Thinking about converting to Civil 3D

[windycityengineer]

I work for a surveying/engineering firm. One licensed surveyor, three surveyors and one civil engineer. The surveying department do ALTAs, property surveys, topos, boundary surveys, mortgage requests. etc. The engineering department does site design, pipe network designs, grading. All of the surveyors uses Softdesk and Land Desktop 3 to process the survey information they get from the field and converts it into information the engineer can use

We are thinking about using Civil 3D but the management has concerns about compatibility issues.

Below are some of the concerns/fears the management has:

Will Civil 3D recognize old Softdesk points?

Will Civil 3D recognize old Land Desktop points, ASCI files, topos, contours?

Once these old Softdesk points or Land Desktop points are converted to Civil 3D points, can Land Desktop still use them?

-WindyCityEngineer

[annw2]

I agree, but flakey drafter and IT person don't like the idea.  It hasn't become worth the fight yet.

[JeffWright5789]

Prepare for several months of learning curve muliplied by the number of people you have.   It crashes all the time for no apparent reason.  You have to be completely famiiiar with "object oriented programming" before you even begin to understand what is actually going on.   And not to "blow my own horn"  I have multiple degrees, including advanced degrees in engineering and seriously suggest you look closer at other products before you make the SERIOUS TIME INVESTMENT which translates to real production dollars.   It will be at least 6-8 months before your drafting people are back to normal production rates even so, you will still have to suffer thru mutiple crashes and unexpected fatal errors even if you get reasonably proefficient on using it.

[dnl999]

I understand, and share to a certain extent, your frustration but don't you think you are a bit harsh on Civil 3D ?

Every software has strength and weakness.

[JeffWright5789]

Everyone has an opinion...  I certainly have mine...  I am also a programmer.  I think the unexpected crashes are inexcusable for software that costs as much as this does.  Think about it...  Something between $2000 and $2500 per seat times hundreds of thousands of users if not millions of users?   Why not spend just a fraction of that profit on a few software testers?   I know... you're thinking they did...  This product represents what they think is good quality control?

Truth is, can't do the job without it and it  is my "right hand" in drawing preparation.  A hand with 3 fingers is better than no hand at all...

[Sinc]

If you think it's bad now, then you REALLY wouldn't have liked it a few years ago...