Volume Surface

This - my first post to a Blog, will be about a topic I find really nice - Surfaces and Labels. This will show what's part of the really nice and easy to use functions in Civil 3D.

If you're a user sitting with C3D you know that it's easy to design a new proposed surface and compare it to an existing surface - then you get the volumes.
I know that some of you might not have adopted C3D yet but still claims to be able to create surfaces and calculate volumes - Let's compare!

Today I'll point out how easy it is to create a drawing presenting the compared surfaces using a Volume TIN Surface.

Let's say we start our stopwatch after completing a first draft for the design of the proposed surface.

0 seconds:
Two surfaces (see Tool Tip)


10 seconds:
A new TIN Volume Surface Created, now presented with a Style showing a selection of coloured bands. These display the cut/fill areas.




30 seconds:
A set of Surface Labels applied to the new Surface presenting the difference in heights.




Now to the really nice part ;-)
Change the proposed Surface and apply some new heights to it.
How long does it take to update the Volumes, and the display of the new updated Volume Surface, with all it's Labels?
You probably guessed it by now... It doesn't take any time (almost).
This change of some specific heights, and a complete update of the Surfaces and Labels, took about 30 seconds.
Fast and easy!