What I would like to do is show the progression from existing contour to proposed contour/features as an incremental video (approximately 1 minute long)? Can this be done and what would be a good resource? I do not need/want all the 3D Max options.
If you don't mind doing it manually, you can just capture screen shots in Civil 3D. If you want an actual animation that you can save to a file, either 3ds Max Design or Navisworks Manage/Simulate. Navisworks Timeliner feature is designed specifically for what you are describing.
how do you capture screen shot in civil 3D? Do you mean print screening? What I would like to do have is a screen shot every proposed contour (ie 1000 through 1050 for example).
If you use AutoCAD's Render command in Civil 3D, you can save snapshots of your project to various image file types.