00:09There are multiple ways to create feature lines in Civil 3D to facilitate grading design for
00:15your project. For example, a feature line can be drawn directly in your drawing or created
00:21from an existing object. You can also join feature lines and insert intermediate elevation
00:27points. To create a feature line directly in your drawing, from the ribbon, home tab, create design
00:35panel, expand the feature line drop-down and select create feature line. In the create feature lines
00:43dialog box, expand the site drop-down and select site 1. Under style, in this case select crown
00:50and then click OK. Follow the prompts in the command window. To specify the start point
00:58of the feature line, in this case, click the middle of point C. Next, either type an elevation
01:05on the command line or select a surface. In this case, click surface. In the select surface
01:13pop-up, select e.g. for existing ground. Click OK. To specify the next point, here, select
01:21point D. Now, from the command line, you can select a slope, an elevation, a difference in
01:29elevation, a surface, or a transition. Select surface. The application defaults to the previous
01:37selection of e.g. To accept this value, at the command prompt, press enter. Select one more point
01:45in the line by clicking point E, and on the command line, press enter to accept the previous settings.
01:52Press enter one more time to complete the feature line. Select the line you just created, then right
01:59click in the drawing and select elevation editor. In the elevation editor, for each point, you can view
02:06the elevation as well as the grade back and grade ahead. To create a feature line from an object,
02:13expand the feature line drop-down and select create feature lines from objects. For this example,
02:21select the polyline connecting points A, B, and C, and then press enter. In the create feature lines
02:28dialog box, select site one. Under conversion options, select erase existing entities and assign
02:36elevations. Click OK. In the assign elevations dialog box, you can type in an elevation. Or, as in this case,
02:46let the application select the elevations for you by enabling from surface. In the drop-down, select eg.
02:54Deselect insert intermediate grade break points, and then click OK. In the drawing, select the feature line
03:02you just created, then open the elevation editor to view the elevation points. You can also join
03:10feature lines into one. Select the first feature line you created, and in the contextual tab, edit
03:16geometry panel, select join. In the drawing, select the second feature line, and then press enter to join the
03:24two feature lines. Open the elevation editor to see all the elevation points displayed for the joined,
03:31single feature line. When creating a feature line from an object, another option is to insert
03:37intermediate elevation points. Here, move the joined feature line, so that you have space to create a
03:44new line. Then, draw a polyline that connects points A, B, C, D, E, and F. Expand the feature line
03:55drop-down, and select create feature lines from objects. In the drawing, select the polyline, and
04:01press enter. In the create feature lines dialog box, select site 1, keep the default conversion options,
04:09and click OK. In the assign elevations dialog box, enable from surface, select eg, and then select
04:17insert intermediate grade break points. Click OK. Select the new feature line, and then open the
04:25elevation editor to see the additional elevation points. The application inserts an elevation point
04:31each time the feature line crosses a tin line on the surface. Feature lines can be created easily,
04:38directly in the drawing or from objects, and elevations can be entered manually or selected from
04:43the surface. If needed, feature lines can be created with the addition of intermediate elevations,
04:50and existing feature lines on the same site can be joined.
