Introduction

When the first version of this book was born just over four years ago, my hope was for it to be one book in a long and successful series that would educate, inspire, and even excite many people about using the Autodesk® AutoCAD® Civil 3D® software. In order to make that happen, I decided that each book in the series had to meet the following criteria:

• It should be basic enough to enable anyone to learn Civil 3D.
• It should be in-depth enough to enable a person to be productive using Civil 3D for basic tasks.
• It should foster understanding by associating the things you do in Civil 3D with familiar things you see every day.
• The examples and exercises should be based on the real world.
• The book should not simply demonstrate random software features but should also teach the process of project completion using Civil 3D.

Since the first version of the book was released, I have received tons of great feedback about how well this book functions in many learning environments. I have also used the book myself to teach classes in a corporate environment, and I am very pleased with how it performs. I am confident that the goals I listed have been met, and for that reason I have held to the same writing style, format, and delivery that proved to be so successful in the previous versions.

As you work your way through the book as a teacher, a student, or an end user, you'll find that the first two chapters, although very important, are more general and introductory. After that, you're going to take a journey through the completion of a residential land development project-start to finish. In fact, the example project is based on a residential development that was built about 10 years ago, not far from my home. The topics are presented as though you have never touched a CAD program before, and wherever possible, there are sidebars and other forms of augmentation that relate what you're doing to the real world.

You'll also find that as I wrote this book, I tried to sympathize with future readers by thinking back to my college days when I was learning about surveying and civil engineering for the first time. There were many times when I felt frustrated and lost because I was learning new and foreign concepts and did not see how they related to the real world. I can remember being out in the field during my surveying class-looking through the survey instrument, writing down measurements, and having no idea why. That wasn't an enjoyable feeling, and it isn't one I want you to experience as you learn the new and foreign concepts in this book. Eventually I learned all about surveying, and now I have an in-depth understanding of how those measurements relate to designing and building roads, buildings, and other things-but it took many years. It's my sincerest hope that this book gives you a head start on some of those types of concepts while at the same time relating them to Civil 3D in ways that hit home for you.

What's New in This Book?

If you already own AutoCAD Civil 3D 2015 Essentials, you'll be happy to know that AutoCAD Civil 3D 2016 Essentials has been updated to address important changes in AutoCAD Civil 3D 2016. All applicable images have been updated in this version of the book to account for changes to the user interface and changes to functionality. The dataset files have also been updated to ensure compatibility with AutoCAD Civil 3D 2016.

Who Should Read This Book?

This book should be read by anyone who needs or wants to begin learning AutoCAD Civil 3D. It's appropriate for ages ranging from high school to retirement, and although it's intended for those who have no experience or skill with Civil 3D, it can also serve as a great resource for refreshing your knowledge base or filling in any gaps. In addition, this book can be used as a resource for preparing to take the AutoCAD Civil 3D 2016 Certified Professional exam. See www.autodesk.com/certification for more certification information and resources. You can also refer to this book's appendix to see which certification topics are covered and where they can be found in the book.

In addition to those pursuing a certification, here are some specific examples of individuals who would benefit from reading this book:

• High-school students following a design-related educational track
• College students learning to be designers or engineers
• Employees who have recently joined a company that utilizes Civil 3D
• Employees who work for companies that have recently implemented Civil 3D
• Experienced Civil 3D users who are self-taught and who want to fill in gaps in their knowledge base

What You Will Learn

This book covers the basic skills and concepts needed to begin using Civil 3D to design land development projects. The concepts include those related to Civil 3D as well as those related to civil engineering and surveying in general. It doesn't cover all topics or all Civil 3D features, but it provides a solid foundation you can use to perform basic tasks. This foundation can then serve as a stepping-off point as you learn more advanced skills and work toward an in-depth understanding of Civil 3D.

The first two chapters will give you a basic understanding of Civil 3D and help you to understand and appreciate how it "thinks." The remaining 16 chapters will teach you how to use the tools that Civil 3D provides to complete a typical land development design project.

What You Need

Specific hardware requirements for running AutoCAD Civil 3D 2016 had not been released as this book went to press. See the Autodesk website (www.autodesk.com) for current requirements.

To perform the exercises in this book, you must have AutoCAD Civil 3D 2016 installed on your computer. It's recommended that you use the default software setup with two exceptions: Change your drawing screen color to white, and dock the command line at the bottom of the screen. This book contains many screen captures of Civil 3D drawings, which were all produced with these distinctive changes to the user interface. Also, at times, the exercises refer to drawing entities by color, which is sometimes dependent on the background color.

To complete the exercises, you'll need to download the necessary files from www.sybex.com/go/civil3d2016essentials. Here you'll find a list of Zip files, one for each chapter. When you unzip the file for the first chapter to the local C: drive of your computer, a folder named Civil 3D 2016 Essentials will be created with the chapter folder inside it. As you unzip additional chapter files to the local simply merge the new Civil 3D 2016 Essentials folder into the old one. The resulting files and folders will appear similar to the following image:

Zip files are available in imperial and metric units. As you complete the exercises, metric values will be shown in parentheses. The imperial and metric values for a given item usually are not equivalent, to avoid using irregular values for the design. For example, the value for the width of a sidewalk would be shown as 3' (1m) even though 3' doesn't exactly equal 1m.

Finally, be sure to check the book's website for any updates to this book should the need arise. You can also contact me directly by email at CivilEssentials@gmail.com or visit my blog at http://ericchappell.blogspot.com to read even more about the book and Civil 3D in general.

Free Autodesk Software for Students and Educators

The Autodesk Education Community is an online resource with more than 5 million members that enables educators and students to download-for free (see the website for terms and conditions)-the same software used by professionals worldwide. You can also access additional tools and materials to help you design, visualize, and simulate ideas. Connect with other learners to stay current with the latest industry trends and get the most out of your designs. Get started today at www.autodesk.com/joinedu.

Attention: Instructors

As you know, the best classes start with good preparation, and you can get off to a good start by downloading the instructor materials that accompany this book. Please visit www.sybex.com/go/civil3d2016essentials to access the instructor materials, which contain suggested syllabi, PowerPoint files, additional exercises, and quiz questions that you can use to assist you in making your class a success.

What Is Covered in This Book?

AutoCAD Civil 3D 2016 Essentials is organized to provide you with the knowledge needed to master the basics of AutoCAD Civil 3D 2016:

1. Chapter 1: Navigating the User Interface Familiarizes you with the Civil 3D environment so that you can navigate more easily in the software.
2. Chapter 2: Leveraging a Dynamic Environment Demonstrates the dynamic Civil 3D environment to establish its importance and encourage you to take full advantage of it whenever possible. This chapter focuses on important relationships between different components of a typical design model.
3. Chapter 3: Establishing Existing Conditions Using Survey Data Demonstrates how to convert survey field measurements into a Civil 3D drawing while focusing on the survey functions of Civil 3D. This chapter covers creating a survey database, importing data, and processing the data to create a map of the project.
4. Chapter 4: Modeling the Existing Terrain Using Surfaces Demonstrates how to create a model of the existing terrain...