Topic: Civil 3D books

[Eclipse]

I need to learn the in's and out's of Civil 3D - currently I know only the basics. I come from an engineering background and have used other design software packages and am also familiar with AutoCad.

Sitting on my desk currently are the books

• AutoCad Civil 3D 2013 Essentials book
• Mastering AutoCad Civil 3d 2013 book
• Harnessing Civil 3D 2011 book

So far I have worked through most of the AutoCad Civil 3D 2013 Essentials book and found it to be quite good. The Harnessing AutoCad Civil 3d book doesn't have many pictures so I haven't really looked at that one much yet. I have only briefly glanced at a few sections of the Mastering Civil 3D book.

Has anyone got the book 'A Practical Guide to AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013' and would recommend it? Or are there any other books you would recommend?

Cheers

[Willie]

I have Mastering AutoCad Civil 3D 2013, but the tutorials in the help file is just as good.  I learned by doing most of the tutorials and by redoing a few projects that was design with other software.  I only really learn it when I stated using it everyday. 

[cadtag]

The "practical guide" from Cadapault just arrived, so haven't gone through it.  2014 version, but ought to be cloes to 2013 version.

[BlackBox]

The "practical guide" from Cadapault just arrived, so haven't gone through it.  2014 version, but ought to be cloes to 2013 version.

Interesting... Never heard of them... Does it come in PDF too, like 'mastering'? 

Cheers

[Jeff_M]

Does it come in PDF too, like 'mastering'? 

Mastering does? I know there's a Kindle version. 

Rick Ellis (The Practical Guide..." author) used to frequent the Autodesk C3D forum years ago when it was nntp based and was/is quite knowledgeable. I haven't looked at his book(s), but I would imagine them to be top notch.

[BlackBox]

Does it come in PDF too, like 'mastering'? 

Mastering does? I know there's a Kindle version. 

Rick Ellis (The Practical Guide..." author) used to frequent the Autodesk C3D forum years ago when it was nntp based and was/is quite knowledgeable. I haven't looked at his book(s), but I would imagine them to be top notch.

I have the mastering 2011 book in PDF (the one wedding worked on), mapped into a RibbonButton macro as part of my reference library tools... Cannot speak to newer version books.

Thanks for the recommendation as well.

Cheers

[Dent Cermak]

http://www.cadapult-software.com/index.php/c/books/cPath/1?osCsid=lgguvth1id7qv6vpe5th830ak3

[BlackBox]

http://www.cadapult-software.com/index.php/c/books/cPath/1?osCsid=lgguvth1id7qv6vpe5th830ak3

Thanks for the link, Dent... Perhaps you, or someone else knows, when they say:

...

The Practical Guide books have been formatted to maximize learning by starting all lessons with an explanation of the concepts and processes that will be covered; followed by real world examples in step-by-step exercises that you can perform yourself with the included dataset.

...

... Presumably, there's a CD, or perhaps a passcode to download said dataset, which is fine, but do these APG books come with (or is there some separate fee for) an electronic, searchable version of APG?

There's no mention of it, so I suspect I already have my answer... I only thought to ask, as the RibbonButton in my custom CUI won't open the book on my desk. 

Cheers

[cadtag]

CD with dataset is in the back cover of the hardcopy I received UPS.  AFAIK there's not a PDF (or Nook epub) version available.

[Pointdump]

I'm almost halfway through A Practical Guide to AutoCAD Civil 3D 2014. I have the 2010 versions of pretty much every C3D writer, and I gotta say, Rick Ellis's books are the best. The CD of lesson files is in the back of the book. I highly recommend this book as the best place to start.

http://www.cadapult-software.com/product_info.php/c/books/p/a-practical-guide-to-autocad-civil-3d-2014/cPath/1/products_id/57

Dave

[BlackBox]

AFAIK there's not a PDF (or Nook epub) version available.

It's been a while... The Kindle and iTunes versions were made available for purchase a while back.

I purchased the Kindle version found here, as the iTunes version is only accessible to iOS devices, whereas the Kindle version is available to PC, Mac, Android/iOS mobile devices (via Kindle app), and Kindle Cloud Reader (via web browser).


Also, this article may be of interest to some of you as well:

...

These instructions are written in order to assist the average user in protecting their purchases. I did not write it to assist in committing piracy; I believe in buying content, when possible. But I also believe in controlling the content I buy....

[cadtag]

calibre -- good stuff

[Dent Cermak]

And don't forget to check out the training CD's available from AGT.