OK you've been a CAD geek for years. Land Desktop is the warm familiar blanky (maybe it’s a Snuggie) that's wrapped around you as you sit before the fire on a cold winter's night. Besides the never-ending ice, snow, and COLD of this year, some FEAR is creeping in.
It's a healthy fear. You should pay attention, even if you aren't out in the cold already.
Man. It is cold.
Honey. Is there really enough wood out back to get us through THIS winter?
Yep, reading Little House on the Prairie to your kids at bedtime suddenly takes on a whole new meaning. Laura Wilder didn't need to make all that stuff up, you know. (Folks. Books are More than a TV show.)
Some Make Glacial Progress
I hear "We're stuck in LDT" ; "We tried, but its too much hassle."; "We haven't been able to get it fully implemented."; "Its sucks for grading"; and mostly "We use it...well...sort of." all the time.
I wish I could say I hear this so much because we offer the Free Jump 4 Civil 3D that attracts those who've been "left behind" by global economic (and/or climate) change.
"The rain falls on both the rich and the poor."
I don't (and won't) share our site download list with anyone, but I can say that big AEC firms, government agencies of all sizes, industry "experts", and even those "in the know" show up here @ cadpilot.com all the time.
There's a Reason for the Season
Downloads of our recent Jump 4 Release updates show that our NCS 4.0 compliant Civil 3D templates, thousands of Civil 3D Styles and Sets, and way that InstantOn Basic makes Civil 3D Ready to Run are obviously pretty useful to almost everyone.
A New Standard is Needed
"Upheaval" may be the world's operative word today. It works for me. No matter what happens next; the past is gone and life has forever changed. My life has changed. Trust me. You'd be hard-pressed to top my personal sob story. But you won't hear me cry in my soup.
Who has time?
Spring Will Come
The sun will shine. Snow melts. Water flows downhill as every engineer knows. You can run away, sandbag, or engineer and work like crazy and harness the power of the coming flood. Nah. Maybe not ALL that power but maybe just a little, bitty portion of the flood.
Jump
Yes. Economy aside, AutoCAD Civil 3D is much More productive than any other civil engineering software I am aware of. It will unquestionably put a lot of people who don't or won't learn to use it out of work. Economic downturns aside - that would have happened anyway or else More people will eventually use the software to do More new things (my personal favorite).
I've been saying that model-based software is going to do this for a long time. I'm obviously not alone in that. Productivity improvement and More design flexibility is reality. That is not Autodesk marketing hype or sales spin.
I also don't say this because I think Civil 3D is "perfect". It is not. But a chain saw really is faster than an axe for cutting wood.
The "better" tool is NOT the same
I thought I might spare you the infamous chain saw joke.
But I won't resit because it speaks volumes.
A old school lumberjack walks into the local hardware store. He's checking out the chainsaws when the helpful hardware man stops buy.
Sir. Can I help you?
Well, ya see, I'm a lumberjack and I hear these here chainsaws can save me a ton of work.
Well sir, its pretty easy to cut a chord of wood a day with one of these pro grade bad boys.
Sounds good. I take thata one!
That's one of the best ones made. Can I walk you through how it works?
Son. I'm a lumberjack. If it cuts wood, I get it. I truly do.
OK. Just remember to keep it sharp and the chain well oiled.
If you have any problems, just come on back and ask for me.
Gotcha. Thankya for the help.
A month later the lumberjack shows back up at the store...
Son, no matter what I do I can't for the life of me cut more than a 1/4 chord a day with this chainsaw you sold me. I want to return it.
Sir, I don't understand that at all. This is one of the best chainsaws money can buy. A chord a day is a breeze...
Have you kept it sharp and the chain well oiled?
Well son. I been a sharpen' and oilin' the d#$! thing four times a day.
My axe never had it so good.
Sir. Let me take a better look.
The hardware man checks the chain.
The tension is a bit loose and the chain looks a bit beat up, but its really sharp.
He flips the On switch, checks the choke, and pulls the starter rope...
"What's that sound?"
I grew up in a wood heated house. You don't cut wood with a chainsaw the same way you do with an axe. I KNOW the difference. You will hurt yourself if you do. Chainsaw work is really a TEAM sport. Today, I abhor fireplaces. Ask my wife. There is no romance before the fire for me. I picture being drenched in freezing rain hauling wood uphill in the mud to dry out and do it one More time.
Frankly, I walked away from both skills altogether as soon as I could. I make that point because Civil 3D is not for everyone even all CAD geeks.
People, their tools, and what they do for work is serious and important stuff.
It is ok to put down the shovel and step away from the ditch.
Tell me. Is it Training or Retraining?
You have Civil 3D skill or you don't. No one can or will hand a valuable skill to you. I've trained literally thousands of people in this stuff. All the good students get it that training never ends. There is a lot too learn. The learning doesn't go away either. I'm "certified" Civil 3D expert and I personally work at those skills on my own (unpaid) time every day. Go ahead call me crazy. But do you?
I've never met a manager wouldn't won't let an employee come in early or stay late to learn how to do something on their own time that would help the organization. People pay for marketable, salable and useful skill. Anything else is madness or a temporary illusion.
Tough times make those realities More apparent to all.
There is no reason to not be GOOD and skilled in AutoCAD Civil 3D unless you really want to do something else. Employed or unemployed, you can probably get an educational version from Autodesk for free even if the current boss won't agree to run it.
Anyone with a little work can afford an InstantOn Basic .
Need Civil 3D to Make Sense?
Call me...or throw another log on the fire.