Understanding the terrain is crucial for the success of any project in the AEC industry. Terrain data provides essential information about the topography of a site, enabling designers and engineers to make informed decisions.
Plex-Earth feature of generating 3D Terrain Models effortlessly has been here for a good while, and now it has been improved even more with the new release of version Plex-Earth 2026.
On this tutorial we are going to guide on how you can create a terrain for your project area.
Tutorial Guide:
Step 1. Specify Terrain Cover Area
Step 2. Convert the Dynamic Plex-Earth Terrain into a Static AutoCAD Object
Creating a Terrain
Before importing a terrain, make sure that the drawing is always georeferenced.
Step 1. Specify Terrain Cover Area
Go to the Plex-Earth ribbon and on the Contexual Data, click on Create Terrain.
Plex-Earth will then prompt you to specify the terrain Project Location.
If you are working on a specific location you can simply copy and paste your project area's Lat, Long.
Otherwise, you can determine your area's limits with the following methods:
1. By Google Earth: Copy-Paste a Google Earth element
2. By Point: Select a point in your drawing
3. By Rectangle: Draw a rectangle in your drawing
4. By Polygon: Select a closed polyline in your drawing
5. By Route: Outline a route or path in your drawing for a corridor-type area
TIP: To select custom resolution for Google Elevation, type the command PXV_TERRAIN_PROVIDERS, hover your mouse on Google Elevation, and click on the gear icon. On the pop-up window, untick the "Automatic mesh calculation" box and set your custom resolution.
Plex-Earth will then start downloading the terrain. The procedure should be completed within a few seconds and the terrain will be displayed as contours.
Step 2. Convert the Dynamic Plex-Earth Terrain into a Static AutoCAD Object
The created contours are imported as a dynamic Plex-Earth element. They are dynamic in the sense that they can be constantly modified when certain parameters (such as contour settings) are changed through the software.
However, if you need the terrain to be visible in your drawing even without a Plex-Earth subscription, you will need to insert it as a static AutoCAD object. Choosing among Contour Polylines, TIN Mesh, Points, or a Civil 3D Surface, if this is the software you are working with.
By inserting the terrain, will create an AutoCAD or BricsCAD object, whose base data can not be changed. The object can be edited as any AutoCAD element (such as changing layer properties, etc.).
As such, when a drawing file is saved, these terrain data are not re-loaded from Plex-Earth, as they are stored within the drawing as AutoCAD elements, thus the user can work with them offline or outside a Plex-Earth session.
For example, in the above image, we see the terrain inserted as a TIN Mesh and displayed as a Block Reference in the AutoCAD properties, which we can explode in order to then convert it into a Mesh.
Terrain Editor
When a dynamic terrain is imported, the Terrain Editor palette will show up in the AutoCAD workspace. This will let the user customize the dynamic terrain even further to better suit his needs.
Parts of the Terrain Editor:
Terrain Name (red) - Displays the name of the terrain. Double-clicking on it lets you rename the terrain by typing the new name in AutoCAD’s command line.
Remove (bright green) - This completely deletes the displayed terrain.
Insert (yellow) - This button lets users insert static AutoCAD objects that will remain in the drawing even out of a Plex-Earth session.
Contour polylines: Inserts a block containing contour polylines which can be exploded into single polylines.
TIN mesh: Inserts a TIN (either polyface or mesh object) as a block which can be exploded into several mesh tiles by range.
Points: Inserts a block containing point objects that can be exploded into single points.
Civil 3D surface (for AutoCAD Civil 3D only): Inserts a Civil 3D surface for the dynamic terrain in the drawing.
Tools (green) - This option helps users access the Drape Image and Snap Objects commands.
Drape Image: The ability to combine an image and terrain and create 3D realistic representations.
Snap Objects: The ability to snap DWG objects on imported terrain.
Hide (black) - This button hides/shows the dynamic terrain.
Zoom to Object (white) - This will allow AutoCAD to zoom to the extents of the respective terrain.
Send to Back/Bring to Front (cyan)- This will send the dynamic terrain to the back or front of the drawing.
Explorer (purple) - This displays basic information about the terrain. This section may update when an inquiry is performed.
Example of inquiry results when specifying a point
Contours (blue) - This section lets the user change the parameters of the contours.
Labels (orange) - This button will show different options for labels for elevation contours.
-Create: This button enables the user to create labels for the Contours, Elevation Analysis, Slope Analysis, or Direction Analysis.
-Remove: This button enables the user to delete specific labels.
Analysis (brown) - This section gives the ability to set parameters for performing a terrain analysis. For more information on how to perform terrain analysis, check out this tutorial.
Collection Manager
All the terrain objects of a drawing can be accessed from Plex-Earth's Collection Manager. To open it, click on the "Show Collection Manager" button on the Plex-Earth ribbon, as highlighted below:
The Collection Manager palette will pop up and it will display the Terrain Tab as well, among the others.
By clicking on it, a list of all the terrain objects contained in the drawing with be shown.
Parts of the Terrain Collection Manager:
Add New Terrain (red) - With this button, you can Add New Terrain or Create a new Surface.
Hide (black) - This button hides/shows the dynamic terrain. Keep in mind that the Hide button on top, hides/shows all Terrains on the list.
Remove (blue) - This completely deletes a terrain/surface from the list.
Zoom to Area (brown) - This will allow AutoCAD to zoom to the extents of the respective terrain.
Rename (white) - Displays the name of the terrain. Double-clicking on it lets you rename the terrain by typing the new name in AutoCAD’s command line.
Toggle Auto-restore (orange) - Lock to automatically restore item on drawing open, unlock to disable auto-restore.
Edit (pink) - This will show the Terrain editor.
Conclusion
We have made the process of terrain creation and analysis even easier and quicker, so you can now proceed with the preliminary design of your projects with confidence. Everything is achieved with just a few clicks and from the comfort of your own office or home.
We hope that you have found this tutorial on how to import terrain, helpful. Feel free to contact us at support@plexscape.com for any questions you may still have.
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Compatibility includes:
AutoCAD Version: 2025, 2024 , 2023 , 2022 , 2021 , 2020
Civil 3D® Version: 2025, 2024 , 2023 , 2022 , 2021 , 2020
AutoCAD Architecture Version: 2025, 2024 , 2023 , 2022 , 2021 , 2020