Blogger’s Day Webcast

I’ll be posting my notes regarding the Civil 3D Blogger’s Day webcast. Right now I’m playing Penguin Swing while waiting for the webcast to begin.

My best score at Penguin Swing, 317.2: http://screencast.com/t/YjZkM2Q0YmU Matt Kolberg looks like he gets the highest at 319.8

Drafting productivity and transportation appears to be the main development area for this release. #C3D

Acquisitions in the environmental space to round out Civil 3D #C3D

Existing and new features have been heavily vetted for stability and scalability.

 

Upgrade to 64-Bit!!!! for scalability

Dana Probert now presents the nuts and bolts.

Subscription Advantage Pack from 2010 included in #C3D 2011

Point Cloud river data set, looks large:

Dana’s showed a good workflow using a large survey and using point cloud to show it in Civil 3D and then either use the point cloud from surface or create a boundary and then import the points from file using the boundary as a data clip boundary.

Superelevation now editable graphically as well as tabularly #C3D, New wizard to help set the appropriate superelevation you want:

You can still add manual superelevation points. Tabular palette:

New superelevation view. Kind of like a profile view, but for superelevation. Grip editing also of the superelevation components. View of what the superelevation view looks like with section views and plan view:

Corridor editing is awesome, its got to be the best improvement since sliced bread.

Corridors rebuild quicker, only update if a change has occurred. No longer reprocess the whole corridor for one change.

Use transparency for a layer that shows corridor hatching for a better output. Transparency for a layer or object is new in AutoCAD 2011.

“I love the interactive corridors, works great on 3D roundabouts, watch out for that soon from me” - Jack Strongitharm

Take a look at this option to get better looking corridors for offset targets when they are available.

Some new locks for profiles. Station equations can be locked to a physical location now. A great improvement for roadway construction. #C3D

Widening criteria for curves. So if you do work in Montana, you’ll be able to add those widenings around curves nearly painlessly.

Widening Output:

Improved DGN XREF capability. #C3D NCOPY now available with the DGN XREF!

New improvements for creating multiple section views for building cross section sheets.

Project objects to multiple section views:

How to control which section view the object gets put on, and they can overlap so the object can be shown on both the forward and back section view:

New button on the Plan Production panel:

Now split and merge pipe networks:

Dana’s best improvement for pipe networks, adjusting what elevation should be used for create pipe network from object.

 

Check out videos of Civil 3D 2011: http://www.youtube.com/ADSKInfrastructure

Transparency is a great new AutoCAD feature that can be used in Civil 3D, however it does have some drawbacks on layers showing parts of Civil 3D objects.

Sooner then later for StormNet to be incorporated into Civil 3D as subscription benefit near Civil 3D release date.

Alignments and profile labels able to be created through the API. Although we have to wait for others.

Add commas to label text components, also called digit grouping within the program.

Grading functionality hasn’t changed, but some significant breakthroughs were made in fleshing out problems and issues that have existing for a long time. The bucket of issues should be smaller in using grading.

Available end of April or middle of month for Civil 3D 2011 coming out. #C3D

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What’s on my mind today? This question: “Should AutoCAD® provide built-in support for dual monitors?”

And wondering why it hasn’t happened yet.

In other news Autodesk is announcing what’s going to ship with their 2011 products today, including AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011. Look back here later for a post with my notes from the blogger’s special event.

Alignment Radius Snap

Have you ever wished that you could be able to edit alignment curves manually and have it end up at a whole number? Then you’ve probably overlooked the Design Tab in the Alignment Style. By checking the Enable radius snap and setting the value to 0; grip editing an alignment curve will give you a whole number. Changing the value to say 10 will give curve radiuses in increments of 10, ie 10, 20, 30, ect…

This can save you some time and ensure your alignment has a whole number.

Extract 3DPolyline Vertices to Points

You can extract 3DPolyline vertices to points easily using the points option: Polyline Vertices – Automatic. Select the option from the Home Tab, Points drop down, Create Points – Miscellaneous Polyline Vertices – Automatic. Follow the prompt to select a polyline and then press OK.

You may be prompted for a description for each and every newly created point. For 3DPolylines with numerous vertices it can get a bit tiresome pressing the Enter key repeatedly. To get it to stop use the double arrow dropdown on the Create Points Tools and expand the Points Creation level. Under Prompt for Descriptions change it to Automatic or Automatic – Object. The Automatic option will use the value present in the Default Description and Automatic – Object will use the Default Description. Nothing special is added for 3DPolylines.

AU 2010 Proposal Ideas

I’m evidently out of ideas for AU proposals. Do you happen to have one? If you do you can submit it at the AU website or you can leave it in the comments below.

Autodesk is looking for:

• Fresh topics and content
• More advanced courses
• Business management solutions
• Product specifics
• Tips & Tricks

If I have the slightest idea of how to run with an idea left in the comments; I’ll go ahead and submit it and you might just see the session at AU. Although based on my past submittal record I don’t think it has much of a chance.