Resistance to use civil3d (one for the ages)

[HorizontalCurveGuy]

for the 7 years our site department has resisted using civil3d for one reason or another ; usually "because the contours are jagged". But this one takes the cake:

I was asked to go into a drawing by the site group to demonstrate a grading workflow. While in the drawing I notices a pipe style, and to my surprise it was. I thought: cool they are using it... we are making progress, but then I noticed there were no structures in the network - all they did was draw pipes between ordinary blocks because they liked the dbl line style !

So I asked why no structures?.... Answer: Oh, because it is much easier to keep track of the structures in an excel spreadsheet...

I had to leave the building.

[tcorey]

Haha, I feel your pain.

I've spent thirty years supporting AutoCAD, DCA, Softdesk, Land Desktop and Civil 3D users, so I have definitely had some broken cupholder moments. You just have to shrug and go on. Don't let it make you go horizontal. 😉

Thanks for sharing.

Tim

[mathewkol]

That's pretty bad alright. Jagged contours? Wow! Especially when those can be fixed a couple of ways.

It IS progress, however. This is a case where management has to buy in and put the hammer down. Any migration to any different software has to be like that. Depending on your situation, getting management buy-in should be pretty easy. I know it was for me. Showed the steps for making revisions in LDT vs the same revisions in C3D and that was it.

[Neilw_05]

There may be good arguments for wanting to use blocks for manholes as they can be linked to a spreadsheet or database which stores all kinds of useful attributes. I don't know of any way to do that with C3D objects.

[Neilw_05]

I spoke out of ignorance. I've always assumed C3D objects are not supported in Map, but I decided to test applying object data to C3D objects and I was surprised to find it works. Therefore there is a potential to link C3D manholes to a spreadsheet or database. Of course that may not overcome the site team's objection. It depends on what they are wanting to do with the spreadsheet table.

[Civil3DReminders]

There are also third party apps that also provide the link. Although it is easy to create the link, kind of sad Autodesk went and spent all of the development dollars on another product instead of improving Civil 3D by spending the 80 or so hours it would take to create the link.

[Neilw_05]

I don't know of any 3rd party applications available that will create such links. I'll have to look into that some day. Without a custom tool we are left with manually applying the link attributes one by one to the C3D objects. Even if we have a link to a table, the attributes are not exposed to C3D labels so other means must be used for annotation.

[Civil3DReminders]

The Steltman tools have it in their pipe tools.

[HorizontalCurveGuy]

Linking attributes! Map3d!... Not the remotest possibility. I these folks could mout a T-square to their monitors and use leroy pens, thatwould be considered a technilogical advance, but I appreciate your optimism.

No, all they do to scale the plan enter rims and inverts and ole paste it into cad. I cant even convince them to use a autocad table. .... Linking attributes... what -a-riot 🙂

[AllenJessup]

I have one Engineer here that you can count the number of AutoCAD commands he will use on one hand. He won't even use the Hatch command because he says he doesn't like the way any of them look. So he draws hatches by hand!

Allen

[deltacoolguy]

There are things and apps that people here talk about that are beyond me, but based on what I see around me in the so-called real world I still feel that I am on the upside of the bell curve.  Kinda scary, in a way.

[AllenJessup]

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@deltacoolguy wrote:

  Kinda scary, in a way.

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Yes it is. I do know how to use the program for what I need to do. But I can attribute most of my EE status to simply having used the program for so long and my ability to hit the F1 key.

Allen

[ceethreedee.com]

Lol "why would I buy Autocad Civil 3D when bricscad does everything" quote from colleague..