Autodesk Design and Manufacturing solutions through Digital Prototyping and Interoperability
One of the things that I manage is the flow of data between engineering projects and the field. Once the overall control points are established, there is not a lot of survey network information coming back in. Construction crew and RTK point data is delivered simply as a delimited ascii file. So what good does the Autodesk Civil 3D Survey Database do for me if all I have is raw coordinates? Shared, controlled data. You [...] ...Read the rest of this article...
This will be another quick tip, for those new to the Civil 3D platform and using TDS. We used to have problems with data being overwritten. My crews dump their data daily and overwrite my calcs, and when I get them a tidied up file, I overwrite their subtle changes like an adjusted elevation. So we now merge their new calcs in. Organization I use the export point group (previous topic post), and send out [...] ...Read the rest of this article...
I mess with a lot of points. Incoming and outgoing. One things we can’t seem to do, is to get all the data at once. In the case today, I have to renumber a range of points because I will have a lot of data coming in on highway cross sections. I renumber the points into a new range. Usually the old existing data is best so the new data reflects the notes as it’s [...] ...Read the rest of this article...
This is old news, but I was having too much fun not to post it. I have a big building pad with gridded verification shots. I need to know where the pad is beyond tolerance, so I can direct the crews to verify those areas. That’s a lot of dots to look through, and there is a LOT more not shown. Why not set up temporary group of points and highlight them. I [...] ...Read the rest of this article...
An associate contacted me recently regarding how to move 2 sets of train tracks through a single corridor, while keeping the ability to deviate the overall width. The example I received had the sets of tracks identically elevated and on a single bed. I decided to go a bit overboard, and add vertical and horizontal control. Above you can see that I mocked up something real fast. 2 separate alignments, and 2 respective profiles. I [...] ...Read the rest of this article...
Civil 3D 2010 Update 1 cleared up the Point Label style block issue that had plagued many of us. Kind of a relief, I have been hesitant to edit ANY Label Styles, since being tortured by the problem. Just the knee jerk reaction to being pounded by the software. All is well……I still crash, just not at that time. ...Read the rest of this article...
7/29/2009 Transferring Civil entities by ‘Write Block’ has always been tricky. We used to have to decide which we wanted more of; Re-layering all the points by copy paste and then erase the unwanted data; or exporting out the sometimes painful selection, and then use the description keys to re-layer. Point Groups were just left out of the equation. In 2010, the process is much easier. Copy paste is a dream. The interesting thing is [...] ...Read the rest of this article...
I logged a Bug Report on Civil3D.com, and you can check it out HERE. I wanted to thank James Wedding and the staff at EE for putting up with me, and always being willing to assist. I always know I’ll get some relief when I call. I want to thank my VAR, Applied Technologies Group, for some outstanding dedication and support. The entire team was at a remote function. I called John Sayre who was [...] ...Read the rest of this article...
6/12/2009 Life without strife would be boring. It’s the occasional issues that give the good times meaning. Civil 3 is an example of this reality. …Its kind of like playing ball with your kids before cleaning up after the dog. It can be really enjoyable….if you are quick footed and observant. Point Error This instance occurred while trying to create a point in the numbering gap left by one of my oversights. The result was [...] ...Read the rest of this article...
I posted this Civil 3D Point Style tip on Civil3D.com. Check it out. ...Read the rest of this article...