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

Creating Surface Profiles

One of the first steps in designing the vertical aspect of a linear feature is to analyze the shape of the existing terrain along that feature. You've learned how Civil 3D uses surfaces to create a 3D model of the shape of the ground. You've also learned that there are many potential uses for surfaces other than displaying contours or labeling spot elevations. One of these uses is the creation of profiles from surface data, which helps with the design of linear features such as roads, channels, pipelines, and so on.

When a profile is created based on the data within a surface, it is aptly named a surface profile. A surface ...