IMAGINiT Civil Solutions Blog

Sometimes it’s cool to be single

Jeff Morris | Sr. Applications Expert

 

Nostalgia?

Remember the “good old” days when AutoCAD was a single document interface? This meant that only one drawing could be opened at once. If one wanted to work on multiple drawings at once, one had to open multiple AutoCAD sessions.

I believe in the 2000 or 200i release of AutoCAD we were finally able to open more that one drawing per AutoCAD session, and what a relief that was.

Be careful what you wish for!

Sometimes though it is nice to have only one drawing open at once. For example, if I need to check many drawings, I find it more convenient to simply open the next drawing while simultaneously closing the current drawing.

Also, when writing scripts that open a list of drawings one at a time to perform some function, it is convenient to enable AutoCAD only to have one drawing open at once.

The SDI Variable.

There is a way to have your proverbial cake and eat it too!

The SDI variable can be enabled or disabled. SDI stands for Single Drawing (Document?) Interface. By typing in SDI at the command line, one can set it to 1 (which is enabled or On) or to 0.

If you want to get back to the “good old days”, set SDI to 1, which enables the Single Drawing Interface (which negates the Multiple Drawing Interface). Now when a change is made to your drawing and you go to open another drawing, you will be prompted to save your current drawing.

Depending on your answer, the drawing will or will not be saved, it will close and the next drawing will open.

Trivia anyone?

There was a time when SDI could also hold values of 2 or 3, although these values could not be entered by the user. It had to do with LDT (or LDD) – AutoCAD Land (Development) Desktop. When the special LDT commands were used, the drawing interface HAD to be set to 1, because LDT was writing specific information to an external database connected to the current drawing.

These two SDI options tried to accommodate this by providing some flexibility.

Here’s the official explanation:

0 Turns on multiple-drawing interface.

1 Turns off multiple-drawing interface.

2 (Read-only) Multiple-drawing interface is disabled because AutoCAD has loaded an application that does not support multiple drawings. SDI setting 2 is not saved.

3 (Read-only) Multiple-drawing interface is disabled because the user has set SDI to 1 and AutoCAD has loaded an application that does not support multiple drawings. (SDI was set to 1 before the application was loaded.) SDI setting 3 is not saved.

If SDI is set to 3, AutoCAD switches it back to 1 when the application that doesn't support multiple drawings is unloaded.

Conclusion

I routinely turn the SDI variable On (1) or Off (0) depending on my needs.

It is not so much a debate as to which is better, it is convenient to be able to work in either mode depending on ones needs.

 

Using or Switching to the Autodesk Industry Collection? Get a SmartStart.

Your organization has taken the plunge and adopted the Autodesk architecture, engineering, and construction industry collection. But has your technology implementation translated into widespread usage and productivity improvements? For over 20 years, the IMAGINiT team has worked with organizations on software implementations. A common theme we find is that most organizations “don’t know what they don’t know” when it comes to improving productivity through technology investments.

Can your organization answer:

1. Are we using our civil design technology to its fullest potential?
2. Do our systems support our needs?
3. Do our processes facilitate optimum productivity?
4. Are we using the right software/tool for the job?

Many organizations use only a small portion of the software functionality available to them. And most employees rely on previous experience with different technologies as they do their work. Teams may be unaware that their new collection of software offers better ways to do things, either through updated standards, workflow refinements, or better data management. 

To help generate the greatest benefits from civil technology investments, IMAGINiT now offers the Autodesk Industry Collection SmartStart for civil organizations. This service provides actionable recommendations that you can take to increase software adoption and team productivity. The SmartStart process has two components:

• Consultation with an IMAGINiT expert. During this initial phase, an expert discusses your organization’s goals and objectives, existing processes and workflows, the team’s abilities with the software, and the working environment.
  
  
• Recommendations report. After the consultation, IMAGINiT provides your organization with a report that documents potential obstacles to success, as well as specific suggestions for the most efficient and cost-effective approach to a successful software implementation and rollout.

To learn more about how this new service offering can help your team, contact us.

Copying Surfaces in Civil 3D

James Branagan | Applications Expert

Essential Surfaces

Surfaces are essential to just about anything done in AutoCAD Civil 3D. Often existing Surfaces are created and referenced into design drawings, for grading, corridor creation, etc. Existing surfaces are usually named EG (Existing Ground) or OG (Original Ground).

For the final design drawings, existing surfaces are represented with contours in half-tone and final design surfaces with have bolder contours.

A variety of other design surfaces derived from corridors or grading objects are also created, and these are usually copied into one overall final surface.

Final Surface

The final or finished surface is usually named FG (Final or Finished Ground). One workflow is to make a copy of the EG, directly on top of it, and rename the copy to FG (and giving it an appropriate style).

Then by pasting in the appropriate design surfaces into FG, one derives with the Final Ground!

The old AutoCAD Copy Command!

When I was being introduced to Civil 3D I searched everywhere (right-click menus, ribbons, etc.) for a special way to make a copy of a surface. It turns out we simply use the AutoCAD COPY command.

All that needs to be done is to invoke the COPY command, selecting the surface and hitting ENTER three times and the job is done. 

Look at the prompts of the COPY command:

1. ENTER to finish the selection set.
2. ENTER to say we want to provide values for the displacement (how much the copied object will move), rather than giving a basepoint.
3. ENTER to accept the amount of displacement of 0,0,0 – which means it will be copied right on top of itself.

If one wants to create a grubbing surface, the displacement values will be 0,0,-0.2 (for metric), which will make a copy of the surface 200 mm below the original surface.

 

Conclusion

As the “specialty” versions of AutoCAD become more sophisticated and complicated, it is somehow charming that the regular AutoCAD commands still have a place in our workflows. The old adage of “reading the command line and prompts” still holds true.

 

 

 

 

Infraworks – Zoning Setbacks

Jeff Morris | Sr. Applications Expert

Infraworks

This program is being touted as “Infrastructure Reimagined”, and “InfraWorks® software supports connected BIM (Building Information Modeling) processes, letting designers and civil engineers plan and design infrastructure projects in the context of the real world.”

It is a fantastic tool for Civil Engineers, however, it can also be a valuable tool for City / Urban Planners.

Zoning Setbacks

Zoning Setback requirements dictate how close a building can come to the lot / parcel lines. In most cases there is a height restriction as well. In some cases, the height restrictions can vary with setbacks, having multiple setback / height requirements.

Recommendations

In Infraworks, for vacant or demolished sites, create a building footprint with an appropriate style…

Tracing along the setback lines of lot / parcel lines for the building footprint, and assigning the roof height in the properties. Also give the “Building” an appropriate name.

If the regulations stipulate graduated height restrictions, create another building in the same matter with a different height.

When the architects / developers submit a model (from Autodesk Revit, Autodesk Formit, Sktechup, etc.) then that model can be superimposed over the zoning block model and it is immediately clear if the setback requirements are, or are not met.

By superimposing a proposed model over these limiting bounding boxes, compliance is immediately confirmed (or rejected).

Conclusion

Autodesk Infraworks can be a real asset to Urban and City Planners to check how proposed developments can fit within an existing urban context.

This blog entry investigated superimposing proposed model over limiting bounding boxes to check for compliance with zoning setback and height regulations.

Seeing is believing.