Mastering AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2010

786 CHAPTER 23 PROJECTING THE COST: QUANTITY TAKEOFF

14. Click the Open drop-down menu in the top left of the QTO Manager, and select Open  Cate-

gorization File.

15. Browse to the Mastering Categories.xml file again and open it. Once Civil 3D processes

your XML file, your QTO Manager s hould look similar to the following screen image.

Creating a fully developed category list is a bit time-consuming, but once it’s done, the list can be

shared with your entire office so ever yone has the same data to use.

Keeping Tabs on the Model

Once you have a list of items that should be accounted for within your project, you have to assign

them to items in your drawing file. You can do this in any of the following ways:

◆ Assign pay items to simple items like blocks and lines.

◆ Assign pay items to Corridor components.

◆ Assign pay items to Pipe Network pipes and structures.

In the next few sections, you’ll look at each of these methods, along with some formula tools

that can be used to convert things such as linear items to individual quantity counts.

AutoCAD Objects as Pay Items

The most basic use of the QTO tools is to assign pay items to things like blocks and linework

within your drawing file. The QTO tools can be used to quantify tree plantings, sign posts, or area

items such as clearing and grubbing. In the following exercise, you’ll assign pay items to blocks as

well as to some closed polylines to see how areas can be quantified:

1. Open the Acad Objects in QTO.dwg file.

2. From the Analysis tab’s QTO panel, click the QTO Manager button to display the QTO

Manager palette.

3. Expand the Favorites branch, right-click on CLEARING AND GRUBBING, and select

Assign Pay Item to Area as shown in Figure 23.5.

4. Enter O at the command line and press

5

to activate the Object option for assignment.

KEEPING TABS ON THE MODEL 787

Figure 23.5

Assigning an area-based

pay item

5. Click on the outer edge of the site as shown in Figure 23.6. Notice the entire polyline high-

lights to indicate what object is being picked! The command line should also echo, ‘‘Pay

item 20101-0000 assigned to object’’ when you pick the polyline. Note that this will also

create a hatch o bject reflecting the area being assigned to the pay item.

Figure 23.6

Selecting a closed poly-

line for an area-based

quantity

6. Press

5

again to complete the selection.

7. Move the QTO Manager palette to the side and zoom in on an area of the road where you

can see two or more of the blocks representing trees.

8. Select one of the tree blocks. To select all of the tree blocks in the drawing, right-click and

select Select Similar.

9. Back on the QTO Manager palette, under the Favorites branch, select PLANTINGS,

MYRICA CERIFERA, WAX MYRTLE.

10. Near the top of the palette, click the Assign Pay Item button as shown in Figure 23.7. Notice

the great tooltips on these buttons!

11. Press

5

to complete the assigning.

The t wo assignment methods shown here are essentially interchangeable. Pay items can be

assigned to any number of AutoCAD objects, meaning you don’t have to redraw the planners’ or

landscape architects’ work in Civil 3D to use the QTO tools.

Watch out for one quirk of t he system! If you assign a pay item and then block that object out

of your current drawing and into another, the pay item assignment goes along as w ell. You’ll find

out how to unassign pay items after you’ve looked through all the ways to assign them.