Every day, I like to check in with the Autodesk discussion groups to see what people are having to say, what issues they’re running into, or what they love about Civil 3D. As I look lately, it seems as if there are a lot of people just now adopting Civil 3D, so I want to write a post that will help them as they grow in their Civil 3D knowledge.

Do you ever wish that you had a way to set default styles in the program? Do you wish that when you performed a task, that it would pick up on that nifty style that you created automatically instead of you having to pick it? Well, that can be done with command settings - find out how after the jump.

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We are working on a roadway extension project for a site that only has a stub street.   We have the EG ground sampled and the profile view has been created.  My proposed grade needs to start from the end of the street’s concrete apron and needs to match the existing slope or I need a transition area.

But I want to label only that first existing tangent. How do I label this one short little segment.  

This question stumped me for a minute. 

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Thanks to everyone who attended today’s EECast and to all those who registered but were unable to attend.

We will present this same topic, Get Smart: Intelligent Grading with Civil 3D, next week in an encore presentation. If you missed it or had technical difficulties this week, please join us on July 16 at 12pm EDT.

Register for free by following this link.

Enjoy!

Not all news here has to be about Civil 3D, right? Some of you use some of the functions in Map 3D as well - especially since it’s built right into Civil 3D. Well, here’s a bit of information that you may or may not know about Map 3D and some new (returned?) functionality for it. Follow the link for more information.

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Yesterday I was browsing around the Autodesk Civil 3D discussion group for a few minutes. I go there from time to time to research quick questions or to see if anyone needs help. I was talking to a user who was having trouble with Trimble Link and Civil 3D - well, part of the problem was with Trimble Link and Civil 3D…he couldn’t import a .JOB file using Trimble Link because he didn’t have the data collector available. I ran into this same problem when I first installed Trimble Link a few years ago, because I don’t have any physical data collectors that I can hook to my computer. I have emulators for TDS Survey Pro, Microsurvey FieldGenius 2008, Leica GPS/TPS 1200, Trimble TCS and SCS900, Topcon TopSurv PC and Carlson SurvCE, and have successfully transferred data from them into Civil 3D, but it took a bit of work. So if you find that you don’t have access to the data collector BUT you have the .JOB files stored on either a local machine or a network, then this is the article for you.  Follow the link to find out more.

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As more users begin unwrapping their C3D 2009 boxes and make the jump, we’re seeing more and more questions about Vault and Data Shortcuts in the groups and in our mailboxes. I’ve been a huge advocate of Vault the past two releases, basically as a matter of riding the horse ya got. Vault wasn’t perfect (and it fact, downright sucked sometimes,) but it was better than using data shortcuts in my opinion.

Jump back to last fall, when I first got a look at Data Shortcuts for 2009. My first question was, “So who needs Vault?” The answer is after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Since last year’s post on our EE buglist was quite popular (and continues to be to this day,) we thought we’d revisit the subject. This list is by no means comprehensive, and it includes some items that we know Manchester considers wish list, we’ll call them bugs, because it’s bloody obvious that the program operates in a way that should be fixed. With that, the list after the jump.

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As I was thinking about a subject to write about today, I was engaged in a discussion an Autodesker (who shall remain nameless) and he pointed out something that he wasn’t aware of in Civil 3D, and I can understand why - it’s kind of a hidden setting. So if someone very familiar with the program was unaware of it, he figured (as did I) that some of you might not be familiar with it either. It’s all about point styles.

Ever drag a point label away from a point marker and got really irritated because the arrow head didn’t EXACTLY touch the point? Follow the link to find out how to fix this pesky problem.

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Since Jason is teaching Core Concepts this week in the mornings, and the EECast is scheduled to start at 11 AM our time (Central), there would seem to be a bit of conflict with him discussing point clouds during the EECast this week. Never fear dear readers, we have a plan! In a bold move (ok, in just a scheduling move,) I’m covering What’s New with Data Shortcuts in 2009.

In a quick hour, we’ll review the changes to using Data Shortcuts in C3D 2009. We’ll look at the Project Template, the Working Folder, the Shortcuts folder and the mechanics of using Data Shortcuts as part of your actual project. Additionally, we’ll look at the new Data Shortcuts Editor to repath your in-place shortcuts to new information as it’s available. Take a shortcut to 2009 with this nuts and bolts EECast.

See you then!

The EE CivilAccess calendar of training classes is now online and available to all CA clients. If you’re looking to train your staff all year long for less than a single class would cost at the usual sources, shouldn’t you look at CivilAccess too?

Check out the schedule by clicking the Training page above, and visit this page to see the full scope of CA services and get a preliminary cost. Less than $595 per person, live unlimited training from the people who wrote the book on Civil 3D, ready when you are.

What’s not to like?