Civil 3D layers

[MMccall.83699]

I'm in the midst of setting up shop as the sole draftsperson for a newly formed engineering company. My layering scheme is one that I set up as part of my previous employment and it worked pretty well under LDD. I'd like use Civil 3D and I'm currently making changes as necessary to work with Civil 3Ds functionality. The layers that come with Civil 3D don't fit very well with the system I have and I'm not sure what might happen if I make changes to them. Version 2006 is just around the corner and I bet it will have more predefined layers.

I'd like to know what everyone else is planning on doing to accommodate Civil 3D.

[MHultgren]

You can define the layer settings (even predefined ones) in the style manager.

[MMccall.83699]

Are there any potential problems that may arise from making changes to the predefined layers?

Example: Would changing a layer name mess up any style that used that layer name in it's style definition? Or will the styles that use that layer be ok as long as I only modify the layer's name as opposed to deleting it and making a new one.

Should the predefined layers be altered or is it better to just leave them alone?

[quinton.mcdaniel]

Are there any potential problems that may arise from making changes to the predefined layers?

: In the most recent 2006 Beta of Civil 3D my class went in and changed a layer name that a style created and it changed the name of the layer in the style also. So yes the potential is there for problems (Company Standards). The way I addressed this was to stick with the Style Display properties and setup your styles to manage your layers. Now that I said that you will have to have some layers that you create and manage in Layer Manager since not everything cannot be created using objects.

As for layers out of the box. My classes seem to like the ATC courseware CD that has some predefined styles that they are going to start with and modify. Hope this helps.

[tnochomson36463]

I am in the process of updating my company standards to match the National CAD Standard (NCS), as much as it makes sense to. I plan on "tweaking" and adding to the Civil 3D layers as needed to match my new layer list.

Civil 3D comes with DWT files such as "_Autodesk Civil 3D Imperial By Layer.dwt" and "_Autodesk Civil 3D Imperial By Style.dwt" which are based on the NCS with styles already associated to use them.

The CADD/GIS Technology Center has the A/E/C CADD Workspace Release 2.3 available free for download. It will create layer names, including the color and lineweight properties, that are fairly consistent with the NCS (although a little outdated).

Follow this link...

http://tsc.wes.army.mil/products/standards/aec/aecworkspace.asp

Enjoy!

Todd Nochomson
CAD Systems Manager
Miller Legg (Florida)

[MHultgren]

I believe the NCS is in Rel 3.1 now, best check the CADD\GIS package as I am pretty sure they are using Rel 2 of the NCS. Rel 3.1 has additional Civil layers and 3D layer info in it now as well. You need to purchase it though.


The U.S. National CAD Standard (NCS) Version 3.1 is now avaliable for purchase. (http://www.csinet.org/s_csi/view.asp?TRACKID=&CID=333&DID=10351) The NCS coordinates CAD-related publications of multiple organizations. The purpose of the U.S. National CAD Standard is to allow consistent and streamlined communication among owners and design/construction teams. Use of the NCS will result in reduced costs for developing and maintaining office standards and the transfer of building design data from design to facility management. The U.S. National CAD Standard offers greater efficiency in the design and construction process documentation.

Components of the NCS


The goal of the U.S. National CAD Standard is voluntary adoption of the Standard to streamline and simplify the exchange of building design and construction data throughout the life of a facility. The U.S. National CAD Standard Version 3.1 includes the U.S. National CAD Standard Project Committee Report, all amendments to 3.0, Introduction and Appendices (NIBS), and the following:

Uniform Drawing System™ (UDS), Modules 1-8, CSI – Updated with MasterFormat™ 2004 numbers, it includes guidelines and standards for sheet layout, drawing conventions, schedules, and symbols to name a few.
AIA CAD Layer Guidelines, NCS Edition, American Institute of Architects (AIA) — A key component of the U.S. National CAD Standard, Version 3.0 — Find the recommended layer lists you've been looking for.
Plotting Guidelines approved by the National CAD Standards Project Committee — The guidelines include the use of 256 color ID numbers assigned to plotted line-weights and plotted colors.

The NCS 3.1 also comes with a searchable pdf file CD.

The NCS effort is based on 1997 and 2003 Memorandums of Understanding among the above organizations and the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors National Association (SMACNA), and the federal General Services Administration (GSA). A NIBS consensus project committee with representation from 12 public and private interest categories, and the entire building construction community, was formed to peer review the existing documents.

Version 3.1 of the NCS features new discipline designators, new and improved layer lists to further increase the efficient exchange of building design data, and the incorporation of new symbols into the NCS.

[MMccall.83699]

I've reviewed the info you suggested and I thank you for the input.

I found I can't delete a layer once it has been used in a style but I can modify it and the style that uses it will update to the new properties.

I think I'll modify my current layering system to work with Civil 3D's procedures and organization. My system is similar the NCS in it's approach to progressive logical layer name creation. All my plan object layer begin with a two letter prefix followed by a dash and a component name. The first letter of the prefix denotes the item as being an existing or proposed item. The second letter is the type of object. (line, text, hatch, dimension, point, ...) Example: EL-Bound, this is where my overall tract boundary (parcel) belongs.

All project items are set to ByLayer. Line weight is set by layer. Color is controlled my mapping the brighter colors to plot as black and darker colors as gray. (the upper two and bottom two rows from the standard autocad color palette plot gray, the center six rows plot black) This produces a screen display that is pretty much WYSIWYG. Like items are also color coded together. Text that labels an item is the same color as the item it's labeling. (this color codes layering errors too) Xreffed information can have alternate an color, line weight, linetype, or any combination of those when used in another drawing.

I felt it allowed me the most flexibility and seemed to be at the very least a logical approach.

[MHultgren]

We use a similar approach with the color coding :grin: . Blues are Water, Browns are Sewer, greens are Grading, and so on. We have everything set to Bylayer, Linetype, Color and objects. Blocks are even Bylayer :Puffy: (created on Layer 0) so they take on the characteristics of the layer they are inserted on. Nothing worse than trying to change a water valve that was created Blue with a continuous Linetype on an Existing layer (Dashed and Blue-gray 137 or 138 ) :banghead:

[MMccall.83699]

Ahhh, I learned the blocks on layer zero the hard way. When I went back and fix the blocks I also added some white-out like fill hatching to my hollow symbols. Now my hollow symbols plot open when they're on top of other line work.

[MHultgren]

Forgot to add the insertion point (base) set at 0,0,0 and have the d*&n thing placed where you want to insert it. I hate it when someone wblocks out a symbol that was drawn hard coded and out in space and when asked for the insertion point, hit enter (0,0,0) :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[MMccall.83699]

When in the wrong hands even the best of programs yields bad results. I wonder how the users that would mess up an insertion point are going to deal with the complexity that comes with power of Civil 3D.


I remember when my symbol library was a couple of plastic templates next to my pen carousel.