Wild Cards in Civil 3D Description Keys

It's easy to forget that there are many wild card options that can be used in Civil 3D beyond the common * (asterisk).   This tutorial shows a list of the many wild card options and thier uses.

For the complete tutorial, (and many others) follow this link...
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Wild Cards in Civil 3D Description Keys

What Is Wrong With My Hatch?

Have you ever had a hatch pattern display incorrectly? If you are using a hatch pattern like gravel or concrete the sides of the intended shapes within the hatch may not line up properly. Giving you results that don’t look at all like your desired hatching. This typically happens when the area that you are hatching is very far from the origin (0,0) of your coordinate system. In civil drawings moving the objects or changing the location of the origin is typically not an option because it would destroy the coordinate system of your drawing.

For the complete tutorial, (and many others) follow this link...

What Is Wrong With My Hatch?

Windows 7

Autodesk has now announced that the following products are now supported on Windows 7:

• AutoCAD 2010
• AutoCAD LT 2010
• AutoCAD Architecture 2010
• Autodesk Inventor 2010
• Autodesk Inventor LT 2010
• AutoCAD Electrical 2010
• AutoCAD Mechanical 2010
• AutoCAD MEP 2010
• Autodesk Algor Simulation 2010

Conspicuously absent from this list, at least as it pertains to this blog, is Civil 3D 2010.  For more details you can read the tech doc from Autodesk. 

I know a number of people that have been using Civil 3D 2010 on Windows 7 for some time now and the reports all seem to be very positive.  However, that is different than Autodesk saying that it has been fully tested and supported.

If you have been using Windows 7 with Civil 3D I encourage you to comment below and share your experainces with us.

Windows 7

Creating a Surface from 3D Faces or 3D Lines in Civil 3D

We have all probably received a drawing at one time or another that contains 3D faces representing a surface. Now your job is to convert these 3D faces into a Civil 3D surface that you can use for creating Profiles, Sections, Contours, and a variety of other things. The best way to translate a surface from one software package to another is to use the LandXML import/export format. This will allow you to import an exact copy of the original surface without recreating it from 3D faces or 3D lines representing the TIN. This is the fastest way to get a surface that was created in another program into Civil 3D and it also eliminates the possibility of errors being introduced during the process of rebuilding the surface. However, the person supplying you with the drawing may be unable, or unwilling, to export the surface as a LandXML file for you. If this is the case Civil 3D has tools that make creating a surface from 3D faces or 3D lines representing a TIN both accurate and easy.

For the complete tutorial, (and many others) follow this link...

Creating a Surface from 3D Faces or 3D Lines in Civil 3D

Do I have to use the Ribbon?

In the 2010 version of Civil 3D the interface has been dramatically redone to incorporate the ribbon. As with most changes like this some people love it while others do not and want to know if they can use the old system. This tutorial will discuss the details and explain your options.

For the complete tutorial, (and many others) follow this link...

Do I have to use the Ribbon?

Label Styles in Civil 3D from the Top Down

In AutoCAD Civil 3D it can be very tedious to edit Label Styles one at a time. Depending on your CAD standards this may be necessary. However, it is likely that most if not all of your labels will have some things in common. For example you might use the same text style, height, or color for all of your labels. If that is the case you can set the common parameters for all of your Civil 3D Label Styles in one place.

For the complete tutorial, (and many others) follow this link...

Label Styles in Civil 3D from the Top Down