MasterGraphics Weblog
Archive for the ‘Civil’ Category
Raster Design Object Enabler Ready for Download
Friday, May 2nd, 2008
AutoCAD Raster Design 2009 Object Enabler You’ll need this in order to import MrSID format files. This is especially important for users of Civil 3D 2009 or Map 2009.
Make sure you download the version appropriate for your Autodesk program. Civil 3D and Map are both technically still 32-bit applications, so you’d need the 32-bit version in this case. (The download site implies it is the OS that determines the download - but I tried on my 64-bit Vista and the 64-bit install did not work.)
Before Installing Raster Design 2009 Object Enabler:
After Installing Raster Design 2009 Object Enabler:
That’s all for now!
Play It, Sam
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008
Many of you already know (and love?) FLEXLM utilities that are needed for network licensing of Autodesk products. Did you also know that there is a utility that comes free with most Autodesk products and can be used for more in-depth license reporting? The utility I’m talking about is SamReport-Lite, by Macrovision.
With this tool you can get a very clear picture of how many licenses are being used and by whom throughout the day. It can help you make decisions as to whether or not you need more licences.
The only trouble is that the documentation that comes on the DVD is not Autodesk-specific and is confusing. People commonly get Java error messages installing off the DVD and just give up.
The following instructions will get you past all the confusion. As long as you know how to install FlexLM, you can get through the document.
Good luck and happy reporting!
WisDOT Announces to Consultants
Friday, March 14th, 2008
ACEC Wisconsin and WisDot hold a join conference every year to disseminate information to the consulting firms it works with. Hundreds of representatives of the consultant community were in Elkhart Lake, WI at the lovely Osthoff Resort.
Eric Arneson represented the DOT to discuss the decision to implement Civil 3D and how it will impact the consultant community.
Eric is member of WisDOT’s Methods development team. This is a unique team of WisDOT employees who’s responsibility is support of all computer aided engineering software within DOT. The software they support includes Microstation, CAiCE, AutoTurn and CAE Plot.
Some additional highlights:
- WisDOT will implement Civil 3D, Vault and replace their current plotting software by using the sheetset manager.
- WisDOT will decide in May 2008 if a deployment of Civil 3D will go forward for Fall of 2008. They may decide to push back full implementation if they feel the DOT is not ready.
- They will be rolling out Civil 3D to regional offices after finding people who would serve as good early adopters. They will also look for suitable projects to start in or convert to Civil 3D.
- The Methods team will continue to support CAiCE indefinably.
- WisDOT does not now, nor does it plan to require consultants to use Civil 3D. Consultants will still be able to submit plans in several formats including PDF.
- WisDOT may soon require consultants to submit surfaces in a 3D surface model form. This could mean LandXML, TIN or other format that could be used with machine controlled grading.
- All levels of project approval in WisDOT has been obtained.
- Methods development will soon complete Autodesk training curriculum for Civil 3D.
- Project kickoff meeting with IT and AutoDesk was conducted February 20, 2008.
And super-super coolness: There is talk of a WisDOT specific package that can be installed with Civil 3D - not unlike the country design packs that exist.
WisDOT PDF of the full slide show presentation.
I’m excited to see what happens in May. The Methods team is a sharp group.
Is your ROW Showing?
Monday, February 18th, 2008
A common question I get while doing tech support is: How do I get my right-of-way lines to show up in my cross-section views?
If you can create sample lines and cross sections - the rest is easy.
This document will help get you there: Creating ROW Lines in Cross Sections
Happy engineering!
(Special thanks to Autodesk AE Jerry Bartels for inspiring this post. )
Madison Civil 3D User Group
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008
In Madison tomorrow we’ll be meeting with the Madison-area Civil 3D User Group. Besides lunch there will be a presentation on survey workflow. This isn’t the normal “workflow” that starts with the fieldbook file. Our intent is to get you from the field through the fieldbook and into Civil 3D.
If you’re in the neighborhood drop in and join the conversation. We’ll be at the Quality Inn & Suites, 2969 Cahill Main, Fitchburg (almost Madison).
TIFF Image Problems in Civil 3D 2008 SP2
Friday, January 25th, 2008
If you use Civil 3D 2008, hopefully you have installed Service Pack 2. However, if you frequently work with TIFF images you may have noticed the “scrambled” look that occurs periodically. There are several quick fixes to this problem, but each has its downside.
- Reload the image. To do this go to the Insert menu and select Image Manager. right-click on the name of the raster image and select Reload. The downside to this method is that a large TIFF image can take several minutes to reload.
- Convert the images to a different format. JPG’s tend to not have this problem, however they don’t contain spatial information as TIFFs can.
- Use brute force in the form of this document. This document walks you through replacing the new DLL with the old DLL.
Please let us know if you try this. I’d love to hear how it works for you!
Mass Haul and Civil 3D 2008
Friday, January 4th, 2008
If you have Civil 3D 2008 and a spreadsheet program, you are closer than you think to a fantastic-looking mass-haul diagram.
This document takes you from Generating the Volume report to producing the diagram in Excel.
Enjoy!
Memorize These Key-ins
Tuesday, December 11th, 2007
If your AutoCAD based product is acting weird, knowing a few common troubleshooting tricks can mean the difference between hours of work and hours of frustration.
The following tricks will work for any AutoCAD based product such as AutoCAD Architecture, Civil 3D, AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD Mechanical and AutoCAD Electrical.
Trick 1: FILEDIA
Filedia should be set to 1 for dialog boxes to appear. Say you go to File > Open and are prompted for the file path along the command line. This especially is the case after a recent crash. Type FILEDIA at the command line and you’ll be back in business in no time.
Trick 2: ALT Spacebar M
For some reason your layer manager is not appearing. Autocad is not crashing - but it appears frozen until you hit the ESC key. What really happening is that your layer manager dialog box is off in “lala land”. To get it back, hit ALT and Spacebar at the same time. Let go then type M. You are now in a mode where you can relocate the dialog box with the arrow keys.
Trick 3: AUDIT
This is another command line entry that basically tells Autocad “heal thyself!” Follow the prompts and type Y to fix any detectable errors.
I’ll post more tricks like these in the near future. In the meantime, ENJOY!
Anatomy of a Cross Section
Friday, November 16th, 2007
Civil 3D 2008 Cross-Section Views are interesting objects because they are a reflection of design you have done up to the point of creating them. They are not an object from which you can edit your design.
Cross-section views are meant to be plotted from a view port. You may be surprised if you are expecting the labeling and styles to behave the same as a profile view.
I hope the attached document helps remove some of the mystery from cross-section views.
Happy Thanksgiving!
See you at AU!
Civil 3D Users Unite
Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
Just wanted to let all those in the southeastern Wisconsin area that we have two Civil 3D User Groups meeting within the next week. Thursday, Nov. 8th, at the MasterGraphics Waukesha office is the Milwaukee-area user group. Thursday, Nov. 15th in the MasterGraphics Madison office is the Madison-area user group.
Even if you aren’t a Civil 3D user….yet….you may want to drop in and listen to the discussion. These are real users, working with real production issues. Both meetings are scheduled for the lunch-time so there will be food involved.
Hope to see you there!