Civil 3d Styles & templates, is there any data?

[mjoseph]

Does anyone know if there is compiled data showing how styles, templates etc., can save time and how much? Understandably, management within our company is reluctant to allow the necessary time/money, for us to create & maintain styles, templates etc. If there were data available to help state our case, I would surely like to get my hands on it!

Thank you,

Mike J
Tucson, AZ

[brian.hailey933139]

I don't think that is an appropriate question. If you are going to use C3D, you have to use styles. Period. The question should then be, how much time/money are you willing to spend on the styles? C3D comes with styles already (NCS Extended and NCS LDT templates). You can simply choose to use these and be done with it (for the most part). If you need your drawings to look like the drawings you produced pre C3D, then you will have to spend the time/money setting up your templates.

As I see it, you have four options:
1. Don't use C3D.
2. Use the styles that come with C3D.
3. Create your own styles.
4. Pay someone to create your styles for you.

Let me talk a bit about the pros and cons of the last two as the first two don't involve a monetary investment (except the money you will lose with option 1).

Create the styles yourself:
Pros - You really know your templates and the styles. You can easily create new styles for those situations where you need a specific style for a specific job.
Cons - It costs a LOT of money. Remember, time is money. The time you spend creating the styles, you aren't billable.

Pay someone to create the styles for you:
Pros - Cheaper. Again, the old time is money kick. You will probably get a better product as well. The person you hire to do this has probably done it many times before and should know what works and what doesn't work. If you do it yourself, you'll have to find all that yourself.
Cons - You are at their mercy for changes. Even if they teach you how to create and edit styles yourself, if you don't do it often, you won't remember how. If you need to create a new style for a specific situation, you'll have to relearn it or pay to have it done, again.

I do work for a reseller and I do create templates for clients so I would hope you choose to pay someone to do this for you because my kids like to eat. (Sorry, had to throw a little humor in there somewhere.)

Hope this helps

[DIN A0 Studio SL]

here you can view something about

http://www.youtube.com/user/DINA0Stu.../3/fGYb3DuH9iU

reguards

[tencht]

Does anyone know if there is compiled data showing how styles, templates etc., can save time and how much? Understandably, management within our company is reluctant to allow the necessary time/money, for us to create & maintain styles, templates etc. If there were data available to help state our case, I would surely like to get my hands on it!

Thank you,

Mike J
Tucson, AZ

We did a number of studies with Civil clients in CA. Typical total customization costs to build Civil 3D templates are not pleasant. $10-20K plus on-going year to year maintenance. Management is right to be concerned.
You might want take a look at the Free Jump. A version was on the AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010 DVD as the California Country Kit. Just go to the home page and follow the green buttons...Our Free Jump for 2010 version evens runs in 2011 with no issues.
Uses Style based control and STB and prints out of the box...

[MHultgren]

Create your OWN company Specific ROI data....

One thing you could do is take a typical alignment (roadway centerline for example) then insert a marker every 50 feet to use as your stationing markers. Now add in the MTEXT stations just the way you want them.
Time that process. Time it for your most proficient designer and then time your least experienced drafter.

Now create a stationing Style, create an alignment in Civil 3D and apply that style to it. Once you have the style created, use the timings from the previous and compare them to 30 seconds. This alone can usually help your case when it comes to ROI.

Remember, your design team will have to repeat EVERYTHING they did in Option 1 (Manual - even if using Blocks)
whereas you only need a couple clicks on a mouse button to apply the Style in Option 2. And it will ALWAYS be on the correct layer, with the correct settings (Color, Text Style, Text Height, etc....).

Now take that same centerline and modify it using grips to stretch it out and what does your designer have to do when they do things manually? Redo the entire process. With Civil 3D, it will automatically update the entire alignment.

Hope that helps a little.