Survey Regarding Help

I have long felt that the help systems in AutoCAD Civil 3D is vastly improved over the help systems of many legacy Autodesk applications.

In my opinion as a former instructor, one the most important abilities for competent users, was the ability to find help from within the product versus asking others over the cubicle walls. Finding "official" help tends to provide the exact way to use, or do something, versus someone's belief of how something works. Sometimes, pressing the F1 button was my best skill.

I was made aware that we have created a survey that requests your input regarding Civil 3D's Documentation and User Assistance system (Help). If you would like to participate please click on any of the links in this post. Below is the official invite:

AutoCAD Civil 3D User Assistance Survey

You are invited to participate in the Civil 3D Documentation and User Assistance Survey.
By participating, you are helping us understand how you use the Civil 3D documentation and providing us with feedback on how we can improve future documentation.

Click here to take the survey

Be Better! ...help whenever you can.

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!

Two New Civil 3D Knowledge Base Entries

These two entries recently were added to the Knowledge Base. I am sure that some will be helped by them...

Running Survey Link from Civil 3D

Adding Survey Link to Survey menu in Civil 3D

The second item is the same Survey Link that is launched by the C3D Extensions CUI that my co-worker Jerry Bartels created and has shared. Pete Kelsey recently blogged a link to Jerry's CUI and Tool Palette additions.

Be Better!

Survey Link for AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008

There is an extension now available for AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2008 customers on Autodesk Subscription. The extension is...

AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008 Survey Link

It allows raw survey data to be converted into an Autodesk field book file (.fbk) and then imported directly into Civil 3D 2008. No longer will we need to use Land Desktop in this process.

This downloadable extension requires that Civil 3D 2008 Service Pack 2 be already installed.

Login to subscription center to download.

Yes, it is the same as is available in Land Desktop, now directly available in Civil 3D 2008.

Leica X-Change for Civil 3D 2008 Available Now

Some have been inquiring as to when this plug-in would be available.

Autodesk Civil 3D 2007 Reconfigured!

As of yesterday NEW (or Crossgrade) seats of Civil 3D 2007 will include Autodesk Civil Design and Autodesk Survey in the box. So that means when anyone buys Autodesk Civil 3D 2007, they will get...

Autodesk Civil 3D 2007
Autodesk Land Desktop 2007
Autodesk Civil Design 2007
Autodesk Survey 2007

Additionally, subscriptions (new and renewal), for Autodesk Civil Design and Autodesk Survey are being discontinued.

What this does to owners of existing multi-year subscription contracts for Civil Design and Survey, is still to be determined.

2007 Autodesk Civil Engineering Solutions (ACES) Service Packs

I have been receiving inquiries for the following, so here is a more complete list of Service Packs that were recently made available, and the order in which they would typically be installed:

Autodesk Data Management Server 5 Service Pack 1 - Sep. 18, 2006

Civil 3D 2007 Service Pack 3 - Nov. 4, 2006

Google Earth™ Extension for Civil 3D® 2007 Service Pack 3 - Nov. 4, 2006

Land Desktop Companion 2007 Service Pack 2 - Nov. 4, 2006
or
Land Desktop 2007 Service Pack 2 - Nov. 4, 2006

Civil Design Companion 2007 Service Pack 2 - Nov. 4, 2006

Survey 2007 Service Pack 1 - Nov. 4, 2006

Raster Design 2007 Service Pack 1 - Nov. 2, 2006

A.C.E.S. Flying into Southern California

The control tower has given final clearance for A.C.E.S. to land here in Southern Califonia. What is A.C.E.S. you may ask? A.C.E.S. is...

Autodesk Civil Engineering Solutions User Group of Southern California

You can join this squadron of novice, intermediate, and elite users of:

Civil 3D
Land Desktop
Civil Design
Survey
Raster Design
Map
AutoCAD

We can all see this group get off the ground together (Thursday, Oct. 5 @ 5:30pm) and attendees can help pilot its formation. I am also looking forward to meeting Pete Kelsey at the first meeting. Who is Pete Kelsey? You don't know. You will.

Click on any of the links to register.

Civil 3D - SP2 Coming Soon

Service Pack 2 for Civil 3D 2007 will likely be available sometime next week. It should include Civil 3D 2K7 SP1A, and Map 2K7 SP1 & SP2.

Issues Resolved in Autodesk Civil 3D 2007 Service Pack 2

General

When closing the program, you no longer receive an error message after using the Object Property Manager.

Using the UNDO command after deleting or inserting an elevation point no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly.

Alignments

Version 2006 drawings that contain a Spiral Curve Spiral with the curve radius set to zero can now be migrated to version 2007 and the Spiral Curve Spiral is correctly displayed.

An issue with alignment station equations has been resolved and the station equation labels now display expected results.

Corridor

When pasting surfaces, dynamic corridor surfaces are filtered out of the selection set to avoid a situation dependency. You can create non-dynamically linked corridor surfaces to paste into an existing surface.

Using the DaylightStandard subassembly, you can create a corridor model with a horizontal slope limit and the material thickness will be applied to the horizontal links. Previously the material thickness was not applied to the horizontal links.

Changing a style of an exported corridor surface no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly.

When you specify corridor sections at Superelevation Critical Stations (from the Frequency To Apply Assemblies dialog box) the sections are now added.

Grading

Points and Elevations are now displayed accurately in the Elevation Editor.

There is improved performance using the Weed command on a feature line that was created from a polyline.

Using the Fillet command on feature lines no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly.

There is improved performance when using the Fit Curve command.

An issue with using Feature Line commands in multiple drawings has been resolved.

Using the Weed command now removes the expected points when using a weeding factor of 3D Distance. Previously not all the points that met the weeding factor were removed and all other points were removed.

Using the UNDO command after moving a grading object to a site no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly.

The maximum range for slope patterns is now displayed correctly. Previously, the slope pattern was displayed even though it was outside of the maximum range.

Elevation point z values are recognized when you add a PI to a feature line.

Entering the elevation difference on a new feature line no longer causes the Draw Feature Line command to end.

Creating a grading transition between mixed surface and elevation or distance targets no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly, however this will not result in creating a grading object because Civil 3D cannot find a valid solution for these conditions.

Labels

Using the Parcel Create by Slide Bearing command no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly when the parcel label styles contain custom expressions.

Duplicate entries are no longer created in parcel tables when you insert a new line.

Issues with parcel labels not erasing correctly have been resolved. The program no longer closes unexpectedly when using the erase command on multiple parcel labels. Labels are not redisplayed after using the erase command and then saving the drawing.

The direction arrow component type has been added to the general line label styles.

LandXML

Error messages are no longer displayed when you close a drawing after using the Export LandXML command.

When exporting multiple corridor models using the Export LandXML command the program no longer closes unexpectedly.

Parcels

The UNDO command produces expected results after using grip edits on parcels and no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly.

The UNDO command produces expected results after moving a parcel to another site and no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly.

An issue with converting a closed polyline to a parcel has been resolved.

Using grip edits on parcel lines displays expected results.

An issue with saving user defined properties in a .dwt file has been resolved.

There is improved performance when using the REGEN command for parcels.

Pipes

A set sump depth rule has been added. This rule is not added by default, but can be added to the structure rule set for use during junction structure creation (layout) or by changing all junction structure sump depths at once using the Apply Rules command.

In the Part Builder command, you can use Cyrillic and Asian characters in Catalog chapter names and part names.

When using the Change Flow Direction command, flow arrows are now displayed correctly.

Deleting structures no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly.

There is improved performance when opening version 2006 drawings that contain structure styles. The program no longer forces version 2006 drawings that contain structure styles to display the boundaries as solid.

There is improved performance when using pipe network references.

Points

An issue with editing Point Label Styles from the Point Panorama view has been resolved.

Points can no longer be selected in a viewport when they are on a layer that is frozen for that viewport.

Profiles

The correct information is now displayed in horizontal geometry bands for radius and curvature.

The pipe network band node in the profile view is now displayed in the first drawing you open. Previously, the first drawing you opened in a new session would be missing the node and you had to close and re-open the drawing.

Using the UNDO and REDO commands after deleting a sub-entity from the profile view no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly.

Performing station editing in multiple layout profiles no longer produces an error message.

Project Management

The Migrate Pre-Civil 3D Project command now creates the correct folder structure in the project.

Prospector

The program no longer closes unexpectedly when you close a drawing while the item previews are displayed in Prospector.

The Zoom To command zooms to the correct location after setting the UCS.

Surfaces

Contour smoothing no longer creates segments of zero length on closed contours. Previously the program would close unexpectedly when opening a drawing in which this occurred.

The Smooth Contours command no longer causes gaps in the contour display.

Issues with surface styles have been resolved. The program no longer closes unexpectedly when a surface is created that does not have an assigned style.

Surface labels display the correct values for Surface Slope Horizontal Distance.

The program no longer closes unexpectedly when using the Paste Surface command.

Creating Quick Profiles from a surface no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly.

An issue with the display of render masks has been resolved.

Survey

There is improved performance when importing field book files.

Using the Browse for Folder dialog box when specifying an equipment database path now returns the expected result and no longer causes the program to close.

The MCS survey figure command now starts the multipoint curve at the first point number following the command and ends correctly when other curve commands are processed.

An error message is now displayed stating that the file cannot be opened if you attempt to export a field book file to a network address where you do not have write access. The program no longer closes unexpectedly.

The Show Properties command for control points, non-control points, and directions now displays the properties in the item list view.

After inserting survey points into the drawing, using the Zoom To command from the Prospector shortcut menu for Points or Point Groups now returns correct results.

The program no longer closes unexpectedly when you attempt to close the Traverse Editor.

When using the Traverse Analysis command the Angle error now displays correctly for direction start and end traverse.

The Zoom To and Pan To commands on the Survey collection shortcut menus now return expected results.

The Browse To Observation command now returns expected results.

Changing values for the Interactive Graphics in the User Settings no longer closes the panorama view.

The Equipment Database item view list no longer closes when you right click on an Equipment item, in the list and select Make Current.

Editing Latitude and Longitude values for control points now returns the expected results for the Easting and Northing.

This Service Pack also includes resolution for the following AutoCAD issue:
An issue with slow performance has been improved when you open drawings that contain large numbers of blocks.

Civil 3D 2007 - Service Pack 1 Now Available

I just walked in from an appointment and checked to see if Service Pack 1 was available. YES IT IS!

Now, what's in it?

A review of the README file describes the following areas as having issues resolved (look to it for specific details):

General (7 Items)
Alignments (3 Items)
Corridors (4 Items)
Grading (5 Items)
Pipes (2 Items)
Points (3 Items)
Quantity Takeoff Reports (7 Items)
Survey (9 Items)

AutoCAD (1 Item)

Lets hope this allows the product to achieve more of its potential.

Autodesk Official Training Courseware Civil 3D 2007 - Essentials

Autodesk has recently released the 2007 versions of their Essentials training courseware.

The book contains 40 exercises, including 5 new exercises on how to...

"Create and Apply Label Styles"
"Check Files In and Out of the Vault"
"Create and Apply Pipe Network Rules"
"Import a Survey Control Network"
"Modify Survey Database Settings"

This book is likely the foundation of most training that is available. Although any reseller worth their salt (KETIV Technologies, wink) supplements this training with lots of additional content.

I have not yet found a link from the Autodesk website. But you can contact your reseller if you are interested.

Civil 3D 2007 - New Features Workshop

One of the very useful items that I refer to often is the "New Features Workshop" this is a Flash based interface that provides information about what was introduced in Civil 3D 2007. This is similar to what AutoCAD has had available for several releases.

The interface is broken down into four sections with multiple topics and subtopics (topics are listed below, but not the many subtopics):

Create
Survey Data
Alignments and Profiles
Pipe Networks
Points
Surfaces
Analyze
Survey Data
Design Evaluation
Grading Tools
Share
Project Management
Export Data
Produce
Labels and Label Styles
Profile and Profile View Labels
Reports Manager


I had hoped to post this yesterday, but I was out doing training all day. What do you know, this was also mentioned during today's Civil 3D Webcast.

Bootcamp Day Four - Survey and Grading

It has been four days, and there is only one to go. For as much information as has been shared, there is still much more to go over.

What does that mean? It means that there are a LOT of additions, improvements, and tweaks to Civil 3D in the 2007 version.

For example the new Survey capabilities. These not only replace what many may have used in the Autodesk Survey add-on to Land Desktop, but they do much more in an easier to use interface that speeds up corrections.

Take the ability to look at the observation object and see, based on the raw data, where the points will be located. Errors (busts) can be seen, easily corrected, and the fixed data converted into good cogo points.

I really enjoyed working with all of the new Feature Line tools. Considering the amount of users that do site grading that I've interacted with lately I know that these new tools will be VERY MUCH appreciated.

Like what you may ask? Certainly, the Stepped Offset command, (similar to the Create Curb command in LDT), was long overdue, but things like feature line vertex weeding, smoothing, fit curve, and filleting, to name a few, give us abilities that are easy to learn and we will want to use.

Tomorrow I will be seeing the new Corridor stuff. I can't wait.

Off To Dallas

You may have read or heard that beginning Sunday (Yes, Sunday), Autodesk is holding a conclave, I mean Bootcamp for resellers. Among the many attendees, those of us that support the Infrastructure Solutions Division (ISD) (Autodesk-ese for Civil Engineering, Land Planning and Surveying) will ALL go through the same training for Civil 3D 2007, Map 2007, Raster Design 2007, and AutoCAD 2007.

We will be shown as much of the new stuff as can be stuffed into 5 days. This should include the new project management (Autodesk Vault), survey, grading, and labeling capabilities. I hope to post frequently to give glimpses and impressions.

I will be getting there a little early in an attempt to...

1. Clear my head for the arrival of new information and...
2. For some long needed R&R (suggestions needed).

I certainly am looking forward to this Bootcamp, and to seeing friends and acquaintances in the industry.

Oh, by the way, this in the 200th post to this blog, and a day or two ago the 50,000th visit occured. Thank you for taking the time to check here for information. Based on the increase in daily visits, clearly interest in Civil 3D is on the rise.

LandXML Revisited

What is Land XML? LandXML is a non-proprietary data standard created by a consortium of industry partners to share (import/export) "civil engineering data".

What type of data? Currently, LandXML 1.0, supports Cogo Points, Point Groups, Surfaces, Watersheds, Parcels, Alignments, Alignment Profiles, Alignment Cross Sections, and Pipe Networks. Shortly, 1.1 will addtionally support survey and corridors model data.

How do we use it? In Civil 3D from the "General" menu pulldown select "Import LandXML..." or "Export LandXML..."

What can we do with it? It can be used for any of the following:

1. To transfer data from a supported software application to another supported application (like LDt to Civil 3D).

2. To convert data from imperial units to metric or vice versa (automatically).

3. To globally translate/rotate coordinates (via settings).

4. To archive data at important milestones.

5. To generate reports about civil objects/data (via LandXML Reporting).

6. To allow 3D viewing of civil objects/data in a LandXML viewer (such as Autodesk Envision 8).

Six years after in was introduced it is amazing that MANY groups that would clearly benefit from the use of LandXML do not know of it's existance. Many people have dropped the ball on this one.

For example, I have used LandXML to export civil data from corrupt Civil 3D drawings and then imported the data into a clean new drawing. Problem solved.

Click on the title of this post to get to the LandXLM.org website and see examples, list of support software, and other facts.

I am revisting this topic for a few reasons. The first is because I am adding information to it. The second is because when someone does a "SEARCH THIS BLOG", via the button in the upper left hand corner, for any topic of interest, the search mechanism only goes back one year and the original post was on Feb. 14, 2005 (a little more than 1 year ago). Thirdly, because it has been one of the most viewed posts of all time (within this blog of course). Lastly, I am revisiting this subject because LandXML 1.1 is within days (weeks?) of being ratified and it will include additional capabilities.

2005 Product Discontinuations

Autodesk has made known, that due to legals reasons, the following products will be discontinued as of May 1, 2006:

Autodesk Civil 3D 2005
Autodesk Map 3D 2005
Autodesk Land Desktop 2005
Autodesk Civil Design 2005
Autodesk Survey 2005

What does this mean? It means that users of these 2005 products will not be able to purchase these products after May 1, 2006. It also means that these same users will not be able to obtain any NEW activation codes, for stand alone licenses, nor a network license after May 14, 2006. This also applies to subscription holders who would under normal circumstances be allowed to use (get activations for) older versions of software instead of a newly purchased seat.

This does not affect user of 2004, or 2006.

Why is this happening? Because of the legal requirement to discontinue support for DGN v8 capability which was embedded in the installation of the 2005 products Autodesk is forced to stop selling the 2005 line of products.

What about 2006? Because the DGN v8 component was on a separate disc, which will be pulled, the 2006 family of products is not affected.

What about 2004? Because this component was not included with the 2004 family of products they are not affected.

Will the 2007 products contain DGN v8 support. Yes, Autodesk has created it's own tool for this, versus the one that they licensed before.

For any existing licences that will require a new activation code due to computer replacement or upgrade this will not prevent them from getting the replacement activiation code.

All users of Land Desktop 2005 should contact their resellers to get a complete clear picture of their options.

Wow!

I just watched the weekly webcast in which Autodesk introduced Civil 3D 2007. The first thing that amazed me was the number of attendees. I noticed the peak at about 9:20 of over 980 attendees. Awesome.

OK, on to the important stuff.

Dave Simeone and Anthony Governanti did a great job of very quickly (they only had 1 hour) demonstrating some of the new capabilities. Much of it had already been described, here and in other blogs, but to see this live is very different.

I few memorable items for me were...

Labels with masks
Labels with expressions (formulas)
Labels that referenced multiple objects and object types
Generic Note with intelligent layout viewport resizing
The entirely revamped Help documentation
Better surface elimination of flat triangles
Quick Profiles
Inclusion of base feature line in Quick Profiles
Many new Grading Feature Line tools
Autodesk Vault to manage projects
Added project support for Pipes
Survey functionality (similar to Survey add-on to Land Desktop) in the box
Graphically edit Corridor model regions
Immediate creation of corridor surface in Prospector
Ability to graphically modify individual sections that affect corridor
Profile can contain fixed, floating, or free constraints (similar to horiz aligns)
Annotate Vertical Curve info in plan view
Interference checking for pipe networks
Import LDt pipe runs
Part Builder documented and exposed in UI
Replacement of VIZ Render with native AutoCAD tools

Whew!

They suggested that we all begin preparing for the arrival of 2007 which they stated will begin shipping in April.

Lastly, they answered eight and one half pages of questions asked via an input window.

Lots to process.

Civil 3D Weekly Webcasts

You may want to take a close look at the recently released schedule of topics for the Autodesk Civil 3D weekly webcasts. As a matter of fact, to view this Friday's webcast you have to register. Click on the title of this post to get to the webcasts page and to register.

This Friday the Dave & Dan show (Dave Simeone, Civil 3D Product Manager, Dan Philbrick, Civil 3D Development Manager) will formally introduce Autodesk Civil 3D 2007. We will see and hear things straight from the horses mouths (so to speak).

Upcoming sessions include:
3/31/06 – Civil 3D 2007 Project Capabilities
4/07/06 – Digging in to Civil 3D 2007 Survey Capabilities
4/14/06 – New Grading Capabilities in Civil 3D 2007
4/21/06 – New Production Drafting Capabilities in Civil 3D 2007
4/28/06 – Use Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) and Satellite Imagery with Autodesk Civil 3D and Autodesk Raster Design

Don't forget to register in advance for this Friday's webcast!

New Links

You may want to take a closer look at the links in the left hand column of this blog. There are many NEW links that you may find useful.

Like what? You may ask. Well, all three survey link tools (Leica X-change, Trimble Link, and Carlson Connect), which will transfer point data between those manufacturer's instruments and Civil 3D are available. Also added were links to the free Civil 3D Webcasts DVD and CD, and more.

I hope this helps.

Civil 3D 2007

As Autodesk introduces the NEW family of 2007 products (shipping in the next month or two) there will be lots to talk about. Here we will focus of course on Civil 3D 2007. What will be there? What will not? I will mention a few general topics today with detailed posts in the near future.

Lets begin.

One of the most obvious additions to Civil 3D is the entirely new Survey functionality and the survey observation object.

The Project environment will now be managed by the core data management capabilities of Autodesk Vault. It will allow for the sharing of:

Points
Surfaces
Alignments
Profiles
Pipe Networks (NEW)
Survey Data (NEW)

Corridors will create named surfaces directly. We will no longer have to export non-associated surfaces. We will also be able to select an existing polyline as a corridor boundary (cool). There will be new subassemblies.

Profiles will now be element-based (free, floating, fixed). This allows for similar constraints as horizontal alignments.

Grading Feature Lines will be controlled by a new set of tools which include the ability, similar to LDt, to create offsets with elevational differences.

Quick sections will be able to be created from AutoCAD objects.

We will be able to create a Pipe Network from a polyline and create an alignment from an existing pipe network. Pipe interference detection will be possible.

Styles management will include the ability to Merge, Copy, or Rename any duplicates found during drag-and-drop operations.

Labels will be able to contain data from various object types in our models. We will be able to include expressions (formulas) in a label style. The labeling of lines, arcs and polylines with style based labels will be possible. I am confident that many will appreciate that masks will be able to be added to labels to hide object behind the label.

We will be able to reset a Point's elevations based on an existing surface. Changing an individual point's rotation angle graphically will be possible.

LandXML 1.1 support for survey and corridor data will help matters.

These are just a few of the enhancements that caught my eye. These plus those found in AutoCAD 2007 and Map 3D 2007 (because Civil 3D is built on top of these products) will give us lots benefit from.

OK, that is enough for now. As I said, I hope to add comments and details in the coming days, and weeks, as time permits.