Clients implementing Civil 3D the first time are constantly asking for advice setting up their template and building styles. Most clients are torn between the two templates that Autodesk provides with Civil 3D, the Initial Setup-Civil-Imperial.dwt and the _AutoCAD Civil 3D (Imperial) NCS.dwt.
Both templates have their own advantages.
The Setup template allows a user to start from scratch, build their own styles and add layers. This ensures a clean template when it's complete, but you have no examples of styles to work off of and typically involves more time.
The National CAD Standards template seems perfect at first, it's filled with content, but users soon realize that you have to manage way too many layers, and you can't delete layers because they are attach to styles.
Most common suggestion is to open the NCS template and use these styles as an example to recreate the styles in the Setup template. It would be convenient to drag these layers from one template to another, but the layers are attached and will come into your clean template.
TEMPLATE POB (Point of Beginning) SOLU-AROUND
Open NCS template and in seconds remove all layers from the template. This provides the necessary styles and examples to configure. Browse the settings tree and simply input your layers in each style as required. Please remember this only provides a POB. Content through-out the template remains to be configured. This includes object layers.
*This solu-around also provides clean styles for use in any drawing or template.
Start a new drawing based on the NCS template and type LAYMRG at the command line or from the home tab, locate the layers ribbon and click the pulldown. Select merge from the right hand side. Once the command is invoked type N at the command line to select names, highlight all layers and click ok, press enter to complete the task, and type N again at the command line. Make sure layer 0 is highlighted and click ok. Answer yes and all layers have been merged to layer 0. All styles are now set to layer 0 and are ready to be assigned or dragged to another drawing.
