From the Ground Up
A European perspective on design and out of the box thinking with Civil 3D.
About Jack About OveLatest Post
- posted 09/04/08 by Ove Cervin Stage Storage Extension
- Hi all,
I hope you have seen the new tools available on Autodesk Subscription center.
What I had in mind here is the new extension called "Stage Storage Extension".
Here is a description on what it does:
Stage Storage Extension for AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2009 – Download
The Stage Storage Extension for AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2009 is used to calculate incremental and cumulative volumes of a basin from an AutoCAD Civil 3D Surface. Polylines that represent the basin contours or Civil 3D surface contours can be selected to calculate basin volume and area values. Volumes are calculated by average end area as well as conic approximation. Volume and area analysis tables may be saved as .AeccSTT files, inserted into the drawing as an AutoCAD tables or sent to a .txt report file.
This extension is only available to AutoCAD Civil 3D users. The extension is available in English and will install on all language versions of AutoCAD Civil 3D.
There are also a number of new Subassemblies on Subscription center. Check them out! Hopefully they can help you in you daily work ;-)
I am also glad to tell you all that our colleague Jack finally had a son. Congratulations !!
Maybe we will see a shifted focus here on this blog in the future? A more soft "baby skin" feel to the postings ? ;-)
I'd also like to remind you going in to the AUGI webpages and review the whishlist for next C3D. Please do.
Until next time, take care! / Ove C1 comments In From the Ground Up > Subscription
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Previous Posts
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Restore your corridor codes
Posted 08/22/08 by Jack Strongitharm
Wow, I've actually made it one blog a day all week!!
Probably think I have nothing better to do with my time.
Well actually I am grounded at present waiting for the arrival of my first child as he is due any day now.
This is Aaron Strongitharm, time he made an appearance!
So while I have been patiently waiting I have got my AUGI and AU class papers together and hopefully giving you some good posts this week.
*Anyway back to some Civil 3D stuff.*
It seems that the Update 1 (aka service pack) has restored the codes file in Civil 3D to the US one.
What do I mean?
The codes file will ditate whether you see a feature line code in a corridor as either ETW (US terms) or EC (British term).
There is a backup of the file that was installed with the UK and Ireland Country Kit and also your local country kit that you should have installed.
With Civil 3D not open.
Go to one of these paths depending on your operatiing system
On XP
C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\Autodesk\C3D 2009
On Vista
C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\C3D 2009\enu
Rename the C3DStockSubassemblyScripts to a temporary name as a backup
Change the C3DStockSubassemblyScripts_en-GB (or your country) to C3DStockSubassemblyScripts
Start Civil 3D and the British codes etc are then applied
Jack Strongitharm
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Create your own subassembly toolpalletes (2009)
Posted 08/21/08 by Jack Strongitharm
Nice little feature of 2009 release is that you can create your own toolpalletes of assemblies and subassemblies.
So you are not a code person, doesn't matter.
How many times do you enter parameters into a subassembly to set width, slopes etc that you use everytime.
Also do you hunt through the palletes searching for the couple that you are using the most?.
Well that we can sort!
In a clean drawing and save it (this is temporary) click on a subassembly and hit return key (for detached)
Place it in the drawing.
On its properties, set all the parameters the way you like
Once you are ready, create a new pallete and then with left mouse button click and hold on the subassembly in the drawing and drag it to the toolpallete.
Once its there you can rename it to something sensible and also specify an image.
If you browse to
On XP
C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\Autodesk\C3D 2009\enu\Tool Catalogs\Road Catalog\Images
On Vista
C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\C3D 2009\enu\Tool Catalogs\Road Catalog\Images
You can find all the Civil 3D icons
For my UK and Ireland users I have created a simple set and also included kerbs and edgings to British Standards.
These will work better than my old set that I made from polylines.
Hope they are of use.
Click here to download
To install, extract the zip file to a location on your computer and by right clicking on the toolpallete click then on customize palletes
On the left hand side, click on Import and point to the XTP file that extracted from the zip file.
Should save some time and effort on a daily basis.
Jack Strongitharm -
Widening Part 2
Posted 08/20/08 by Jack Strongitharm
So where we left part 1, I created a surface to look at what I had done and all was not well.
Why, could be a couple of reasons, the survey was not clean, the road was that deformed along the original crown and left channel that meant it was not going to be suitable.
So we need to revisit and do a little more design work. Also the local authority has a bit more money to spend, so we can actually resurface the whole area as it will improve the friction of the road for braking purposes and generally improve the drainage.
So rather than the crown just being a 3d polyline, convert to 2D line and generate an alignment from it.
Looking at the profile, we then redesign and create a smoother vertical profile.
If we draw the profile along the ‘Widening Alignment’ and display the surface profile we got from the extended surface projection, you can see where some of the problems came from.
So what we can do here is say we will want the new road cross section to be -2.5% (1:40) from the crown line to the widening. We could simply just apply this in the assembly, but we have to tie in the start and end profiles.
Therefore the method I always use is that of creating a temporary corridor or what could be called surface projection to help me design the profile on the widening alignment.
So create an assembly that has the -2.5%, but make the width much bigger so that it will be overlapping the widening alignment in plan.
The reason for this is that we can then make a corridor surface and cut a profile from it.
So the thick pinky red line is showing surface levels at -2.5%
Design through a vertical profile based on this line and tie into the original ground at both ends
To then overlay the original road surface and then have new construction to the widening area we need to have an assembly such as this one.
From the crown line I have placed the generic pavement assembly, found in the Metric/Imperial Roadway or Carriageway (depending on your language version)
Why?, well we can specify our own codes and also all I want is to show 100mm thickness and anything below that will be regulating base course or planing. So give a top link code of overlay and bottom link code of Formation. For linework an outside top point of EC, ETW etc
For targets, the left channel for width purposes of the overlay and the widening alignment for the new construction. Also target the widening alignment profile for level.
For the opposite side just use the 3dpolyline for the channel edge to tie into existing. (you may want to join your channel lines together if you have a gap)
So here is the result (you may want to add that link code style for Overlay to your code set style so to colour it in etc)
And also if you create a surface to the corridor you can see that the contours and slope arrows look good.
As we only called the generic subassembly link code overlay, you can add both TOP and OVERLAY to create the top surface.
Next, we can look at volumes, for this we need a formation or datum surface to the underside of the paved surfaces to measure, regulating and planing for the overlay and also earthworks for the formation of the new widened section.
So create two surfaces in the corridor and name accordingly and add the link code for the formation/datum.
From the prospector and create surfaces, then create tin volume surfaces from the ground to these surfaces.
Using the 2D solid level banding style we can go to the volume surface properties and analysis tab.
Add two ranges, and set as below where you have the biggest cut to 0 as red and from 0 to the biggest fill as green for instance. Set for both tin volume surfaces
So here you can see there is quite a bit of cut and planing to be achieved.
So we can now add some surface tables to reflect the data, so from the surface menu and tables add two tables for each tin volume surface.
Make a copy of the table style, because then you can add you own table title and extra columns, in this case surface area and volume
Don’t forget everything here is dynamic, so now you can spend some extra time on the design of the crown line and maybe optimise the earthworks and overlay regulating and planing.
The only thing you will have to do is reset the limits of the analysis to the tin volume surfaces.
Another easy addition!
Until next time, will there be a part 3?
Jack Strongitharm
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Another plug
Posted 08/19/08 by Jack Strongitharm
I like to give our development partners a plug when I can to support those working with our technology.
This time it is for 'New Visual Solutions Ltd' and their Quickscape product from the UK.
Since the FBX capabilities between Revit and 3DS Max have been introduced, more users are creating renderings and animations in 3DS Max.
To complete the scene you need some existing and proposed ground models which obviously can be designed in AutoCAD Civil 3D and brought through into 3DS Max and Max Design (improved with the Civil 3D Object Enabler).
But then you need to add many features to bring your project alive such as road signs, signals, road lines and markings, fences/railings, vehicles, trees, people etc …….
This is where Quickscape will prove itself to be useful.
http://www.newvsol.com/
Quote from their website
'Quickscape is a comprehensive toolset for 3D Studio Max/ Max Design comprising over 40 unique tools and hundereds of high qaulity modelling assets. The software works seamlessly with 3DS Max, focusing on the creation of highways, external works and landscape, using design data from AutoCAD, Revit Architecture and Civil 3D.'
Jack Strongitharm -
AutoCAD Civil 3D Object Enabler - Update 1
Posted 08/18/08 by Jack Strongitharm
As with what is now called Update 1 rather than Service Pack 1, see Dominicks blog for the explanation to the change of name, the Object Enabler for Civil 3D has just been updated also.
This applies to:
AutoCAD® 2009
AutoCAD® Architecture 2009
AutoCAD® Electrical 2009
AutoCAD® Map 3D 2009
AutoCAD® Mechanical 2009
AutoCAD® MEP 2009
Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2009
Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design 2009
Autodesk® Impression 2009
Autodesk® NavisWorks® Manage 2009
Autodesk® NavisWorks® Review 2009
Autodesk® NavisWorks® Simulate 2009
One of the signicant changes is the support for Navisworks and its support of Civil 3D drawings and its objects such as pipes, structures and corridors etc. Using the Object Enabler means that you can clash against Revit, Revit Structure and other data in one true BIM environment. Make a change in Civil and simply hit refresh to see an instant update and the clash resolved.
Link to download page
Jack Strongitharm -
Widening Part 1
Posted 08/14/08 by Jack Strongitharm
Got a scheme like this and wondering how to go about it.
Scenario
Creation of a ‘Ghost Island’ to enable safe turning into side road
What we want to do is
simply extend road surface levels to the new widened channel line and
new kerbline,
new footway and
tie into existing ground with earthwork slopes.
We have a 3D survey drawing.
You need two reference lines from the survey, so you made need to string them together, or in this case I copied them out of the drawing, joined them up and brought them back.
You need two alignments, one is the inside channel line, so the line you copied and joined together, covert to 2D
The second alignment for the widening.
Convert the existing channel 3dpolyline to a Civil 3D alignment and ensure you don’t tick ‘add curves between straights’.
Next with the existing channel edge alignment, create a profile from your ground surface, (you can just click OK rather than draw it)
Next we create an assembly, for this we need a subassembly that probably won’t be in your toolpalette, there are a lot more than you think!
So goto the catalog icon
Select Metric or Imperial and then ‘C3D Rehab’
The subassembly we will use is the ‘OverlayWidenMatchSlope1’
This is written slightly different as it does not have a left or right option, so set the ‘Insert Point Offset’ to a negative value for ‘LEFT’ and a positive value for ‘RIGHT’.
The value does not matter as we will be targeting our widening alignment for the width, so just enter a value so it shows in the assembly view. Also set the overlay to 0, for no overlay to be applied.
Then add the next features you need such as a kerb, footpath and earthwork slopes to the assembly.
Create the corridor using the Existing Left Channel Edge – Alignment as the baseline for the corridor. Start and finish the corridor distance to the limits of your widening alignment.
Set the frequency similar to the image below and include any critical chainage points as required.
An option is only calculate at a regular chainage interval rather than at the surface profile geometry points, if desired.
Next go to the targets of the corridor, and you will see that you can target the overlay subassembly to the ground surface as this will check the levels along the corridor.
From the help file, you can see that the ‘Sample Point’ is what we target for the centreline (in this case our centreline is a 3dpolyline (2009 only) and the insert point is actually our existing left edge alignment that we based our corridor on.
The width is what we will target to our widening alignment.
Result!
Much easier than working out levels and drawing profiles manually!
You can now see the potential of subassemblies much more than just standard widths and slopes.
Try moving your alignment grips around with the corridor on ‘automatic rebuild’.
Also if you want the nice colour scheme to your corridor, that is applied from the code set style as material area fill, where the users of the UK and Ireland country kit template have it already setup.
A day’s work down to minutes, with flexibility for change!
In the next part I will go through how to overlay and refine the profile level design as maybe the existing crossfall of the road is deformed from heavy vehicles etc.
Jack Strongitharm
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From the ground up 101 and SP1 for Civil 3D
Posted 08/08/08 by Jack Strongitharm
My last post was actually the 100th post from this blog.
After a year and a half, I would like to thank everyone for reading with us and hopefully making use of some of our tips and tricks of some of those out of the box ideas using Civil 3D.
Well, some other good news, Service Pack 1 is now available for download.
Click here to the download site
Here comes the next 100 posts!
Jack Strongitharm -
AUGI Design Academy UK 2008
Posted 07/25/08 by Jack Strongitharm
Registration is now open for this years AUGI UK Design Academy.
Two days of expert classes on Autodesk products including of course AutoCAD Civil 3D.
I have three classes this year
(S1 - 5)Designing Turning Heads in Civil 3D®
(S5 - 2)Dynamic Civil 3D Blocks
(S6 - 3)Junction Jack is back (yes cheesy title, but I have some tricks up my sleeves)
Other Civil 3D classes
(S2 - 8)The CAD Engineers Guide to Creating Surface Models, Ground Profiles and Cross Sections
(S7 - 7)The Engineers Guide to Importing Survey Data and Creating a Ground Model
Instructor: Paul Lloyd-Smith
(S4 - 6)Importing and Manipulating LIDAR Data in AutoCAD® Civil 3D®
Instructor: Philip Madeley
(S5 - 8)High Level Civil Visualisation in 3ds Max for Civil 3D Users
Instructor: Bruce Harfield
(S8 - 6)Interactive 3D Visualization of a River Renaturation Measure
Instructor: Ruediger Mach
Of course there is classes on all of our other software, so plenty for everyone!
Click on the links below for information on what is happening this year
I look forward to seeing you there.
AUGI UK Design Academy Webpage
Jack Strongitharm -
Another UK Star!
Posted 07/25/08 by Jack Strongitharm
Take a read of the latest UK case study from ADL Highways in Bristol
Read case study
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Points where Lines intersect
Posted 07/04/08 by Ove Cervin
Hello everyone
Last week we got the question if it is possible to create Points where Lines intersect with each other.
After some thinking we came up with this solution, and it is possible right out of the box.
This might be used for several reasons. You might want to create COGOs or just to get Points for Surface creation etc.
If we use the Map command, "Drawing Cleanup" we can get markers where Lines intersect.
This is the way to do it:
- Start the command "_mapclean"
- Use "Select all" (or select manually, a Layer etc)
- For Cleanup Actions, select "Break Crossing Objects"
- In the same dialog, select "Interactive" at the bottom.
- For Cleanup Methods, select "Modify original objects"
- For Error Markers, select "Maintain markers when command ends" (Necessary!!). Choose a symbol.
- After Finish, you get this dialog. Don't miss to choose "Mark All"...
- ...and in the end you get a series of Blocks presented where the Lines intersect.
...and as you can see they are Blocks...
I guess similar methods using MapCleanup might help also in other cases.
Good luck cleaning! Cheers // Ove
