AutoCAD Civil 3D

[#1]

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RainierFan wrote:

It constantly crashes or slows down to where a system cleaning and reboot is necessary.  I probably lose over an hour of production a day on average simplycleaning/rebooting.  

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I didn't see what you're running Civil 3D on. I had the same issues when running with 4 GB of RAM. That pretty much went away when I put another 8 GB is so I have 12 GB. The new systems I'm spec'ing will have 24 GB. If you're low on RAM adding some may help.

Allen

Civil 3D 2012 SP 2.1

Dell Precision T7400

Xeon CPU 3.16 GHz

12 GB RAM

Win 7 Pro, 64-bit

[#2]

12GB

[#3]

Update to initial post:

I am doing much better with Civil3D now.  I have my templates set up and i understand much better how to manipulate the styles in order to get them to do what i want.  The pipe profiling and road design features are pretty sweet, i have to admit.  However, i spent many Saturday mornings, on my own time, figuring it all out.  I'm at least back to getting my work done efficiently; admittedly more efficiently than before.  But there was a lot of heartache getting to this point.....

[#4]

glad its working out for you. It takes time to learn and get comfy with. You are not the only one to start the way you did.

[#5]

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paulhoman wrote:

Update to initial post:

I am doing much better with Civil3D now.  I have my templates set up and i understand much better how to manipulate the styles in order to get them to do what i want.  The pipe profiling and road design features are pretty sweet, i have to admit.  However, i spent many Saturday mornings, on my own time, figuring it all out.  I'm at least back to getting my work done efficiently; admittedly more efficiently than before.  But there was a lot of heartache getting to this point.....

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Have you ever experienced a sort of 'Stockholm Syndrome' sensation after you spend an inordinate amount of time wrestling with C3D to make something that should be simple work...then it finally does?  I have.  But eventually it passes and then fiscal reality sets back in.  It's like a bad poker hand that you're so deeply invested in that you keep calling the bet when you really should fold.  What keeps me in is that I can't be certain the alternatives are good enough make it worth starting over.

[#6]

Well, since i earn my living as a CAD guy, not learning Civil3D was definitely not an option.  It was either learn it, or find another line of work.  I chose the former.

[#7]

You make a clear point: are the alternatives any better? My guess is Yes/No/Maybe.

They all probably have  their plus's and minus's. I doubt anyone is exceeded superior to the other, but market share is probably a fair indication which is closer to the top.

[#8]

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<snip> but market share is probably a fair indication which is closer to the top. <snip>

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I agree...sort of.  Market share is a good indicator of what is closer to the top of market share, but that's about it. I went with C3D on the basis of market share...a decision I am coming to deeply regret.

[#9]

On the subject of market share, isn't one of the "Great Things" about being with the top guy (i.e. Autodesk & C3D) meant to be that we can all share our data in a compatible file format, because just about everyone uses the same software?

If so, then

1. Does anyone actually share C3D surfaces, profies, pipe networks etc with other firms?  Does anyone ask you to?  Would you do it, or would you be worried about them pilfering your settings & styles that, as pointed out, take many hours to get 'just right'?

2. Isn't Autodesk shooting themselves in the foot by pushing out  incompatible releases every year?  Even if 90% of the people who I send drawings to or who send drawings to me are in an Autodesk product, maybe only 10% are in the same one as me.  Kinda reduces the 'shareability' of all that data.

On a related note, how long after the creation of CAD software did municipalities take to start requiring digital submission of drawings?  How long will it take them to require digital submission of data like as-constructed pipe networks in Civil 3D?

[#10]

@troma
1. I couldn't care less about someone having access to my styles. Sure I spent a bunch of time creating them, but they suit my needs, noit necessarily theirs. We all used to think the same thing about our block libraries. Nobody is concerned anymore about that.
It's not like their going to steal any work from me simply because they have my styles.