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View Full Version : Does everyone still use Civil Design Companion?



sinc
2005-11-14, 10:46 PM
We're in the process of upgrading from LDD+Civil Design 2004 to Civil 3D. We've been told by the salesman that since we don't do hydrology, there's no point in paying the additional money for Civil Design Companion.

Does everyone agree with this assessment?

quiggle
2005-11-15, 02:14 AM
Only if you also have a big training budget, projects with a lot of extra money and very soft deadlines built in and no use for parcels or grading either. Parcels are coming along, but the grading is notoriously unstable and I am not using either module. The pies module surprised me with its performance, but it could use more pipe and structure options or a stable way to create them. The most important hurdle you will face is getting high quality training as the interface and terminology is not the familiar LDT/Civil Design. Additional strangeness from the 2006 core acad amplifies these problems. You must also be prepared to have someone spend a vast amount of hours preparing the styles and settings to get the finished drawing look you will need to satisfy reviewing agencies and field personnel as the out of the box styles are virtually guaranteed unacceptable.
If you just jump in with Civil 3D on normal project with minimal training, you are almost certain to bust that budget. If possible, I would suggest keeping your old software in place for production and try duplicating a finished design with Civil 3D and LDT/CDC. The temptation to jump back to familiar software is just too great when the manager sees all of his budget gone and the hoped for deadline a month behind him while the staff is still trying to get the first submittal out.

melanie.santer
2005-11-15, 07:25 PM
I must agree that the grading is quite unstable but is something that Autodesk is working on for the next release of 2007 in April of 06'. As far as the parcels go, I find it to be very useful and overall Civil 3D is a great tool. There is a bit of a change from Land Desktop to Civil 3D, it's mainly about how to find the tools that you were used to using in LDT that have now moved in Civil 3D.

Civil 3D is a dynamic model with intelligent objects, your surfaces, points, parcels, pipes and alignments are all intelligent objects that can have a specific style and label style associated with them.

I do agree that there are A LOT of different styles to set up, but the "out of the box" Civil 3D does have a large number of templates that have styles built into them.

If you are used to working with Templates and Prototypes in LDT, they have been combined and Civil 3D does not have Prototypes, all of your styles for all of your objects can be saved in to a template file.

I do suggest training on the new software.

Hope this helps!

sinc
2005-11-15, 11:22 PM
What are the problems with the grading module? We use surfaces and volume calculations extensively. Does this mean we are forced to buy Civil Companion until Autodesk gets their act somewhat more-together?

I'm still a bit confused about the new packaging... Is "Civil Companion" essentially the old Civil Design that they don't sell anymore, but included because they know their Civil-3D isn't ready for prime-time yet (despite the fact that they're forcing everyone to switch)?

jpostlewait
2005-11-15, 11:34 PM
What are the problems with the grading module? We use surfaces and volume calculations extensively. Does this mean we are forced to buy Civil Companion until Autodesk gets their act somewhat more-together?

I'm still a bit confused about the new packaging... Is "Civil Companion" essentially the old Civil Design that they don't sell anymore, but included because they know their Civil-3D isn't ready for prime-time yet (despite the fact that they're forcing everyone to switch)?

Yup.
Welcome to the new Autodesk business model.

melanie.santer
2005-11-15, 11:58 PM
What are the problems with the grading module? We use surfaces and volume calculations extensively. Does this mean we are forced to buy Civil Companion until Autodesk gets their act somewhat more-together?

I'm still a bit confused about the new packaging... Is "Civil Companion" essentially the old Civil Design that they don't sell anymore, but included because they know their Civil-3D isn't ready for prime-time yet (despite the fact that they're forcing everyone to switch)?
I have found that the grading portion of Civil 3D is a little unstable, tends to crash a bit, but as I said before they are working on it for the next release! As far as the labeling of the Civil 3D-Civil Design Companion, that is a bit confusing I know. Basically if you are running Civil 3D and no longer running Land Desktop there is no Civil Design add on for Civil 3D. The Civil Design add on is for Land Desktop only!

As far as Civil 3D being ready for production use, it is and there are many companies out their that have moved to it or are in the process of moving to it. It is a wonderful tool that has been created to make our jobs easier. The dynamic functionality of the software is great, when you move your alignment your profile automatically updates, you can move your alignment and not have to worry about that "invisible link" being broken! I know the styles may be a bit overwhelming but as soon as they are set up you are ready to go!

MHultgren
2005-11-16, 02:10 PM
Melanie,
Did ADESK get the FG profiles and Surface(s) to Update when the alignment moves in the 06 release? I know in prior releases it didn't.

sinc
2005-11-16, 04:18 PM
I have found that the grading portion of Civil 3D is a little unstable, tends to crash a bit, but as I said before they are working on it for the next release! As far as the labeling of the Civil 3D-Civil Design Companion, that is a bit confusing I know. Basically if you are running Civil 3D and no longer running Land Desktop there is no Civil Design add on for Civil 3D. The Civil Design add on is for Land Desktop only!

I believe the salesman said that Land Desktop was included with Civil-3D. Is that the case? How do the projects interact? In other words, can you just open a Civil-3D drawing in Land Desktop and use it in any way, or do you need to export/import drawings between the versions?

Is it the sort of thing where, for example, a calculation keeps crashing Civil-3D, so the work-around is to open the drawing in Land Desktop+Civil Companion and do the calculation there? Or is Civil Companion more a "fallback tool", for people who haven't learned to use Civil-3D yet and need to get something done fast? Both? Neither?

melanie.santer
2005-11-16, 05:18 PM
Melanie,
Did ADESK get the FG profiles and Surface(s) to Update when the alignment moves in the 06 release? I know in prior releases it didn't.
Hi :smile:

You know, I am not sure, I believe it works in 06', that is the only version that I have used so I didn't know that it was "broken" in 05', but don't quote me on that, sorry I could be more help!

Take care,

melanie.santer
2005-11-16, 05:24 PM
I believe the salesman said that Land Desktop was included with Civil-3D. Is that the case? How do the projects interact? In other words, can you just open a Civil-3D drawing in Land Desktop and use it in any way, or do you need to export/import drawings between the versions?

Is it the sort of thing where, for example, a calculation keeps crashing Civil-3D, so the work-around is to open the drawing in Land Desktop+Civil Companion and do the calculation there? Or is Civil Companion more a "fallback tool", for people who haven't learned to use Civil-3D yet and need to get something done fast? Both? Neither?
Yes, your salesman is correct, when you purchase Civil 3D, you do get Land Desktop!

On the other note when using Civil 3D and Land 2006 (05 has it as well) there is a bit or a transfer that needs to take place, but it's pretty easy, if you are in Land Desktop opening up a drawing from Civil 3D you need to go to Projects-->Extract Civil 3D Data and if you are in Civil 3D opening a drawing from Land you need to go to General-->Import Data from Land Desktop.

I do suggest that if you are using Civil 3D and you get stuck to go back into Land and finish what you need to do instead of sitting and spinning your wheels trying to complete a task. Land Desktop is the "fallback tool" for Civil 3D.

Are you going to make the switch over soon?

sinc
2005-11-16, 11:06 PM
Are you going to make the switch over soon?
Yes. We're having a surprising amount of trouble getting it ordered, though... You'd think the reseller would be more interested in taking our money... :roll: We call and can't reach anyone, then they call back when no one's here, then the salesman goes on vacation, so we try contacting the only other salesman at the company and he never calls back, blah blah...

We contacted another reseller that seems more responsive, so we'll see if we start getting somewhere now...