Viewing AutoCAD Civil 3D Objects

This tutorial demonstrates several ways to display objects in plan and model
views.
There are a variety of ways to view AutoCAD Civil 3D objects. In this tutorial,
you will learn how to use some of the most common methods, including
viewports, named views, display representations, 3D views, and visual styles.
For more information, see the AutoCAD Help topic Use 3D Viewing Tools.
Tutorial:Viewing AutoCAD Civil 3D Objects | 15
Exercise 1: Setting Up the Drawing Window
In this exercise, you will configure the drawing window, using named views
and viewports.
For more information, see the AutoCAD Help topics Save and Restore Views
and Display Multiple Views in Model Space.
To divide the drawing area into separate viewports
1 Click File menu ➤ Open. Navigate to the tutorial drawings folder (page
615) and open the drawing Intro-2.dwg.
This drawing contains an existing ground surface, several alignments,
and several profile views that contain existing ground and layout profiles.
2 Click View menu ➤ Viewports ➤ 2 Viewports. Press Enter to display the
viewports vertically.
Two viewports are displayed. Each viewport is a separate window in which
you can pan and zoom to different views of the drawing. you can create
custom viewport configurations and save them for later use.
3 Click in each of the viewports. Notice that as you click in a viewport, the
border darkens to indicate which viewport is currently active. Click the
viewport on the right side to make it active.
4 On the command line, enter ZE.
The surface and profile views are displayed in the right viewport.
To apply a saved drawing view
1 Click the viewport on the left side to make it active.
2 Click View menu ➤ Named Views.
3 In the View Manager dialog box, under Views, expand the Model Views
category.
Three views have been created in this drawing. Each named view consists
of a specific magnification, position, orientation, and layer status. Named
views are saved with a drawing and can be used any time. When your
drawing is displaying a specific view to which you want to return, you
can save it as a named view by clicking the New button in the View
Manager dialog box.
16 | Chapter 2 Getting Started Tutorials
4 Click the Surface Extents view. Notice that a preview of the view appears
in the lower right corner of the dialog box. Click Set Current. Click OK.
The extents of the EG surface appears in the left viewport.
To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 2: Changing the Display of an Object
(page 17).