What is the point? Styles - AutoCAD Civil 3D Tutorial

and establishing existing conditions really starts by understanding how Civil 3D handles points. Working with points within civil 3D requires us to step back even further, and we have to go back to basic geometry. We have to understand what a point really is. One definition of a geometry point is that they're zero dimensional. They don't have volume, area, length, or really any other dimension analog. But therein lies the challenge. If they're zero dimensional, how do you define, or how do you visually display the point? A lot of times we're used to X marks the spot, but we realize that as soon as we mark the spot, we actually have made it more than zero dimensional. So it's a fun little challenge here. Now, we go back and really when we draw points with survey or existing conditions, or even with civil, they usually fall within two different categories. We're identifying some geometry on a linear shape. Identifying a curb line, corner of a building, something that is drawing a linear shape, building a curb, center line, things like that. Then you also have points that identify objects. This point marks the location of a tree, a fire hydrant, a mailbox. So for the points that identify objects, the coordinate, or the point, really should resemble or symbolize the object that you're marking, or that that point is identifying. Whereas the points that identify features, or linear shapes such as curb lines, buildings, they're not as crucial for having an identifier that X marks the spot as being special. So since we're talking about how to display something visually in Civil 3D, we're going to be look at styles in this video. Point style controls the look and feel of the coordinate, the marker, the X. Let's go in and create points, and we're going to open up a drawing to do so. So this is the first drawing we're opening up together. From the start ribbon, choose from the quick access toolbar of Autodesk Civil 3D and choose open, and go to my exercise files, chapter three, and we're going to open up the 03_01_PointStyles. When I do so, a drawing opens up, it's got a line in there and we're going to create some points in this drawing. To do so, we're going to work from the home ribbon, create ground out of panel, I'm going to choose points, and you have all these different means to create points in this drawing. I'm going to choose the top option, point creation tools. It opens up a tool bar that floats wherever I need it to, and also has those same options and the tool bar drop downs. Now we're going to choose from the far left just to create points manually, but before we do so, notice that at the end, or the far right of this points tool bar, I have a little chevron, this down arrow. If I click on it, it provides me values for the command settings for create points. So we're starting to see how the command settings come to floor again. A command setting such as what is the default layer for all the points I'm about to create? Or, default styles? But if I expand out point creation, I'm just going to grab the bottom right edge here and pull down, you'll notice that you have some controls even when you're creating a point. For example, in this drawing, I have it set that I won't be prompted at the command line when I choose to create a point, I won't be prompted for an elevation. It is going to enter the elevation automatically. What does that mean? That it's always going to enter the default elevation of 100, so every point I create, it will not prompt, it will simply set the elevation of the point to 100. Same thing for description. Now if any time I change prompt for elevations, or prompt for description to manual, then at the command line, every single time I create a point, it's going to say enter an elevation, or enter a description. Because I have it set to automatic, you'll also notice the default description is FH for fire hydrant. So I'll have all of that set in the command setting, so when I create a new point, you're going to have a point already with a number, is going to also have a description, FH, and it's going to have an elevation of 100. So I'm going to collapse this chevron, come back over to the far left and choose to manually create a point. Now it's prompting me and says specify a location. I'm going to use my object snaps, now you can use F3 if you have your default object snaps, or you can right click after holding the control key down. I'm going to choose end point and add a point here, and repeat the process to add a point at the end of the line. I'll press enter to end the command, and again did you notice I don't have to be prompted for description or elevation? It automatically added it. Now if I pick on any one of these points, you'll notice that just as we've talked about, a contextual ribbon opens up. One of the parts of the contextual ribbon is properties. So let me go ahead and click on properties. It's going to open up the properties palate. And now for the duration of this course, I'm going to just take the properties palate and I'm going to dock it to the right side of the screen. Within the properties palate, I already have a point selected. And notice that because it's a Civil 3D object, it shows up as a Civil 3D object, Cogo Point, and has two options here, let me expand this out. You have the style of the point, and then you have the point label style. So whenever we're working with coordinate labels, in this case even though it's a point, it still has a label, you're dealing with two styles. You're going to deal with the marker. What marks the point? How do you visually display the point, that coordinate? And then you also work with a style that defines what you label. So that applies here for a point, but also applies to the station offset label for alignments, a spot elevation label for surfaces, anytime you're marking a coordinate you will be asked to manage, or have the ability to control two different styles. Let's see how this works. I'm going to zoom in on point number one just a bit. And I'm going to go ahead and close this tool bar, we're done with it in this exercise. And then I'm going to come back to my properties palate and I'm going to change the style and you see all the styles that are currently available in this drawing, and I'm going to navigate down and find the style IM-V-UTIL-WATER-HYDRANT. I'm going to select that. And you see how the graphic for the marker has changed. Because this point marks an object, I want that coordinate to look or symbolize the object that it's marking, so I have that marker there. But it didn't change the label. The label still shows the default label. Let's go ahead and change the point label style just under style, and we will change that to a label style called Just Description. So now it's just labeling the description of that point. Now you notice the point that I'm floating over actually has two grips there as well. The grip in the middle, it's the rotated square. It's got a rotation of 45 degrees. That rotated square grip actually controls the coordinate. If I picked on it and moved it, it would change the coordinate including the Z or the elevation of that point. But if I hover over it, a contextual menu opens up and I can move the point, which I could just do by picking the grip, rotate the label and the marker, which would mean the marker, the coordinate, as well as the label would rotate all at once, or in this case we're just going to choose to rotate the marker, so I'm going to pick on rotate marker, and it comes open and I'm going to use the object snap using control right click of nearest and I'm going to line up my marker here. I chose insertion, so let me pick in space and try nearest again, control right click, and nearest. Line up along this, let's say, curb line. And you see now my fire hydrant is rotated, but my label is not, the is just for working with the label. So again, I can pick on the grip and move the label or I can hover over the grip and the contextual ribbon will open and allow me to well, move the label, rotate the label, the label can be rotated independent of the marker, let me just go ahead and pick on the grip and we'll move the label over somewhere like that. Now you'll see that it's got some of these additional grips here, those grips are for a leader. Whenever we move a label, it goes into what's called a dragged state. The dragged state pops open and depending on the style, a leader with an arrow and other settings could show up. But because this style says don't show a leader, no leader is shown, but you have all the grips there. Well maybe I didn't mean to make all of those changes. I can float over any one of these grips here and we can choose to reset just the label or reset all. If I reset all, you see that that marker has rotated back to its original rotation and the label has returned back to its default state. So the key factor of working with points and visual control, recognize you're dealing with two different styles, the marker, and the label. two different styles, the marker, and the label.