The Dave and Dan Civil 3D Show

Dan Philbrick and Dave Simeone add their colorful and insightful views, opinions, and expertise on Autodesk Civil 3D and the civil engineering marketplace.

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posted 02/05/07 by Dave Simeone Dynamic Model = Production Drafting...
As I noted in my earlier post, the Civil 3D Dynamic Model differs considerably from the Static model-based software applications most of us have been using for the past 20 or so years. One of the areas where this is very apparent is with how production drafting is created and, more importantly, maintained in a Civil/Survey project.

I break production drafting into two categories – initial creation of drafting and maintenance of drafting.

Creation of drafting – Most systems that are used today automate the initial creation of production drafting. Example - you run a command that queries the model and inserts the appropriate labels and CAD entities in the drawing. There are also plenty of instances where you’ll need to create simple CAD elements (ie, not from the civil/survey model) to finish up a sheet. Depending on where you are in the world, you’re doing most of your drafting from the model.

Maintaining your drafting – This is where Civil 3D is different than anything else. What happens when the design changes and drafting need to be updated? Does this change occur automatically or does the drafter need to consciously go about updating drafting? Is the annotation a dynamic or static representation of the model?

Dynamic Model + Drafting = Civil 3D
Here’s how I get my mind around drafting in Civil 3D. Think of drafting (annotation or the way something the model is displayed) as just a display of the model. If the model changes, every view or display of the model changes. So...

New way (Civil 3D) - Drafting is a representation of the model. If the model changes, the graphical appearance changes (ie, drafting updates)

Old way (everything else) – Drafting is a static output that is derived from the model. If the model changes, someone needs to recreate the drafting based on the new state of the model.

Make sense? If not, spend a little time playing with Civil 3D and it'll become very clear very quickly...

I need to run. My next topic will go a little further into drafting in Civil 3D. There are some very interesting concepts that leverage the dynamic model interaction I’ve been discussing that you want to be sure you understand.

Cheers
Dave S

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User Comments

  • I've been in the design/drafting arena for Civil Engineering for the past 28 years. Me experinece ranges from ink on mylars up to todays CAD applications.
    What you're talking about here is what a program, and I've been through many CAD programs, called VANGO does and used to do until the provider stopped supporting VANGO.
    I am very happy to see that Civil 3D, autocad, etc is finally catching up to VANGO........

    Posted 3/6/2007 11:06 AM by Randall LaMere