Autodesk Civil 3D includes many powerful and capable grading tools. We each develop our go to lists of favorites and preferred workflows to follow. Ted is a Feature Lines Only fanatic. Sally is a Site Design Corridor wunderkind. The company design group in Tulsa banned the use of Civil 3D Grading Objects in all projects. We know the drill.
Our preferred habitual tools and requisite workflows help us all get our Civil 3D production civil engineering and survey projects out the door. Productivity is indeed a consistent process thing.
One reason why I rant about the value of Civil 3D Project Template customization and continuous development so often.
Production Popularism
These personal and corporate workflow and tool preferences drive our complaints and the Civil 3D Wish List requests hurled at Autodesk. No problem with that. Feedback is essential. I can guarantee that Autodesk hears from me. I know what I do in Civil 3D Land is not what most folks do. I don’t hold my breath.
What most folks do is also not the most important thing in any case. Real world Project deliverable productivity in Civil 3D is not the result of a poll, a popularity contest, or the by-product of a programming focus group. Great tools help, but skilled people matter more.
We know that. Do we behave that way?
Do we practice the discipline of Learn and Burn?
What Works Can Imprison Us
Did you wake up this morning and discover that Civil 3D has changed?
I hope so.
When this event happens to us (and it always does), we usually discover whatever it was happened a while ago. We were head down doing the do that we do and failed to notice. Me too.
Can you see me banging my head on my keyboard?
If the head bangin’ event happens to me once a month, I consider that I am doing the do that I do. If not, I get nervous. I return and practice my Learn and Burn katas.
Expert’s Disease is a real thing - a plague upon all our houses.
Practical Keyboard Deconstruction
Not so long ago I did a Grading Optimization 2023 Playtime post and in-depth video. Is GO 2023 ready for prime time? You bet. The other more important thing is I paused my Framework for Civil 3D 2023 development work for a bit to get ‘er done. A keyboard siren was calling.
Autodesk recently released a simple and significant series of GO Productivity Study videos.
Let’s call them simple grading design scenarios that compare our traditional Feature Lines Only method and practice with GO Tools and workflows.
The simple and practical reality the following quick videos present is way too easy to miss. Don’t.
GO Productivity Study Mass Grading
GO Productivity Study Retaining Walls
GO Productivity Study Parking and Building Pads
GO Productivity Study Pond Storage
GO Productivity Study Building Pads
Grading Optimization is not an all or nothing proposition. Site Grading with GO is not a binary choice. Learn to employ the best tools at hand for the job - Feature Lines, Corridors, and GO.
Burn that into our brains.
Can you see me banging my head on my keyboard?
How can we annotate our improved grading plans, site designs, and Multiple Baseline Corridors faster and better in Civil 3D?
See the recent Framework for Civil 3D 2023 Project Updates post and video for some Label Style Expression Set magic in Civil 3D.
How to Make Civil 3D Work Better
Get the Framework for Civil 3D Release 8