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.

Posted by DannyCounts @ 10:37 AM
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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.

Posted by DannyCounts @ 9:02 AM
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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.

Posted by DannyCounts @ 7:37 AM
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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.

Posted by DannyCounts @ 4:36 PM
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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

Posted by DannyCounts @ 6:54 AM
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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

Posted by DannyCounts @ 8:23 PM
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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

Posted by DannyCounts @ 8:21 PM
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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.

Posted by DannyCounts @ 9:46 AM
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