From the Ground Up

Update 1 for Civil 3D 2010

Update 1 (aka service pack) is now available for Civil 3D 2010.

Download

There are refinements across the board:

Alignments

API

Corridor Design and Subassemblies

Cross Section Views

Grading and Feature Lines

Hydrology Features

Intersections

Labels

Object Enabler

Pipes

Plan Production

Points

Profiles and Profile Views

Project Management

Shortcuts

Surfaces

Survey

Tables

User Interface

 

Have a good weekend

 

Jack Strongitharm

Subscription Center - don't miss extensions available

Hi

I know this one has been out for a long time - but I also know that many users don't know about things available on Subscription Center. It has also been a fact that some things found on Subscription Center has turned up in the product after some time.  But now always   ;-)

Just to make sure that those of you doing volume calculations etc for ponds and similar are not missing this...   remember that this "Stage Storage Extension" for Civil 3D 2010 is still available for download.

Here is where you find it!

 

// Ove

Sustainable Design - New blog

My colleague Simon Gillis here at Autodesk has started up a blog based around the Autodesk tools for sustainable design. 

Click here to access his blog

 

Jack Strongitharm

Navisworks on the web - including Point Clouds

As we have a little AEC website now, my manager Simon Jones has setup a number of Navisworks models on the website using an Active X control which is part of the Navisworks Review and above products, so no big viewer download.

Also we have posted two point clouds scans that I have had done in Shrewsbury and Stoke Park in Guildford.  They take a little longer to load, but not that much!

Try it out for yourself

 

 

Jack Strongitharm

Autodesk Assistance Program - EMIA

Invest in Yourself

In these uncertain economic times, many companies have had to let good people go. If you were one of them, you might be wondering how to advance your career in this challenging global job market.

In order to get ahead in the workplace, you need to invest in yourself by increasing your knowledge and expanding your skills. And the good news is that Autodesk can help you get back in the game. With the Autodesk Assistance Program you can take action today to gain a competitive advantage in your field. The program offers:

• Free Software License*: Student licenses of 17 Autodesk® products, including AutoCAD®, Revit® Architecture, Autodesk® Inventor® Professional, and/or AutoCAD® Civil 3D® software.  
• Free Online Training: On-demand training available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with Subscription eLearning, and Autodesk University online.
• Reduced-Cost Classroom Training: Over 70 Autodesk Authorized Value Added Resellers and Autodesk Authorized Training Center (ATC®) partners are offering classroom training at their training facilities for free or for a significantly reduced fee. (Offerings will vary, please check with your local reseller or ATC to get details)
• Certification: Certification preparation and exams available at discounted rates.

Seize the opportunity now. Don’t just survive, thrive!

Click here to access the site

Jack Strongitharm

Pipelines from Corridors - Alternative Approach

Another monthly official tip and trick from me for this month.

If you are doing a huge pipeline and really want the plan and profile drawings over a 3D pipe, this approach maybe be for you.

Link to tip

 

Jack Strongitharm

Triangles - what do they do to your presentation?

This week I am on vacation...  but it IS amazing what you can do with "scheduling"...  ;-)

I just wanted to get back on the topic from last week, regarding surfaces and their styles.

If you add a number of breaklines to a surface, as I have done (three of them) below you will find that the slope arrows doesn't show too well and there isn't many of them.

This is because they are all depeding on their own triangle!  No triangle = no arrow.

When I added the three breaklines (Featurelines) I used them "as is" and they have only two points on each.

But if you instead use the option to add "Supplementing factors" in the "Add Breaklines" dialog you will get a much nicer result.

 

For example - if I ask to get an extra "point" every 10 meter the surface will contain many more triangles aand in the end present a better looking surface. This also affects the slope arrows.

/ Ove

Green building for Infrastructure

Putting the Earth Back into the Balance Sheet

In this first installment of a 3-part series, Autodesk’s Terry Bennett talks about how BIM can be applied by civil engineers to design, build, operate, and maintain more sustainable infrastructure.

Read this interesting and full article here

 

Messed up Data Shortcuts - how to fix!

Hi all,

I guess some of you have seen this issue in the office... "Someone" has moved a file, renamed a folder or worse...  The Data Shortcuts doesn't work anymore !!   :-(

Some weeks ago our own Daniel Philbrick took his time and explained what happens to the .xml-files and links when a user error like this have happend.

So, to read and understand the following, think of it as an answer to a question "How do I fix the broken links"  ;-)

-----

The following things should be considered when moving the data shortcut folder around the network (or folder).

1.       First thing is to fix the absolute path in each data short.xml by using external program called “Data Shortcut Editor”.

As  you see a sample xml file below which has  <File name="C:\Civil 3D Projects\ShiftProfile\alignment.dwg" />. This need to be fixed, otherwise the shortcut mechanism will still point to old location and won’t show broken reference. Shortcut name should not be changed at all. Otherwise it will break the data reference object. The “Data Shortcut Editor” should take care of all issues.

 

<?xml version="1.0" ?>

- <!--

PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE!

  -->

- <ProjectInfo>

  <ProjectDesc />

- <Shortcuts>

- <Shortcut name="C:\Civil 3D Projects\ShiftProfile\alignment.dwg:Alignment - (1)">

  <DwgRelPath path=".\ShiftProfile\alignment.dwg" />

- <Criteria>

  <File name="C:\Civil 3D Projects\ShiftProfile\alignment.dwg" />

  <Object type="AeccDbAlignment" useType="-1" name="Alignment - (1)" useName="-1" version="0" useVersion="0" handleLow="18259" handleHigh="0" useHandle="-1" parentHandleHigh="0" parentHandleLow="0" />

  <DisplayProperties layer="C-ROAD" useLayer="0" color="1" useColor="0" lineType="ByLayer" useLineType="0" lineWeight="-1" useLineWeight="0" />

  </Criteria>

  </Shortcut>

  </Shortcuts>

  </ProjectInfo>

2.       In Prospector, use “Data Shortcuts->Set Working Folder…” to set a new working folder which has the “moved” shortcut folders (projects).

C3D will picks all folders under new working folder which has a subfolder called _Shortcuts. The information is stored in  C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\Autodesk\C3D 2009\enu\Project Management\ShortcutFolders.xml.

As you see below, you will have old working folder to new working folder.

<?xml version="1.0" ?>

- <WorkingFolders>

- <WorkingFolder path="\\Mansrvisd01\dataxfer\nge\MyShortcut" current="-1">

  <ShortcutFolder path="\\Mansrvisd01\dataxfer\nge\MyShortcut\ShiftProfile" desc="" current="-1" />

  </WorkingFolder>

- <WorkingFolder path="C:\Civil 3D Projects" current="0">

  <ShortcutFolder path="C:\AutoCAD Civil Projects\aaa$\foo" desc="" current="-1" />

  <ShortcutFolder path="C:\AutoCAD Civil Projects\aaa$\ssss" desc="" current="0" />

  </WorkingFolder>

- <WorkingFolder path="C:\Civil 3D Projects" current="0">

  <ShortcutFolder path="C:\Civil 3D Projects\ShiftProfile" desc="" current="-1" />

  </WorkingFolder>

  </WorkingFolders>

----

Thanks Dan !

// Ove

Presentation of Surfaces

Hi all,

Just a little tip regarding how to present a Surface.

I think most of you are aware of this, but there are several new users coming all the time...  ;-)

Anyhow - if you have a Surface, for example a simple parking, and want to present slope arrows. You would like to see those on the paved area, but maybe not on the ditches etc around the parking.

So, if you have a Surface, like below, and want the contours to be still present. You can create a new Surface (for analysis) and paste the first designed Surface in to the new one.

 

If you then set a surface style to present "slope arrows" it can look like this. (Parking surface with contours turned off here)

 

You will then find that you don't want the arrows to spread everywhere...

Add a surface boundary to the new "analysis surface" and pick the curb on the outer area of the paved parking. This will keep the arrows in a better way  ;-)

// Ove