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How to Create 3D DXFs (Design Surfaces) in Civil 3D

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Below are the necessary steps taken in Civil 3D to successfully import DXF files for 3D visualization layers and Design Surfaces. But first, we will talk about the overall use cases these workflows can be used for:

  1. Earthworks and Cut/Fill
    1. Design Surface - Compare Drone maps for progress tracking to the:
      1. Final grade design surface
      2. Subgrade design surface for pavement
    2. 3D DXF - Create precise volume annotations for closed objects:
      1. Building footprints
      2. Parking lots
      3. Roadways
      4. And more…
    3. 3D DXF - Create precise distance measurements for non-closed objects
  2. QA/QC and General Progress Tracking
    1. 3D DXF - Compare as-built versus design for:
      1. Underground Utilities
      2. Foundations
      3. Concrete or structural steel 
      4. Any modeled element
    2. Design Surface - Compare current conditions to design for:
      1. Final Grade design surface
      2. Subgrade design surface for pavement

 

Preparing DXFs in Civil 3D

1. Check the Coordinate System of your drawing in Civil 3D. We want to ensure that the coordinate system of the file matches the coordinate system of your DroneDeploy project.

a. Type in MAPSTATUSBAR into the command window to view the coordinate system of the drawing

b. The Globe Icon will appear in the bottom toolbar of Civil 3D

c. If your drawing does not have an assigned coordinate system, you will need to select the dropdown arrow and configure your drawing with the correct coordinate system

     i. Type in the EPSG code that matches your DroneDeploy project and assign that coordinate system



d. If you are unsure if the coordinate system matches that of your DroneDeploy project, select the dropdown menu then select Library.

     i. Type in the EPSG code of your DroneDeploy project and check to see if the EPSG code matches the coordinate system named next to the Globe Icon above.

e. If it matches, then you can then import your drawing into DroneDeploy

f. If it does not match, there will be extra steps we need to take in order to get all modeled elements into the proper coordinate system. Unfortunately, in Civil 3D you cannot just change the coordinate system of the drawing and have modeled elements moved to their geospatially correct position.
    i. Follow these Instructions in this Autodesk Civil 3D article

g. Spot Check Coordinates on your drawing to ensure they will generally be in the same space as your DroneDeploy map.
    i. Use the command ID to click on a point in your model to check the coordinates. Ensure those coordinates are similar to your DroneDeploy project. Use an annotation pin in Dronedeploy or a GCP coordinate for comparison.

 

2. Clean up your Civil 3D drawing to only include elements you wish to visualize. 

     a. Clean up elements and layers. Many times your file will have unwanted data that you will not wish to show in DroneDeploy.

  1. First open your file and hit save as. You will want to save this file as a separate copy in order to not maintain the original file.
  2. Then identify the layers that contain unwanted data. Most often elements are modeled on individual layers to compartmentalize modeled information. You are going to delete elements on unwanted layers.
  3. Open Layer Properties to see all the layers in the file. There may be turned off, frozen or Locked layers that we want to turn on to see what they contain. Turn on, unfreeze and unlock all layers.
  4. After you’ve identified which layers you wish to delete modeled elements on, select all the layers that you wish to keep.
  5. Then toggle the lightbulb off to hide those wanted layers and click on the lock icon to lock those layers.
  6. Now only the unwanted layers will be displayed in your model view.
  7. Select all the elements and hit delete or enter delete into the command bar.
  8. Now you can unlock and turn on the wanted layers.
  9. If remaining elements are grouped into a block, select all the elements and hit explode. 
  10. If unwanted data did not delete when selecting them, they are likely attached to a block on a locked (wanted) layer. Identify the layer they are referenced to and then unlock that layer. Select the block and type explode. Then re-lock the wanted layer and delete the remaining elements

     b. Ensure elements are modeled at elevation

          1. CAD files containing 2D lines and polylines are often modeled at 0’ elevation and have no change in elevation throughout the site.

                 i. For these instances, assigning an elevation to all line work slightly above the highest points in your drone map will allow you to visualize this data in the 3D view to give context to your site. This will also allow you to create annotations from the linework onto the surface of your drone map.

     c. Purge SHX content from your model. Many times SHX files (shapefiles) are attached to drawings for certain text or symbol fonts. Sometimes these elements increase the file size dramatically

      1. First Ignore the SHX files if prompted when opening the file.
      2. Type in QSELECT and select All under Operator
         
      3. Hit Ok. Now all elements in your model should be selected.
      4. Then type in PURGE and click on Find Non-Purgeable Items
      5. Under shapes identify the items that are contained in those SHX files.
      6. Now, go to Purgeable Items and select the exact line types that are contained in the SHX files. Then purge those selected items

3. Decide what type of objects you are trying to represent in DroneDeploy

     a. Line or Polyline elements will be best used for displaying contours, site plans or any non-3D object in DroneDeploy

      1. DroneDeploy cannot render Arcs. Any line object that is of the property type arc will not be displayed in the 3D view in DroneDeploy. 
      2. Many times Arcs are joined with other lines or polylines to create one polyline object. In this case, DroneDeploy will render the Arc portion of the polyline as a straight line with no curve.
      3. If you wish to better approximate the Arcs using Polyline segments in DroneDeploy you will need to run a LSP routine to make those arcs into small line segments
        1. Download this LSP routine we found on the internet: Insertpi.LSP
        2. Type APPLOAD into the command bar
        3. Find the LSP file that you downloaded and load that into Civil 3D

  1. Convert stand-alone Arcs to Polylines using PEDIT command
  2. Then type in FLINC into the command bar
  3. Now select all the polylines with a minimal amount of nodes.
  4. Before:

  1. After:

  1. This routine makes these polylines into 2 ft increment line segments, which will allow DroneDeploy to display it properly.

     b. Meshes or solids will be best used for displaying 3D-modeled objects in DroneDeploy. But, you must first make them into 3D faces.

    1. If your model 3D modeled objects or polylines create modeled objects in the model follow these steps to render them into 3D solids.
    2. Select all the elements you want to be included in your DXF export
    3. Use the orbit tool to rotate the drawing slightly.  *You only need to make sure it is not directly at the top position.  **If you skip this step you will get an error at the next step.
    4. In the command line, type CONVERTTO3DSOLIDS and hit return
    5. Switch to the 3D MODELING workspace
    6. Select all the drawing elements once more
    7. Select the mesh menu
    8. Click the arrow in the lower right corner of the mesh/mesh menu
    9. Make sure triangles are selected as the mesh type and click OK
    10. Click “Create Mesh”
    11. At this point all your entities will be of type “MESH”.
    12. In order for DroneDeploy to display the entities we need to convert them to “3DFace”.  
    13. To do this: 
      1. highlight all the drawing elements once more
      2. In the command line type EXPLODE and hit return *this may take several minutes depending on the number of elements and complexity of your drawing
    14. Verify your entities are now type “3DFace”
    15. Save the drawing as a DXF.  NOTE: Use the “Save As” function NOT the export to DXF function.

4. Decide what type of overlay you are uploading

     a. 3D DXF Visualization Layer

      1. Use Save as to save your file above in DXF 2018 format
      2. Upload your clean version of the file from the steps above and DroneDeploy will visualize what exists in the file.

     b. Design Surface

      1. If you are uploading a design surface into DroneDeploy it is best practice to create the surface beforehand in Civil 3D. DroneDeploy can render a surface from modeled contour lines, but it's best to do this in Civil 3D.
      2. First, create a tin surface from your modeled contour lines

  1. Then add contour data to your surface

  1. Then select your newly created surface and type EXPLODE twice. This will make your surface into individual 3D faces.

  1. You can then use Save as to save this file as a DXF 2018 format and import it into DroneDeploy as a design surface.

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