AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008 Launch Webcast

During this Friday's weekly Civil 3D webcast (March 30, 2007) Autodesk will officially launch/introduce AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008 (notice the name change).

The webcast is officially titled "Introduction to AutoCAD 2008". It takes place during the typical webcast time slot of 9:00 am to 10:00 am Pacific Time.

Last year the similar introduction webcast had what was likely the highest attendance of the entire year.

Registration is required. We will receive an email notification with dial-in and log-in information immediately after registering.

By the way if you are like me and missed last weeks webcast "A Sneak Peek at AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008" it is already posted for viewing.

What's New?

One of the resources that I enjoy reading in order to update my understanding of new versions is the New Features Workshop.

The New Features Workshop for Civil 3D 2008 contains 66 topics that range from 1 screen to 8 screens worth of information on that topic.

Click the links to see what is coming in 2008. I think you will find MANY good improvements.

My Missing Links - Autodesk's Redesigned Website

It may take me some time to correct many of the links in the left column. You may have already noticed that some will return with a "Page Not Found" message.

Why is this necessary? Because Autodesk has redesigned their website and the page links have changed. I will try to accomplish this as quickly as possible, but it may take several days before I can get to it.

I am sure that many other indivuduals and organizations will be commensing similar activities soon.

I am sorry for any inconvenience.

In the mean time check out the NEW LOOK.

Brought To You By... AutoCAD 2008

This post is in case some of this information has been missed by anyone.

All of the following should be available in Civil 3D 2008, because these items are available in AutoCAD 2008:

Annotation Scaling: Similar to automatic label scaling, but for text, mtext, dimensions, etc.
Layer Properties per Viewport: Override layer color, linetype, lineweight, or plot style per viewport.
Enhanced Tables: Co-mingle object information with Excel data easily, plus update notifications.
Text Formatting: Mtext columns support with many new options.
Multiple Leader Creation: Many ways to create multiple segment leaders from a single note.
Multiple Leader Alignment: Align and/or space multiple notes and leaders after creation.
Multiple Line Mtext Attributes: Mtext in Attributes.
DGN Support: Import, Export, and Underlay DGN 8 and XM files.

Nothing Up My Sleeve

Just like everyone else, I have been unbelievably busy. Although, I did get to try something that has me VERY excited about the future use of Civil 3D. A product will be out shortly called Advanced Road Design CORRIDOR-EZY. Some of you may have seen it at Autodesk University. This product is developed by CADApps Australia. After learning some about it here is my progress.

Step 1: Open original drawing with about 26 Alignments (see image below).

Step 2: Press one button. 45 second later drawing contains items software recognizes as "ROADS" and creates proposed profiles for them (see image below).

Step 3: Press a second button. 1 minute 5 seconds later drawing contains all curb return alignments and proposed profiles for them as well (see image below).

Step 4: Press a third button. 2 minutes and 5 seconds later a surface exists of the entire road system in a development (see image below).

4 minutes total!

Now, I do not wish to mis-lead anyone. I have not yet addressed Knuckles or Cul-De-Sacs, which this software can address along with Roundabouts. I would want to check all proposed profiles, change widths of certain collector streets, etc. But, for 4 minutes worth of work to do 33 intersections along 26 streets this is ama-za-zing stuff.

To qualify this, remember that I gave a Knuckle and Cul-De-Sacs class at Autodesk University this past November.

With some instruction we can create true Civil 3D corridors in a fraction of the time it would take with Civil 3D alone. Using Civil 3D by itself, in my opinion, a capable person could create an intersection for scratch in about roughly 1 hour (that means about 33 hours for the example above). At just about any price this product should pay for itself in no time at all.

And imagine what this will do for those involved with preliminary design and visualization, I can not think of a better tool to do that.

Oh, and I almost forgot the most impressive thing of all. Profiles of crossing streets are linked by the software. If I raise or lower a major road... ALL CROSSING ROAD PROFILES ARE ADJUSTED TO MATCH AUTOMATICALLY! Yes, all crossing road profiles. That includes the curb return profiles. We do not have to go back and adjust them manually. How awesome is that!

You may be asking, when can we expect to see this product? I understand that it should be available just about when Civil 3D 2008 is released, near April 16, 2007. If this all sound somewhat familiar that is because this is the next incarnation of Advanced Road Design INTERSECTION which has been out for awhile.

Thank you CADApps!