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We'd like to be able to have access to more parts in our pipe networks. I'm very new to this Civil 3D and such but it would be ideal if we had all the state's structures to chose from when drawing our pipe networks. It seems that most of those out of the box are concentric (manhole) type structures. We want something to appear as a square or rectangular catch basin.
it's going to take a while since everyone wants something different not just for state, but their own county and city jurisdiction.
Do what everyone does: Copy the "out of the box" Civil3D library and just edit each piece of pipes and structures to your jurisdiction and to your company's liking. Remember, each style has their own visibility state controls as well as layer assignments, so unless a majority of us are using NCS or AEC stuff, it's going take just as much time to change those settings in the styles even if you copy from someone else.
What state are you located in?
You should already have the option of using rectangular basins in C3D. I wish I could be of more help to you, but your comment leaves me confused as to why you are not finding this option, maybe the structures just need to be added/loaded.
I would agree with this reply. I have found abundance of sizes and shapes within C3D template. You must add to the part list before you will see them and don't forget to add the sizes of your particular needs after adding the parts. You may need to build it in part builder if it's an odd part.Quote:
Originally Posted by Christian Barrett
On a side note to Christian...I haven't had time yet to use your template that you provided this forum awhile back; is there any difference from the standard template in C3D that may help this poster to find specific parts that aren't found in the C3D templates? It’s just a thought that may help him/her to find different types of parts and sizes.
Parts are one of the few things that aren't stored in a drawing file. If you create a new part size (not just add it to the parts list) you'll need to share the pipe catalog with however uses that parts list.
Just wanted to add a little to this conversation.
The template I shared is nothing more then the NCS template that comes with C3D, with added styles, edited styles, some added layers, and yes some of the preloaded sizes of pipes and structures. So how much help it would be is hard for me to determine, as some of the styles may not be what a person or firm wants theirs to look like.
As Brian said the different sizes or alternative sizes are stored out side of the dwt/dwg file, in a Pipes Catalog file. I have been working on editing one of these files for a firm I'm consulting with, but even when this is finished it will be based on the local suppliers in their area, and so they my not be what someone else needs. The problem this firms is having with the stock pipes is the wall thicknesses are thicker than the specs from the local suppliers. This is coming into play when they have very little clearence to work with, such as a storm pipe crossing an existing sanitary line, where 2" matter enough that the county will not except the design if their is not a minimum clearence of .5'.
The point I'm trying to get to is situations, requirements and needs vary so much from one firm to another and one local to another, that it would be simply impossible to ever have one template and other needed files to accommodate all users of C3D. And as much as people don't want to hear it or maybe can't get the funds for expert help from their resellers or others, or to spend the time needed to solve these problems their selves due to budget and time restraints, there will be problems that most users will not be able to solve and may just have to except that what they produce sometimes is the best they can do. opps, I started to ramble on that one, sorry.
Anyways the template openwheeler spoke of is available on this site and anyone is free to use it in any way they want, maybe it could help a little. I would also be willing to inspect someone dwg to see what I could find missing or errors in it if they want, as long as it wasn't too time consuming of course, since I don't have very much free time these days.
Both of you have pointed out very important aspects and shared some good information for others. This thread will come in handy down the road for new C3D user for sure.
Thanks for sharing.