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.

Carlson Connect for AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009

I was just made aware that Carlson Connect for AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009 is now available for download.

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

Be Better...Because Times Are Tough And No Coasting Is Allowed!

Leica X-Change for Civil 3D 2009

Just about two weeks ago Leica posted a new download of Leica X-change that will install on both AutoCAD® Civil 3®D 2008 and AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2009.

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

Be Better...Be more flexible!

Trimble Link Is Civil As Well

As of today, Trimble Link now installs on AutoCAD® Civil 2009, as well as AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2009.

Prior to this latest version it would only install on Civil 3D®, not Civil.

My co-worker Jerry Bartles provided me this info.

Be Better...be more accomodating!

Purge Registry Applicatons Utility

Last month, at the Civil CADD Consortium meeting James Maeding of Hunsaker & Associates, presented a utility that would address an issue that has haunted many a CADD user over the years. The issue locally was referred to as "file bloat".

This occurs when a seemingly blank drawing is inexplicably large in file size. Well, we now know that this occurs when data is introduced from one drawing into another via one of many methed (i.e. block insert, drag-and-drop). The registered application table of the first drawing is added to the table of the second. If I use that second drawing, erase all of it's entities and save that "blank" drawing to start a new drawings, my 'template" will be far larger than I would expect. Over the years some users found that a "blank" drawing may be as large as 2MB in size. The -PURGE command's suboption "R" will purge these registered applications only within the current drawing.

Back to the original comment, by clicking on the title of this post you will be taken to the download page at http://www.cadthinking.com/. Here you will find a utility (PurgeIDS 2007)that will purge the registered applications from multiple drawings simultaneously without the need of opening each file idividually. James demonstated how this can be done with dozens even hundreds of files quickly, saving a lot of time for an organization.

I want to thank James (and some Autodeskers who helped with this routine) for making this process much more streamlined.

Sincpac3D

Today, in the discussion groups user "sinc" (I believe that that is James Sincovec, P.L.S. or perhaps Richard J. Sincovec, LSI) posted a link to a URL that contains a collection of Civil 3D utilities. After briefly reviewing the list I thought that there would be Civil 3D users out there that would find them useful. A couple of the listed routines that caught my attention are...

PARCELOFFSET (alias POS) - Creates offsets at various distances around a parcels.
PT2FEATURE - Datum-adjusts existing point, based on existing linework.

This collection of utilities address: Surfaces, Parcels, Alignment, Profiles, Survey Figures, Feature Lines, Points

There is a download for 2007 and one for 2008.

As with any product or application particularly 3rd party stuff care and security should be taken when using them (typical disclaimer here...).

Thanks to James and all involved for sharing!