Getting started with Civil 3D

[ntowne]

I don't know if this belong in the General thread or not. My company is finally switching from SiteCOMP to AutoCAD Civil 3D. I am very familiar with AutoCAD. I have been using it now for 2 years and I know I am no pro at it yet. I am fortunately the one that gets to set-up the system and put all the layers and blocks,etc. in. Is there any useful website or books that I can get to help me with this. I know they won't hire somebody to come in and set it up, so it is up to me to do this. Please, help!
Thank you.
Nora

[rkmcswain]

Nothing personal, but if you are making the move to Civil 3D, you are going to need some professional assistance, at least from your reseller, and probably from a consultant. In fact if your reseller is throwing this at you without this recommendation, I would start looking for another reseller.

Civil 3D is a beast. Do you have multiple users? If so, then Vault becomes an added headache to worry about. This isn't as simple as setting up AutoCAD.

Explore the C3D newsgroup: http://discussion.autodesk.com/forum.jspa?forumID=66
Explore all the C3D blogs/websites: (there are links on the right margin of my web site): http://rkmcswain.blogspot.com/

[Wanderer]

Hi there, Nora. I'm going to move this thread from the AutoCAD 2007 General forum to this one, as I believe it will be better served here. Thank you.

I don't know if this belong in the General thread or not. My company is finally switching from SiteCOMP to AutoCAD Civil 3D. I am very familiar with AutoCAD. I have been using it now for 2 years and I know I am no pro at it yet. I am fortunately the one that gets to set-up the system and put all the layers and blocks,etc. in. Is there any useful website or books that I can get to help me with this. I know they won't hire somebody to come in and set it up, so it is up to me to do this. Please, help!
Thank you.
Nora

[ekubaskie]

If you are on subscription you can access the Civil 3D webcast series from the subscription site, as well as handouts from last year's AutoDesk University.

Look for a DOCS folder on the installation DVD - there's a load of info in PDF form there.

C3D 2007 also has drawing template files set up with National CAD Standards layering. If you're starting from scratch you might as well start there. Standard details are available on-line from many municipal and state governments - start with your city and your state's DOT. The samples folders on the install disk (and older versions if you have them) can be a great source for symbols & such.