Surface Import Settings Dialog Box

Use this dialog box to specify which surface elements to import and whether to create a surface snapshot when you are importing a Bentley® GEOPAK® TIN file or a Bentley® InRoads® DTM file into AutoCAD® Civil 3D®.

Surface Elements to Import

Specifies what data is imported into the drawing when creating each surface. During the data translation process, the data is translated from the source file by using LandXML. Use the following options to specify what data in the LandXML file to import into the resulting AutoCAD Civil 3D drawing file to create each surface.

• Points: Imports the surface point data.
• Breaklines: Imports the breakline data.
• Boundaries: Imports the boundary data.
• Contours: Imports the contour data.
• Triangles: Imports the surface triangle data. If you select this option, the other options, except Contours, are selected automatically.
  Note: Selecting the Triangles option improves the surface accuracy but reduces the speed of the translation process.

Note: Because the data is brought into the drawing in an XML file, Import XML File will be displayed as an Operation Type on the Definition tab of the Surface Properties dialog box. The data is not added to the surface definition in the Prospector tree.

Create Snapshot After Import

Specifies that a surface snapshot is created when each surface is imported into the drawing. By creating a snapshot after importing a LandXML file, AutoCAD Civil 3D does not attempt to find and open the LandXML file each time the surface is built.

Tip: An XML file is generated for each TIN or DTM file that you import. After you download the translated files, you can optionally point the surface in the AutoCAD Civil 3D drawing to the corresponding XML file by modifying the surface properties.