You can create realistic rendering of AutoCAD Civil 3D objects using render materials.
A render material corresponds to a specific material in a civil model, such as asphalt, concrete, or gravel. It consists of a pointer to a material and settings that control the material properties when it is rendered.
You can apply render materials to several objects, including surfaces and surface masks, corridor surfaces and corridor surface boundaries, pipes and structures, and interferences.
View using styles such as 2D wireframe and 3D realistic
Rendered image of a surface object simulated with grass and the underlying concrete drainage pipes and catch basins
You can specify a default render material to use for surfaces in the Surface Feature Settings. After you create a surface or a surface mask, you can assign a different render material by changing the surface properties or surface mask properties.
Define the render material for corridor surfaces on the Surfaces tab of the Corridor Properties dialog box. Specify the style for corridor boundaries on the Boundaries tab.
Specify the styles for pipe network parts by using the Render Material option on the Pipe Properties Information tab or the Structure Properties Information tab. Specify the styles for interferences by using the Interference Properties Information tab.
For more information about render materials, including how to create custom render materials, modify render materials, add render materials to the drawing, and apply render materials to objects, see the AutoCAD Help.