Points to Profile

Points to Profile

For as vast and dynamic of a program as Civil 3D is, one would hope that developers have included a tool allowing users to manually enter and plot field survey points in a profile or cross-section view. Unfortunately, there is no such tool available in the default installation. But take heart – if you have followed the national NRCS Civil 3D customization steps, you should now have a tool tab titled [NRCS]. This tab includes additional tools designed to streamline some very common NRCS design procedures. Among these is a tool called [Points to Profile].

This tool allows users to create a profile and profile view based on multiple points without requiring the normal steps of creating a surface from a full topo-survey. The following steps describe the steps required to use and execute this tool:

1. Manually Add Points to Model Space

• Click [Points] > {Points Creation Tools}

• From the Create Points menu, click the first icon and select {Manual}:

• Back in Model, click a point to represent the location of your first survey point. Be sure to refer to the Command Line for instructions.

• Enter a point description (e.g. BNK) > {Enter}

• Enter a point elevation (e.g. 100.2) > {Enter}

• Repeat these steps to add remaining survey points. Utilize the “O-Snap”, “O-Snap Tracking” and “Ortho” functions to add the points at specific distances and locations in relation to one another.

• When finished adding points, press {Enter} to end the command.

2. Use the “Points to Profile” tool

• With points manually created or imported via a .txt file, open the Points to Profile tool: click [NRCS] > {Points to Profile}

• In the Points to Profile window, first navigate to the Options panel. Users can select points either by: (1) Points Groups, (2) selecting Multiple Points at once, or (3) selecting a single point at a time. For this example, click {Select Points One at a Time}.
• Under the Point Type panel, select {Civil 3D Cogo Points}.
• In the Alignment and Profile Options panel, enter user-defined values. The basic input is explained below:
  • Alignment Name (e.g. Section01): the label applied to the alignment data in the Prospector
  • Alignment Layer (e.g. EX-ALIGNMENT): the layer to be associated with the alignment
  • Start Station (e.g. 0): the beginning station for the alignment
  • Create Profile: choose whether of not to create profile data for the selected points

• Near the bottom left of the tool window, click {Pick} to return to Model and pick all data points that are to be added to a profile. Note: the points must be selected in order (e.g. left-to-right or north-to-south). Once selected, click {Enter}.

• The Point to Profile tool will return to the forefront and should list the selected points in the window. Note: the points and alignment will plot in the order shown. If satisfied with all input, click {Create}.
• If successful, an indicator message will appear. Click {OK}.

• Back in Model, you should now see an alignment connecting the selected data points.

• The alignment file and profile data will also be listed in Toolspace under the Prospector tab.

3. Create a Profile View

• Users will now have to create a Profile View using the normal Civil 3D procedures. Click [Profile View] > {Create Profile View}

• Enter the required input (e.g. select an alignment, enter a view title, select a scale) and click {Create Profile View}.
• In Model, select the origin (bottom-left corner) to place the profile view.

-JD

 alignment points profile