Topic: What is Carlson Civil/Survey

[Dent Cermak]

That's because everything we do is relative to AutoCad. It's our "basis of understanding", our common ground.The best way to look at Carlson Civil and/or Carlson Survey is that it is Civil3D without the bugs and hair pulling (something I can no longer do.).
AutoCad is still the Landmark, but because of some ignorant policies, they are being challenged by some upstarts. The upstarts have gained in some areas and are still huffing and puffing in other areas.
Both offer good products. It's now down to price comparisons and which has features that are easier for YOU to use. Which software can you afford? Which can you install and configure  in a cost effective manner. Which offers all of the tools you need in the simplest package and not buried under scads of stuff that you do not need. Which package fits YOU and YOUR needs? That's the choice many of us have run up against.

[mjfarrell]

Dent; Yes, Carlson Field Survey IS still around, however it isn't that same product as the one they published together....

There are lessons every where ... James ...

[Dent Cermak]

No, it is not the same program. It's that program plus many improvements. We have crew members that have used both packages and they tell me that one is an extension of the other. A lot of added and simplified features and a seamless tie to the office product, Carlson Survey.

[mjfarrell]

No, it is not the same program. It's that program plus many improvements. We have crew members that have used both packages and they tell me that one is an extension of the other. A lot of added and simplified features and a seamless tie to the office product, Carlson Survey.

As stated Carlson got more out of the experience; and put it to good use, than autodesk did.

[rkmcswain]

The funny thing is about; say 6 years ago, Carlson and Autodesk released a product called Field Survey.  (then they killed it)
It was probably one of the best products they (Adesk) ever released most everyone that used it loved it because it was simple and it worked.

I guess it depends on your POV. It was 2001, and all it was - was Carlson Survey with a different splash screen and badging. The problem came days after it's release. Bug fixes started coming out for Carlson Survey, but Autodesk refused to release the same patch for AFS. The result was that AFS was obsolete from almost day 1. The other problem it created was that AFS included features that Land Desktop (at 3X the cost) did not. This did not sit well with Land Desktop users. Ultimatley, many AFS buyers ended up going back to Carlson Survey, although some got sucked into LDT and later C3D - which was Autodesk's intention the whole while.

[mjfarrell]

The funny thing is about; say 6 years ago, Carlson and Autodesk released a product called Field Survey.  (then they killed it)
It was probably one of the best products they (Adesk) ever released most everyone that used it loved it because it was simple and it worked.

I guess it depends on your POV. It was 2001, and all it was - was Carlson Survey with a different splash screen and badging. The problem came days after it's release. Bug fixes started coming out for Carlson Survey, but Autodesk refused to release the same patch for AFS. The result was that AFS was obsolete from almost day 1. The other problem it created was that AFS included features that Land Desktop (at 3X the cost) did not. This did not sit well with Land Desktop users. Ultimatley, many AFS buyers ended up going back to Carlson Survey, although some got sucked into LDT and later C3D - which was Autodesk's intention the whole while.

RK, as I lack your insider information (or the closer proximity you keep to autodesk) I will take your word for this.  In the end autodesk did their customers no favors by the 'killing' of this product.  The biggest thing I liked about it was that ones Survey department could use AFS; and all of the data was directly compatible with LDD, something many other Survey applications fell short on.

RIP AFS

[rkmcswain]

Autodesk never killed it AFAIK, it died on it's own. By not releasing service packs or future versions, it managed to kind of kill itself.

As far as the compatible data... AFS and LDT were virtually 100% incompatible, as far as native file formats go. Best I can remember, only the DWG file could be read by both applications. That was another gripe from the LDT world. Everyone thought AFS was going to be "LDT Lite" and it wasn't even close. Carlson's file formats, lack of a project manager, etc. meant that the only way to share data was via LandXML, and you can do that with Carlson Survey, Eagle Point, etc.

I'm glad there is someone out there who thought this was a good package, because believe me, I heard the other end of the story daily...