Author: Kate Ming AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD

We at Ideate are looking through the new features in the latest release of Autodesk software. In this post, I am going to discuss the new profile editing enhancements in Civil 3D 2015.

Profile Extending and Adding Entities Before Previously Drawn Entities

Civil 3D has a made a few enhancements to its profile editing options. The first is the extend entity tool which shows up on the profile layout tools toolbar.

 

The Extend Entity tool on the profile layout toolbar


This tool extends an entity to the end or beginning of a profile. This does not mean the end or beginning of the horizontal alignment. The profile will be extended to the nearest major station, as can be seen in the following image.

 

The Extend Entity tool on the profile layout toobar


Another important addition is the ability to add entities before previously-drawn entities. This is particularly useful if additional entities have been added at the beginning of your horizontal alignment.

Free Curve Editing

Multiple additions have been made to the free curve editing, with the most notable being the ability to add a free circular curve by selecting entities that the curve will be connected to. Refer to the following image to see where this is on the toolbar. This option allows you to create the curve by selecting the two entities the curve will be between, and then determining the curve geometry by selecting a pass-through point, or indicating a radius or length.

 

Free circular vertical curve tool location on toolbar


The parabolic curves can also be created using a pass-through point. This is new to this release. To ensure these pass-through point curves are compatible with previous versions of the software, you can convert the curve to be pvi based. This option is shown in the following image.  

 

Tool to convert the curve created by the free curve through point option to a pvi based curve.
 

In short, the new profile editing features include the ability:

Check out the video Civil 3D 2015: Profile Editing Enhancements

Thank you for reading. For more information on the software solutions, training and consulting Ideate provides, please visit the Ideate, Inc. homepage.


         Kate Ming
Kate Ming
AEC Application Specialist
Kate is a California licensed civil engineer with a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley. Prior to Ideate, she worked at a multinational company for four years doing general civil design on large infrastructure projects. She is versed in roadway, rail, utility design and site development. She also has experience with utility demand analysis and Low Impact Development plans. As a Civil 3D Autodesk Certified Professional Kate provides training and support for Civil 3D, AutoCAD, and InfraWorks.