AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2012 Essentials: Autodesk® Official Training Guide: Essential

The Richness of the 3D Model

Even though this all probably seems very foreign at the moment, at some point, you will realize that all you're doing with Civil 3D is creating instructions for how to build something. If you've ever assembled a piece of furniture or a bicycle that you bought at the store, you can relate to this concept. The primary purpose of Civil 3D is to help you prepare the instructions for how to build a land development project.

Thirty years ago, the method used to prepare land development plans was relatively the same as it had been for millennia: plans were drawn on paper, providing only a two-dimensional depiction of what was to be built. The information that existed for the design was limited to what could be displayed ...