AutoCAD Civil 3D started out to establish a new civil engineering design paradigm. Get the model and the data right. For practical purposes that right means - suitable. From that suitable model we may automatically publish what we need to deliver in many forms.
This is the first installment in a multi-post review of key Civil 3D Tools. A primer on the mission critical capabilities and tools in Civil 3D Survey. Last week we reprised how the fundamentals of Civil 3D Buckets and the Buckets of Bullets available to us can empower us make Civil 3D greater than it first appears. Survey in Civil 3D provides another lavish illustration.
It is safe to say that Survey in Civil 3D got dragged along for the ride for years. It took a good number of Civil 3D releases for a practical Civil 3D Survey emerge. Whether as a surveyor or civil engineer you like how Civil 3D Survey does that or not – productive survey work in Civil 3D is possible today.
Quick Surfaces in Civil 3D Survey
Amidst all that hope and change, it is easy to overlook important benefits. I must ask that famous civil training question,
“How many existing surfaces are there in your project?”
As many as you need.
From One the Many
This concept of collected multiples is central to the iterative design model behind AutoCAD Civil 3D. That may send shivers down your spine or tingles up your leg.
Put this bluntly…
How many Survey Dbs are there in a project? How many Description Key Sets? How many Point Groups? Point Styles? Point Labels Styles? Survey Queries? These are part of a huge list. What the heck. How many Civil 3D templates do you need? The answer remains the same.
As Many As You Need
Civil 3D creates multiplied complexity better than any other civil engineering and survey software around. We do receive a chaos of choice. This is the bad news shiver and the good news tingle. For our Civil 3D environment to be productive we are responsible to manifest managed choice and structure. This should not be the Civil 3D user burden. This should be a realized benefit.
Order From Chaos
The Framework for Civil 3D integrates all the parts into a managed structure and cohesive whole. We even supply in-depth resources like a more extensive Survey Query Library AddOn shown in the video. The designed in resources, tools, and structures allow to you manage and change that whole into your own productive advantage. That’s a competitive advantage we deliver to many happy customers at an affordable price in Jump Kit.
I must echo an important and now more obvious Civil 3D Survey question:
“How many Survey Dbs are there in your project?”
Don’t Call it the Survey Db
The benefits of multiple Survey Dbs is way too easy to overlook.
In brief multiple Survey Dbs:
- Allow us to better separate the existing from the proposed and all those proposed options
- Allow us to phase larger scale projects
- Allow us to separate the recorded from the found but publish the results together
- Help a lot if the mix of survey data is in different coordinate systems and/or data sources
- Allow us to store backups and audit trails based on project benchmarks
- Are perhaps easier to manage the multiple Networks, Ranges of Points, and other inside Civil 3D Survey management methods that can be employed when you use only one Survey Db.
It is still a good idea to have and maintain a project Point Range Plan. - Are really good for managed annotation both based on location and annotation not based on location
- Allow us to share common data and processes across projects with only the creative use of some basic Civil 3D Survey user management skills - aka Where is the Working folder now?
The last couple in the list perhaps require some more detailed explanation. More on those built-in benefits a bit later on.
Want to get a great start and/or an in-depth course in the practical use Civil 3D and Survey.
Visit our Civil 3D Survey at Jump Speed page.
Register and get more in-depth help, documentation and training for AutoCAD Civil 3D.
Next time discover essential tools to address record and found data better inside your Civil 3D project.