AutoCAD Civil 3D

[#1]

Greetings, A couple of questions. One is generally about creating custom subassemblies with polylines. The help file does not include a lot of detail about this; and no examples. Does anybody know of a more fleshed-out source of info on this? Does the current courseware for C3D cover custom subassemblies in more detail than the help file? Or is it down to hours of experimentation to really discover how this works? My other question: where is the source of information on the symbology of coding for points, links, and shapes in subassemblies? Different codes get different symbols, colours, linetypes, fills, etc. I suspect that these things are hard-coded in C3D, but having a reference to this symbology would help in creating subassemblies from polylines. I have found no references in the online help. I am learning to create subassemblies using VBA (and here the help file is very informative); but it is good to have the quick and dirty method using polylines, while attempting to master the VBA method. Thanks very much for considering my questions. --- Evan Williams

[#2]

Although subassembly is a very powerful concept of C3D the user still needs some sort of template editor (something more flexible than Land Desktop) where he or she can create templates without going through VBA codes.

Creating a subassembly from polyline is usually not very useful since the polyline is static and can not really interact with/against other design controls & components such as alignments, profiles and surface.

I will be soon posting a custom Civil 3D template viewer/editor where user does not have to know anything about Visual Basic and still can create a quite complex (dynamic) template.

Peter,

[#3]

Hi Peter, Thanks for your reply. I'm looking forward to checking out your subassembly editor, when it comes available. Any idea when that will be? Will the editor include the ability to create custom point, link, and shape codes? The stock codes do not consider cases such as a gravel shoulder over the base and subbase material. Almost all of the stock codes relating to shoulders appear to assume a paved shoulder. There is a "gravel" link code, but no point, link or shape codes to relate it to anything other than the subgrade---at least as far as I can tell. One can dream up all kinds of scenarios that won't be covered by the stock tool catalog. The attached image shows a road prism template that we used to repair a old forest road in very sad condition with bad soils. Could your editor design assemblies or subassmblies to handle a scenario like this, where the placement of the rock toe and the depth of the bench cut for it depends on the fill slope daylight point (which varies section to section)? Can C3D handle this in a single assembly? I can think of ways to handle this with simpler assemblies and grading objects, through an insanely boring and time-consuming iterative process. (By the way, we used a very funky road design package called EMXS to accomplish this in the late 90's, and were able to do it in a single template. Definitely had a love/hate relationship with piece of software!) Anyway, thanks again. Look forward to mastering assembly/subassembly design in C3D---perhaps with your editor. Cheers, Evan "cadtown" wrote in message news:9579752.1111069602063.JavaMail.jive@jiveforum1.autodesk.com... > Although subassembly is a very powerful concept of C3D the user still > needs some sort of template editor (something more flexible than Land > Desktop) where he or she can create templates without going through VBA > codes. > > Creating a subassembly from polyline is usually not very useful since the > polyline is static and can not really interact with/against other design > controls & components such as alignments, profiles and surface. > > I will be soon posting a custom Civil 3D template viewer/editor where user > does not have to know anything about Visual Basic and still can create a > quite complex (dynamic) template. > > Peter,

[#4]

Evan,

The problem with the current C3D subassembly is that there seems to be an underlying myth that a couple of off-the-shelf stock subassemblies should take care of everything happening in each section - a wishful thinking in my opinion.

Sure, there are subassembly parameters/variables(such as depth, width & slope) which the user can change but this is still not flexible enough in many situations where each section has be to treated as a variable.

As a "once upon a time" designer myself, I would like to see a section editor where I have a complete freedom to create/edit lines, surfaces, feature codes, etc. and still be able generate volumes, reports and corridor model. Furthermore, I would prefer to see a graphic viewer/editor rather than a table editor.

If you e-mail me at inyi@yahoo.com I may be able to send you the incomplete version of my viewer/editor which I hope to complete within the next few months.

Peter,

[#5]

One option that is often quickly dismissed is the use of the Generic Links. I have used the "LinkMulti" (which allows multi-segmented assembly sections) and "LinkWidthAndSlope" (which can be tied to an alignment and a profile) to address many Non-Standard conditions, like a median K-Rail with a variable height. Something to consider. Angel Espinoza KETIV Technologies "Evan Williams" wrote in message news:423701a2$1_2@newsprd01... > Greetings, > > A couple of questions. > > One is generally about creating custom subassemblies with polylines. The > help file does not include a lot of detail about this; and no examples. > Does anybody know of a more fleshed-out source of info on this? Does the > current courseware for C3D cover custom subassemblies in more detail than > the help file? Or is it down to hours of experimentation to really discover > how this works? > > My other question: where is the source of information on the symbology of > coding for points, links, and shapes in subassemblies? Different codes get > different symbols, colours, linetypes, fills, etc. I suspect that these > things are hard-coded in C3D, but having a reference to this symbology would > help in creating subassemblies from polylines. I have found no references > in the online help. > > I am learning to create subassemblies using VBA (and here the help file is > very informative); but it is good to have the quick and dirty method using > polylines, while attempting to master the VBA method. > > Thanks very much for considering my questions. > > --- Evan Williams > >