IMAGINiT Civil Solutions Blog

Autodesk Infraworks Data - Where Can I Find It?

 

 

 

By: Nicholas Edwin

Anyone who has created conceptual plans, drawings or models often wonders.... Where can I obtain surrounding site base data for my projects? This has always been an important question regardless of what software package you were using. Users of Autodesk Infraworks know they can integrate this data and enjoy the simplicity of the product (and how it fits into the Autodesk product ecosystem). But where can you look before getting started?

First, users should always look at what is currently stored on their external drive, LAN networks or past and present projects. A lot of data can be harvested from these locations and reused in the near future.

Another location people often miss is the product's Help files. These Help files can give you detailed methods for obtaining data as well as step-by-step processes for searching for data on the web. Search away!!!

Finally, I created a short video on this topic, you can view it now in the ProductivityNOW Portal. Registration is required, but free. If you have any other questions about Infraworks or finding data for projects, please contact us.

Did You Know? Vol. 3: Map 3D in Civil 3D

This months DYK is for you Civil/Survey folk that will a lot of times bring in GIS data and always switch your Workspace to Planning and Analysis. That is all well and good, BUT, Did You Know that you can get to most of your GIS tools without switching your Workspace? For example, you can access the Map Task Pane Palette right from the Palette pulldown in the Home tab->Palettes panel:

Or, if you're a typer, just type MAPWSPACE at the command line.

Awesome, right?

Yes, it's great using Workspaces, but sometimes you just don't want to keep switching your Workspace back and forth...

Keep being Civil! And by the way, has anyone seen my snowman?

Making the Case for Autodesk Vault for Civil Engineering

Some of you may have looked at the title of this post and said to yourself, "Why is this in the Civil Blog? Vault is for Manufacturing."

Well, it originally started that way, but now Vault can be used across multiple disciplines, in a variety of Autodesk programs, including Civil 3D. Before i go any further, I want you to check out this video here talking about case studies of some of our clients implementing Vault (it may ask you to register. Go ahead, its quick and free!). 

Others may be asking themselves, "What the heck is Autodesk Vault?" Well, good question. It's an add-in that supplies data management tools that work within Civil 3D and allows you to check engineering files (DWG, Images, etc.) in and out while tracking revisions and other pertinent information within the Vault.

Here's another link for more information regarding how you can maximize your company's ROI by using Vault->Click Here

In summary, Autodesk Vault is not just for manufacturing anymore. Contact your IMAGINiT sales rep or via our web page to find out more about how Vault can benefit the Civil Industry.

Keep being Civil! And don't forget...

Water Flows: River and Flood Analysis Tools

By Mick Reynolds

A little while back I created a video that shows how to use Infrastructure Design Suite tools for Storm and Sanitary analysis, and the River and Flood analysis module.

The Sanitary and Storm Analysis (SSA) portion of the video focuses on two key aspects that make using the tool not only effective but also efficient.  Creating content in Civil 3D that can be exported and used directly in SSA without recreating it, and then importing the revised and analyzed data back into Civil 3D so elements can be updated rather than manually edited.  It is also important to note that it also brings the metadata from SSA such as HGL, EGL, Flow, etc. back with it and those items can be displayed in labels or profile views.  I also cover how to setup an SSA model to perform a specific type of hydrological and time of concentration analysis. Then finally I show how you can review the analyzed pipe system data using the SSA tools and how to customize output data for inclusion in drainage reports.

The River and Flood portion is meant as an introduction to the functionalities of the new module from Autodesk.  I love the fact I can use Civil 3D object information to define my waterways without the massive amounts of data entry and investigation required in older methods.  What I think is important to remember when using this new functionality is that is imports and exports the results into a HEC-RAS format, so it can be submitted for agency review.

To learn more about hydraulics and hydrology tools in the Infrastructure Design Suite, check out our training class or contact us for more information.