Thursday, December 20, 2007

New Storm Sewer Extension Workflow Whitepaper

A new 20 page whitepaper has been published that is titled:

Using Hydraflow Storm Sewers Extension with AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008:
A Recommended Workflow


This whitepaper explains some of the basic functionality of the Storm Sewer Extension and gives some guidance on how to move data back and forth between the Extension and AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008.

If you have already downloaded the extension (available for Subscription customers only) this whitepaper can jumpstart your use of it.

If not, this paper can clarify what is being offer by the Extension.

Be Better!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Civil 3D, AU Online, and my Goals

As a somewhat new Autodesk employee, my attendance of Autodesk University 2007 was a very different experience for me. I was not able attend as many classes as I thought that I would, but being there was ENTIRELY worthwhile.

Now to my goals. I have told myself that I will read every Civil 3D handout available (.pdfs and a few .docs) and watch every Civil 3D Screencast that is posted at AU Online.

Let me attempt to put this into perspective. By my count there were 61 different (non-repeated) Civil 3D related classes and labs available this year. 48 of those classes have their handouts available at AU Online (actually a couple I had to download at sites related to the authors). 43 of the classes have Screencast available to be viewed (I think all 43 can also be downloaded). I believe only one of the 61 classes did not have a handout available and did not have a Screencast. That means that I can virtually attend 60 of the 61 classes in one form or another.

Every AU attendee has access to AU Online as do Autodesk Subscription customers. So many of you can do similar. :^)

I have already had the opportunity to read three of the 48 handouts that I have (This has made for good bedtime reading). I can also say that I have learned some things that I did not know. I wonder how long this will take me?

P.S. This reminds me that I did not have a chance to get one of the cd's that contained all of the handouts from all of the classes. Oh well.

Bye for now. BE BETTER!

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Storm Sewer Extension, Webpage, Discussion Group, and Recorded Webcast Available

My Outlook Express informed me that a NEW discussion group was available among the Autodesk newsgroups today. It is titled Stormwater. Well, after a little bit of poking around I found all of the following

A webpage regarding the newly available Storm Sewers Extension.

The Storm Sewers Extension is now available for download from the Subscription Center by Subscription customers.

"The Civil 3D - Stormwater" discussion group (Web Browser version) can be found here.

The recorded webcast about this extension can be viewed here.

This is all a result of our acquisition of Intelisolve recently.
This should fill a need for many. I hope that this helps.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

My Autodesk University 2007 Thoughts

My primary thought regarding last week's Autodesk University was how relatively smooth things appeared to have run. Place about 10,000 people anywhere and there is likely to be some mayhem. Not so, from my perspective, last week. Although I know some things went wrong (I saw one class closed due to too many attendees), things seemed to run smoother than in previous years. There were not ridiculously long lines for meals or traffic jams at the escalators. The class I taught went as smooth as I could have hope for (thanks to all who attended it).

AU is a great event for many reasons. First and foremost, let me mention the learning of tons of information. This is done with both lectures and hands-on labs. The classes are taught by arguably the best of the best across the globe. We get to see friends that we have not seen since perhaps the last AU. We get to meet new friends. We get to network with both old and new friends, Autodeskers, resellers, new users, and experienced users for tips, tricks, recommendations, and thoughts. We get to rub elbows with the Civil 3D development team. The Venetian is a top notch place. There is all the food you can eat and the drinks you can drink. There are socials and parties to unwind at. We get four nights of accommodations. There is entertainment. There is an exhibit hall with vendors selling things and giving things away. There were competitions and puzzles to solve and prizes to win. And if all that is not enough, oh yeah, you are in Las Vegas (I heard that there may be a thing or two to do and see around town ;^) ). No wonder I returned home so tired.

If we missed anything, afterwards we can download ALL of the handouts from ALL of the classes with AU Online. We can watch many classes that were recorded with AU Online.

At around $1500 for early bird registration this year's event was WELL WORTH IT.

So, if you were not able to attend this year. You may want to start planning for next year.

Find out about the Storm Sewer Extension

As announced on the Civil 3D Live Webcasts page, this Friday Dec. 7, 2007 Dave Simeone, Civil 3D Product Manager, will be demonstrating the NEW Storm Sewer Extension for AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008. He will also describe a recommended workflow and how to get it.

Registration is required. Register now.