You can manage instances of surfaces in the Surfaces collection in the Prospector tab and surface settings in the Surface collection in the Settings tab.
You can copy, export to LandXML, delete, rebuild, rename, synchronize, take a snapshot of, and change the style usage for a surface.
Every surface object has properties, which are defined and displayed in the Surface Properties dialog box.
- General information, including the name, description, and style for the surface. For information, see Information Tab (Surface Properties Dialog Box).
- Definition attributes, including the build, data, and operation options, as well as a definition of items that are in use in the surface. For information, see Understanding the Surface Definition.
- Analysis information, which includes properties for all types of surface analysis, including contour, direction, elevations, slopes, slope arrows, and watersheds. For information, see Analyzing Surfaces.
- Statistics for the current state of the surface. For information, see Viewing Surface Statistics.
Topics in this section
- Editing and Viewing the Surface Definition
Edit and view a surface definition information, including build, data, and operation options. Additionally, you can select or clear items that are included in the surface definition list.
- Using Surface Snapshots
A snapshot is a surface operation that captures the current state of surface.
- Changing a Surface Name, Description, or Style
Change an existing surface name, description, and style usage.
- Copying a Surface
Create a copy of an existing surface.
- Previewing a Surface
You can preview a surface in the Prospector item list view.
- Rebuilding a Surface
When you make changes to a surface, such as editing data or the build parameters, the surface may become out of date and you can rebuild it.
- Deleting a Surface
Delete a surface, which erases it from the drawing and removes it from the Surfaces collection in the Prospector tree.
- Locking a Surface
Lock a surface so that its properties and geometry cannot be changed. Certain tabs in the Surface Properties dialog box and some menu items cannot be selected.
- Moving, Scaling, or Rotating a Surface
Use standard AutoCAD commands to move, scale, and rotate a surface.
- Editing Surface Settings
Use surface settings to specify the default behavior for surface-related commands.
- Viewing Surface Statistics
AutoCAD Civil 3D provides extensive statistics based on the current state of the surface.
- Troubleshooting Surface Errors
Identify and troubleshoot errors or problems with a surface, or its data components, in several ways.
- Working with Large Surfaces
In AutoCAD Civil 3D you can build, edit, and save large surfaces. The term “large surface” applies to a surface with a number of points exceeding one million (generally, 1 million points for a grid surface or a snapshot of a TIN surface, and 2 million points for a TIN surface).