IMAGINiT Civil Solutions Blog

Hardware

So many times I'm asked about recommended hardware for use with Autodesk products. This page takes all the guess work out. Not only does it give you certified graphics cards, it also recommends systems.

Try it out your self.

AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013 is Coming Soon to a Workstation Near You

On April 12th 2012, Autodesk will release the 2013 version of AutoCAD Civil 3D.  When you open the software the interface is very familiar.  Upon closer look, we notice that the command line has been tweaked to give us more screen space.  Below is a list of items Autodesk has added to the software in this version.

 

Data Interoperability

 

Civil 3D data can now be saved in the IMX format making it easier to send data back and forth between Civil 3D and Infrastructure Modeler.

 

Survey

 

Surveyors will be happy to see some of the new functionality added to the 2013 product.  For instance, a Survey tab has been added to the Ribbon where we can now create a survey query.  This will give users the ability to create new queries that will sort their survey data using criteria specified in the query.  Another feature gives the users the capability of creating a dynamic surface from a survey query.  To perform this task, the surface collections will contain new sub-collections for point and figure queries.  Creating new labels to label user defined properties for each survey figure is also now be a reality.  We will also be able to place a label between two survey points.

 

Surface Enhancements

 

In surface properties, we can now set a maximum angle between TIN lines.  This feature is similar to setting a maximum triangle length on the definition tab of surface properties.  Once the maximum angle is exceeded the triangle that exceeds the setting is excluded from the surface.

 

Railway Design Features

 

All new to Civil 3D 2013 is the introduction of Railway Design elements.  For example, a new alignment type for railways has been added.  This will allow rail designers to calculate CANT for their rail design.  Part of these rail design enhancements can help design alignments using a chord based method.  To aid in the visualization of your rail design, is a subassembly on the tool palettes called Rail Single.  This subassembly will insert the rails, sleeper, ballast and sub-ballast used in the creation of a single track railroad.  The CANT transitions can be edited using the graphics on the screen making the rail design even more dynamic.

 

 

Pressure Pipe Networks

 

Every class I teach where the students are using the pipe networks tools, often ask the same question.  "Can Civil 3D place a waterline on plans, profiles and sections?”  The answer, up until now has always been, well…, not really a waterline, but we can place a storm system and pretend it’s a water network.  Well not anymore!!!  Civil 3D 2013 has been blessed with new tools for pressure pipe networks.  This includes parts in the parts list for crosses, elbows and tees.  Styles are available for pressure networks, pressure pipes and pressure fittings.  The network parts list has a tab for appurtenances which is used to view or change the appurtenance sizes included in the parts list.  Of course, all of this means that we can now use pressure pipe networks in plan and profile views.  Labeling for these networks can be done as if they were a storm network without having to create a work around to show these critical design elements.  Once the design is complete you can go back and check your design against the design checks for pressure networks.

 

Summary

 

To summarize this year’s product, there have been a number of new features that AutoCAD Civil 3D users have been wishing for for a long time.  Autodesk has granted these wishes and made a whole host of other enhancements to existing features that have not been mentioned in this blog.  Check out the link to the pdf below.  The pdf is a Comparison matrix between the 2011, 2012 and 2013 products.

  Download Autocad_civil_3d_2013_release_comparison_matrix_en

Key Sets

By: Brian Allen

No, not the ones on your key chain! The ones in Civil 3D… Description Key Sets.

Many times I’m out on a client visit and I see some Description Key Sets (DKS hereafter) that could be a bit simpler. First off, if you’re new to Civil 3D you may be asking “What’s a DKS and what does it do?” Well, the simple definition would be: it controls what your points look like when they’re inserted/imported into Civil 3D.

For instance: say some trees are shot in the field (PNEZD Format)

1,5000,5000,240,PINE 24 2,5025,5025,231,PINE 18 3,5050,5050,230,PINE 12 4,5075,5075,233,OAK 54 5,5100,5100,228,OAK 22 6,5125,5125,232,OAK 34 7,5150,5150,236,CED 20 8,5175,5175,240,CED 18 9,5200,5200,229,WIL 4 10,5225,5225,234,WIL 6

 

If we want the specimen of trees to be differentiated upon import we can do this by utilizing the DKS. We can also set things up pertaining to the size of the trees so the symbols will scale based on what was coded... We can even change the description displayed in the drawing.

In the code above, notice the description “PINE 24” (with a space between pine and 24). Since this description included the size of the tree we tell Civil 3D to apply a Pine Tree point style to this point when inserted and also to scale it, all at once.

Note: The descriptions above all have 2 parameters. Civil 3D can handle up to 9 parameters in descriptions to control how point style and label styles behave. If a point was described as “PINE S 24” this one has 3 Parameters. PINE=Parameter 0, S=Parameter 1, 24=Parameter 2

Lets look at a point style I’ve created. Since we want the DKS to scale the symbol, we need to set the tree blocks sizing options as shown below, Use size in absolute units.

 

The image below shows a Description Key Set. First define the Code. PINE* will insert a Point and use the Pine Tree Style, Use a Description Only Label Style, and be labeled as XX” PINE Tree, where XX represents the size of the tree. This is controlled by the formatting column. Here I’ve assigned a format of $1” $0 Tree. The dollar sign calls the parameter to be labeled. In addition to the formatting the Scale Parameter is set to 1 because we want to scale the symbol based on the size coded in the field. To use this function the Apply to X-Y options must be checked.

 

 

The Output from the DKS above:

 

This is just a simple example of using the DKS. You can also rotate by parameters, etc…

 

Need more tools in your Toolbox?

Using design applications to do our jobs no doubt leaves us wanting them to do more. So whenever you’re looking to do something your present software may not do –no matter if its Civil 3D, Map 3D, or just plain ‘ole AutoCAD, take a look at Autodesk Labs.

Some of the cool stuff out there now:

• Bridge Modeler: Create bridges directly from Civil 3D objects
• Corridor Solids for Civil 3D:  Extract Civil 3D Objects into AutoCAD Solids
• Terrain Shaping: Interactively modify/shape terrain surfaces