BIM on the Rocks

Can You Use AutoCAD WS with Civil 3D?

Let’s say I am working closely with a member of my field crew or construction manager. They have my paper drawings, I could send them out with dwfs, but its really just becoming annoying trying to understand what they are talking about on the phone when you aren’t looking at the same thing… “Are you on page three? The bottom left? Which manhole? Well, look at the table….”

Then to compile all of their stuff once they get back in the office. All they really want to do is sit down, have a cup of coffee and have ONE MOMENT OF PEACE, but here you are up in their face.

What if you could try something different? When I first heard about AutoCAD WS, I will fully admit to having no idea what I would do with it. Then Arnab talked me into uploading some drawings for him and we played around. Suddenly, LIGHTBULBS people. LIGHTBULBS.

So here is a model I have in Civil 3D of a small commerical site. The trick is to save it with PROXYGRAPHICS set to 1. This may make your file size larger. What this setting does is it stores some object information in the dwg file itself so that anyone you pass the dwg to can use it without the object enablers**. AutoCAD WS works in 2D only and doesn’t understand Civil 3D objects with all of their information. That’s OK. For our field communication example, we don’t need to it.

I go to www.autocadws.com and create an account on my computer. I upload my file. Note I can also upload DXF, PNG, GIF, CTB, STB, SHX, TTF and JPG.

Once in WS, I can see the drawing. I click Share to send it to my colleague. They get an email notification.

If they are working on an iPhone or iPad, send them to www.autocadws.com/mobile to download the app.  Once they have it, they just click on the link and are taken in to the drawing right away.

Once they are in the drawing, I get a note saying they have entered the drawing! I can chat with them! I see them moving around and doing things- like adding dimensions and notes for me.

Or maybe the existing trees that I had on the plan had been removed. They can quickly delete them right then and there.

When we are done, I can download the drawing to continue what I need to do in Civil 3D.

The Civil 3D objects have remained intact through the process and I also have my colleague’s comments and edits!

Other ideas for using AutoCAD WS in the Civil Engineering World:

• Running a meeting over the web with a review agency during conceptual design
• Showing a client a site layout and getting their feedback in real time
• Working with the Landscape Architect or Electric Utility designer – sharing drawings, giving each other feedback, making notes…
• Your ideas? Try it!

**This may not work for every single Civil 3D object. Try it with your model and see what comes through. Typically, feature lines will not come through.

Using AutoCAD Properties to Change Subassembly Parameters

The great thing about corridor models is that you can build them before you have a lot of information. Let’s say you don’t have your lane width nailed down yet. No big deal, just adjust it later. The problem comes when you have a lot of assemblies- especially when working around intersections, etc.

You’ve probably noticed that with each release of Civil 3D, you can do more and more with the AutoCAD Properties dialog. Instead of going into the Assembly or Subassembly properties for each and every one of these lanes, I can select them all and under the Advanced area change their width. They will all update, then I just quickly rebuild my corridors.

Civil 3D with Storm and Sanitary Analysis Webcast Thursday 9-9-2010

I spent my summer digging through piles of work, harassing James everywhere from Park City to Waltham, and helping Panorama with her first State Fair entries. One of the contests was a LEED certified gingerbread dwelling.

We’re back to school now, so I suppose I need to get into the habit of slapping something up here once in awhile instead of getting my social media fix on twitter.

Tomorrow, Thursday, September 9, 2010 at 1PM EDT, I will be leading a webcast on using Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis with Civil 3D.

Water Infrastructure Design Using AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011

Thursday, September 9, 2010

In this session, we'll take the recommendations from the drainage planning study presentation to design a stormwater management system for a neighborhood. We'll build upon data from the drainage planning study and show how to do a surface analysis and determine drainage catchments in Civil 3D, design a drainage system in Civil 3D, share pipe network and catchment information, and more! > Register Now

 

If you are interested, I did one a few weeks ago on using Map 3D and Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis.

Water Infrastructure Planning Using AutoCAD Map 3D 2011

Thursday, August 19, 2010

In this session, we'll use Map 3D 2011 along with Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis Stand-Alone to do regional planning for a citywide stormwater drainage system. See how you can aggregate data from multiple sources including SHP and raster imagery using Map 3D 2011, share data with Storm and Sanitary Analysis to build analysis model, run simulations and analysis in Storm and Sanitary Analysis, and more! > Watch Now

 

Also reference:

Technical orientations to Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis in a youtube playlist

Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis Users Guide (pdf - 37237Kb)

Autodesk Stormwater Discussion Group

Excel Reports from Storm and Sanitary Analysis

Contributing Subbasins and Links in Storm and Sanitary Analysis

Civil 3D Pipe Networks to Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis

Excel Reports from Storm and Sanitary Analysis

We’ve all had to make stormwater reports that include endless summaries and tables. One way to get what you need is to use Excel. SSA has a tool that exports your model elements and information to excel.

Output > Excel Table Reports

The whole model gets pushed to an Excel workbook- with each element getting its own worksheet.

Here is a closer look at the subbasin output. A nice way to get a summary of weighted CN, Time of Concentration, etc.

Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis is available for North American subscription customers of Civil 3D and Map 3D. You can download SSA at www.autodesk.com/subscription, and learn more about SSA, including demonstration videos, here.

You might also want to read: Moving Civil 3D Pipe Networks to Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis.

Contributing Subbasins and Links in Storm and Sanitary Analysis

I learned how to design drainage networks using a spreadsheet. It took some time, and creative use of color coding in Excel, but I somehow became capable of understanding which pipes and areas were cumulatively contributing to each other, but it was disconnected to a physical representation of my site which was in AutoCAD or Land Desktop.

I was working with a model in Storm and Sanitary Analysis (former StormNET) and I noticed something interesting. If you select a junction and right-click, you can highlight all of the contributing subbasins.

This would have been extremely helpful for answering questions like- “Why is this pipe so big?” or “Where can I make changes to my impervious area to really make a difference in runoff?”

Another choice on that right-click menu is contributing links. It highlights all of the pipes that contribute to the flow at that node.

It really would have been nice to have a tool like this when working on things like drainage plans for Neighborhood Design Reports that I wrote about here..

Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis is available for North American subscription customers of Civil 3D and Map 3D. You can download SSA at www.autodesk.com/subscription, and learn more about SSA, including demonstration videos, here.

You might also want to read: Moving Civil 3D Pipe Networks to Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis.

Using the Point Cloud Tools to Help with Large Surfaces

Large surfaces are one of my favorite subjects. I taught two AU classes on the subject that are still quite valid. AU 2007 was a lecture style with a narrative handout and screencast, while AU 2008 was a lab that included step by step and sample data.

When I was preparing for blogger day last month, it occurred to me that the new point cloud tools would be perfect to help out in the large surface workflow. Why not import that giant ASCII point file as a point cloud for exhibits, analysis and context… then build smaller surfaces from only the pieces that I am most interested in?

You can change how many points are shown using the density slider. You can lower it all the way down for easy navigation, then move it higher when you are ready to see more detail.

To help with analysis and visual aids, you can use a point cloud elevation banding. This works a lot like a surface elevation analysis.

When you are ready to build a TIN surface, adjust the density. Civil 3D will build a surface from what is visible. If you want to use more of the points, slide the density higher. Then, build the surface.

If I wanted to make tiled surfaces with more or less detail, I could make a few polylines marking the areas, then change the point density before building each surface.

The possibilities are endless. What are some of your ideas?

Here is a video where I walk through some of the steps for building a Civil 3D TIN surface from a point cloud object.

Explaining Superelevation to your Grandma

A few weeks ago, there were some funny twitter remarks from James Wedding. He was attending AEC Media Day in Waltham and said:

Well, I can do you one better. We dug deep into the archives and found this rare clip of the actual moment:

There are quite a few new features around superelevation for Civil 3D 2011. For technical details on exactly what is new, read the section in the Civil 3D 2011 Users’ Guide about superelevation. You can find it under Help or you can find it here in the online documentation.

For Blogger Day, I made a drawing to show the superelevation wizard and superelevation views. It begins with an alignment that does not have superelevation applied, a few cross section views and a corridor.

When the superelevation is applied, the cross section views change.

I recorded a casual little video (a bit of an experiment) where I show how this drawing works. Next time you are at a family picnic and your Grandma asks “What is superelevation? Aren’t all roads flat?” you can either pick up a file folder or whip out Civil 3D 2011. The choice is yours!

Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis Videos

Earlier today I announced that Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis is available for download for North American customers. (Get yours at the subscription center.)

I’ve posted two videos that show Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis at a very high level. Just a quick overview of two common use cases- how a Map 3D user (or the Map 3D tools in Civil 3D) might leverage Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis for planning, and how a Civil 3D user might leverage Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis for drainage modeling.

The videos move quickly, so here is a summary of what you see me doing:

Map 3D Video

1. Connecting to sewer data through the FDO
2. Theming the sewer data
3. Running a location query
4. Draw sewer catchments as polylines
5. Export my queried data and polylines as SHP
6. Import SHP into Storm and Sanitary Analysis (note both pipes and catchments come over)
7. Run Analysis
8. Export SHP of analysis results from Storm and Sanitary Analysis
9. Connect to SHP of analysis results and style it so it stands out

Civil 3D Video

1. First draft Civil 3D pipe model
2. Export using Storm Sewers > Export to File to create an .STM
3. Import the .STM into Storm and Sanitary Analysis (note that if I had Civil 3D parcels for catchments I could have exported them as LandXML to import in SSA)
4. Bring in the .DWG as a background/context
5. Run analysis
6. Change pipe sizes
7. Export .STM
8. Import the improved .STM to Civil 3D to update the network

Civil Visualization Extension- Live on the Subscription Center!

The wait is over! Now is your chance to show me what you can do! I expect to see images and videos and LOTS of them, people!

I’ve uploaded a workflow demonstration for working with Civil 3D, Max Design and the Civil Visualization Extension to the Civil 3D Facebook Fan Page.

The Civil Visualization Extension is now LIVE on the Subscription Center for AutoCAD Civil 3D subscription customers and Autodesk 3DS Max Design Customers. (Formerly Dynamite VSP.)

For Civil 3D customers, you will need to install the 30 day trial of Max Design, then download and install the Civil 3D piece (it’s an exporter) then the Max Design piece (special content, civil-oriented user interface and more that runs inside Max Design.)

Once you have it all installed, read the detailed Using the Autodesk Civil Visualization Extension for 3ds Max Design and AutoCAD Civil 3D (pdf).

I also recommend Bruce Harfield’s class from Autodesk University 2009 where he shows a typical workflow from Civil 3D to Dynamite (Civil Visualization Extension). The whitepaper above is actually based on this class: Producing Compelling Visualization for Civil Engineering Project Proposals. There is a screencast you can watch online or download, and a podcast as well.

If you are not sure of your login information for the Subscription Center (or not sure if you are on subscription)- ask your CAD Manager or reseller.

www.autodesk.com/subscription

For more information about the Civil Visualization Extension, visit www.autodesk.com/civilvis.

Civil 3D 2011: Using AutoCAD Transparency for Images

Last week, I showed you how to use layer transparency to make a surface analysis see-through. While you may have already figured this out, you can use it to make images transparent as well. Think of all that aerial imagery that you’d love to use in exhibits, but it is just too overwhelming.

You can do it a few ways. You can make the layer that the image is on transparent, in my case my image is on _Image.

Or you can make a single image transparent in the AutoCAD Properties window.

Here is my image as a background.

I’d like the image to be less “in your face", so I use the object properties to make transparent. You simply type a number in this field in the properties window.

 

Now the image is faded back a bit.

 

Or how about this- bring your image to front and see your model, annotations, etc. through the image- this would be a very nice effect. Also, if the image is just there for you to use as a guide while you work, you won’t mind if the draw order flip flops on you occasionally- you will still be able to see what you are doing.

 

I have a lot more ideas on how we can leverage the new AutoCAD features in Civil 3D. What are yours? (You can get Lynn Allen’s AutoCAD 2011 Tips and Tricks Booklet for more ideas on how to use new features) and here is a video overview of some of the other new features in AutoCAD 2011.

Find a detailed detailed listing of new feature descriptions in the Civil 3D 2011 Online Users Guide.