Subassembly Studio by Cad Artisans LLC

I seen a demo on this a few weeks ago and thought that this was really interesting and wanted to share this with the group.

Custom Parametric Subassemblies without programming! Graphically construct intelligent custom parametric subassemblies for AutoCAD Civil 3D quickly and easily:
* Generate self-licensing, true .NET subassemblies that are used in exactly the same way as a conventional subassemblies
* Subassemblies may be created in mere minutes in an interactive, graphical environment similar to AutoCAD
* Fully supports target mapping
* Fully supports superelevation
* Include logic to react to and build alternate configurations based on corridor conditions
* Supports curved and parabolic subassembly links
* Automatically creates the tool catalog file
* Automatically deploy your exported subassemblies on your machine
* Compatible with AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009 and 2010

Please visit our website for more information: http://www.cadartisans.com

November Meeting Review

Thanks to LHB for hosting the November meeting.

The meeting was conducted by Dan Stine of LHB. Dan showed how to create a network delpoyment and what are some of the various options involved. He showed us LHB method to deliver the deployment package to the end users. Dan also went over how LHB manages the end user profile and CUI files.

Dan also provided a tip on how to Centerlized Tool palettes.

A big thanks to LHB and Dan Stine for hosting and presenting to the group.

November Meeting

November Meeting will be held on
November 10th @ 6:00 pm
at LHB Corporation (See image below for directions)

Presentation overview:

This presentation will focus on the management side of Autodesk Civil 3D 2010. Two major aspects of Civil 3D are installation and end user configuration. A wide variety of users will benefit from this presentation:

• CAD Managers


• End users (if one desires to have a better understanding of the software)


• Network Administrators (if they create the Autodesk deployments)

First, a “live” overview of how to create a network deployment and the various options involved (this applies to both network licensed and stand alone installs). One method, used by LHB, on how to deliver the deployment to end users will be shown; this process does the following:

• Installs Civil 3D plus any Service Packs


• Creates a few folders on the user’s network drive and hard drive


• Copies a user menu (CUIx) and Profile (ARG) to the user’s personal network drive


• Creates a “company” desktop icon (which loads the user profile and workspace)


• Installs the Raster Design Object Enabler (required to view MrSID files)
  

Second, a presentation on how to setup and manage end user Profiles and CUI file will be given. This includes showing how to split the end user menus and CUI files from the office and OOTB (out of the box) files; the use of “enterprise” CUI files will be employed.

If time allows, a technique on how to implement and manage several tool palettes on a network will be shown. We could talk about how check-out and surveyor laptops are dealt with when not connected to the server.

We can also have a discussion on managing detail libraries, blocks and lisp routines.

Hopefully this will generate discussion on this topic that will help us all walk away with a better understand of the issues, tricks and workarounds others are using.

About the Presenter:
Dan Stine is a registered Architect with eighteen years experience in the architectural field. He currently works at LHB (a 180 person multidiscipline firm; http://www.lhbcorp.com/ in Duluth Minnesota as the CAD Administrator (providing training, customization and support for two regional offices). Dan has worked in a total of four firms. While at these firms, Dan has participated in collaborative projects with several other firms on various projects (including Cesar Pelli, Weber Music Hall – University of Minnesota - Duluth). Dan is a member of the Construction Specification Institute (CSI) and the Autodesk Developer Network (ADN) and also teaches AutoCAD and Revit Architecture classes at Lake Superior College, Duluth, MN, for the Architectural Technology program; additionally, he is a Certified Construction Document Technician (CDT) and an Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010 Certified Professional. Mr. Stine has written the following textbooks (published by SDC Publications), which are used across the United States by High Schools, Colleges and professionals:

• Residential Design using Revit Architecture 2010


• Commercial Design using Revit Architecture 2010


• Residential Design using AutoCAD 2010


• Commercial Design using AutoCAD 2010


• Chapters in Architectural Drawing (with co-author Steven H. McNeill, AIA, LEED AP)

Bowties are Gone

Check out this helpful Corridor tip out on Civil 3D.com.

http://www.civil3d.com/2009/09/bowties-be-gone/

Autodesk Univesity Sessions are quickly filling up

Autodesk Univesity Sessions are quickly filling up, and AU registration rates increase by $500 after Friday, October 9, so register now for the classes you want and the savings you need.

Autodesk University 2009 UserConference and Exhibition
Mandalay Bay Resort
Las Vegas, USA
December 1-3, 2009

Reasons to attend AU.

AU Delivers More Value Than Ever

AUGI Events and Networking
Connect with AUGI members and industry professionals from throughout the world and benefit from their ideas and advice.

Product CertificationTake advantage of Autodesk Certification Exams on-site for free - go back to work with a valuable credential that affirms your skills and elevates your professional standing.

Free Passes to AU Virtual
Receive four (4) complimentary passes to AU Virtual, a new, web-based learning event, to share with colleagues back in the office - a $400 value.

Education Credits
Earn continuing education credits (CEUs) through the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and other professional organizations.

Classes and Labs
Choose from more than 640 sessions including labs that provide valuable hands-on instruction for users of AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Revit-based products, AutoCAD Civil 3D, 3ds Max software, and more.


Immersive Learning with AU PowerTracks
Experience tightly focused, in-depth training through classes that build upon each other, providing advanced learning that surpasses what can be gained from taking individual classes.


Now, more than ever, you can't afford to miss AU. Register today!

Early Bird Registration RatesConference and Hotel
$1,895Conference-Only Pass
$1,695Qualified Educators
$1,395Get Complete Details

September Meeting

Topics: Tips and Tricks for doing Pressure Pipes in Civil 3D
Problems and Issues for Group Discussion


Bob Gilman from Kimley-Horn Associates, Inc. will present various tips and tricks fordoing pressure pipes in Civil 3D 2009.

Speaker Bio:

Bob Gilman
Mid America Regional Autocad Coordinator
Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.
St. Paul, Minnesota

Professional Affiliations Certifications:
City of New Prague Planning and Zoning Commissioner
AUGI Member
BRW Alumni

Experience:
Bob has 20+ years of experience in civil engineering and surveying for new construction and reconstruction of highways and urban roadways, including roadway layout, profiles, utility, cross sections, pavement marking, signing, signalization, lighting, traffic control, earthwork and bid item quantities computation.

Please forward this e-mail to anyone you know that might be interested.
Please e-mail Bob Gilman at bob.gilman@kimley-horn.com if you are planning on attending.

Date: Tuesday September 8th, 2009.
Time: 6:00 to 8:00 pm

Who should attend: CAD Managers, Civil Engineers, Surveyors, Engineering Designers, and Production Drafters?

Location:
Kimley Horn and Associates, Inc
Court International Building
2550 University Avenue West
1st floor conference room
St. Paul, MN 55114

For a map and directions,
http://www.kimley-horn.com/kha/flashmap.asp

July Meeting

Changes to the meeting:

After the last meeting we decided to make a couple changes to the group meetings.
We decided to change the start time from 5:30 to 6:00. This will allow for more time to get from your place of employment to the meeting.
Discontinue the pizza and pop. This is due in to the economic time.

Now for the meeting.

July Meeting:
Date: Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
Time: 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Agenda:
· Users expectations and direction of the users group
· Reseller involvement
· Long term plans for using C3D
· Dialog on Civil 3D; successes and frustrations
· Implementation and training
· 2010
· ?



Moderator:
Dan Thill, Bonestroo
Dan Thill is the Civil CAD Coordinator at Boneatroo. He has over 25 years of experience in the civil engineering field. Experience includes surveying, drafting and design using D.C.A., Softdesk and now Civil 3D. Dan is Softdesk and Civil 3D certified.
Who should attend: CAD Managers, Civil Engineers, Surveyors, Engineering Designers, and Production Drafters?
Hosting this month’s MNC3D users group meeting:
Bonestroo

Location:
2335 Highway 36 West
Roseville, MN
(Enter our west building and park in the lot off St. Croix Street)

Map and directions,
http://www.bonestroo.com/Locations/Default.aspx?Location=StPaul

Joining Parts from Different Pipe Networks in Civil 3D 2009

Check out this tip on how to join 2 different pipe networks in C 3D 2009 out on Doug Benoit's

Blog site. http://rand.com/imaginit/1/rss/viewitem.asp?feedid=BLOGS_CIVIL_ALL&guid=454

But you should note that this is a bug in 2009 and doesn't work in 2010.

To quote Doug "Isn't it ironic that they don't fix bugs that we don't like and then they fix bug's that we do like."

May Meeting Review

May Meeting Review

Thanks to the City of Savage for hosting Mays meeting and providing pizza and pop
The meeting was conducted by Bill Neuhauser, Alignex, Inc.

Bill Neuhauser is a registered Engineer in both ND and MN and an applications engineer for Alignex, Inc. Before joining the company in 2005, Bill taught civil engineering for three years at Minnesota State Community & Technical College, and prior to that worked for Moore Engineering in West Fargo ,ND for 9 years and Interstate Engineering for 3 and an Alumni of North Dakota State University with a BS in Civil Engineering.

He has logged well over 25,000 hours with D.C.A., Softdesk, Geopak, Microstations, AutoCAD Land Desktop, and now Civil 3D 2010. He has designed everything from four-lane highways and two-lane rural roads, to land fills and retention ponds. Bill has been Civil 3D ICE (Implementation Certified Expert) since 2005, both past beta tester and current Alpha tester for C3D 2010. Autodesk University presenter for the past two years and now waiting too hear back on next year’s event.

Bill covered the lesser know new feature in 2010 Civil 3D, QTO. QTO in my opinion is not getting the fanfare it so deserves! When we do a project there are really three aspects to any project; Design, Output sheets and Quantities. Design we have master pretty well and Output has always been there but Quantities past basic Earthwork numbers was lagging way behind!

Bill showed us the three areas that QTO will help you with your final project quantities! Heshowed us how we can attach the MNDOT items list to your C3D model and get final quantity numbers out in seconds! Bill even showed us a couple bugs that are in QTO.

A big thanks to City of Savage and Bill Neuhauser for hosting and presenting to the group.

ENR Article on Ups and Downside of BIM

Check out this interesting article on BIM.

http://enr.ecnext.com/coms2/article_tebm0904293DModeling

Lynn Allen's Tips and tricks for Using Autocad 2010

You all know the value of Lynn Allen’s Tips and Tricks. You know that she has saved you tons of time and effort. Now Lynn Allen, Autodesk technical Evangelist and AUGI Sweetheart, is offering an exclusive to our members. A sneak peek at the AutoCAD 2010 Tips and Tricks.

That’s right – before anyone else gets to see them, Autodesk is allowing AUGI members an exclusive downloadable version. This PDF download is stuffed with the best of the best from Lynn. You have used them in the past and they have made you more productive. Get the latest in a long stream of helpful hints directly from Lynn to AUGI members. You must be a member to download the booklet.

http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=98905

AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009 Update 2.1

Autodesk has released a new service pack for Civil 3D

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=12624522&linkID=9240698

May Meeting:

May Meeting:
Date: Tuesday, May 12th, 2009
Time: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. (pizza and soda will be provided)

Topic: C3D 2010

Presenter:
Bill Neuhauser, Alignex, Inc.

Bill Neuhauser is a registered Engineer in both ND and MN and an applications engineer for Alignex, Inc. Before joining the company in 2005, Bill taught civil engineering for three years at Minnesota State Community & Technical College, and prior to that worked for Moore Engineering in West Fargo ,ND for 9 years and Interstate Engineering for 3 and an Alumni of North Dakota State University with a BS in Civil Engineering.

He has logged well over 25,000 hours with D.C.A., Softdesk, Geopak, Microstations, AutoCAD Land Desktop, and now Civil 3D 2010. He has designed everything from four-lane highways and two-lane rural roads, to land fills and retention ponds. Bill has been Civil 3D ICE (Implementation Certified Expert) since 2005, both past beta tester and current Alpha tester for C3D 2010. Autodesk University presenter for the past two years and now waiting too hear back on next year’s event.

Now for C3D 2010, I would like to cover a lesser know new feature of Civil 3D, QTO. QTO in my opinion is not getting the fanfare it so deserves! When we do a project there are really three aspects to any project; Design, Output sheets and Quantities. Design we have master pretty well and Output has always been there but Quantities past basic Earthwork numbers was lagging way behind!

Now with the advent of QTO (Quantity Take Off) quantities are now no longer being ignored! I plan of showing you the three areas that QTO will help you with your final project quantities! I will try to show you how we can attach the MNDOT items list to your C3D model and get final quantity numbers out in seconds! If time permits we will dig farther in to C3D to see some of the other new features as well.

Hosting this month’s MNC3D users group meeting:
City of Savage

Location:
McColl Pond Environmental Learning Center
13550 Dakota Avenue South
Savage, MN

If you are planning on attending please contact John Wichman at City of Savage 952-882-2675 or e-mail at jwichman@ci.savage.mn.us

Map and directions,
http://www.cityofsavage.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=230&Itemid=460

Undocumented commands to help resolve Site issues with overlapping objects

Issue
When creating Site objects (using Alignments, Grading, or Parcels), if you are not careful, you may end up with overlapping line segments. In most cases, this will not create a problem. However, in some cases, you may experience instability or AutoCAD® Civil 3D® may crash because of these overlapping Site objects.
For more on this issues.

http://help.autodesk.com/kb/display.do?ROW_ID=1-27930AG

Upcoming Autodesk Civil 3D Webcasts

Autodesk has just announced a whole series of Civil 3D webcast.

Click on link to check out.

http://www.adskmedia.com/civilwebcasts/index-02.php?mktvar001=114740&rid=

Autodesk Imagine Tour

Attend the Autodesk Imagine Tour and learn how new Autodesk® 2010 software for civil, MEP, and structural engineering can help engineers, drafters, and designers boost productivity and deliver more sustainably-built environments.

Minneapolis, MN

Date:
Thursday April 23, 2009
Address:
Minneapolis Convention Center1301 Second Avenue SouthMinneapolis, MN 55403
View map >

Join us and see how the latest building information modeling (BIM) software for engineering, including AutoCAD® Civil 3D®, Autodesk® Revit® MEP, and Autodesk® Revit® Structure can help you visualize, simulate, and analyze – earlier in the process – to deliver boundary-pushing designs, accurate and consistent construction documentation, and better manage change throughout your project lifecycle. You'll also learn how AutoCAD® 2010 delivers groundbreaking new capabilities to tackle the most challenging design problems with ease.
Seating is limited. Reserve yours today!

The Autodesk Imagine Tour is FREE, but capacity is limited for each event.

http://experience.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/en-US/eng/event-details.php?i=3682&id=2&ch=EM

March Meeting Review

Mr. Hearden has performed several roles within his 16+ year career at Eagle Point. Starting out by mastering MicroStation and AutoCAD, he quickly began providing custom training and support for small and large organizations, as well as developing standards and documenting workflows for clients. In addition to these responibilities, he has been
instrumental maintaining quality assurance initiatives among all Eagle Point product lines. He is responsible for all CAD management within Eagle Point and keeps abreast on all changes within releases to train internal personnel. For the past year, he has been working in a consultant role assisting clients with proper solutions to solve problems within their organization. Mr. Hearden came to Eagle Point with previous surveying experience, a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering and his EIT certificate.

For over 25 years, Eagle Point has provided technology solutions and services to the AEC and Geospatial markets. We use a defined process to explore your business and provide you with the right balance of solutions to help your organization thrive. We've helped over 30,000 clients worldwide.

For AEC, we offer desktop solutions that run on AutoCAD® and AutoCAD® Civil 3D®. These solutions focus on surveying, civil engineering, landscape architecture and irrigation design. We also offer a stand-alone process management suite that provides clients the ability to electronically track processes and look into areas that need improvement.
For Geospatial, we offer field survey solutions run on four different data collectors, mobile RTK GPS solutions and GPS base station networking solutions.

summary of the products presented
During the user group meeting, Mr. Hearden presented several product offerings. He covered the Pinnacle Series which includes the Process Mapper and Task Navigator for Civil 3D. The Process Mapper application defines project and operational processes in a graphical environment. The dependency charts of the processes can be developed to the step level, where detailed instructions and ties to technology tools can be made. The Task Navigator for Civil 3D provides step-by-step instructions, executable links to commands, and the ability to record the completion of a task, all within a seamless integration with Civil 3D.
http://www/solutions/workflow/process/default.asp#ProcessMapper
http://www/solutions/workflow/office/civil3d/default.asp#TaskNavigator

Mr. Hearden also presented Data Reduction for Civil 3D. Using Data Reduction for Civil 3D allows you to streamline the survey transfer process. Whether you are downloading directly from the collector or importing a job already on the PC, shots described in the field using Eagle Point's popular coding methodology come into Civil 3D with proper description key symbology and linework automatically generated.
http://www/solutions/workflow/office/civil3d/datareduc.asp

Finally, Mr. Hearden discussed a new product called LandSketch. Landsketch is designed to eliminate the inefficiencies in the planning stage for land development projects. It main purpose is to allow you to quickly layout conceptual residential designs electronically and then pass that data to the designer to complete the final engineering design. This can be done by exporting a LandXML file and directly importing alignments, parcels and surface data into Civil 3D.
http://www/solutions/workflow/office/civil/landsketch.asp

A big Thanks to Dan Hearden and Eaglepoint for coming up and presenting to the group.

Civil 3D Custom Pipe Builder Catalog for Pipe Networks

Axis Solutions has partnered with Comm-Tech to provide Part Builder training solutions and custom catalogs. Starting March 2nd Axis Solutions and Comm-Tech will begin selling custom part builder catalogs for use with pipe networks in Civil 3D. Attached is a PDF of the available custom parts and pricing. Additional parts will be continually added to the catalog throughout the year so subscription services for the catalog are available. Please contact Axis Solutions if you have any questions.

www.axiscadd.com

David E. Neill
CAD Manager/Owner
303-842-0440
david@axiscadd.com

Date Change for March Meeting

Due to conference room issues I need to move the date of the group meeting to
Wednesday, March 11th 2009 Same Time.

March Meeting:
Date: Wednesday, March 11th, 2009
Time: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. (pizza and soda will be provided)

Topic: Eagle Point Software’s
a) Pinnacle Series
b) Task Navigator for Civil 3D
c) Custom Workflows with Process Mapper

Presenter:
Dan Hearden of Eagle Point Software

If you are planning on attending please contact Bob Gilman at KHA 651-643-0414 or e-mail at bob.gilman@kimley-horn.com


Location:
Kimley Horn and Associates, Inc
Court International Building
2550 University Avenue West
1st floor conference room
St. Paul, MN 55114

For a map and directions,

March Meeting:

Date: Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 Time: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. (pizza and soda will be provided)

Topic: Eagle Point Software’s
a) Pinnacle Series
b) Task Navigator for Civil 3D
c) Custom Workflows with Process Mapper

Presenter: Dan Hearden of Eagle Point Software

If you are planning on attending please contact Bob Gilman at KHA 651-643-0414 or e-mail at bob.gilman@kimley-horn.com

Location: Kimley Horn and Associates, Inc Court International Building 2550 University Avenue West 1st floor conference room St. Paul, MN 55114 For a map and directions, http://www.kimley-horn.com/kha/flashmap.asp

January Review

Thanks to URS for hosting the January meeting and providing pizza and refreshments. The meeting was conducted by Bob Gilman (Kimley-Horn), Dan Thill (Bonestroo) and Ian Burrell (URS).

Bob started the meeting off by going over KHA Civil 3D Workflow and Project Organization.

Dan gave a very in depth look at changes to Data Shortcuts in 2009. Then he gave a quick over view of the National Cadd Standards and why Bonestro has choosen to move to it.

Ian showed off the Autodesk University web site and all of the Civil 3D material that is available on the site.

Bob finished off the meeting by showing how to create 2 different profile styles. One style labeled both sag and crest curve with one style. The other was for showing the grade line on vertical curve. He also gave a tip on things to put in a template for creating existing DTM. We also looked at a couple tools in Map for drawing cleanup and trimming object using a boundary.

Thanks to Bob, Dan and Ian for presenting at the meeting.

The handouts have been loaded to the following FTP site.

The ftp folder has been created on the ftp site: ftp://www.kimley-horn.com/_secure

Folder name: MNC3D
Username: MNCivil3D
Password: civil3drocks

Every browser handles secure ftp sites differently. The link listed below will work with some browsers, it includes the folder and site name as well as the user name and password:

ftp://MNCivil3D:civil3drocks@www.kimley-horn.com/_secure/MNC3D

Note: Some email systems do not support hyperlinks. If this is the case, copy and paste the following url into the address line of your internet browser.

ftp://MNCivil3D:civil3drocks@www.kimley-horn.com/_secure/MNC3D

Internet Explorer 7 issues
IE 7 has implemented changes to browser FTP behavior. When opening an FTP site, you will be required to click on the "Page" icon in IE 7, and select to "Open FTP Site in Windows Explorer". An Access Denied error message may occur. Click on the "File" dropdown menu and select "Login As". They will then need to login to the folder with the appropriate username and password

Civil 3D 2009 Pipe Error

Just had a user call with a error they were getting when they tried to create a pipe network.
The error message was.
There is a problem with the Script Control (msscript.ocx).
This problem may be corrected by reinstalling Internet Explorer or by reregistering the control.

I filled out a Autodesk Subscription support reguest. And before I got a reply one of my IS guys already had fixed it with the same fix Autodesk suggested.
It has something to do woth Microsoft system scripting file.

Here's what my IS guy did.

Start à Run
Type: regsvr32 C:\Windows\System32\msscript.ocx
Hit enter and you should be given a popup message saying the file was successfully registered.

Here's what Autodesk's suggested.

You can try unregistering and reregistering the indicated file. To do this, open a command prompt in Windows (from the Start menu, select Run, type in CMD and then enter.) At the command prompt, enter regsvr32.exe msscript.ocx /u and then hit enter. You will receive a dialog box that says “DllUnregister Server in msscript.ocx succeeded.” Click OK. Still in the command prompt, enter regsvr32.exe msscript.ocx and then hit enter. You should receive a dialog box that says “DllRegisterServer in msscript.ocx succeeded”

Both of these would accomplish the same thing.

Issues with MRSID images in Civil 3D 2008 and 2009

I tried to open a drawing created in 2007 that had a MRSID file referenced in. The image did not show up. Well after some digging around on Autodesk website I came across these object enablers for 2008 and 2009.

AutoCAD Raster Design 2009 Object Enabler

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=11091617&linkID=9240618

AutoCAD Raster Design 2008 Object Enabler

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=9476871&linkID=9240618

Civil 3D 2008 Raster issues

Sometimes when you open a drawing with a aerial image (TIFF) referenced into, the aerial is shifted off coordinates. When it is unloaded and reloaded it it’s fine. Or when you are zoomed into a quadrant of the aerial then save the drawing, when it is opened back up, it’s shifted and broken away from the rest of the aerials. Sometimes it’s off coordinates and there are multiple copies of it staggered across the screen. This Hot fix should help with this problem.

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=10189158&linkID=9240698