BIM on the Rocks

Some Links from Today’s Water/Wastewater Webcast 12-18-2008

Lucy was kind enough to invite me to help with today’s webcast. I promised I would post some links that I mentioned. More on this topic later- it’s a good one- but now I have to go catch up on Christmas preparations and hunker down for a Nor’easter.

My "Tools to Help Layout Sanitary Sewer Pipeline" post featuring some information about Getting the Most Out of Piping in AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009 (including drawing containing dynamic block I showed briefly)

Navisworks for Wastewater Videos on Youtube

BIM on the Rocks posts about Wastewater

More resources:

Autodesk Water/Wastewater Resource Page

G.C. Wallace Companies Turn to AutoCAD Civil 3D for Wastewater Project

Top 5 Reasons Utilities need AutoCAD Map 3D (pdf)

Using MarkPoint to Create Corridor Baseline Profiles

In my AU Class last week (Modeling Rivers, Channels, and Streams With AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2010), I pointed out that the Channel subassemblies have their attachment points in the middle instead of at the stream bottom or channel invert.

In some cases, you might have a profile for bankfull elevation that would serve as a decent baseline profile, but most often, you will spend your time designing the channel bottom.

While you can certainly use generic links or any other combination of appropriate subassemblies to build a channel assembly, the prebuilt channel assemblies have a built-in parameter that would be useful for quantity takeoff and potentially even rendering- lining depth. It can also be nice to just have to manage on subassembly instead of several generic links.

 

One way you can generate a profile for the attachment point without doing too much extra work is to build a temporary corridor that generates one. This is same idea as the technique of making temporary corridors and surfaces for stream modeling and road widening.

1. Build a new assembly using the MarkPoint subassembly.

2. Figure out where the attachment point will be.

3. Using whatever AutoCAD method you prefer (I am trying to get in the habit of using dynamic input), move the MarkPoint to the right level.

 

 

4. Build a new corridor using only the MarkPoint assembly. It will be very skinny and might be hard to see at first. You might need to increase the frequency if your stream is very curvy.

5. Use the Profile from Corridor tool (on the contextual corridor tab) to extract a profile.

6. Have a look. Note that profiles extracted this way are not dynamic to the corridor.

7. Build a corridor for your channel using the stream centerline alignment and your newly extracted profile.

Since the extracted profile is not dynamic, you could also use the same method as described in my post about making temporary corridors and surfaces for stream modeling. Instead of using just a marked point, you could attach LinkWidthAndSlope or LinkSlopeToSurface and build a flat corridor, then a surface, and sample that surface on to the profile view for use as a baseline.

These techniques would be useful for visualizing flood elevations or other key features as well. James Wedding spoke of using the HEC-RAS extension (available on the subscription center) in his AU class called The Floodplain Truth: Civil 3D and HEC-RAS. In the class, he used a similar technique to build a corridor from flood profiles and make an exhibit.

Related posts:

Civil 3D Success Stories- Stream Restoration

Civil 3D Surfaces for Riverbed Elevations

Overlay Analysis for Floodplain Study

Overlay Analysis in Map 3D 2010 for Floodplain Study

The Greatest Review Comment

If you’ve taken my AU classes before, you know that I always point out that the reviews are important to me. When the evaluations were done on paper, it would take a few months to see the results. Now with online surveys, we can track our progress right away. As scary as they are sometimes, the reviews have helped me a great deal as a speaker. I always take them seriously.

One comment I received this year was a bit tough to swallow at first, but the more I thought about it the more excited I became.

The comment was from my Stream Modeling class and it referred to the savvy of the audience- that much of the audience seemed to have experience building this type of complex corridor model. Meaning- more experience than I have building them.

While I could dwell on the fact that I don’t build many stream models for construction purposes anymore, I thought about it a bit differently. When I started working with Civil 3D and seeing its possibilities, I knew it could change the way design was done. When I taught my first stream modeling class at AU 2006, and then did a guest Friday webcast called: Civil 3D for Streams, Ponds and More Webcast (from February 2007), my goal was to change people’s minds about corridor modeling.

Seeing so many people doing so many amazing projects with Civil 3D makes me excited. I’m excited to see that change is happening and that inertia isn’t holding us back. In 2006, there was nobody in my stream class that had done a stream restoration design using a corridor model. In 2009, I might have been the least experienced stream modeler in the room- though many of the other comments give me confidence that everyone picked up something from the class material.

I couldn’t ask for more.

 

Related posts:

Civil 3D Success Stories- Stream Restoration

Civil 3D Surfaces for Riverbed Elevations

Overlay Analysis for Floodplain Study

Leveraging a Temporary Corridor for Stream Projects

On the Way to Autodesk University 2009

Have you ever had that dream where you spend a few days running around at full speed then wake up at 3 in the morning and you can’t get your LCD monitor to fit into your carry on bag no matter which way you turn it?

I had that dream last night.

The dream continued at the check in counter. Since my monitor wouldn’t fit in my carry on, I wrapped it carefully in my checked bag along with all of the other necessities of life and AU. Predictably, the bag was overweight and I get the raised eyebrow from the agent. He notes that I’m female, blonde, and have a pink suitcase with a Hello Kitty sticker on it then says something about stepping out of line to move some shoes into my carry on. While I’d like to take him by the neck and tell him that just because my suitcases are pink and Hello Kitty is my BFF doesn’t mean its not full of critical infrastructure like a monitor, a laptop, portable hard drives, engineering textbooks, pentel sign pens and extra packs of HB lead.* Since I am working on being a lady, I just smiled and handed him my credit card. Then I pulled out my bedazzled blackberry and texted “OMG WTH” to all of my gal pals and cranked up Miley on my ipod.

I don’t travel all that much compared to our Technical Specialists, but I do have a few tricks that have helped me a lot. Maybe they will help you, too.

1. Travel Space Bags- these little guys don’t need a vacuum cleaner to shrink your clothes in flat bundles. It takes some practice folding and arranging your clothes to get them perfectly flat. I also use the regular vacuum seal bags when taking things that won’t come back- like diapers when traveling with a baby.
2. Painters tape- I use this to keep my shampoo and lotion closed, my lipsticks from coming apart, my hairspray from spritzing everything in sight. I also use it to bind books together so they don’t shift around, keep a leaky space bag from filling with air and taping index cards to my hotel room wall.
3. Screw top contact lens cases- if you are traveling with only a carry on, use a contact case for foundation, lotion, hair gel, etc. I have a personal rule where if I have a checked bag, I carry absolutely no liquids in my carry on, unless I am doing a lot of transfers or something else where the risk of a lost bag is greater.
4. Robeez bags- Robeez are little slippers for babies and toddlers that are popular here, but a necessity in Canada. In Canada, you don’t wear shoes in the house. All kids keep a pair of inside shoes on their desk at school and pile their boots by the entrance door. For babies, their inside shoes are Robeez. Robeez come in a little tough plastic zipper bag that is perfect for holding your ipod, earbuds, blackberry, digital camera and other little nibbly odds and ends. It’s easy to take them all out together and throw them in a bin if necessary. I also save the zipper bags that bedsheets come in for the same type of thing on a larger scale.

My flight boards in a few minutes, so either I will wake up from this dream in my warm bed at home, or when I hear the tell tale “ding ding ding’ of the airport slots at LAS.

*I do have everything on this list with me. I would, however, neglect to mention the four pairs of shoes, full set of hot rollers, three kinds of hairspray and two kinds of mascara in this scenario.

One Week Until Autodesk University

Yes my friends, it is hard to believe that yet another year has whipped by leaving me scratching my head wondering why I chose to submit the classes I chose to submit because OH DEAR in a week I need to be in front of a few hundred people sounding like I know what I am talking about.

I opened my closet this weekend thinking that I would be proactive and start packing. As I picked through my clothes, I realized that just about everything I own is either wrong size (too big, too small), the wrong style (too 2005, too 1994) or the wrong season (Spring in Prague not = Spring in Sydney). If perchance there is something in there I can wear, it needs to go to the dry cleaners.

Just about ever item in my hodge podge scramble of miscellaneous work garments were purchased in a panicked dash through the Christiana Macy’s (conveniently located just off of I-95 minutes from the Philadelphia Airport) while headed on a business trip. I typically leave my house with an empty suitcase and whatever credit card still has available balance and hope that the extra 20 minutes of driving lead time is enough to get me something presentable to wear, a peppermint mocha and a spot in line with the “A” group at the Southwest gate.

This routine has become an unfortunate habit because I work from home in jeans most days and the week or so before I trip I become some sort of nesting kamikaze. Cabinets and closets that have been neglected for months suddenly need resorting, there are meatballs to be made, mail to be answered, children’s school projects to be completed, and all of the other things that will likely explode or cause painful emotionally scarring in my precious angels if left undone during my time away. Or probably more likely that I really rather my mom (or my husband’s mom) not see how we actually live on a daily basis.

So after several days of military style household organization, preparing whatever material I need to bring with me, and loading a portable hard drive with every single piece of data in the known universe, I am left with 30 minutes to pick through my clothes and realize that just about everything I own is either the wrong size, the wrong style, or the wrong season. I find something suitable only to realize that it needs to go to the dry cleaners. I curse my lack of foresight, swear I will look in the yellow pages and actually locate a dry cleaner in my town upon my return, grab the keys, a credit card and the empty suitcase and get in the car in my pajamas.

Autodesk University is always a bit harder due to the timing. In addition to the typical pre-trip panic, there is always someone sick with the flu. There is Thanksgiving with its warm, glowy autumnal cornucopia of happiness and its warm, glowy expectations of showing up somewhere with a smile on your face and homemade pumpkin pie in your hands. As I said to Jason last night, on Thanksgiving Eve I can typically be found with my right hand inside a still-way-too-frozen turkey, my left hand finalizing a dataset, my five year old proofing my powerpoints, and one of my feet keeping the bouncy seat jiggling for a sick little guy.

Once that plane lands at McCarran, all of the stress fades away and the excitement of being with a few thousand of my fellow CAD enthusiasts takes over. While it took three AUs and one OTC for me to finally figure out my way around the Venetian, I am looking forward to exploring Mandalay Bay. In addition to the three classes I am teaching, I’m working the Public Utility event on Monday, the Water and Power Breakfast on Thursday, attending the Beta Launch, every mixer I can fit in and a giant pile of classes.

If you have a mobile device, you can follow me (@civil3diva) on Twitter. I’ve finally gotten myself a decent, small digital camera, so I’m planning on taking lots of photos, blogging and tweeting as much as I can.

If you use twitter, tag any AU related tweets with #AU2009.

If you need some advice about what to pack, check out my AU 2008 preparation guide, my AU 2007 packing list, and the AU 2006 recap.

Now if you will excuse me, I have decided to take on a quick double bathroom painting and tiling project since Autodesk is closed, which shouldn’t take me very long. I should still have enough time to get out to the outlets before Sunday, and if not, the Christiana Macy’s opens at 11AM on Sundays, so I’ll bet I can find an extra 20 minutes in my travel time if I skip breakfast.

Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About Autodesk Executives (but were afraid to ask)

I always get a little nutty when preparing for my Autodesk University classes, but this year, I might need to bring a few extra paper bags. I just found out that several Autodesk executives have accepted invitations to host a question and answer session for attendees of CV 218-5: More Power To You.

Jay Bhatt*, Vice President of AEC and Paul McRoberts*, Senior Director of the Infrastructure Product Line Group will be in attendance to listen to your concerns and answer as many questions as they can. Here is your chance to let the people who set the vision know what matters to you.

And don’t forget that anyone registered for a Subscription Advantage Pack class will be entered to win a free pass to Autodesk University 2010. Right now, there are about 70 people registered, so those are some pretty decent odds.

*Executives in attendance are subject to change without notice. If Jay and/or Paul cannot make the class, we’ll find someone else. If we can’t find someone else, Lynda and I will do some Irish folk dancing or perhaps create balloon animals.

Civil 3D Surfaces for Riverbed Elevations

I’ve mentioned before that Civil 3D surfaces aren’t just for ground elevations. You can use them for certain geologic data, borehole data, stormwater infiltration values, and even lighting analysis results.

One use I stumbled upon over the weekend was sediment transport along a river bottom. If you have hydrographic survey, soundings, or other information about movement of sediment along a levee or near a bridge, you can build a Civil 3D surface from it and create an elevation analysis.

Combined with other geospatial data and aerial imagery, you can make some very easy to understand exhibits. Also, if you have baseline data, you can do things like volume calculations between the two surfaces to understand how much sediment has been washed in or out, create dynamic labels of depth, elevation, difference between two surfaces, etc.

Consider some other uses:

1. A series of measurements after large storm events to track beach erosion or bridge scour then make an exhibit showing the progression
2. Daily survey of landfill or stockpile to estimate how much material has been hauled
3. Groundwater surfaces created from measurements at various times of year, during drought and after heavy rain season; or before/after new development/wells

Resources

Geological Rock Quantities with Civil 3D I, Geological Rock Quantities with Civil 3D II, Geological Rock Quantities with Civil 3D III

Create Elevation Analysis Part I and Part II from Retrieve Technologies

Visualize Your Surface Analysis: Make a 3D display of the colorful elevation analysis

.ctb Party Tricks for Surface Analysis- Getting "hatch" patterns in a surface analysis

Using Dynamic Blocks to show boreholes in profile (long section) From The Civil 3D Experience

Exporting AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010 to DGN

We occasionally have to share data with groups that use microstation, so we need to convert our Civil 3D drawings to .dgn format- including both AutoCAD linework and Civil 3D objects, such as points, alignments, profiles, etc.

There are a few ways to convert a Civil 3d dwg to a dgn.

Currently, the best way is to use the Export>DGN file tool. This can also be found in AutoCAD, but the tool within Civil 3D has been enhanced with the Subscription Advantage Pack to convert Civil 3D objects upon export (no need to explode).

If you are using Civil 3D 2010 and are on subscription, you should grab the Civil 3D Subscription Advantage Pack. Not sure how to get it? Read this post: How to Get the Subscription Advantage Pack for Civil 3D. The subscription advantage pack automatically enhances the tool that is already found under Export>DGN file- this is one that you don’t launch from the Toolbox.

The tool in its original form can also be found in AutoCAD Map 3D and AutoCAD.

When you launch the tool, it brings up a dialog where you can set up an export setup, specify a seed file and map layers to levels.

The resulting export will get all of your Civil 3D objects into the .dgn as a combination of blocks (cells) and linework. Even corridor objects get pushed out in 3D form. Note that this is your geometry- if you need your project data to go from Civil 3D to a Microstation based design package (such as InRoads or MXRoads) you’ll need to use LandXML or GENIO. There is a subscription extension for GENIO import/export, and a skillbuilder for help on using the Civil 3D GENIO tool.

Another way you can export drawings to microstation dgn is to use Mapexport. This is a tool that has been around for a few years and can be found in both AutoCAD Map 3D and AutoCAD Civil 3D.

 

While the tool still works, you will have to explode all of your Civil 3D objects twice before the export will handle them. Your best bet is to use the AutoCAD Export>DGN file with the Subscription Advantage Pack enhancements.

The Mapexport tool would be useful if you wanted to transform coordinate systems on export. For example, let’s say you were working with a drawing that was mostly mapping type data and a few Civil 3D alignments. You were working in State Plane Feet, but your friend using Microstation needed State Plane Meters, or UTM, etc. You could save a copy of your drawing, explode your alignments twice, then quickly do the export assigning the new coordinate system.

Register for Water and Power Breakfast at AU

If you love wastewater as much as I do, you probably can’t think of anything better to talk about over breakfast.

If your firm serves the water distribution, wastewater, power, or other utility markets- register to join me and some of our product leadership to learn about where things are going. Everyone is welcome- private consulting firms, municipalities, utility companies, and more. (I made a mistake- the event is open to consulting, design and construction firms that serve this industry. Utilities, muncipalities, power companies, etc. have their own special event the Monday right before AU. contact Teresa below for information on that event.)

If you design the smallest local plants or  hydroelectric for an entire state or anything in between- I want to meet you and hear what you are working on!

RVSP to teresa dot elliott at autodesk.com today!

 Water and Power Breakfast at Autodesk University
Join us for a discussion about how to grow your water and power business with Autodesk solutions. 

Location: Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas - Room Number: Silk B

Meeting Time: 7:30 am - 9:00 am

Meeting Date: Thursday, December 3, 2009

Please provide company name and names of all attendees from your organization.  You will need to RSVP in order to receive updates.

E&C Water & Power Agenda

7:30 a.m.    Welcome- Autodesk Utility Industry Team

7:40 a.m.    Roundtable introductions- Engineering & Construction Guests

8:00 a.m.    Autodesk Solutions Overview- Autodesk Utility Industry Team

Water & Wastewater strategy - current solutions to support this segment & look to the future       

Electric & Gas Strategy -  current solutions to support this segment & look to the future       

8:30 a.m.    Networking with the Autodesk team      

Win a Free Pass to AU2010 by attending the Subscription Advantage Pack Classes

As if you needed another reason to hang out with Lynda Sharkey and I during our Autodesk University class: CV218-5 More Power to You: “Autodesk Subscription Advantage Packs” for Civil and Geospatial Professionals…

Learn about the Subscription Advantage Pack Classes at AU 2009 and Get a Chance to Win a Free Conference Pass to Next Year’s AU*
These classes can be attended by Subscription and non-Subscription customers.

More Power to You: Autodesk Subscription Advantage Packs for Architects, MEP and Structural Professionals, and Contractors

More Power to You: Autodesk Subscription Advantage Packs for Civil and Geospatial Professionals

To learn more about the Subscription Advantage Packs, please visit www.autodesk.com/advantagepacks

*Maximum value of $2000 US