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.

Share coordinate systems between AutoCAD Civil 3D and Revit

Autodesk Labs has come up with a BIM  tool for assisting in the sharing of data between Civil and Architectural world.

 The tool specifies one common XYZ point and its orientation in the XY plane between the two coordinate systems. This reference point defines the relationship between the building and site grid.

After downloading the installer, you will see that Shared Coordinate component has been added to the toolbox.

Upon executing the utility, you will be asked to select the origin point of the building or structure.

You will also be asked to select a second point on the same structure.  This second point allows for the rotation.

You will be given the option of determining the drawing units.

Finally, you will save the coordinate system file that you can send to your counterpart on the Revit side.  This will allow you both to keep your data in the proper location at all times.

May the "Force"main be with You

One of the major new features in Civil 3D 2013 is the addition of pressure pipe.  The tools provided now give some new methods for laying out pressure pipe such as water main.

As you can see above, pressure networks have their own place to reside on toolspace.  

There are also pressure network part list similar to the one seen above.  In these parts list, there will be pipes with appropriate sizes and materials similar to what we would be expected from previous sanitary and storm parts lists.  These new parts lists will also include fittings such as tees, elbows, and crosses.  Under appurtenances, such items as gate valves will be available.  Upon creating a pressure network, you see the following options available on the ribbon.

After choosing the appropriate size, material, and depth, you can proceed to start laying out pipe.  

Notice the yellow circle and ticks as pipe creation is taking place.  The tick marks represent various angles for predefined elbows that are available to use. 

As you can see, there is no a parametric part that represent the fitting.  It is worth noting, the arrow grips allow us to flip the fitting, the diamond grip allows us to pull the pipe, and the rectangular grip allows us to change the location of said fitting.

Besides creating and editing pipes in plan view, the preview above shows how we can edit in profile view as well.  The following shows the curve pipe option.

The follow surface option is displayed below. 

As you can see from the information I have included, Autodesk has provided another great tool within the Civil 3D arsenal for designing pressure pipe.  

Volume Dashboard Extension for 2012

A few months ago, Autodesk released the Volume Dashboard Extension for subscription customers.  The volume dashboard is a more compact way of tracking multiple volume surfaces, bounded volumes, and finally generating reports within or outside of the drawing.

You should now see the dashboard under the extension manager.

After you right click and select execute, the new volume dashboard should appear.

The new dashboard allows you to keep track of all the volume surfaces created.  The boundary option is similar to the bounded volume tool that currently exists in the software.  As seen in the capture below, the dashboard boundary allows for tracking bounded areas within a given volume surface.

Finally, the dashboard allows for creating a volume report, or inserting a table into Civil 3D respectively.

Users will be now be able to calculate, report and visualize surface volumes very quickly and all in one location.

Added Data Band Labels Along Vertical Curves at Incremental Distances

Over the last two weeks, I have had two separate clients ask if there was a way to add additional labels in the profile data band where a vertical curve is present.  Also, besides adding labels, they would also like them at a given increment such as 25 feet.

After giving this question some thought, I arrived at two possible solutions.  The first solution is to create an additional data band below the profile view at the appropriate increment.

The new data band will be similar to the other with the exception of the dragged state being set to as composed.  Also, you will need to add a line component to the data band so as to mimic the line that currently separates the existing and proposed elevation.

As you can see from the screen capture above,  the new data band allows for dragging the label. 

Finally, we can drag the labels that we need from the extra data band from below into the data band in the profile view.  The second solution is to create a profile view label that extracts both the existing and proposed elevation at a given station value.

As seen in the screen capture above, the profile view label is meant to mimic the data band labels.  It is important to note that the profile view label seen above is created from two reference text labels and a line component.  The reason for the reference text is to hold the existing and proposed elevation at a given station despite dragging it up or down in the profile view.  A normal profile view label will change elevation as it is moved about the view.