what version of CAd are you running?  Are you creating a surface from (Points, Tin, Breaklines, or Polyline contour lines).  in Civil 3D you go to your surface tool bar > create surface> follow the window you get next> (Name the surface, what surface style you want, and then what layer do you want this created on) Next on your Prospector tool bad expand the surfaces tab expand the named surface you created then expand the definitions tab. Now you can insert what ever you need to create the surface. right click over which ever you have to create the surface from (Points, Breaklines, Contour lines, Tin...ect.) follow the prompts. When finished right click over the surface name and go to edit styles>display and turn on or off the layers you need. (Contours, tin lines, points, ect).  These directions work for Civil 3D.  I hope this helps.  If not if you could be more specific with your question That would help for us to help walk you thru what you need.