Topic: Civil3d = Civil Design 2005

[ronjonp]

From my understanding, Civil3D is replacing Civil Design 2005 right? We now have LDD 2005 with the Civil Design plugin. What 2006 software would we need to order to have the functionality LDD and civil design? My understanding as well is Civil3D is a whole other animal and will need quite a bit more training above and beyond LDD 2005\Civil? Am I rambling?

If I sound clueless to you guys it's because I am .

Thanks,

Ron

[Lin-Z]

It seems AD is on the road to replacing Civil Design, but as of yet, Civil 3D is not an all inclusive drafting program.  There are a lot of really great things in Civil 3D but it is not as complete as a LDD/Civil Design/Survey setup.  Fortunately, a regular seat of Civil 3D comes with a complete LDD, so you won't lose any productivity and Civil 3D Pro comes with LDD AND Civil Design.  If you want to keep using LDD/Civil while transitioning into Civil 3D (which, if they ever get the buggies squashed, is one hell of a program as is and as they're working on adding some of the missing bits to the next release, can only -hopefully - get better), I suggest Civil 3D Pro.  Trying to add Civil Design later ends up costing WAY more than having them all arrive neatly packaged on your doorstep. 

Oh and test drives ain't just for cars anymore.  You can call your local reseller and ask for a free 30 day trial of Civil 3D.

Hope this helps!

[ronjonp]

Thanks for the reply Lin-Z.

[Dinosaur]

Civil 3D 2006 ships with Land Desktop 2006 and Civil Design Companion 2006 because of the missing functionality in Civil 3D.  I think you also get Survey 2006, but perhaps only if you had it in the package you are upgrading from.  You will need ALL of those in addition to the Civil 3D (including the Survey) to do everything you had been doing in Land Desktop/Civil Design before.  Civil 3D is slated to replace Land Desktop at some point but at this point it has no Hydrology or real Survey capabilities, Parceling and Grading are notoriously unstable and the Pipe module just made it into the package.  The whole thing feels and acts like a beta release except with a hefty invoice included.
For training - get all of it your training budget will absorb and get it for as many people as possible.  I went outside of the Autodesk resellers for my training.  M J Farrell, a new member here, was my teacher and I would not hesitate to recommend his services.

[ronjonp]

Thanks for the input Dino.

[Dent Cermak]

Here's what they sent me under the subscription program:LDT 2006, Civil 3D 2006, Survey 2006 and Raster Design 2006. and it's all supposed to play well together. i haven't had the time or inclination to load it yet. when it is all debugged and synchronized I may play with it. But not until then.

[Dinosaur]

Thanks for the input Dino.

It is always fun to rant a bit about Civil 3D when I have had a day like today with it.  Actually the parts that really work in it work REALLY well.  Once you know its current limitations and how to avoid them and beef up your computer to handle the program there are very few problems.  The points and point groups are fine and it can create fantastic surfaces.  The corridor modeling is good and the assemblies (cross section templates) are much easier to create than with Civil Design.  I also prefer the profiles and views over Civil Design.  I have tried exactly one pipe run with the new pipe module and have mixed reviews although there should be some enhancements with the next release that may help.  Beyond that I do not even try to use Civil 3D at this point.
The most forbidding obstacle is the obtuse user interface and the extents the designers have gone to in hiding the places a given setting must be changed and the non-intuitive means provided to make those changes.  The out-of-the-box settings and standard styles MUST have been designed to force users to learn how to adjust and create their own as none of them make any sense to real world engineering.  Something difficult for many to grasp is that you are dealing with objects rather than native AutoCAD elements.  These objects do not interact with many commands and osnaps as one would expect.  Training is an absolute must and I would suggest in addition that you take a small finished project and try to duplicate it with Civil 3D where possible.  Real world problems are much more valuable than a canned project that has been reverse engineered into a tutorial.  If possible, get the instructor to prepare training with YOUR data obtained by YOUR methods.

[ronjonp]

So I have another question. We have LDD 2006. What needs to be installed to activate the Civil Design Portion? Everything I have found only works with 2005?

Thanks,

Ron

[Dinosaur]

Did you install Civil Design Companion?  It would have been a seperate CD.

[ronjonp]

I did not. I guess this Companion installer is not available through the ADN website.

[mjfarrell]

Dino,


It sounds like those lessons are really kicking in for you!
Keep up the good work.