Digging In...

Civil 3D 2009 Side by Side compatibility warning

2008-09-08T10:37:00.000-07:00

This issue was discovered and documented by John Rodriguez, Technical Specialist for Civil 3D at U.S. CAD.

As most of you are aware by now, Civil 3D just like its Land Desktop counterpart is not backward compatible when considering the intelligent objects that it creates. This has been the case since the beginning of Civil3D timeline. There are mechanisms that can be used to help “Port” supported objects that have been created from newer releases (LandXML) and “exportLDTdata”. This will work for some of the more basic model objects like surfaces and alignments but not for all objects.

ü An AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009 drawing can be opened directly by any application based on AutoCAD 2007 or later. However, while the drawing version is the same, the civil model version is different. Therefore users who open an AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009 drawing in AutoCAD Civil 3D 2007 or 2008 will be unable to modify or interact with the Civil 3D model. All base AutoCAD operations will be enabled.

I stumbled across an unexpected situation that needs to be known by anyone running 09 Civil3D side by side with previous releases. I was recently developing a Styles Template that was based on 2008 Civil3D. As I was nearing the completion of the template I wanted to test it out using some pre-made data that I had. At first everything worked as planned without a hitch until I inserted a file that only contained AutoCAD primitive lines, arcs and polylines. I was immediately unable to access any right click short cut menus. The objects still appeared on the Toolspace-Prospector but accessing them seemed unavailable?

I have seen warnings in the past when opening a file that contained Civil3D objects that had been created using a newer version of Civil3D.

In this particular instance I was only inserting a block that did not contain any Civil3D objects but had been saved using Civil3D 2009. There were no warnings when inserting the block that my current 2008 drawing would be placed in a state of “proxy” and that all of my Civil3D commands would be disabled!

Yikes…… What this means is if someone opens a detail block or perhaps general notes drawing or even a title block and inserts it my Civil3D drawing and its contained objects will be null and void in terms of usability!
As my testing continued I found that if I XREF’d the same Civil3D 09 saved file that the 2008 Civil3D drawing was not affected.

Southern California CAD Summit 2008

2008-08-05T09:02:00.000-07:00

The annual Southern California CAD Summit is back. Take a look below for AutoCAD, Map, 3DS Max Design and Civil 3D classes. Also, we are featuring lunch-time presentations focused on interoperability between Autodesk products in order to work with the extended design team! Come Together for a full day of Autodesk product training!

Register early to save money and also claim your free passes if you are on subscription with U.S. CAD or if you want to be on subscription with U.S. CAD!

Visit the following link to learn about the details of each class below and the instructor.
http://www.uscad.com/cad_summit_classes.html

1. Linking Excel Spreadsheets to Your Drawing (Using Tables and the new Datalink Feature)
Instructor: KaDe King
Who Should Attend: Users of AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, AutoCAD Electrical, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Land Desktop, AutoCAD Map 3D and AutoCAD MEP. All disciplines.

2. Design Visualization in 3ds MAX Design
Instructor: Steve Bennett
Who Should Attend: Users of Autodesk 3ds MAX, Autodesk 3ds MAX Design, Autodesk VIZ.

3. Gotta Have Style With Civil 3D
Instructor: Melanie Santer
Who Should Attend: This session is geared more towards CAD Managers and those individuals tasked with setting and managing template files. Users of AutoCAD and AutoCAD Civil 3D.

4. MapGuide Enterprise for Facilities, Project Management & GIS!
Instructor: Jeremiah McKnelly of Autodesk
Who Should Attend: Users of Civil 3D and Map 3D and engineers, landscape architects, public works entities and surveyors.

5. Bringing it all Together with NavisWorks
Instructor: Jason Gant
Who Should Attend: Users of 3D CAD applications that need to perform interdisciplinary coordination.

6. Using Multileaders and Creating Multileader Styles in AutoCAD 2009
Instructor: KaDe King
Who Should Attend: Users of AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Electrical, AutoCAD Land Desktop, AutoCAD Map 3D, AutoCAD MEP, AutoCAD Mechanical.

7. A Day in the Life of Design Visualization
Instructor: Eddie Perlberg of Autodesk
Who Should Attend: Users of Autodesk 3ds MAX, Autodesk 3ds MAX Design and Autodesk VIZ.

8. Grading Gone Wild With Civil 3D
Instructor: John Rodriguez
Who Should Attend: Civil engineers and designers who want to get the most out of their Civil 3D grading design tools.

9. A Better AutoCAD – AutoCAD Map 3D!
Instructor: Jeremiah McKnelly of Autodesk
Who Should Attend: Users of Civil 3D and Map 3D and engineers, landscape architects, public works entities and surveyors.

10. Collaboration Projects using 3ds MAX Design
Instructor: Steve Bennett
Who Should Attend: Users of Autodesk 3ds MAX, Autodesk 3ds MAX Design, Autodesk VIZ, AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, AutoCAD MEP, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Revit Architecture, AutoCAD Revit Structure, and AutoCAD Revit MEP.

11. Play Nice! (Collaborating Civil 3D and Revit)
Instructor: Willy Campbell
Who Should Attend: Civil Engineers, Designers, Contractors, Architects, Landscape Architects or anyone interested in the interaction of Autodesk Civil 3D with other Autodesk Architectural Software.

12. Taming Your Inner Daemons (Autodesk Network License Manager, FlexLM, LMTools)
Instructor: Jonathan Landeros
Who Should Attend: Users of all products except AutoCAD LT.

13. Out with the Old, In with the New – Migrating your MNU’s to CUI’s
Instructor: KaDe King
Who Should Attend: AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Electrical, AutoCAD Land Desktop, AutoCAD Map 3D, AutoCAD MEP, AutoCAD Mechanical.

14. Implementing Civil 3D into your organization… Best Practices (they actually exist!)
Instructor: Melanie Santer
Who Should Attend: Civil Engineers, Construction Contractors, Construction Managers who want to take control of cost estimating using Civil 3D.

15. Pipes Gone Wild With Civil 3D
Instructor: John Rodriguez
Who Should Attend: Civil Engineers, Construction Contractors, Construction Managers who want to take control of cost estimating using Civil 3D.

16. Accessing Geospatial Data using Map 3D Data Connections (FDO)
Instructor: KaDe King
Who Should Attend: Users of AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Land Desktop, AutoCAD Map 3D, Geospatial and Civil Engineers.

17. Gas & Electric Utility Solutions: Integrating Your Engineering Design & Asset Management Workflows
Instructor: Douglas L. Laslo of Autodesk
Who Should Attend: Users of Civil 3D and Map 3D and engineers, landscape architects, public works entities and surveyors.

18. Design Validation in AutoCAD Based Products
Instructor: Steve Bennett
Who Should Attend: Users of AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, AutoCAD Civil 3D and AutoCAD MEP.

19. Quantify This.......Using Civil 3D
Instructor: Darian Klare
Who Should Attend: Users of AutoCAD Civil 3D, Civil Engineers, Construction Contractors, Construction Managers who want to take control of cost estimating using Civil 3D.

20. Preparing AutoCAD Drawings for GIS – A Step-By-Step Process For Implementation
Instructor: KaDe King
Who Should Attend: Users of AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Land Desktop, AutoCAD Map 3D. Geospatial and Civil Engineers.

21. Take the Shortcut… using Civil 3D Data Shortcuts
Instructor: Darian Klare
Who Should Attend: Civil Engineers, Construction Contractors, Construction Managers who want to take control of cost estimating using AutoCAD Civil 3D.

22. Intersections and Corridors…how many pieces does it take?
Instructor: Willy Campbell
Who Should Attend: Civil Engineers, Designers, Contractors looking to design and quantify corridor models that use AutoCAD Civil 3D.

Data Shortcut Projects from 2008 to 2009

2008-04-22T07:37:00.000-07:00

Since Data Shortcuts have become much more friendly in 2009 and viable I might add... to boot, I do know of several of our customers that used 2008 data shortcuts in Civil 3D. We need to find out how easily Data Shortcuts setup in 2008 will transfer to 2009. What I have discovered is in 2008 if I create a "_Shortcuts" folder with appropriate sub-folders (Alignments, Surfaces, Pipe Networks, etc) and store the correct XML files in those sub folders, then the Data Shortcut Project seems to transfer pretty well from 2008 to 2009. I found a few minor glitches that are easy to fix and probably unavoidable.

I think the biggest challenge for folks will be putting their XML files from C3D 2008 into a "_Shortcuts" folder. The reason (if you don't know) why we want them in this specific folder is because Civil 3D 2009 creates this folder automatically under the Data Shortcut Project folder. This is the place it looks for all the XML files representing these Data Shortcuts.

If you decide to move a project from C3D 2008 to 2009, you should consider storing your XML files in this specific location in 2008 prior to moving them. There may be another way, but this did seem to work for me.

U.S. CAD exhibiting Knowledge-Trax at Autodesk University

2007-11-20T16:36:00.000-08:00

U.S. CAD will be featuring Knowledge-Trax www.knowledge-trax.com, an online assessment tool that allows architects and engineers to asses the knowledge level of their users on various Autodesk products such as AutoCAD, Civil 3D, Revit Architecture, Inventor, and Map. Knowledge-Trax has the ability to categorize the knowledge gaps for individual users within a firm and report a specific modular training program and curriculum for all users within a company. The training is targeted on specifically what each individual user needs and the assessments in Knowledge-Trax are also customizable creating another level of developing a targeted training curriculum.

We will also be on hand to share our experience concerning Civil 3D implementation and all of the best practices we have developed by working with 50+ firms in Southern California, Hawaii, and beyond. We have an abundance of information to share with you that will help you achieve more success in implementing Civil 3D for your company.

Civil 3D Services in Hawaii in new Hawaii office

2007-10-05T06:54:00.001-07:00

We have opened our first office outside of So Cal, in Hawaii. We will bring our dynamic Civil 3D Implementation and Training Services to the Hawaii marketplace. The firm we acquired in Hawaii is a production services firm that allows architects and engineers the ability to offload the creation of 3D models and constuction drawings. We typically refer to this type of service as "design-input". We are "inputting" the design that you are dictating of course. With our knowledge of using the 3D tools and design projects, we can provide an efficient mechanism by which companies can outsource additional workloads without the expense of hiring new employees. This also allows us to provide short and long term contract labor for architects and engineers.

www.uscad.com

See Press release:
http://www.tenlinks.com/news/PR/lacad/100307_aiea_hawaii.htm

Vault Implementation Package for Civil 3D

2007-10-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

At U.S. CAD, we have developed a formalized Vault Implementation Package for Civil 3D. If you are serious about implementing Vault in a Pilot Configuration for your firm followed by implementing Vault in a Production Configuration, we would be happy to share the details of our phased approach.

www.uscad.com

Civil 3D and Land Desktop 2008 SP2 almost ready!

2007-10-01T20:21:00.000-07:00

Service Pack 2 for AutoCAD Civil 3D and AutoCAD Land Desktop 2008 Update
The new target release date for Service Pack (SP) 2 for AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2008 and AutoCAD® Land Desktop 2008 software is now the week of October 8. These are both general maintenance service packs. Please refer to the readme files prior to applying SP2 for information on installation and resolved issues.
Actions: When available, you can download at:

For the readmes and service packs for AutoCAD Civil 3D software, go to: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/index?siteID=123112&id=2334435&linkID=9240698

For the readmes and service packs for AutoCAD Land Desktop, go to: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/index?siteID=123112&id=2334435&linkID=9240778

Southern California CAD Summit 2007

2007-07-03T09:46:00.000-07:00

You can do it. Take the plunge into the latest Autodesk® technology

What: Southern California CAD Summit 2007
When: August 23, 2007
Where: Anaheim Convention Center

SCCS 2007 is here and once again it’s making waves as the largest annual CAD training event in Southern California. We’re creating a splash with a full day of training, offering 40 industry-specific classes covering the latest technology for Architecture, MEP, Structural Engineering, Civil Engineering, Geospatial, Design Visualization, Mechanical and Electrical. We’ve also invited the industry’s best talent join us as our featured guest speakers, as well as select vendors that offer top technology to compliment your Autodesk solutions. Now is the time to swim (not sink) on the latest technology. Expand your pool of knowledge and register today at www.lacad.com/cad_summit.html.

Civil 3D and Land Desktop Knowledge Trax Assessments Complete

2007-01-26T20:31:00.000-08:00

Assessments for Civil 3D and Land Desktop are complete. Contact L.A. CAD to assess your skills with these technologies and determine what training is appropriate.

http://www.knowledge-trax.com/

With our exclusive Knowledge Trax assessment technology, the training for your firm can be tailored to meet the individual needs of the users. This highly customizable pre and post-assessment and screening technology allows employers to EVALUATE employees’ knowledge gaps, IDENTIFY and deliver appropriate training to help them ACHIEVE more.

The question bank in Knowledge Trax categorizes the questions so we can identify the exact subject matter where knowledge gaps exist for each user. The assessments coupled with our exclusive modular training curriculum for Civil 3D and Land Desktop finally enables a company to train their individuals on exactly what they need by grouping like individuals into the appropriate modules of training. The question bank categories match the modules of training we deliver to fill in the knowledge gaps.

L.A. CAD will credit the value of the assessments toward your training investment, or you can simply assess your users to obtain valuable results to see where you stand with your knowledge of the technology.

Seminar: Civil 3D Label Styles to meet Agency Requirements

2007-01-23T21:02:00.000-08:00

We have built many Civil 3D Label Styles for many Southern California firms to meet the requirements set forth by their customers. We have a Free seminar being offered where we will take a look at some of these Label Styles and learn what it took to create them.

To register, click here:
http://www.lacad.com/cgi-bin/calendar.pl?month=2&filter1=Infrastructure%20Solutions&filter2=All&calendar=Events&view=Event&event_id=322&datestring=20070207

Overview:
Out of the box, Civil 3D will most likely not deliver the labels that meet the requirements of your clients or your own internal standards. L.A. CAD has been involved in implementing Civil 3D and building custom label styles for several companies in Southern California that do meet the requirements of internal CAD Standards and agency requirements. In this seminar, we will take a look at some complete (and fairly complicated) label styles that meet these requirements and learn the details as to how they were composed. You will not only learn how to create these unique label styles but you will learn how to automate the production of these labels by understanding Feature Settings in Civil 3D that can automatically place these labels when you produce your design. You will also learn how to capture these label styles so you can re-use from drawing to drawing or project to project.

Topics will include:
-Creating Custom Labels
-Label Style Composer
-Layout State versus Dragged State
-Label components
-Label Sets
-Label Groups
-Text Component Editor
-Using Expressions in Labels
-Feature Settings
-Controlling Layers and Text Styles

Map 3D Webcast - Taking AutoCAD to the next Level

2007-01-08T21:44:00.000-08:00

Click on the lin below to register.

Map 3D sits on top of AutoCAD, exists in both Civil 3D and Land Desktop and is probably the one of the most underused programs from Autodesk. This webcast is geared toward automating basic drafting features that we may attempt to do in vanilla AutoCAD but are much easier in Autodesk Map.

* Multi-user Access to .dwgs
* Drawing Clean Up Tools – build topology on the fly; set tolerances, etc.(ex: closed polygon)
* Feature Classification - generating reports(ex: Bill of Materials)
* Working with Other File Types - shp, dsg, dbconnect
* Image Draping
* Map Stylization/Theming(ex: show topology feature in Map that creates the polygon)
* Integration with New MapGuide Enterprise(ex: sdf)

http://www.lacad.com/infrastructure_solutions_news.html

3-Line Profiles (revisited) and workflow

2006-11-22T00:24:00.000-08:00

Check out the following screen capture of the 3-line profile in the "Profile Base" drawing. It shows station/elevation for grade breaks. The Profile Style being used is a "3-line" style that has been preset to NOT show a profile grid and include a label set that shows station and elevation for all Grade Breaks along with the grades. Many companies store their profile grids in the Sheet Files, so this method assumes that the grid will be in the sheet files.

The above drawing exists in the Profile Base (per Vault and Project workflow) and is Externally Referenced into the Sheet files. The Profile View style applied to the profiles suppresses the grid. The 3-line profile shows the Right TC in the bottom view, the FG Centerline along with the EG centerline in the middle view, and in the top view, it shows the Left TC.

The Workflow consists of applying a Profile View Style that incorporates a grid initially, within the Profile Base drawing. Once the 3-line profiles have been created (per a previous post I made)... http://digginginc3d.blogspot.com/2006/10/3-line-profiles-in-civil-3d.html you would move the middle and top profiles down to "compress" the view of the 3 profiles... essentially moving the 3 profiles closer together. When moving them down, you should use object snaps to select points on the grid (of the top two profiles) so you have equal spacing between the 3 profiles. Once you get them close enough to where the annotation is still readable, you would then apply another "preset" profile view style (called "3-line profile view", as an example) to the 3 profiles. This style again would suppress the grid since the grid is contained within the sheet files.

Based upon the screen capture above, you would want to ensure you have created appropriate Civil 3D Label Styles that label the 3-line profile correctly for grade breaks and vertical curves on the finished grade. Although this is a work-around to having a real 3-line profile command in Civil 3D, in the event that we dont see this command soon, this is an acceptable work-around that is quite efficient.

Dynamic Grading w/ Feature Lines

2006-10-20T06:23:00.000-07:00

As you can see by the below screen capture, it is fairly obvious that the back of the lots may be higher than the pad elevations when you look at the contours. The reason for this is the finished floors have not been added yet. The lot to lot slopes are a 2 to 1 slope between the lots which are dictating the surface right now. The lot to lot slopes also are a 1% positive grade from the front to back of lot.

The pads themselves have already been turned from polylines into feature lines. The pad elevations have been automatically assigned by extracting elevations from a surface when the lots were flat (before the 1% grade was applied from front to back). This was done purposefully in order to keep the pads flat. Now we will use the Feature line editing tools to set a logical increment to bump the pads up.

On the Feature Line Toolbar in Civil 3D, we will select the elevation editor followed by picking the far left pad. Once the pad is selected, we will see the Panorama for the Elevation Editor. By selecting the Set Increment button, we can set the increment to 0.5

Then in the elevation Editor, we will use the Raise Inrementally button to raise the pads by 0.5

Provided you have your surface for the PADS set to Automatically Rebuild, you will see the contours for the PADS surface automatically re-display as you add the Finished Floor elevations. The labels for the finished floor also update automatically.

You can use the Select feature line or parcel line tool in the elevation editor to jump to a different pad...

In a matter of a few seconds for these 4 lots, you can incrementally raise the finished floor above the finished ground, and again, the labels update as well...

3-Line Profiles in Civil 3D

2006-10-18T22:32:00.000-07:00

Making an earlier post on 3-line profiles more clear.

It is very common in Southern California and some other areas in the United States to have 3-line profiles represented on drawing sheets. A 3-line profile generally consists of a profile that shows the existing ground line with the finished ground centerline as well as two other profiles that each show the existing ground along with one of them showing the Left Top of Curb and the other showing the Right Top of Curb.In Civil 3D, there is not a command that will automatically create a 3-line profile, but here is a simple work around...Create your first profile by using ProfilesàCreate from Surface. As normal, add the data and select the Draw Profile View button...

In the Profile View dialog box, you may want to keep bands for the bottom profile view of the 3-line profile.

Next, use the ProfilesCreate View command to create the other two profiles. Notice in the below screen capture, that you should consider turning off the bands for two other profiles and make sure to choose the upper left point of the grid of the previous profile view…

Once you create the three profile views, you should check to make sure the style is correct. For instance, you may want to turn off the graph title. This can be done by clicking on any profile view, then right clicking and selecting Edit Profile View Style

Once you have the three profile views with the proper style, you can begin to layout the three finished ground profiles within each of the three views. Use the ProfilesCreate by Layout tool to create your first profile.

Instead of creating all three profile views with the Create by Layout tool, you could create the last two profiles using the following method. Go to ProfilesEdit Profile Geometry. When prompted to select an FG profile, select any FG profile even though it currently exists in all three profile views, they are all really the same profile. When the following toolbar appears, select the Copy Profile button…

When the Copy Profile Data dialog box appears, ensure the Create new Profile option is selected and hit OK. Do this exact process again, to create a third FG profile.

If you look in the prospector, you will see two additional profiles with the name of Layout1 and Layout2. You can rename these profiles by right clicking on them and selecting Properties.

Next, go back to ProfilesEdit Profile Geometry and select any FG profile in any view. Based upon draw order, it will select the Layout1 or Layout2. Once the Profile Edit toolbar appears, choose the Raise or Lower PVI’s button as shown below. Proceed to move up and down the Layout1 and Layout 2 profiles. It is of course very important for you to edit these profiles to ensure the proper design of these profiles.

Now that all the profiles are designed, it is time to turn off profiles in other profile views… Right click on one of the profile views and select Profile View Properties. When the dialog appears, select the Profiles tab. You will notice that you can control which profiles appear in this profile view. In the below, we want to see only the EG and FG, not the Top of Curb profiles…

Following this, you will need to highlight then right click on the two other profile views. One would show the EG with the left TOC and the other would show EG with the right TOC. The result might look like the following…

Vault or Data Shortcuts?

2006-10-02T12:02:00.000-07:00

This might help you make a decision based on the latest from the Dave and Dan show...

http://civilcommunity.autodesk.com/blogs/blog/4/blogpost/2900/

Vault and External References (Xrefs)

2006-09-29T03:51:00.000-07:00

Do Xrefs and Vault work together in Civil 3D? Keep reading… We believe we will see some improvements in this area for Civil 3D. As of right now, vanilla AutoCAD has the ability to Xref from the Vault. In other words, you will see within the Xref manager in vanilla AutoCAD the ability to attach a drawing from Vault. We can product the same end result in Civil 3D although it is a little different process currently. See below screen capture, this is what we will see in Vanilla AutoCAD if Vault is installed…

I expect we will see this option in the Xref manager within Civil 3D soon. However, in Civil 3D, there is still a way to attach an Xref to several drawings to the extent that if that underlying Xref is changed, it will affect all references to that drawing throughout multiple files in Vault.

The way to make this work in Civil 3D right now is to Xref from the Working Folder. If we setup our working folder properly, and we have a drawing in this working folder that needs to be Xref’d into several drawings, all drawings in Vault that contain this Xref drawing will be updated when this drawing is changed.

This screen capture shows the same drawing in the Xref manager “BASE Linework 1” drawing file also exists in Vault under the Geometry Base Files folder.

When you want to Xref the BASE Linework 1 drawing file into other drawings, you will want to Xref it from the Working folder. More specifically, you would go to the Civil 3D Working Folder location, locate the project you are currently working in, and then find the BASE Linework 1 drawing file within that project and proceed to Xref it into as many drawings as you want. Then you can add or check-in those drawings to Vault. Even though I am seemingly adding this drawing several times to Vault, and the original one that was added to Vault was a copy from the original working folder location, Vault works out these relationships and it is intuitive enough to know that this file should not show up more than one time within Vault. See working folder location below where this drawing will be Xref’d from whenever you want to reference it…

Below shows a project that is referencing the BASE Linework 1 drawing more than once, but you will notice amongst all the drawings, we only see this file once in the list. It so happens that all the Plan Set files are using this BASE Linework 1 drawing file as an Xref attachment…

The "Linework" Drawing, in a Vault Project

2006-09-19T06:46:00.000-07:00

The way we are using the Linework drawing in a Vault project is to bring together all of the Civil 3D objecs that reside in different files. At the base of the "Triangle" theory of a Vault project may exist several Civil 3D object drawings where each drawing contains a different Civil 3D object.

In the Linework drawing, we use data references through Vault to bring in the various C3D objects. The Linework drawing is then Externally Referenced into the sheet drawings. It is also fine to bypass the Linework drawing all together and data reference the C3D object drawings directly into the sheet files.

In the Linework drawing, you have the ability to control all the C3D objects simultaneously. For instance, if you have 20 alignments in the Linework drawing, and you want to apply a different look to all of those alignments simultaneously, you can create the appropriate style in another drawing and make sure the alignment style name is the same as the style applied to the 20 alignments in the other drawing. When you drag and drop the alignment style from the other drawing into the drawing with the 20 alignments, you will be prompted to overwrite as an option. If you choose the overwrite option, you will see all 20 alignments change simultaneously.

Using the "Standard" Style

2006-09-13T06:54:00.000-07:00

With some customers we have been building styles for; we have mutually decided to use a modified version of the “Standard” style for their main standard. The idea is that one of the default styles out of the box is of the name Standard, plus it is a logical name to use for your standard style. We have of course modified the Standard style for all objects to mimic their standards, plus built a few other styles as necessary. One company in particular has offices throughout the Southwest US and has some regional differences in their standards. Despite those differences in the “Standard” style per office, they are still using the Standard style name as their main standard… again; there are slight modifications to the Standard style per office.

One thing this will afford you is if you receive a set of drawings where a company built their standards into the Standard styles for several objects, you can open their drawing on your end along with opening your DWT file that has all your standards and proceed to drag in drop your Standard into the drawing you received from them. This will then convert the objects to your standard, provided you use the Overwrite option. Even if you used styles of a different name then another office or company, you can still achieve this by opening their files and renaming the styles in their drawing to Standard, or to some other name that you have used, then you can drag and drop your Standards into their files to convert the objects.

As you can see from the below screen capture, a specific style has been applied to the profiles…

You can see the style being used is Standard by the next screen capture…

If you received these drawings from another firm that has modified the Standard Style, you can just drag and drop in your Standard style to change the profiles. When you drag in your standard style, you will be prompted to Overwrite, Rename, or Skip, in this case you will want to overwrite:

Once you hit OK, you will see the changes to the profiles:

Upgrading Autodesk Data Management Server for Civil 3D 2007

2006-09-12T17:16:00.000-07:00

We recently ran into a size limitation issue with a customer utilizing MSDE with Vault and Civil 3D 2007. We provided this solution to this customer that solved the problem for the time being as it doubles the capacity for the ADM server. This extends the size of the database from 2GB to 4GB. This will upgrade MSDE to SQL 2005 Express Edition.

Click on the below link to learn more about this upgrade and to load Microsoft SQL 2005 Express Edition.

Microsoft SQL 2005 Express Edition

Vault Workflow in Civil 3D 2007 Webcast

2006-09-03T06:57:00.000-07:00

We have been asked to lead an Autodesk webcast on 9/15/06 on a proposed workflow for a typical Civil Engineering Project utilizing Civil 3D 2007 with Vault. Much of this workflow can be reviewed by the several posts (Part 1,2 & 3) of the Vault Workflow posts I have created. However, this workflow has been a "Work in Progress" that we are trying to make better and better. Click below to join...

All Autodesk Civil 3D webcasts

Civil 3D 2007 Service Pack 2 now available

2006-09-03T06:51:00.000-07:00

Click on the link below to see all the issues addressed in this service pack.

Civil 3D 2007 Service Pack 2

Southern California CAD Summit, a Huge Success

2006-08-25T03:41:00.000-07:00

Wow! This event completely shattered my expectations this year. We had nearly 400 people this year whereas last year we had about 300. The event was held at the Long Beach Convention Center; we should have pictures soon.

The Civil 3D classes were packed, some having as many as a 100 people and none of them had less than 50 people. We presented 6 total Civil 3D classes including Vault Workflow for Civil 3D, Road Rehabilitation, and Styles Configurations.

The whole event was very up beat and positive and those that attended were very happy. L.A. CAD personnel were there in full force making this a stand-out event. If you are in the Southern CA area, or even if you are not, you will want to consider attending this event in the years to come! Lastly, thanks to Lynn Allen as our special guest speker and all the made this event happen!

Service Pack 2 Fixes for Civil 3D 2007

2006-08-04T21:56:00.000-07:00

Click here to link to info on Dirt Diva (Melanie Santer)

Southern California CAD Summit

2006-07-28T21:55:00.000-07:00

Don't forget about the Southern California CAD Summit; it is a cost effective alternative to Autodesk University. Autodesk University may be too costly for some individuals and some companies when you include the admission and lack of billable time. However, we truly believe your time spent at Autodesk University is will worth the investment. If Autodesk University is still not an option, the Southern California CAD Summit is the next best thing. There are many classes to choose from on several Autodesk technologies. Plus, Lynn Allen will be speaking again!

Early bird pricing has been extended until August 7th, so sign up quick, classes are filling up. We have over 220 people already registered and are approaching our goal of 500 people quickly!!!

Sign up for a strong lineup of Civil 3D Courses, AutoCAD Courses and Map and Mapguide courses. Click on the SCCS logo below for more details and to register!

VAULT with Sheet Set Manager; Additional Post

2006-07-25T16:00:00.000-07:00

In regards to the last posting on utilizing Vault with Sheet Set Manager, I received some more feedback from a few individuals. Namely, James Wedding with Engineered Efficiency as well as a customer from Hawaii.

If you choose to utilize Sheet Set Manager ONLY to organize your files for Plotting, Publishing, or perhaps for Etransmitting a set of drawings, you could go ahead and check your Plan Set Drawings into Vault. Just remember, if you do check these files into Vault, you should NOT be opening files from Sheet Set Manager. If you do, my colleague on this post called it more of a "dirty open" because you would have to change the permissions, etc. We don't recommend this.

So, to reiterate from the above and some previous posts. When you create the Sheet Set, if you have already checked your Plan Set files into Vault, you can create the Sheet Set from the drawings in your "Working Folder". However, do not open the drawings from your Working Folder to make changes. In order to make changes to your Plan Set drawings, if you check them into Vault, use the Check-out feature from Vault. Then, you can utilize Sheet Set Manager for batch plotting, batch transmitting, etc.

Keep in mind, the above recommendation would be for companies that do not currently utilize Sheet Set Manager to Open and Close files. I do know some firms that really like to use Sheet Set Manager for opening and closing files, nearly all the time. If you REALLY want to leverage Sheet Set Manager for opening and closing files, then the above recommendation would NOT be for you. You can refer back to the earlier post on Vault with Sheet Set Manager.

Please let me know if you have any additional comments.

VAULT with Sheet Set Manager; PART 3 of Vault Workflow

2006-07-21T07:10:00.000-07:00

Can VAULT work with Sheet Set Manager (SSM)? Well........ not really! But if everything worked, there would be no reason for "work-arounds".

This is really Part 3 of the proposed workflow for Vault. I had this in my brain for awhile but did not find the time to blog it.

First, if you commit a Plan Set Drawing (Sheet File) to Vault, or multiple Plan Set drawings for a given project to Vault, you cannot leverage the Sheet Set Manager to check-in and check-out those files. As you probably know, once you commit a drawing to Vault, you need to utilize the check-in and check-out features as opposed to opening and closing the drawings. When you access drawings through SSM, you are opening and closing. If you try to create a Sheet Set from Plan Set Drawings that have been committed to Vault, it is nearly impossible. I haven't tried, but I really don't want to. As you may know, Vault is document management system for our engineering data, and the way it stores the drawing files and names the drawings makes it impossible to create a Sheet Set from those drawings committed to Vault.

The work-around... Don't commit your Plan Set drawings to Vault. When I first thought about this, I figured this would not be a solution because I assumed if you want to reference (through Data References) Civil 3D objects like Alignments and Surfaces into the Plan Set file, then the Plan Set drawings must be attached to the same project as the Alignments and Surfaces... I assumed incorrectly. As it turns out, you can access the data from any project into any project anytime you like. In fact, even if you have a drawing (in this case a Plan Set drawing) NOT attached to a project in Vault, meaning it is NOT committed to Vault at all, you can still access any data from any project. Some of us are skeptical if this was done purposefully or accidentally by Autodesk. Hopefully they don't "fix" this, which essentially breaks it!

Additionally, if you add the data references into the Plan Set files that are NOT committed to Vault, even though the design files that contain those Alignments, Profiles, and Surfaces are added to Vault, if changes are made to those design objects, you will be notified that they need to be synchronized through the prospector in Civil 3D within the Plan Set files. Did that make sense? In other words, they dynamics of objects between DWG files still work when you use the Data References. Now you can keep your Plan Set drawings independent of Vault in order to leverage the Great capabilities of Sheet Set Manager.

I hope this helps… please let me know if you have any questions or if I missed anything that comes to mind.

New Autodesk Civil 3D Whitepapers

2006-07-12T22:08:00.000-07:00

The one on large subdivisions also shows a proposed workflow within Vault.

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=5173807

Southern California CAD Summit

2006-06-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

To Register, click here

Each year, L.A. CAD hosts the largest Autodesk University type event in Southern California, the Southern California CAD Summit (SCCS). We will see you at the Long Beach Convention Center where Lynn Allen will be joining us again this year just like the last two years conducting her tips and tricks for AutoCAD 2007. This is our third year running this event. Last year in San Diego we had over 300 people attend and the prior year in Orange County we had over 125 people. We expect 500 people this year so sign up soon.

L.A. CAD Subscription customers will receive a certain amount of free passes to this event. If you are not an L.A. CAD subscription customer, you can still sign up. All attendees must submit their registration request at the link provided below. This event is larger than local AUGI CAD Camps with more classes to choose from, more exhibitors to see, and more prizes to win. The SCCS course catalog has been finalized for registration and viewing. To submit your registration request and review the costs to attend, please visit the following link:

http://www.lacad.com/cad_summit.html

This years Civil 3D 2007 courses include the following:

1. Vault Workflow for a Typical Civil Engineering Project - This class will cover a workflow that was put together by L.A. CAD and validated with several Civil Engineering companies in Southern California. It even discusses how Vault and Sheet Set Manager can be used together.
2. The Rocky Horror Template Show in Civil 3D with Style(s) - This class will cover most everything that can be customized in Civil 3D and how to share the customization that represents your CAD and Design Standards through templates. It will also cover production quality Civil 3D labels.
3. This "Spot" reserved for Grading - In this course, we will cover many of the new grading tools in Civil 3D 2007 in a real world application of these tools for a commercial site. We will be covering the new feature line tools, grading objects, and how to create dynamic surfaces with unique production quality labels representing finished surfaces that will allow you to evaluate your design against quickly against your design criteria.
4. Pipes don't have to be Draining - In this class you will learn how to create customized parts lists in Civil 3D 2007 that incorporate appropriate graphical and CAD standards for both plan and profile. You will also learn how to incorporate certain standard design rules into your customized parts lists and how to save this all in standard template files. We will also look at some of the Pipe layout tools with transparent command features along with running interference and proximity checks along with interference graphics.
5. Road Rehabra-Cadabra - Utilizing the power of Civil 3D subassemblies, we will look at a real world application of using assemblies, subassemblies, and corridors. In this course, we will start with an exsting roadway surface and learn how to improve that surface by holding to certain existing features like edges, crowns, holding certain cross fall to improve the roadway.
6. One Point, Two Point, Red Point, Blue Point - You will learn most aspects of working with points like importing and exporting, customizing the label properties of different point groups and working with description keys. You will learn how to control layout and dragged state properties of points and also how to change orientation of points utilizing options such as Object, WCS, and View.

Vault Tech Tip: Creating Plan Sets (Alignments & Profiles)

2006-06-13T19:00:00.000-07:00

According to the Workflow described in Part 1 and Part 2 in my earlier posts (links here), here is a validation of this workflow. I had to remove some of the images from this post as they were giving me fits.

http://digginginc3d.blogspot.com/2006/05/vault-workflow-in-civil-3d-2007-part-1.html
http://digginginc3d.blogspot.com/2006/05/vault-workflow-in-civil-3d-2007-part-2.html

In the proposed workflow we described, we indicated one object per drawing (except with a profile that needs to be in the same drawing as its alignment). This workflow is being well received by several companies and was validated this week as we were teaching this workflow to Seattle Public Utilities.

In the Workflow, we suggested the alignment and profile should be in the same drawing. What this means is the profile has to be in the same drawing as where the alignment was created. It is possible to put the profile in a separate drawing by adding the alignment reference and then creating the profile. However, when you choose to add that drawing to the same project within Vault, it will NOT add the profile to the Vault. If the profile is not in the Vault, you can not create a reference to that profile within a Plan Set or Sheet drawing.

As you can see from the screen capture below (removed), there is a profile in the drawing. The profile was created from a Surface reference and Alignment reference. Since the profile was created in a separate drawing from the alignment, it will not allow you to add the profile to the Vault, thus you cannot use the profile as a reference in a Plan Set drawing.

As you can see by the next screen capture (remove), when adding the profile in the same drawing where the alignment is created, it does allow you to add the profile to the project within Vault. This means we can now add the profile reference into any Plan Set or Sheet drawing.

Vault Tech Tip: Add and Detach in same menu?

2006-06-09T20:04:00.000-07:00

I discovered this issue while working with some of our customers data. If you are in a drawing that has already been added to a Vault Database and you want to do a Saveas to save that drawing as another DWG file, it can create a bit of confusion when you attempt to add the new drawing to the Vault. As you can see below, you see a Sync to Project and Detach to Project at the same time you see an Add to Project. You can still Add the new drawing to the project by selecting Add to Project, but again, this could confuse individuals the first time they see this can easily create problems in your Vault database if you are not careful.

When checking in drawings to the Vault, you have the option to add Civil 3D objects that you want to share. When doing a Saveas, it is easy to have duplicate objects in the new drawing from the previous drawing which could cause you to add the same objects for sharing to the Vault database. Saveas may not be the best choice of commands when you are actively adding drawings to the Vault, so be cautious as you use the Saveas command.

When adding a drawing to the Vault for the first time, you only see Add to Project, not Sync or Detach. Until you need to make your Civil 3D drawings available to others, you should consider NOT adding the drawings to the Vault until it is necessary. In this scenario, you might consider doing any Saveas commands prior to adding those drawings to the Vault. Then, when you are ready to add your drawings to the Vault for sharing purposes or other, you can then open each file individually and then individually add them to the Vault.

Vault Workflow in Civil 3D 2007 (Part 2)

2006-05-18T21:12:00.000-07:00

PART 2
(see May 16th Part 1 post)

We are positioning this post and the previous one as a "proposed" method or one possible method of workflow within Vault. Also understand, this is for a "typical" project and we understand it is not for all projects.

This portion was not included in the original post (Part 1) on a "proposed" Vault workflow, but certainly IS a part of the workflow.

Worth mentioning up front… Although this proposed workflow uses the principle of “One Object per drawing” (except with an alignment and its profile) we believe this workflow could represent the most efficient way to work because the drawing sizes would be much smaller. And as we suggested in Part 1, the fact that the objects exist in different drawings can really be transparent to the user.

Linework File
There would be a need for a "linework" file. The way this file would be setup is by creating references to all of your alignment drawings in the Linework.dwg file. Once the alignment references exist, we can use these to create offsets for other road features, and establishing curb return areas, etc. Essentially, we might include in this file everything that is not represented by a Civil 3D object. Once we have all of these primitive 2D graphics, we would recommend removing the alignment references. The reason to remove the alignment references is so we can create the references directly into the sheet files mentioned below.

Steps...
1. Start a new linework drawing, save it to a logical name and add it to the appropriate project in Vault.
2. Create references to all alignments in the project by going to the Projects area in your toolspace and creating the references in the linework file
3. Use these alignments to create offsets for roadway features, curb return and intersection areas, etc. (Again, anything that will not be represented by a Civil 3D object).
4. Remove the alignment references from the linework file.

Sheet Files
In your sheet files, you would XREF in the linework drawing that contains all of the primitive graphics not represented by Civil 3D Objects. In your Sheet Files, you would create data references to your alignments, surfaces and profiles. The advantage of these alignments and profiles not residing in an XREF is that you can stylize them in the sheet files. If you setup your default styles correctly in Civil 3D, the alignments and profiles will always come in looking the same and being labeled the same. The disadvantage to this method is if you wanted to change the style for the alignments in 100 drawings, this could be time consuming. For this purpose we mention a few alternatives... if it is that important to use this workflow described here, develop a routine that will automate the task of changing the style in 100 drawings. Alternatively, keep the alignments in the Linework file mentioned above and then XREF the linework file in containing the alignments. This way the alignments reside in a more centralized location.

Steps...
1. Start a new sheet file, save it to a logical name, and then attach to your project.
2. XREF your linework file(s) in
3. Create references from the Projects area of the toolspace to your alignments, surfaces and profiles.
4. You will need to provide some detailing on the alignments and profiles. Some sheets will need to pull in multiple alignments and in all sheets you will need to construct match lines on plan and profile. You should be able to accomplish this easy enough with a dynamic label. This is the part of Civil 3D I would insure our less experienced CAD Technicians learn so we can improve their skills.

I will say it again in conclusion… Although this proposed workflow uses the principle of “One Object per drawing” (except with an alignment and its profile) we believe this workflow could represent the most efficient way to work because the drawing sizes would be much smaller. And as we suggested in Part 1, the fact that the objects exist in different drawings can really be transparent to the user.

Vault Workflow in Civil 3D 2007 (Part 1)

2006-05-16T22:11:00.000-07:00

Most of this article was written by Mike Bandich, P.E. Mike Bandich is an L.A. CAD Project Manager and Application Engineer.

From what we have learned thus far and validated with other project managers for civil engineering firms, we believe this could be one valid approach to work flow within Vault.... additionally, this proposed workflow doesn't deal with the issue of some users that may be using AutoCAD or Map accessing the same files. We do have some thoughts on this but did not include in this proposed workflow. Please contact me at danny.counts@lacad.com with any questions/comments.

Introduction
Working with Vault – Project Management Best Practices for a Typical Civil Engineering Project

With the release of Civil 3D (2007) we are faced with the challenge of learning to work with a new (although improved) method of sharing and managing design data across project teams. Included with this release of Civil 3D is Autodesk Vault. Vault is a file management tool that works as a repository to store, access, and track versioned copies of design data. In this article we focus on the management of Civil 3D design objects (Survey Data, Points, Surfaces, Alignments, Profiles, and Pipe Networks) and how to take advantage of the power and benefits of Vault.

One important item to note upfront is the method Vault uses to manage design objects. Vault uses the source drawing from which the design objects were created to control the sharing of data. In other words, if two (or more) design objects reside within the same source drawing, only the user who has “checked-out” that drawing can be editing those design objects at any one time. This severely limits the ability to work effectively within a project team. It is for this reason to keep in mind a key concept - “One drawing, one design object.”

In the future, Civil 3D 2007 and onward, we can create virtual folders in the Vault with one of them being Alignments. If you want to check out an Alignment, you would go to the virtual alignment folder and pull it in. In some respects, if we use Vault to drive Civil 3D data where appropriate, the fact that the alignments exist in different drawings is really transparent to the user. The data essentially resides in Vault, you just need to decide which data you need to pull in.

Below you will find a typical work flow and project management best practices for using Vault within a Civil Engineering Project:

Create a new project in Civil 3D
1a. This is a database directory that will contain all the drawings and related data for a typical engineering project. Logical file naming should be employed (i.e. project number).

1b. It is recommended that this be created within Civil 3D to insure proper set up.

Create a single design object and attach to a project
2a. Within a new drawing create a single design object and attach it to the newly created project. Repeat this step for all additional design objects (one drawing, one design object).

2b. Part of the process of attaching a design object to a project is the ability to create a sub-folder beneath the main project folder. Folders should be created that correspond to the design object being attached (i.e. create a folder called “Alignments” in which all alignments will be placed. Similar folders for Surfaces and Pipe Networks should be created upon the attaching of those design objects. You do not need to create a folder for point database files. They are automatically stored directly beneath the main project folder and are visible only to a system administrator).

2c. Additionally, when a design object is attached to a project you will be prompted to enter version comments. Version comments should be descriptive enough that if the need arises they can easily be located and reverted to earlier versions of design objects. Version comments can also be used to quickly understand a project’s development and history.

2d. One exception to the one object one drawing rule would be Profiles. Profiles should be created within the same drawing that its corresponding alignment resides.

Create data references of the design objects within the production drawing.
3a. Once design objects are created we can leverage the power of Vault to create data references of the needed data objects inside the production drawing (i.e. rough grading plan, final grading plan, street improvement plan, plan and profile…etc.). A referenced design object provides a read-only copy of the object in the current drawing, but allows the object to be used to create additional design elements, as well as the ability to be displayed with the desired object/label style.

3b. If the time has been taken to set up drawing templates with predefined object and label styles for the desired production drawing the annotating and labeling of our design objects can be selected when design objects are referenced.

Conclusion
The pitfalls in working within a poorly managed project environment may include, but are not limited to the following: Files being scattered amongst individual project members leading to duplication of work; replacement of working files with out of date versions; and/or the loss of files altogether. Design projects, no matter the complexity, can quickly become unmanageable without a well defined structure and work flow. Vault offers a vessel from which we can manage large and complex data across project team members this combined with project management best practices will all but eliminate the pitfalls of a poorly managed project.

Civil 3D 2007 Data Shortcuts in XREFS

2006-05-09T16:08:00.000-07:00

In order for Data Shortcuts to work through an XREF, you need to make sure the drawing that is receiving the XREF (where the XREF drawing contains a reference to a data shortcut) is also attached to the same project. All the drawings need to be attached to the same project in order for a data reference to a surface or other object to appear in any of the other drawings when in a nested mode. For the purpose of these steps, we will be working with Drawing-A, Drawing-B and Drawing-C. It will become quite common as more individuals utilize Civil 3D to ensure these shortcuts come through when in a nested environment.

1. Create a new project in Civil 3D 2007 by changing the toolspace to a Master View
2. Right click on the projects area and select New to create a new project
3. Fill in the appropriate information for the project... like the project number and description
4. Create a surface in Drawing-A
5. Save Drawing-A and add the drawing to the project by right clicking on the drawing within the toolspace and selecting Add to Project
6. When prompted which project to choose, choose the newly created project in step 3.
7. Right click on the surface created in Drawing-A and select Create Data Shortcut
8. Open Drawing-B or start it as a new drawing file and save the drawing
9. Right click on Drawing-B in the toolspace and select Add to Project, be sure to add it to the same project s Drawing-A
10. Go down to the Projects area in the toolspace and locate the project created in step 3, locate the Data Shortcuts area, then locate the Surface Data Shortcuts area followed by the Surface shortcut you created in step 7
11. Right click on that surface data shortcut and choose Create Reference for Drawing-B, when prompted, choose OK to create the reference to the surface.
12. Next, start a new drawing, Drawing-C, or open the drawing and attach it to the same project as Drawing-A and Drawing-B.
13. XREF Drawing-B into Drawing-C. Even though the surface really exists in Drawing-A, the surface acts more like an XREF "attachment" than an XREF "overlay" because all the drawings are attached to the same project. If Drawing-C is not attached to the project, you will get a broken link to the surface reference.

Exporting to Google Earth from Civil 3D 2007

2006-05-06T06:40:00.000-07:00

This procedure was from a recent Autodesk Civil 3D 2007 webcast...

Export Google Earth
1. Assign a coordinate system to your drawing
a. It helps to use the same coordinate system as the DEM or Surface you are using is in.
2. Create a new Surface definition
3. Add a DEM file to the surface (these work best because they are closest to the surface displayed in Google Earth)
4. Make sure to transform the DEM to the coordinates set in the drawing
5. Design your alignment, profile and assembly
6. Create your Corridor
7. Create a top Surface for the corridor (the command is hard coded to just use the first surface in the list, so don’t bother creating more then one)
8. Run the ExportGoogleEarth command (can also use AeccExportGoogleEarth if calling from a routine or button)
9. Select the corridor
10. Name and save the file

Viewing in Google Earth
1. Open GE
2. From the File menu, select Open
3. Browse to the kml file created above

Civil 3D 2007 arrival

2006-04-22T08:28:00.000-07:00

Subscription notification went out to subscription customers on April 21st. We should all get the software next week.

Customizing Civil 3D 2007

2006-04-22T07:22:00.000-07:00

There are many things you can customize in Civil 3D to help enforce your CAD and Design standards as well as just make yourself more efficient. One of the items that set many companies apart is the quality and consistency of their work. You should consider leveraging a tool like Civil 3D because it makes the enforcement of CAD and Design Standards much easier than in other tools. The most logical place to store these would be in AutoCAD Templates (DWT files) since all of the below items can be stored into these template files. Below are some of the main things that can be customized in Civil 3D.

Object Styles
You can build a set of CAD Standards into object styles as well as other display styles that will allow you to evaluate your design against your design criteria. Although Civil 3D will not do ALL of your drafting, when interfacing with the intelligent objects and how they are represented, you can make your job much easier by leveraging these object styles whenever possible. By building in several styles for the various objects, you can achieve immediate feedback from the system. For instance, if you apply a slope-shading style to your proposed road surface on a road improvement project, you can easily see where you may have exceeded your maximum cross fall grade of 4%... as an example.

Label Styles
Just like object styles, you can help enforce your CAD Standards through custom label styles. You can improve the quality, consistency, and efficiency of your work by building your custom label styles for all objects and making them available to yourself and others. Label Styles even more so than Object Styles allow you to evaluate your design against the design criteria. For example, if we are doing a commercial grading project and we need to make sure that over our parking areas we never exceed 2% over handicap parking and 3% elsewhere, you can conveniently place slope labels to monitor the design as you iterate through design concepts. Civil 3D is setup and suited for design iteration. What this means is that you can actually end up with BETTER design in Civil 3D than in other tools. You can make small changes to the design, check the slope labels and than make more adjustments. Other tools that are not dynamic and not suited for design iteration make it much harder.

Command Settings
On the Settings tab of the toolspace, you can get to the command settings for each object. The nice thing about command settings is you can set up the default way these commands are supposed to work. We can help "enforce" Design and CAD Standards this way. Not all of our users will know how to customize these command settings, but they will use the commands. You have the opportunity to make them default to the method you want. For example, through command settings you can setup the default way your objects are supposed to look and work. Also on the settings tab, you can customize the settings for your pipe networks and add design rules for them thereby achieving “design” standards. You can also setup the defaults for superelevation that are used for superelevating your roadways. As you can see, it is not only for the enforcement of CAD Standards, but Design standards as well.

Drawing Settings
On the settings tab, you can simply right click on the drawing to setup the drawing settings for your drawing. In this dialog, you can setup your default scales and profile exaggerations. You can also set the default "Base" layers you want for all of your Civil 3D objects, like surfaces, alignments, etc. If you setup a set of CAD Standard Templates, in some ways the more templates you have the better, that way the more specific they are. You may consider setting up templates for each scale of project you interface with, like 10, 20, 40 & 100 scale. In each of these templates, you would customize the drawing settings to coincide with that scale. You may duplicate each of these scales mentioned for each "project-type" or client that expects different standards. Either way, you are going to improve the quality, consistency and efficiency of your drawings if you customize these drawing settings into a set of CAD Standard Template files.

Label Style Defaults
If you go to the Label options with the Settings tab for each object or if you right click on the drawing name to set the label defaults, you can setup the default ways you want your labels to work. If you are looking for consistency amongst all of your Civil 3D labels, i.e. for surfaces, alignments, profiles, you can right click on the drawing within the settings tab to set the defaults. After this, if you go to the actual object label settings and right click there and set the label style defaults for that one object thereby overriding the settings for that one object, which doesn’t affect any of the other labels for consistency sake. The point is that you can produce a consistency amongst all of your Civil 3D labels despite the object you are labeling thereby producing better quality work and a more consistent look.

AutoCAD Drawing Templates
Everything mentioned above can be stored into DWT template files. It may seem basic to utilize DWT files, but we should all really consider building our Civil 3D templates or working with a resource that can help. We have found that we can pretty much make the Civil 3D objects and labels conform to any standard that companies have for there drawings. This was not true in Land Desktop labeling. It was also not possible to set all of these CAD and Design standards in Land Desktop template files. It was not nearly as extensive as what we have in Civil 3D. This is why we say it is easier to “enforce” CAD and Design standards in Civil 3D than you could do in AutoCAD or Land Desktop alone.

Consider outside assistance when customizing Civil 3D. Typically most companies can identify someone that has the capabilities internally to do this, but typically they don’t have the time. Then what happens is the continued use of inconsistent styles and settings that creates more work when finalizing the drawings to make everything look correctly per your standards.

I have been back, just busy

2006-04-19T15:44:00.000-07:00

I have been out for some much needed rest and relaxation, NOT. I have been working my tail off. I haven't really missed the boat too much, my last three posts, although over 2 weeks ago, were Civil 3D 2007 stuff, so I don't feel so bad. I got some good stuff brewing.

Pipe Offsets from Alignments in Civil 3D 2007

2006-03-28T11:27:00.000-08:00

I admit it may be too early for a "how-to" for Civil 3D 2007 given the minor technicality that it has not officially been released yet. Well, here we go...

I was asked a question several times in 06 version if we could simply offset an alignment and turn it into a pipe network, we could not in 06. Now in 07, we can with a few simple commands.

1. Use the AutoCAD offset command to offset your alignment to the desired side and offset. The new object is NOT an Alignment object, but a Polyline object.

2. Use the Alignments-->Create from Polyline command to turn the Polyline into an Alignment. Don't worry about the style of the alignment since you will eventually be deleting it and don't worry about the stationing of the alignment if indeed it will be controlled to the centerline alignment.

3. IF NECESSARY... Use the Alignments-->Edit Alignment Geometry and from the Alignment Layout Toolbar, use the "Delete Sub-entity" tool to remove lines and/or curves from the alignment that is currently representing your pipe network if you don't want to make your pipe network the entire length of the alignment

4. Go to Pipes-->Create from Object to turn the Alignment into a Pipe Network. Make sure you check the "Erase existing entity" check box. You will most likely NOT need this alignment under the pipe run as the pipe network will be controlled to the centerline. Before hitting OK to the "Create Pipe Network from Object" dialog box, make sure you associate your alignment and surface to the new pipe network. Associating it to your centerline alignment will allow it to be controlled to the stationing of that alignment. Associating it to a surface will allow your pipe rules that you have setup to represent logical values.

**You now have a pipe network with a uniform offset from the centerline as well as you can add this pipe network to your profile using the process in 06. Seems easy and perhaps unbelievable that we could not do this in 06.

Civil 3D 2007 Grading Features

2006-03-24T07:47:00.000-08:00

Here are some of my favorite NEW grading features in Civil 3D 2007

Elevation Editor
We had the elevation editor in the 2006 version but it has been improved. When you click on a specific elevation in the elevation editor, there is now a visual marker in the drawing indicating which PI you are editing. Now we can intuitively use the elevation editor to adjust feature line elevations efficiently.

Quick Elevation Edit
This one is very cool, similar to the elevation editor above except there is no dialog interface. It allows you to scroll through the PI's of a feature line and change the elevations quickly by typing in a value at the command line or through dynamic input; it also shows a visual marker so you know where you are. Additionally, it allows you to jump between PI's in order to change the grade or slope between two elevations. Very useful command and very efficient.

Insert Elevation Point
If you need to add an additional PI along your feature line path, you can freely pick anywhere along the feature line to add an additional point and then you are prompted for the appropriate elevation

Elevations from Surface
This existed in the 2006 version, but it is worth noting. Don't underestimate this command; it is useful for many different design scenarios. If you are not familiar with it, it will drape any feature line (polyline) onto a surface, essentially creating a daylight line (in a sense) that you can grade from...

Insert PI
Similar to the Insert Elevation Point accept this option allows you to pick a new point anywhere and then add the elevation whereas the "Insert Elevation Point" has to be along the current path of the feature line

Join Feature Lines
Pick any two feature lines, even if where they connect they don't share the same elevation. Just pay attention to which object was created lasts. If you have two endpoints you want to join but they are at different elevations it will always assign the elevation of the point that was added last

Fillet
You an now fillet feature lines even if they originated from two 3D polylines

New Labeling Options in Civil 3D 2007

2006-03-17T10:04:00.000-08:00

Civil 3D Reference Text:

With reference text, you have the ability to bring data properties from one object label to another object label. For instance, if you want to add a surface elevation into an "Aligment Station/Offset" label, now you can. Currently, you can add Reference Text from Surfaces, Alignments, and Profiles into any other label in Civil 3D.

Quick how to: The way you do this is by adding a component to the label the way we have done previously, but instead of a line or text component, we add a "Reference text" component

Civil 3D Expressions:
One label I have wanted to make for a long time is a label that shows both the Top of Curb (TC) and Flowline (FL) all in one label. With expressions, now you can. You can set up a formula expression that always extracts the elevation from the Top of Curb followed by subtracting a value for the Flowline.

Quick how to: To add expressions, go to the Settings tab and open up the Label Styles for Surfaces, Alignments, or whatever and you will see Expressions. Right click on Expressions to add another expression which can then be used in the Label Style.

Civil 3D Note Labels:
Now there is a general note label that incorporates the properties of other Civil 3D labels, including "Layout" state and "Dragged State" that we have become familiar with.

Quick how to: Go to the General pull-down menu and you will see the option to add a General note label

Civil 3D Line and Curve Labels:
Now we can label bearing and distance data and curve data on Lines, Curves, and Polyines. Previously, we could do this on Aligments and Parcels, but not on these primitive objects. Additionally, for the display of the bearing, you can use short names with spaces, i.e. N 58d45'45" E, which we could not do in the 2006 version.

Quick how to: Go to any "Add Labels" option under any of the pull-down menus like Surfaces, General, or Alignment and change the Feature option at the top of the dialog box to Lines and Curves.

Autodesk University 2006

2006-03-17T06:19:00.000-08:00

For those of you planning on teaching at AU, the call for papers has been sent. You must have these submitted by April 30th. The conference is from November 28th to December 1st.

Autodesk World Wide One Team Conference

2006-03-16T20:04:00.000-08:00

Spent this past week in Las Vegas, quite an eventful trip. Lots of good meetings; and will worth the trip. Our VP spoke at one of the breakouts in front of 500+ individuals. I did this last year in the Civil 3D breakout in front of the same number of folks. It is a bit freaky the first time you speak in front of that many people. We along with a few other Resellers nationally won a trip to Banff, Canada. Pretty cool!

New Blog Layout

2006-03-10T07:35:00.000-08:00

We have a great web developer. We use a company by the name of Camaleo, www.camaleo.com

We have been using them for several years now. They were able to change the layout of my blog to look like the L.A. CAD website. Melanie's (Dirt Diva) will be updated soon too.

Southern California CAD Summit

2006-03-07T21:02:00.000-08:00

Even larger than Autodesk University? No! The largest AU type event in Southern California, Yes! The SCCS is coming on Aug. 24th, 2006 to the Long Beach Convention Center! 300 people last year at SCCS and we expect over 500 this year. Find out how to receive complimentary passes. Second only to AU for number of classes offered, 21 in all last year. Get a load of these Civil classes offered last year! http://www.lacad.com/cad_summit.html
-Autodesk® Civil 3D^TM 2006 Custom Object and Label Styles
-Autodesk® Civil 3D^TM 2006 Corridor Modeling Advanced Concepts
-Autodesk® Civil 3D^TM 2006 Civil 3D Pipes
-Autodesk® Civil 3D^TM 2006 Residential Subdivisions in Civil 3D
-Autodesk® Civil 3D^TM 2006 Leveraging other Civil Data

San Diego "AUGI CAD Camp"

2006-03-07T20:57:00.000-08:00

AUGI CAD Camp: L.A. CAD and S.D. CAD will be hosting the Southern California AUGI CAD Camp this year in San Diego on June 8th. Be sure to mark your calendars!

L.A. CAD Civil Solutions Tour

2006-03-07T20:54:00.000-08:00

Our yearly tours are about to begin. We start in Riverside and Los Angeles, followed by Orange County and San Diego.

http://www.lacad.com/infrastructure_solutions_news.html

Autodesk Civil 3D Packaged Services

2006-03-04T07:38:00.000-08:00

Well, I am officially committed to helping Autodesk establish their service offerings for Civil 3D. I partipated in this 2-day meeting with Mark Scacco, P.E. of Engineered Efficiency, Inc. Autodesk asked for our help because they realized that Mark's company and my company L.A. CAD have the most integrated and comprehensive methods of implementing this technology into the marketplace. It is not as easy as you think. The ICE training is a nice start, but it is not going to give you the real world experience nor teach you the strategies by which you can get this implemented into an organization correctly. Autodesk asked us to partipate because they have been exposed first hand to the way we are accomplishing true adoption of this technology. L.A. CAD was the only Autodesk partner and Mark's company was the only consulting partner asked to participate in this event.

It was tough for Mark and I because we both realize the competitive advantage we have to getting this technology implemented successfully and the intellectual property we are giving to Autodesk. However, we were asked to help and we realize the alternative is probably not the best solution. At the end of the day, this will help the greater community be successful with Civil 3D. If you have any questions as to the methodology and strategies we utilize for transitioning a company from 10 users to 1000 users to Civil 3D, please contact me.

Civil 3D 2007 Features, available April 14th

2006-03-01T20:54:00.000-08:00

The embargo lifted as of March 1st, 2006. We can officially say there will be a Civil 3D 2007. Below is a list of feature improvements that we can expect.

General:
Check out the new toolspaces, especially the inquiry toolspace. Still trying to get used to it myself.

Grading:
Significant enhancements have been made. Many of the 3D Polyline tools we had available in Land Desktop are now available in Civil 3D through a Feature Line Toolbar

Corridors:
When we create a surface through corridor properties, it is dynamic with the corridor. Individual section editing is pretty cool now adding different shoulder subassemblies with ease and grip editing on individual sections

Labels:
Significant improvements here... they have added the ability to use expressions in labels. You can reference text from one object into another. In other words, you can show a surface elevation or profile elevation in an alignment label. They also added a "Note" label object that can be used for generic annotation

Managing Styles:
This had been cleaned up. Previously when we would attempt to copy styles where duplicate names were identified, copies with a numeric suffix would be created, now we have the option to overwrite duplicates, rename, and merge styles

Survey:
Survey functionality has been added. The ability to convert RAW data and leverage field book formats for auto-linework generation.

Project Management:
Civil 3D will leverage the Vault technology for managing project and drawing and data. Most Civil 3D objects can now be shared.

**Remember the Quick Section tool in Land Desktop? You can use a similar tool all over the place in Civil 3D... places you never dreamed of.

Piping:
You can run interference checking now as opposed to just checking this visually. What is really cool is you can setup interference checking. It is not only inference when two pipes collide; it allows you to setup minimum clearances so you can ensure your water and sewer meet EPA guidelines

Surfaces:
Much faster surface editing now. I am OK doing this in Civil 3D now versus Land Desktop.

Helping Autodesk with Civil 3D Services

2006-03-01T07:05:00.000-08:00

This is the second meeting I was invited to participate in with Autodesk this week. Tommorow, I leave for Autodesk headquarters in San Rafael, CA. I was asked to participate on a board to help Autodesk determine the best plan of action for their Civil 3D Services. We were the only reseller partner invited to attend this 2-day meeting. L.A. CAD has been extrememly focused on Civil 3D and has amongst the highest success rate in the country in terms of Civil 3D seats sold along with companies that are at some stage of implemeting the technology. We currently have 5 individuals on staff with Civil 3D experience and are hiring more.

L.A. CAD's Civil 3D professionals are sought after not only for our expertise in the technology but our unique process for successfully implemeting the technology. We are actively helping deliver Civil 3D services in other parts of the country on behalf of Autodesk and on our own. Autodesk has engaged us to help their clients in Florida and Washington of late and we are also being engaged directly from customers in Nevada for Civil 3D help. Our main focus however is to work directly with customers in Southern California to ensure their successful transition to Civil 3D.

Helping Autodesk Government

2006-03-01T06:33:00.000-08:00

This week was unique in that I was invited (last minute I might add) to two separate Autodesk meetings. The first meeting was in Washington D.C. where I met with Autodesk to discuss some government initiatives. Autodesk and DLT Solutions asked for a group of influential Autodesk partners that have achieved good success in government and represent a cross-section of reseller disciplines. I am looking forward to being a part of these upcoming intiatives with Autodesk and DLT Solutions.

Civil 3D ByStyle? or ByLayer? That is the Question!

2006-02-21T21:40:00.000-08:00

Could the industry really move to ByStyle ultimately? What would this world be like without Layers? Could everything reside on Layer 0 and yet one would still have the flexibility and control they need to be productive? That's three questions, but they are worth asking.

For the record, for now I am recommending ByLayer. Of course there are some out there that have no idea what I am talking about. In Civil 3D, you can control Civil 3D Objects (i.e. Surfaces, Points, and Alignments) and their components, using ByStyle or ByLayer. When we say control, this means you can turn on and off the visibility of objects, or turn on and off the individual components of an object using the ByStyle or ByLayer method, amongst other items.

What we mean by ByStyle, is that essentially you could store a Terrain Surface on Layer 0, but you would still be able to turn on and off contours, TIN Lines, Elevation Banding, etc without ever entering the Layer Properties Manager Dialog Box. The contours, TIN Lines, Elevation Banding are also all on Layer 0, but through the Style, you have the ability to control what appears... do you want to show TIN Lines or Contours, turn one on and the other off. So ByStyle, means you can control the visibility of the components only through the style.

When a drawing starts or is using the ByLayer concept, not only can you control the components of the object through the style (i.e. ByStyle), but you can also control it the "old-fashioned" way, through the Layer Properties Manager Dialog Box. So with this method, you have both options available.

So with that said, one option we have which is also represents a possibility for the entire industry, is to use the ByStyle concept. Of course, this could initially wreak havoc for those that need to interface with your drawings, if they only use AutoCAD. However, if you have two companies that utilize Civil 3D, and they were to standardize their color palettes for the object components in Civil 3D or their plot styles, they could more seamlessly move drawings back and forth. If the same two companies had different layer standards (and we know they probably do) this would not be as easy. By the way, you do have the ability to set plot style to components within Civil 3D Objects.

Again, at this point I am recommending that companies utilize the ByLayer option initially because right now adoption of the technology is still in the early stages, and the ByLayer option allows you to use the best of both worlds. As more companies begin to utilize the technology, we might find the opportunity where the ByStyle concept, (especially using the National CAD Standard layer set) might be an acceptable route to investigate. Whether you use the ByStyle concept with everything set to Layer 0 versus using the ByStyle concept where the object components inherit the National CAD Standard layers, there is no difference in how you control and manage the system. If you are choosing to control and manage the system through the style, then it doesn't matter what layers are set for the object components within the style. So why not just incorporate the National CAD Standard?

"3-line Profiles" in Civil 3D

2006-02-14T19:57:00.000-08:00

It is very common in Southern California and some other areas in the United States to have 3-line profiles represented on drawing sheets. A 3-line profile generally consists of a profile that shows the existing ground line with the finished ground centerline as well as two other profiles that each show the existing ground along with one of them showing the Left Top of Curb and the other showing the Right Top of Curb.

In Civil 3D, there is not a command that will automatically create a 3-line profile, but here is a simple work around...

Create your first existing ground profile the way you are used to in Civil 3D using the Profiles-->Create from Surface command. Then, create two other profile views using the same alignment and surface as data and the insertion point being the upper left point of the grid for the previous profile. If you prefer to have a gap between the three profiles, then simply pick a point just above the previous profile. If the alignment or surface changes, all three profiles will automatically update, not just the first one.

Next, construct your finished grade centerline for the first profile the way you normally would do so using the Create by Layout tools under the Profile menu. You will notice the finished grade profile appears in all three profile views. Next, go to the second profile view and construct the finished grade for your first Top of Curb, then proceed to go to the third profile to construct the other Top of Curb. As an alternative, you can construct all three design profiles in the same view; either way will work. Construct both of these Tops of Curb with the same tools as for the centerline, the Create by Layout tool under Profiles.

After this, you will want to independently select each profile view. For the top two profiles you will most likely delete the band set. If you are not familiar with a band set, the typical band set is a set of stations and elevations that we are accustomed to seeing at the bottom of a profile grid. This is easily done by selecting the profile view, right clicking and going to Profile View Properties, select the Band tab and deleting the band set. Since you don't want all three FG profiles for the one centerline and two curb lines showing up in all three profiles, while you are in the Profile View Properties, you will want to select the Profiles tab and uncheck the two profiles you wish to NOT see in that corresponding profile view. You will need to uncheck the appropriate two profiles in each of the three profile views. You should be left with three profile views each showing the Existing Ground, one showing the FG Centerline, one showing the Left TOC and another showing the Right TOC.

All three design profiles now exist in independent profile views and each design profile is dynamically linked to any downstream object, like a corridor. The Profile View object and Profile object is also linked to any upstream objects like a surface or an alignment. If the Top of Curb design profiles are changed, the corridor will automatically update; same is true if the FG centerline changes.

Stylize your Corridor Feature Lines in Civil 3D

2006-02-08T07:57:00.000-08:00

Changing the style of your Corridor Feature Lines
(Article by Melanie Santer of L.A. CAD)

This is a great tool to create a customized look for your feature lines inside of your corridor! Lets say that I want a different look for the Top of Curb, Lip of Gutter and Daylight line. There are two different ways that you could potentially attack this one... The first one being in your Corridor Properties select the Feature Lines tab at the top. Then you want to select the Feature Line Style for Top of Curb (be sure to select the icon on the far right to bring up the dialog box). Once you are in the Pick a Feature Line Style dialog box you can select the drop down arrow on the right and select Create New. Name your feature line style approprately and then select the Display tab at the top of your Feature Line Style - Creation dialog box. From the Display tab you are able to specify a Layer, Color and Linetype for your Top of Curb Feature Lines. Repeat this process for any other Feature Lines in your Corridor to get the look that you desire.

The second way that you could change the look of your feature lines is by exporting the feature lines as a polyline and putting that on a specific layer and giving it charateristics that suit my needs. To to this you must go to the Corridor pull down menu at the top of your screen-->Export-->Corridor Feature Line as Polyline. This gives you the option to select the specific feature line that you wish to export and brings up a dialog box that states what type of feature line it is, weather it be a Top of Curb, Lip of Gutter or Daylight. This is a nice because if you select the wrong line you have the ablility to hit cancel before exporting it. Then hit OK to the Select a Feature Line dialog box and your new polyline has be exported and placed on the current layer. From here you can assign that layer a specific color and linetype to suit your needs.

Autodesk Gunslinger Event

2006-01-31T14:42:00.000-08:00

Although I cannot say much about it, I think it is safe to say I am currently at an Autodesk Gunslinger event working through features for the next version of Civil 3D.

I have been to several Autodesk Gunslinger events, mainly for Land Desktop from R1 to R3 when I was in the Autodesk AEC Consultant Program (formerly Softdesk Registered Consultant) although I did attend an early Civil 3D Gunslinger many moons ago.

Basically what we do is we get an overview of a feature by a capable Autodesk representative, then we get to hack away at it to see if we can break it and log all the relevant issues we can find. Many times as we are hacking away, we finally figure out it was user error, not the software. There is some fantastic productivity improvements coming soon... can I say that? I think I just did. I didn't say what for though.

While I am here, I will have the priveledge of going skiing in New Hampsire (Pat's Peak) with some of our friends like Dave and Dan. Never been there before, so that will be treat!

It was also quite a treat attending a Gunslinger with James Wedding and Donald Broussard! I love their honest feedback and candor!

Dig Deep with Civil 3D Label Style Components

2006-01-31T09:46:00.000-08:00

Is there are a limitation to how Civil 3D labels can be customized? Sure there is. If you dig deep enough, you may still find a limitation to what can be created and customized within a label. However, the ability to add components is something you should look at first before you throw in the towel.

We have the ability to add primitive AutoCAD components, like lines, text, blocks, etc that make Civil 3D labels very versatile and powerful.

You will find as you look at the available component list for each object, you will see different types of components that can be added.

For instance, if you take a look at a Structure label within a Pipe Network, you will see the the following list of components: (Text, Line, Block, Text for Each). The Text for Each allows you to add labels for data representing how the pipes come into and out of the structures.

If you look at the components available for a contour label, you will see a different list as shown below (Text, Line, Block, Direction Arrow).

The main point is to take a look at these components for customizing labels any which way you can.

Cut/Fill Grid Ticks in Civil 3D

2006-01-25T21:51:00.000-08:00

Currently, there is no tool to add grid ticks in Civil 3D 2006 as we had available in Land Desktop. However, it is possible to represent Grid Ticks in Civil 3D in almost the same manner as Land Desktop by this work around.

You must first have an existing ground surface and a finished ground surface that you can compare by creating a TIN Volume Surface in Civil 3D. After creating the TIN Volume Surface, you can then theme the surface with elevation analysis to determine the areas of cut and fill. I recommend using light to dark red to represent areas of lighter to deeper cut, and use light to dark blues to represent less to more fill, respectively.

Once you have done this, you can right click on Points in your prospector and select the Create option, then on the Create Points toolbar, select the "Surface: On Grid" option which will place Points with elevations on the TIN Volume surface, which measures relative elevation to the Existing Ground. It will show negative signs before the value for those areas of cut and represent areas of fill by a postive number.

Civil 3D Master Planning

2006-01-23T21:36:00.000-08:00

Because of the efficient iterative conceptual layout and design capabilities of Civil 3D, it is an efficient tool for Master Planning, and Land Use conceptual planning. This means it can be used by not only traditional Civil Engineering companies, but its capabilities can and are being leveraged by Architectural companies that have land planning divisions as well as companies that focus on land planning.

For Master Planning and determining different Land Use Concepts, you will find that the capability of the intelligent Alignment and Parcel objects and there abilities to react to each other make for an efficient way to plan out a given site. It is not only a quick layout tool, but in consideration of design constraints, site conditions, etc, you can iterate through different concepts very quickly. We would have never even attempted to use something like Land Desktop for this in the past since we could not efficiently try different concepts to optimize the site or design. You also have the ability to automatially add Right-of-Way objects to your Master Planned Parcels where they are adjacent to Master Planned Centerlines. When you add the ROW lines, the adjacent parcels re-calculate their areas automatically.

Combining the intelligent objects with pre-set object and label styles for your Parcels will allow you to apply different styles with appropriate color fill patterns for you High Density Residential, Low Density Residential, Commercial areas, Parks, etc. Try creating a template that has the pre-set styles and name the template something simple like "Master Planning Template.dwt".