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