Civil3D - What is it?

Author: Verwey Drafting Inc.

Date: November 7th, 2023 Civil3D. A program lots of people know, and a program many people don't know. To those who don't know the program looks like AutoCAD with different buttons, but the program is more complex than that. Lets take a look at some of the differences.

The first thing you'll notice in the screenshot above is, on the lefthand side, a section called "tool space". Tool space is used in Civil3D to control the main functions of the program, from adjusting imported points, to playing around with alignments, tool space has you covered. Tool space is a tab that you will not find in AutoCAD, as the goal of AutoCAD is to be a generalist program for multiple different industries. Civil3D on the other hand is a specialized program specifically tailored to the needs of those in the Civil Engineering profession.

Civil3D has more different functions exclusive to it as well. A few that can be named quickly are alignments (which deal with roads), assemblies (think of groups in a way, but not quite), and surveying tools to create a life-like layout from readings taking during a field survey. The possibilities with the program are endless. Another amazing thing about Civil3D is the ability to look at your structure in a 3 dimensional view, so you can see how your grading will look. The program isn't perfect, and there can be issues with the modeling for 3D objects, but these can be fixed with some time and experience. Jumping into Civil3D from AutoCAD can be a daunting task. Sure, the programs are similar enough, they have a lot of the same interface, same tools, etc. but the main functions of Civil3D differ significantly. If you or someone you know is interested more in Civil3D we are currently producing a course for the program. In this course we will go over the basic functions of the program, figure out how to fix some of the issues you can get when grading improperly, and learn a little bit about alignments. Feel free to reach out or sign up now! The course is slated for release in the new year and reservations are filling up fast. Questions? Concerns? Reach out and we'd be happy to help you!