Transitioning from LDT 09 to the newest Civil 3D

[JohnC_ISM]

so long story short my dad has used 09 cad land desktop for land surveying (2D) for just about the 10 years its been out. now we are contemplating the transition to the new civil 3d. 

as a student i have the luxury to test out the new program before we invest the money, but so far im having a really difficult time finding the menus, commands, and general everyday tasks on the newest version. in LDT09 the project, points, or label options are all right there in the ribbon tabs. ive googled stuff but seems like autocad has kind of pushed surveying into the corner and there not much information out there for the surveying aspect. 

so my first question is 1) is there a tutorial out there fellow surveyors on here have used to make that jump?

and 2) is there a way to export general work space layout to the new program?

[wfberry]

I have always advocated  using the supplied Tutorials that come with the Civil 3D installation.  Normally at the top of your program right next the the question mark is a dropdown arrow.  In this dropdown there are Tutorials.  I highly recommend that you start with Lesson 1 and continue through these.  There is a big learning curve, some folks recommend that you forget all about using Land Development Desktop.  The trick here is to get enough information and questions, then get some face to face instruction.

Bill

[Joe-Bouza · Accepted solution]

Transitioning doesn't quite capture the essence of what you are embarking. LDT and Civil3d may seem like an upgrade but what you must keep in mind they a completely different software packages. Yes many ideas and concept are the same. Work Flows will differ tremendously.

As bill says work the tutorials and ask a lot of questions as they come up. If you father has a standard template for creating his work you will want to replicate this in civil3d.

civil3d is a data driven label er and style machine. IMHO if you invest some upfront time understanding styles and labels and get a good start on your dwt file all else will fall into place as you start the tutorials.

It behooves you to fashion your dwt using the OOTB NCS dwt. all the tutorials use that standard dwt. Having and understanding the dwt, style and setting will make you life more pleasurable going forward

[JohnC_ISM]

them basically being two different programs is my fear because were talkin about a program thats been minutely the same since it came out that hes been using as well as me for the past 12 years so were hittin that points where we need to upgrade but trying to teach an old dog new tricks isnt going to be that easy when i dont even know the new tricks haha. 

[Joe-Bouza]

you got it.

Back in 2007 when I first moved over the Mantra from these boards was "forget everything you know about LDT"

As you start going along you will see some similarities but don't bee fooled.

Do not let my words dissuade you. everyone can learn it and take advantage. I may be wrong but it sounds to me from the chatter here that surveyors have a bigger hump to get over than designers.

tutorials, youtube, here, and hired guns will get you up and running

[rl_jackson]

There's still a bunch of us "old dogs" left. Some embraced C3D some didn't.

If you have a training source local I'd recommend it. But as stated previously by @wfberry the tutorials are a great asset for getting your feet wet. Other resources are out there that are free. YouTube, Autodesk University just to name a few. @Joe-Bouza and just about any other user that has followed this software through the years, you'll need to forget LDD it was great while it lasted it did the job, and this does the same thing just in a new way. 

By all means, if you have a question search here or just post a question. We are all here to help