Civil 3D & Windows 7

It is now official that Civil 3D supports Windows 7. The title of this post links to the "System Requirements" page for Civil 3D that now includes Windows 7 Professional/Ultimate/Home Premium.

Windows 7 and plenty of RAM help eliminate "Out of Memory" errors that some users experience.

There have been some users that have been waiting for this information.

For a list of Autodesk applications that support Windows 7 click here.

Be Better! ...open windows of opportunities.

Autodesk Guide to Sustainable Design

It seems that just about every conversation that I have had recently involves either the subject of Sustainable Design or Building Information Modeling (BIM).

For those that would like a brief primer about Sustainable Design the Autodesk website includes a newly modified "Autodesk Guide to Sustainable Design for Architecture, Engineering and Construction".



This guide provides content and best practices for various phases of a "New Construction" project such as...

Requirements Development
Conceptualization
Detailed Design
Implementation Documentation
Construction
Operate & Maintain

or for a "Renovation" project like...

Existing Conditions
Preliminary Analysis
Detailed Analysis
Implementation
Operate and Maintain

...each phase contains detailed information with regards to "Design Decisions", "How to", and "Autodesk Tools".

This will provide a good understanding about how Sustainable Design can be accomplished during the life cycle of a project.

Be Better! ...be green by design.

Autodesk Labs Provides Bridge Modeler for Civil 3D

Autodesk Labs, which provides access to previews of new technology, has made available "Bridge Modeler for AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010". This preview add-on can be installed on Civil 3D 2010 and Civil 2010.

The overview states:

"Bridge Modeler for AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010 is a Civil 3D add-in module which can create simplified bridges directly from a Civil 3D corridor object. It is a technology preview project at Autodesk Labs derived from a subset of Bridge Extension for Revit Structure 2010, a part of Subscription Advantage Pack 2010, which provides more robust bridge modeling capability and works with Bridge Modeler for AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010.

With this add-on, Highway Engineers and Bridge Engineers are treated separately to assume requirements for design practice and preference of technologies. For more information, see the Getting Started Guide (PDF).

The Bridge Modeler for AutoCAD Civil 3D expires on March 15, 2010."

The intention of a technology preview is for anyone, that wishes, to use the technology and provide feedback to help shape how it evolves.

Be Better! ...build bridges whenever possible.

New White Paper - AutoCAD Civil 3D - Technical Note - Harnessing the Power of AutoCAD Civil 3D

While discussing White Papers and Skill Builders with co-workers today, I ran across a White Paper I had not seen before.

AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2010
Technical Note
Harnessing the Power of AutoCAD Civil 3D

This 12 page document covers things such as...

• Strategies to Enhance the Civil 3D Experience
• Hardware Requirements for AutoCAD Civil 3D
• Performance
• Memory Primer
• Operating Systems Primer
• Optimizing Memory Usage
• Operating System Recommendations
• Model Optimization and Best Practices
• More Strategies and Tactics

As users contemplate new equipment, changes in workflows (perhaps the adoption of a BIM workflow), and other company procedures, we should be well familiar with how to get the most out of what is in place.

Click on the title of this post or the title of the PDF file to get to this document.

Be Better! ...harness your potential.

Carlson Connect for Civil 3D 2010

I often get asked if certain third party add-ons are available yet or not. Well, I was just informed that Carlson Connect for Civil 3D 2010 is available.

Here is the description from the Carlson site:

Add-on for AutoDesk Civil 3D 2010. A collection of routines for transferring and converting data between Civil 3D 2010 and several popular data collectors. Carlson Connect runs inside Civil 3D 2010 and uses the current project data. Free utility to any Civil 3D 2010 user.

Click on the title of this post to get to the download page.

Be Better! ...connect with others.

Subscription Advantage Packs

It is likely that most have heard about the availability of Subscription Advantage Packs for various products that are now available for download from the Autodesk Subscription site. But, not everyone has heard yet.

These Advantage Packs provide new functionality to these products well ahead of next year's releases.

Subscription Advantage Packs are available for:

• AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010
  
• AutoCAD Civil 2010
  
• AutoCAD Map 3D 2010
  
• AutoCAD 2010
  
• Autodesk Navisworks 2010
  
• Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010
  
• Autodesk Revit MEP 2010
  
• Autodesk Revit Structure 2010
  
• AutoCAD Architecture 2010
  
• AutoCAD MEP 2010
  
• AutoCAD P&ID 2010
  
• Autodesk Inventor 2010
  
• AutoCAD Mechanical 2010
  
• Autodesk Showcase 2010

The AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010 Subscription Advantage Pack adds most of the new features to the Toolbox tab of the Toolspace

So far, the initial reaction has been very positive. Many are looking forward to benfit from the new capabilities.

Be Better! ...take full advantage of your benefits.

AutoCAD Civil 3D Importer for Trimble Business Center

I saw this a while ago and had not had the opportunity to mention it. This utility allows direct import of Civil 3D models data into the Trimble Business Center - Heavy Construction Edition software.

This extends the capabilities of TBC-HCE to read alignments, profiles, COGO points, and corridors, natively. This means, for some, the process will be more interoperable (no specific file creation for contractors).

Click on the title of this post to get to the Trimble download page .

Be Better! ... share.

AutoCAD Civil 2D 2010 Update 2 is Available

Click on the title of this post to get to the download page for the AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010 Update 2 on the Autodesk website.

As always, it is very important to read the Readme file which will contain important information about the update.

This Update resolves over 30 issues, and contains the AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010 Update 1, AutoCAD 2010 Update 1, and AutoCAD Map 3D Update 1.

Be Better! ...resolve issues.

Communication Center has Civil 3D 2010 Update 2

On a hunch, after seeing a "tweet", by Matt Anderson, about Update 2 being available I checked my Communication Center...



and noticed that an update was available.


After clicking on the Comm. Center link, I was taken to the following page to install Update 2...

Notice that it says that the original product CD will be needed (it asked me for CD #2). After pressing the "Update" button and allowing the process to complete (maybe 5-10 minutes I did not keep track), my Communication Center then displayed...

And to confirm I checked "Help" > "About" which now displays as Version 3 (original plus 2 updates).

Be Better! ...update yourself.

Civil 2010 Update 2 Available (Not Civil 3D)

For those of you that have AutoCAD Civil 2010 (not Civil 3D 2010) Update 2 has been posted and is ready for download.

Please read the Readme file to get the installation details and any known issues (None).

The update resolve over 30 issues and it includes Update 1 (for those that have not yet installed it).

Click on the title of this post to get to the download page.

Be Better! ...Update things.