Easy Access to Map 3D Commands in Civil 3D

One of the great things about Civil 3D is that it contains a whole suite of GIS tools in the form of Map 3D commands. These can be accessed by entering them at the command line if you can remember them. You can also access them on the ribbon by switching to the Planning & Analysis workspace.

If you need to use these commands as part of a Civil 3D workflow it can become a bit frustrating switching back and forth between workspaces. A more efficient way of working is to use the Map drop down menu (the menus that Autodesk keep hiding by default!). The map menu will provide you with quick access to the Map 3D commands in Civil 3D.


To display the Map menu follow these steps:

Type CUI at the command line and press Enter to open the Customize User Interface dialog box. On the Customize tab under the Customizations in All Files panel scroll down to and expand Partial Customization Files. Right click on Partial Customization files and select Load Partial Customization file.

Browse to the following file (Windows 7): C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\C3D 2013\enu\Support\MapClassic.cuix. Select Open. Click Apply and OK.

Finally to display the drop down menus in Civil 3D type MENUBAR at the command line and set the value to '1'. The Map menu should now be added to the list of menus at the top of your screen.

So for example I was using a lot of aerial photography in a recent project. Each image tile had a world file associated with it to enable it to be georeferenced to the correct location. To import the imagery and georeference the images using the info. in the world files you need to import using the Map image insert command rather than the normal AutoCAD image attach. This can be found easily on the Map drop down menu... nice and easy to access..

Using the Map drop down menu along with the map workspace (MAPWSPACE) gives you (easy) access to most of the Map 3D commands in Civil 3D.