Visual Presentations of Civil 3D data

[neilyj666]

Having now upgraded to IDSP 2014, what is the best workflow to get some good looking 3D visuals (stills/movies etc) from Civil 3D to present to planners/authorities/clients etc.

Is keeping everything in Civil 3D the best way or should I be looking at Infraworks/3DS Max/Navisworks?

Infraworks seems pretty slick but I can't seem to be able to show proposed earthworks platforms easily. The aerial photo seems to be draped over them rather than allowing me to chop a hole out as I can in Civil 3D. The only way I have been able to do this is by creating a coverage and styling that which seems a bit of a workaround.

The 3D performance of Infraworks is pretty slick compared to Civil so in this respect it is preferable to Civil.

Any thoughts gratefully received........

Thanks

[Joe-Bouza]

I'm no expert but I have done a few that I thought were good but the uppers still feel they are too cartoonish for thier presentations. I guess the next step is upload to the other rendering apps

[neilyj666]

Infraworks looks good but at the moment it seems I'm fighting against it as I can't figure out how to achieve what I need to achieve........

[Joe-Bouza]

Its not like these are the simplest application to master. I guess the new reality is to keep on truckin.

Is infra works new to 2014? I see my 2013 IDSP doesn't have it. And when would we use that as ooposed to 3dsMAx?

[neilyj666]

its infrastructure modeller with a new name, not sure if it was in 2013 IDSP.

not sure about when to use it or 3ds max design though

[dgorsman]

Not sure about Infrastructure Modeler, they haven't rolled anything over here yet.  Kind of looking forward to having access to some higher end rendering tools to expand my current abilities.  Before going to 3DS I'd suggest Navisworks.  The learning curve isn't as steep and while the finished products can be a little cartoonish, it can be a good tool for learning the basics of visual composition or at least quickly generating medium quality in-house images for binders, project swag, etc.

[dsimenic]

I use Civil 3d+Civil View+3DSMax Design. If you work with corridors, in my opinon, this is the best way.

[sboon]

Can you add more detail to that statement?  Many of us are looking for methods, workflow, examples etc.

Steve
Please use the Accept as Solution or Kudo buttons when appropriate

[Lisa_Pohlmeyer]

Y'all might be interested in this... http://bit.ly/13sOQWA

[dgorsman]

Which is... what, exactly?  (I don't make a habit of clicking "blind" links from posters I'm not familiar with)

[Neilw_05]

I was challenged by this task recently as well so I thought Infrastructure modeler would provide a good solution. Instead it proved to be unfruitful.

The main problem is there is no way to output to a portable file format such as 3D PDF. So unless you load it up on a computer to make presentations you can't present the models. Of course you can generate movies but if you want the consumers to be able to navigate the models freely that is not a solution.

So with the current state of affairs up to 2013 I've not found a good solution to the challenge. I'll be watching this thread.

[neilyj666]

It's a book dedicated to IDS Ultimate Workflows

[Lisa_Pohlmeyer]

And there's going to be a webcast showing the preview of the book and it's workflow. You have to register for the webcast, there's a link on the page.

[neilyj666]

It's a pity it's IDS Ultimate rather than Premium...:(

[Lisa_Pohlmeyer]

In the Civil 3D Community group on G+ there's a great thread on a user from LA creating content using Civil 3D, Civil View Ext. (2012) and 3DS Max for a project. Worth a look. We suggested that he present it to AU this year as a case study.

[colby_phelps]

Hey Everybody --

I too suggest leveraging Civil View. I took a class from Kristina Bollin @ AU2011 on this exact topic. She titled the class "Making Dirt Look Good" 🙂

Our learning objectives:

--Describe best practices for preparing an Civil 3D file for use in 3ds Max Design

--Import a Civil 3D file into 3ds Max Design

--Use basic rendering tools in 3ds Max Design

--Use Civil View to populate your scene with vehicles, cameras, road markings, and signage

Go get 'em! 

Colby

[neilyj666]

Do you have a link to this?

[neilyj666]

All the stuff I've seen about 3DS and Infraworks seem to focus on road projects and cars driving along but what about Civil surfaces derived via gradings/features/points etc for development platforms and other earthworks related projects? Can these be imported into Infraworks/3DS and rendered etc for a visual presentation and if so how??

[dsimenic]

Yes, you can import surfaces and feature lines from the different Civil 3D sites. But in this case you must manually applying materials from material editor in 3ds max design. In other words, to complete the scene, some skills in 3ds max is required.

Poslano s mog iPad uređaja

[neilyj666]

Hvala za ovu

Is this a difficult and/or time consuming task - I am totally unfamiliar with 3Ds as I've only just upgraded to the Design Suite?