Civil 3D surface data

[JKA-SCOTT]

I am finally trying to make the switch over to Civil 3D after having used Land Desktop since it first came out. I'm so used to LDD that I hate to switch, but I guess I better get with the times before becoming a dinosaur.:)

Anyway, I am preparing a set of utility plans (plan and profile) and the roadway design is being done by another entity and they are using a newer version of Civil 3D (2012 I think) and I'm using 2010 C3D.

My question is: what files should I request so that I could get the eg and fg surfaces? Should I just have them send the TIN lines? Or is there some other file that they could send that I could use to create the surface? I assume they couldn't send corridor linework because it would likely be proxy objects because of the newer version............so am I limited to requesting TIN lines?

What about XML? If I ask for XML data, will that get me what I need from their newer version of C3D?

[BlackBox]

Welcome to AUGI!

The company you're working with needs to know that you're not working in the same version. If upgrading to the newest version in use is an option, I'd highly recommend that you do so, mostly for the purposes of work-sharing, but there are some inherent features, and functionality gained as well.

If working in the same version is not an option, then you're going to require the drawings/models be exported back to 2010 File format (yes, 2012 uses 2010 file format, but has newer AECC* Objects, thus the Export being required), and you will not be able to retain the intelligence for their Exported objects (as I understand it).

Land XML would be an acceptable option, depending on the task. If they provide you the finished design surface (from the corridor model), you can simply duplicate the surface, and lower it your minimum cover depth to easily layout your top of pipe in Profile View.

I'm sure that others will have some tips as well, but I hope this helps.

[JKA-SCOTT]

Thanks for the reply, RenderMan. Yeah, I found out that 2012 C3D files don't work with 2010 C3D. I had to ask them to export them to acad. Due to the economy, we can't upgrade to the latest version of C3D.

I will ask them for Land XML files and maybe I'll have to ask some more questions on here about importing those files and getting things to work right.

[BlackBox]

... Happy to help :beer:

[JKA-SCOTT]

So, I received Land XML files and they appeared to come-in correctly when I first imported them. (I got alignments and surfaces). Well, now when taking a closer look, it seems that the alignments are not lining up perfectly with the other linework like I would expect. They seem to be shifted slightly compared to some of the other linework. What would cause this?

[cadtag]

how slight is 'slightly'? And what are the coordinate values you are dealing with? state plane? millions? tens of millions?

[JKA-SCOTT]

how slight is 'slightly'? And what are the coordinate values you are dealing with? state plane? millions? tens of millions?

They are off 1.55' north and approximately the same to the east. Supposed to be in State Plane coordinates.

The alignment begins at approximately:
N 649180
E 1158548

[JKA-SCOTT]

Do I need to tell the program what coordinate system I want to be in before importing the xml file?

[JKA-SCOTT]

Do I need to tell the program what coordinate system I want to be in before importing the xml file?

I'm going to quote myself here since I figured it out.:)

To correct my problem, I did have to set the drawing to the correct State Plane Coordinate UTM prior to importing. Once I did that and imported, the info appears to have come-in correctly.