If you are an AutoCAD Civil 3D 2014 user and an Autodesk Subscription customer, Autodesk gave you a Christmas present this year - The AutoCAD Civil 3D 2014 Productivity Pack 1.
You have to ask…
Where’s the Beef?
We do civil engineering and survey projects. Therefore, at some point it’s about the deliverables. Your customer may require a bare AutoCAD drawing with no Civil 3D features. People still do prefer dumb.
The 2014 Productivity Pack 1 (does that imply there must be a “2”?) includes an AutoCAD DWG and Microstation DGN Export tool.
The new Export to tool will reduce your Civil 3D project drawings or Layouts potentially all the way down to raw CAD primitives.
Push the button and you can get a purely CAD “picture” of the Civil 3D work.
Dumb Down to ACAD or DGN
Truth be told Autodesk developed the Export to DWG/DGN Export tool for a large state government customer (or two or three) for reasons that are painfully obvious to us all.
If you’ve ever had to Export to AutoCAD from Civil 3D, you certainly understand the pain and the tedious nature of the process of reducing Civil 3D Feature representations down to CAD. I’ve previously posted on that topic. You can search on it.
Our Production Solution products produce great NCS compliant CAD results for Export even in older releases of AutoCAD Civil 3D. Really? Really.
Install SP1 and PP1 and Be Done with One
We have a new useful button, but you must make sure you install Service Pack 1 for Civil 3D 2014 before you do.
Actually the install creates a Civil 3D Toolbox tool should you wonder where it went to. Look for the red lunchbox icon in the Home Civil 3D Ribbon.
The install does NOT redefine the Export to command…
Thank goodness. We may still need that.
Export to may still be the road you have to plow and salt and plow when your end customer demands more.
The new Export to DWG/DGN isn’t a Magic Button
Since I’ve both used and trained people in versions this tool for well over a year, I’m still annoyed there aren’t a number of settings and resources controls that would allow us better control over the end result. It does work so I won’t be the Grinch.
Go to the tree and get your early present.
Merry Christmas
Factoids for Christmas week because they are so cheery and worth thinking about…
Speak of Cheeseburgers
WISDOT really does employ recycled cheese brine to salt their highways. The idea I suppose is to impress the eternal smell of ripe Cheddar on holiday Wisconsin travelers and shoppers.
Personally, I’d go for deicing departing airliners with it – a much larger marketing reach in that.
I’m wondering if they’ll send a load to New Jersey for deicing purposes at this year’s outside Super Bowl. It might go along well with the Philly cheesestakes and Denver omelets which may be likely.
Obamacare is also sure to mandate we reduce the salt and cheese is our diets by February given the rate of change in that. You will certainly pay more if you eat cheesecake. Food is the new crime.
We should not be surprised. It’s a global world.
They are playing hockey outside in Dodger Stadium in January. Dodger dogs not brats? Who knew?
Then again most people don’t know Zambonis were invented in and are still manufactured in sunny Southern California. A Zamboni is that machine they use to smooth the ice. Obviously a great tool invented by an Italian American from where? You guessed it.
Will they use a real Zamboni in Sochi for the Winter Olympics? Perhaps.
Who knew you could have the Winter Olympics is a beach resort town with a water park and palm trees? Yep! Sochi looks like Venice with extended beach erosion control going on…No! Not the one in Italy – Venice Beach.
The art of Export to applies to odd places.
Yes! I can attest that driving the Zamboni is fun even if all you do is go round and round and up and down.
Life’s like that.