Civil Immersion

The Autodesk Connector for ArcGIS

In 30 years, I have never worked on a civil project that did not require some interaction with GIS data.  Whether it is referencing GIS data to get started, using GIS data to help make better design decisions or exporting as-built information to GIS at the end of a project, GIS is an essential part of civil projects.

Having said this, our ability to engage with GIS data hasn’t always been as easy as it should be.  In some cases making a connection to the data could be challenging.  In others, the GIS data required conversion to CAD geometry.  In others, the performance may not have been what we expected. Or worse yet, what we thought was a “live link” was more dead than alive.  😊 

At the end of the day, we all found ways to get our jobs done but always thought there really should be a better way.

The recent partnership between Autodesk and Esri is that better way!

New tools are being developed to create more seamless integrations between the worlds of BIM & GIS.  One of these tools is the Autodesk Connector for ArcGIS.  Using this tool, we can link solutions like InfraWorks and Civil 3D directly to ArcGIS online.  Once linked, we can push and pull GIS data back and forth in ways that were never before possible. 

Much has been accomplished as a result of the Autodesk & Esri partnership over the past couple of years.  I am super excited to see how much more will be accomplished moving forward into the future.

Click on the video below to check it out.

 

-Jerry

AEC Collection – The Best Tool for the Job!

Recently, I had the opportunity to present a live demonstration focused on the advantages of using the AEC Collection for a civil site plan.  The goal of the session was to demonstrate how the many tools in the collection can work together to take a project from conceptual design through finished visualizations.  Fortunately, the session was recorded, giving us the opportunity to share it here!

If you have access to the AEC Collection and are using a small handful of tools, this presentation can help you take advantage of even more applications and increase the value of your investment.  If you are someone who leverages Civil 3D to accomplish most of your design work, this presentation will introduce you to many of the purpose-built, time-saving tools and workflows made possible using the AEC Collection. 

If you are interested, I’ve added a link to the recording below…

-Jeff

 

Finish Strong Friday: Utilizing Survey Monument GIS Data in Civil 3D

As many of you know, the Map 3D FDO tools for connecting to various GIS databases and file stores are very powerful and luckily-are included with Civil 3D.  Recently, I was talking with a customer about grabbing published survey monument data and bringing it into a Civil 3D project.  Based on this discussion, I thought this might be of interest to others who may not be completely familiar with the GIS tools available in Civil 3D/Map 3D; hence this post.

Check out the video below to see this in action.

-Alan

Tool for Tuesday: Custom Tooltips

Because we need the info!!

Today’s installment is about extending the usefulness of our rollover Tooltips.  Specifically, how to customize them so they show us exactly the information we are looking for.

For example, when hovering over a Block object, the Tooltip shows us the Color, Layer and Linetype currently assigned to the Block.  While these are helpful, showing the Block's name could also be very beneficial.

When hovering over a Viewport, the Tooltip shows us the Color, Layer and Linetype currently assigned to the Viewport.  Wouldn’t it be great if the Tooltip also reported the Viewport's Plot Scale and Lock status?

The great news is rollover Tooltips can be easily customized to show these kinds of information and more.  Additionally, they are not limited to only AutoCAD objects.  Any of our Civil 3D objects that support rollover Tooltips can be quickly customized to display additional or alternate information.

Click on the video below to see how to set it up!

-Jerry

Tool for Tuesday: VPSCALE

Today’s tool is all about the scale our model objects are displayed in our Layout Viewports.

While folks shouldn’t be scaling geometry from paper plots, as long as scales are still available, they will.  :)

Because of this, it is very important to ensure our models plot to scale.  This is typically done by establishing/setting a scale on each of our Layout Viewports.  Unfortunately, once the scale is set, it is not immediately obvious what the scale has been set to.  (would make for a great tooltip!!)

For the longest time, if I wanted to see what scale has been applied to my Layout Viewports, I would use the Properties Panel.  Until a couple of months ago.

Contained within the Express Tools that ship with Civil 3D is a tool designed specifically to list a Layout Viewport scale and it is incredibly easy to use.

Check out the video below to see how it works.

-Jerry

Tool for Tuesday: IF()

Part Four:  It is always a matter of "IF".

We wrap up our GIS series today with the IF() conditional function.  Using this function, we can perform some quick analysis on our GIS data and alter many aspects of how it is displayed and/or annotated. 

The possibilities are infinite!

For example, when adding GIS data showing soil information, we could have poor soils automatically highlighted. 

When adding GIS data containing parcel data, we could color every parcel red whose area is below the minimum standard. 

When adding GIS data containing pipes, we could alter the pipe widths based on a diameter attribute…

If you couple this with the other tools we have looked at over the last several installments we can do some really cool stuff with GIS data.  (And we haven’t even scratched the surface yet :) )

In our example today, we will review parcel data stored in a GIS file as it is inserted into our model.  Any parcel that does not meet the minimum Area (12,000 SF) is automatically colored differently (red) than the others (light blue).  This is accomplished using the conditional function IF().

Check out the video below to see how it works.

-Jerry

Tool for Tuesday: Concat()

Part Three:  Sometimes our GIS labels need a little extra info. to help avoid confusion.

In today’s installment, we will review the Concat() function.  Concat is short for “Concatenate” which simply means it is a tool that helps us group things together.

This can be a very powerful tool (especially when it comes to GIS data) to help make our annotation more “readable”.  In other words, if our data contains a numeric attribute value that equals 123.45 and we add that value to a label, what does it represent?  Sometimes when looking at the data in context to the model geometry it is obvious.  Other times it may not be. 

For example, when looking at 123.45, what are the units?  Does it represent an area or linear measurement?  Perhaps it is a cost.

Often times, adding some additional information in front of our label, after our label or in both places makes the annotation more readable and can greatly reduce the chance of confusion.  (i.e.  “Area = 123.45 Square Meters)

Check out the video below to see how easily incorporate additional text into your GIS labels using the Concat function.

-Jerry

Tool for Tuesday: Round ( )

Part Two:  I don’t typically need labels to 10 decimal places.

In today’s installment, we look at how to use the Round() function to help control the display of our numeric GIS labels. 

In short, Civil 3D/Map 3D will automatically show the entire contents of a numeric geospatial attribute. 

As a result, by default we can get GIS labels at an “unrealistic” number of decimal places.

Fortunately for us this can be resolved quickly using the Round function when building the label expression. 

Simply tell Civil 3D which attribute to round and to how many decimal places, and your GIS annotation is automatically updated.

Check out the video below to see how it works.

-Jerry

Tool for Tuesday: .LAYER File

Because many of our models require or incorporate GIS data, I am going to do a 4 part series on tools we can use to help us be more productive when working with geospatial information.

Part one:  Stop reinventing the wheel!

If you are like me, you incorporate a lot of GIS data into your Civil 3D models.  I’m a big fan of the drag and drop method!  In other words, I drag in my .SHP file and it automatically transforms itself (if necessary) before displaying on my screen.

Having said this, I find that the default display values NEVER meet my needs.  Instead, I am always tweaking things like color, width, transparency… to match my standards.  Worse yet, I perform these tweaks every time I add the .SHP file to any model.

Wouldn’t it be great if I could save my tweaks such that when I drag and drop my .SHP file into my Civil 3D model the data would already be formatted the way I need?  Fortunately for us, we can!!

We do this by saving a .LAYER file.  In short, after adjusting the display styles of our attached GIS data, we can then right click on it in the Map Task Pane and export it as a .LAYER files.  In the future, we just drag and drop the .LAYER file into any model and we not only get the GIS data but it is also automatically formatted to our display standards. 

No more reinventing the wheel!

Check out the video below to see how it works.

-Jerry

Tool for Tuesday: LayerStateSave

Take a picture… It will last longer.  :)

Today’s installment is all about capturing your layer display information.  When working on a Civil 3D model, we tend to accumulate a ton of layers.  Using these layers, we control how (or if) various parts of our model are displayed. 

Using different layer combinations, one version of layers could be used for plotting, another version could be used for editing, another version could be used for review…  I’m sure you get the idea.

If only there were a quick way to save and restore these layer display representations.

Fortunately for us, there is!!  By leveraging the LayerStateSave tool, we can quickly capture the layer display within our model.  We can then turn some layers on, turn others off, maybe tweak a color or two and then easily restore our saved layer state when finished.

Using the Layer State portion of the ribbon even lets us preview the results of each layer state before we commit to restoring one!!  Kind of like a try before you buy.

Check out the video below to see how it works.

-Jerry