land desktop 2008 vs civil 3d 2008??

[dgordon.68443]

Civil 3D 2008 sp2 is way better than Land Desktop. It's faster, funner to work with, uses dynamically updating labels. Point creating and manipulation has so many improvements. Surface editing is so much better. Creating roads with corridors is a huge improvement. Pipe networks is far superior to the pipes add on for land D.

C3D wins, no contest.

Dan

[cdatechguy]

I just remember when I first started using Civ3D it crashed on me a lot! But of course so did Revit when I first got it, and now Revit is all that I use! So if I had stayed where I was at I am sure I would have stuck with Civ3D...

[jmeyer.186809]

I would have to say it depends on what you do. I'm new to Civil 3d and honestly I hate it right now but thats because I'm frustrated with it. I did however have a webinar just before it's release with some co-workers and all these great new features and idea's to implement into Civil 3d were already in LDDT or were already added as expansion tools. Depending on what your doing within your firm is really where one of the other can shine. I would say civil 3d is great for engineering not surveying. For a well experienced LDDT and Map user civil 3d doesn't have enough advantage for surveyers to make the jump unless all their clients are moving over to the new software. What animal to hunt all depends on what environment your hunting in!

[sinc]

I would say civil 3d is great for engineering not surveying. For a well experienced LDDT and Map user civil 3d doesn't have enough advantage for surveyers to make the jump unless all their clients are moving over to the new software. What animal to hunt all depends on what environment your hunting in!

That's only if you're trying to use C3D out-of-the-box. There is add-on software that can dramatically help with Survey tasks.

With the Sincpac-C3D added onto C3D, we can out-calc any software out there. We even leave Carlson in the dust for most tasks (although there are still some cases where Carlson wins). Of course, we had to get through the learning curve first, but when it comes to power and speed, there is no other software that can really compare. Land Desktop can't even come close, even with lots of custom programming.

[brainman1000]

I would have to say that C3D is far more advanced that LDT. They basically do the same thing, but C3D dynamically links everything together. That is the main difference and advantage of C3D.

[jmeyer.186809]

I would have to say that C3D is far more advanced that LDT. They basically do the same thing, but C3D dynamically links everything together. That is the main difference and advantage of C3D.

But that can work against you depending on what your doing. I'm finding no one wants to call a spade a spade around here and get flamed. I think this is a better software for engineers not surveyors. Thats just my opinion. The more I'm learning and the more i've been working with this software the more I'm realizing that LDDT works much better for my firm. I understand c3d is a totally different animal and it does have some totally awesome features but many of it's features that are now forced onto the user are not very benificial for my firm. We do things different then most surveys in our area and thats why we are the chosen firm amongst contractors, developers and engineers. We produce the product exactly how they want it and to there specs to make them more productive and we cater to that. We've been in business for over 55 years and that is what we are know for. With civil 3d were forced to standardize everything and use the software the way autodesk wants to use it. So until our clients want everything the way autodesk wants to see it used we are more productive and overall successful using LDDT and Map.

Sooner or later we will make the jump because our engineering clients will have made the jump but we for now are just learning the software.

[brian.hailey933139]

One thing many people, especially people like me who's job it is to sell, support, and train the software, loose sight of is that Civil 3D is just a tool. Is it the only tool that you should use on your project? Absolutely not. If a particular task will be done better for you in a different piece of software, you should use that other software, even if C3D can do the job too. Whenver people ask me if they should use Civil 3D or <insert competitors product here>, I always reply, "You should use the one that YOU can get the job done the fastest with". For me, that would be Civil 3D hands down. For someone that has been using LDT for years and years and can't learn new things well, stay with LDT.

Just my $0.02.