Autodesk released the usual collection of Extensions and Utilities for Autodesk Civil 3D 2023 this week. The Civil 3D Extensions and Toolbox Utilities do tend to make the week prior to Memorial Day weekend interesting. These important tools are something we must wait for each year here in Civil 3D Land.
Of course, the most significant addition to Civil 3D was also released earlier this week – The Framework for Civil 3D 2023. The Civil 3D ToolSet that makes Civil 3D work matters, don’t ya know.
See the Civil 3D 2023 Framework Products post.
We do try to keep a separate Autodesk release audit trail of such things on the CadPilot News page. Did anyone else notice there were big changes to the Autodesk Desktop app that appear to produce more false positives these days. The Desktop app and Windows cannot seem to agree. Maybe it’s just me.
Installing the new 2023 versions of the Civil 3D Extensions and Utilities also update the earlier 2022 versions when installed.
Which of the Civil 3D Extensions and Toolbox Utilities are most important to you?
Geotechnical Modeler for Civil 3D 2023
The releases include a new Geotechnical Modeler for Civil 3D 2023 and another sync update for Geotechnical Modeler for Civil 3D 2022.1. That’s not so boring. Eheh.
The Framework for Civil 3D includes Layer Standards and Spreadsheet Tools that include the NCS Geotechnical Discipline and layers, don’t ya know.
Shared Reference Point for Revit 2023
The Civil 3D side of this important Autodesk application interoperability tool is already supplied in the installed Civil 3D 2023 Toolbox.
Yeah, we can employ those same mentioned Framework Layer Standards and Spreadsheet Tools to produce acceptable Revit publication output to DWG as well.
Autodesk Coordinates Transformation Tool
Peter Funk’s improved Coordinates Transformation Tool provides vital tools for civil engineering projects where a user may need to transform Autodesk Civil 3D objects from one coordinate system to another within the drawing environment.
The tool allows for Horizontal transform, Vertical Datum transform, and Vertical Units transform from US Survey Foot to International Foot and from International Foot to US Survey Foot.
The Transform Tool provides a comprehensive report of what was transformed along with the before and after coordinates to ensure the accuracy of the transformation results.
If you are faced with the real-world coordinate system transform problem in your Civil 3D project, the Coordinates Transformation Tool now provides more acceptable results and some reporting assurance the process matched expectations.
There is also a updated version of the Autodesk Coordinates Transformation Tool 2022.1.
Expect to invest in some Coordinates Transformation Tool practice time.
Autodesk SHP Import Export Utility
The SHP Import Export Utilities and tools sound like they are all about ERSI SHP file interoperability capabilities for Civil 3D and they are. There is more to the shape of this story.
It is a bit easy to miss that SHP is a both a CAD primitive and database storage format that we can employ effectively in our daily Civil 3D production project work.
The coupling of COGO Points, Feature Lines, and Property Set data supported in this understated collection of tools in powerful indeed.
For both Survey and Design folks, the SHP Import Export Utilities a useful way to couple and effectively manage collected database data with our survey collected data and/or our design location data, don’t ya know.
See one example in the Work with Property Set Data in Civil 3D video.
There is also an updated SHP Import Export Utility 2022.1 available.
PPK Survey Extension
The PPKS tool has been around in the Civil 3D Toolbox for it seems like ages (5+ releases) and for good reason. PPK Survey means Post Process Kinematic Survey.
The Autodesk PPK Survey Extension for Civil 3D provides an interface for importing GPS data (in RINEX format) for analysis, reporting, and converting it to coordinate geometry points in an Autodesk Civil 3D drawing.
There is also an updated Autodesk PPK Survey Extension 2022.1 available.
True, the equipment manufacturer software tools tend to sexier and often are more useful, but thankfully the PPKS isn’t going anywhere either.
Ok. So, I’m a hockey fan and it’s Cup time, don’t ya know.
My Memorial Day
Memorial Day is an important holiday for me. I am named after a Revolutionary War hero. Tench Tilghman and Washington were commissioned together in June of 1775 a year before the Declaration of Independence. He died of malaria contracted at Yorktown before taking office as our first Secretary of State.
This Memorial Day I will remember my great uncle. He served in the US Marshal’s service longer than anyone else. Bill Tilghman was killed in th e lne of duty by a corrupt federal revenue officer. He was in active service aged 70.
This Memorial Day weekend I will remember my grandfather who died in the South Pacific saving others and fighting for the Liberty we should cherish and hold dear.
I will remember my father who saved the wounded and recovered the dead in all the worst places and battles in Europe in WWII. He served far longer (1939-46) and, in more armies, than any of us would ever want to imagine.
Get the Toolset to Make Civil 3D Work
Get the Framework for Civil 3D 2023