More Assembly Improvements

As I discussed in my previous post, Civil 3D 2013 has added some significant improvements in regards to the way we create our assemblies and subassemblies.  Another new feature added is the recognition of the side that you are selecting when adding a subassembly to another.  I have select the standard curb and gutter subassembly to add the lane outside super subassembly on the right.  Notice that I purposely have selected the side to be left.

In the screen capture below, you can see that I have selected the right side of the lane.

You can see below, that despite have the curb subassembly set to left, Civil 3D determines that we really need it to be on the right side.

A few other options that have been added when you are about to add a subassembly is insert and replace.

The first option is insert.  This allows the user to insert a subassembly between two existing ones.  In the past we would have to delete a portion of the assembly to accomplish this.  It is important to note that the user needs to select a portion of the existing subassembly that the user wants to insert between.  In the capture below, the user needs to touch a portion of the lane to get the generic link to connect between it and the curb.

As you can see below, the generic link as added between the two.

The other option that we will look at is replace.  Replace allows the user to replace one subasembly for another.  The user simply selects the new subassembly from the tool palette, and picks the one to remove.  These two new options give greater flexibility and time savings to the user.

Assembly Naming Functionality in 2013

Civil 3D 2013 has given the user lots of new functionality in terms of editing.  One of the newer functions that I have taken advantage of is the naming of assemblies and subassemblies.  I routinely rename subassemblies for the purpose of easily finding a target within the corridor mapping.  As you can see from the screen capture below, it is very easy to get confused when trying to assign targets to the subassembly.  

This new functionality within 2013 gives the user the opportunity to rename both the subasembly and assembly at the actual time of creation.  To take advantage of this, the user will access the command settings in the location seen below.

The two options to take note of are assembly group and subassembly name prompt.  You will want to toggle both on.

Once the user begins the create an assembly command, they will see this pop up box when picking the first subassembly to attach to the baseline.  You will be given an option to rename the assembly as needed.

As you can see from the screen capture below, the user will be given the option to rename each subassembly as they are added.

This new functionality gives the user better control of his or hers corridor at the time of creation.

Missing Coordinates

I was teaching last week at a client's site, when an old error reared its ugly head on a laptop.  One of my students was trying to use Google Earth, when she was unable to set a coordinate system.

To fix this issue is a relatively simple process.  Simply copy the Geospatial Coordinate Systems folder from the path shown in the screen capture below, on a machine with working drawings with good coordinate systems, and overwrite on the troubled machine.

Simply reboot Civil 3D, and the coordinate system are visible.