• Author: Diana Gonzalez

    Infraworks: Custom Assemblies

    Posted on by Diana Gonzalez

    It’s relatively easy to create a custom component road assembly within an Infraworks model.  But how does one save that custom assembly for use later?  Read on to find out!

    The answer depends on how you’d like it to be shared:

    • Export for use in other existing models.
    • Save for use when new models are created.

     

    Saving the Assembly

    First, to save a custom assembly, simply right click the component road and choose Add to Library.  Choose a station to copy and give the new assembly a name.  The new assembly will appear in the style palette.

    Choose a station to copy and give the new assembly a name.  The new assembly will appear in the style palette.

    Export for Existing Models

    The individual assembly cannot be exported, but the catalog can.  Select the catalog, in this case, Custom, and click to export to a JSON file.

    The JSON file can then be imported into a different existing model using the import button.  The assembly will be available in the styles palette.

    Save for Future Models

    There is no “tool” for this, but if one copies the appropriate files from and to the correct locations, then it works just fine.  The custom assembly files can be found in the model’s folder path.

    …model.files\unver\Content\Styles\Component\  .  Possibly in a Custom sub-folder.

    There will be 2 files for each assembly.  A PNG image and a ACItem file.

    Copy these two files to the Infraworks standard folder.  Feel free to create a sub-folder here to place your custom assemblies.  This folder will appear within Infraworks.

    C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\InfraWorks\Resources\LocalLibrary\Styles\Component\

    The JSON file can then be imported into a different existing model using the import button.  The assembly will be available in the styles palette.

     

     

    Civil 3D: PPK Extension

    Posted on by Diana Gonzalez

    Many of our customers desire the ability to transform Civil 3D data between coordinate systems.  This was challenging or impossible…until now!  Read on…

    It is available for Civil 3D 2019-2022.  Read more about this extension here.

    The Autodesk® PPK Survey Extension 2022 for Civil 3D® provides an interface for importing GPS data (in RINEX format) for analysis, reporting, and converting it to coordinate geometry points in an Autodesk Civil 3D drawing. Once installed, users can access the Autodesk PPK Survey Extension 2022 for Civil 3D commands via the Autodesk Civil 3D Toolbox.

    Under COGO Points Transformation Tools:

    • Coordinate System Transformation
    • Vertical Datum Transformation

    Under GNSS Data Processing:

    • Post Process Kinematic Survey

    Autodesk Desktop Connector Update

    Posted on by Diana Gonzalez

    We are excited to share with you the highlights of the latest Autodesk Desktop Connector update!

    Enhancements are:

    • Folders Shared using Autodesk Drive are now visible on the desktop when using Desktop Connector.
    • When using Autodesk Collaboration for Civil 3D, an XML configuration file can be used to prevent a drawing’s reference template file from being uploaded when saving or dragging and dropping the drawing to Autodesk Docs.
    • AutoCAD 2022.1 will no longer create bak, dwl, dwl2 files when the dwg was opened from the workspace. For AutoCAD releases prior to 2022.1, Desktop Connector will add dwl and dwl2 files to the ignore list so they will no longer be uploaded.
    • In Autodesk Drive web, ‘My Data’ cannot be renamed or deleted. To match that behavior, Desktop Connector has removed those commands when right clicking on ‘My Data’.
    • Unnecessary “Checking Latest Version” dialog showing up during AutoCAD dwg compare workflow.

    There have been significant changes to folder sharing.  If you have folders shared, it is recommended to educate yourself on the new behavior.

    The new behaviour is outlined here and here.

    For more information, visit this link.

     

    CIM Project Suite 22.0.3 Released

    Posted on by Diana Gonzalez

    We are pleased to announce that our partner CTC Software released Civil 3D CIM Project Suite, version 22.0.3. It is now released and can be accessed on the CTC website.

    Below are release notes:

    22.0.3 9/17/2021 CIM Project Suite Auto Grader Bug Fix Fixed an issue where “split points” in parent feature lines were causing an error. Fixed an issue where creating parallel child lines with a specified station range caused unexpected results. Fixed an issue where inward and outward offsetting was giving unexpected results. Fixed an issue where perpendicular child feature lines were not creating at the user-defined station values. Misc. user interface improvements.
    22.0.3 9/17/2021 CIM Project Suite Corridor Mapper Bug Fix Fixed an issue where corridors with disabled regions were causing the app to fail. Fixed an issue in how the app dealt with corridors containing previously mapped targets.
    22.0.3 9/17/2021 CIM Project Suite Corridor Splitter New Features Added interactive region selection and graphical highlighting, providing a much more intuitive app workflow.
    22.0.3 9/17/2021 CIM Project Suite Earthwork Processor Bug Fix Fixed an issue where the region offset command would not work on very small region objects.
    22.0.3 9/17/2021 CIM Project Suite Label Genie Bug Fix Fixed an issue where pipe networks could no longer be labelled.
    22.0.3 9/17/2021 CIM Project Suite Pipe Planner Bug Fix Fixed an issue where part elevations were not updating in the app after applying changes to the drawing. Fixed an issue where part elevations were not updating when importing external spreadsheets. Fixed an issue where pipe lengths for the pipe depth at interval property were not calculating correctly. Fixed an issue where parts of the same name, but in different pipe networks, were not allowed by the app. Fixed an issue where the structure rotation angle was incorrectly rounding.

    Create Easy Surface Statistics Labels with Dynamo

    Posted on by Diana Gonzalez

    In this blog, our Civil/Infrastructure Technical Product Specialist, Jae Kwon, will cover how a Civil 3D user can use an automatic way to create surface statistics labels with Dynamo.

    Instead of Civil 3D users manually labelling surface statistics for his surfaces with a manual process, they can explore an automatic way using Dynamo. Let’s take it further below by comparing the existing manual method versus the Dynamo Solution.

     

    Existing Manual Method

    The existing method by the user was the following:

    1. Open the surface properties, navigate to the statistics tab, right click and “copy to clip” the contents

    2. Paste the info into notepad and rearrange the text to get the desired format

    3. Copy-paste the info into an Mleader pointing to the surface.

    This method works, but there is a lot of manual formatting involved every time, and this has to be repeated every time there is a surface update.

    Also, we cannot create a surface label style for this kind of label since there are no statistics properties we can pull from the surface labels (spot elevation, contour and slope).

    Now, let us look an automatic solution to this via Dynamo.

     

    Dynamo Solution

    First, we get the user to select the surface they want to label with a simple drop-down list. This may be done through either the Surfaces node from the Civil 3D Toolkit (shown below) or a UI package like Data Shapes.

    Next, we extract the statistics with the Surface TerrainStatistics node.

    The statistics can then be formatted with various text manipulation nodes. But where can we inject this text where one of the surface labels can access it? The answer is surface description! For most of us, the surface object’s description field goes largely unused, and it serves as the perfect place to store the statistics data.

    When a spot elevation label that shows the surface name and description is used, it looks something like this:

    Just a general note: The surface statistics can also be stored on the surface as a property set.

    If the surface undergoes any changes, we can update the statistics data stored in the descriptions (and the property set) by simply rerunning the same Dynamo script with a click of a button.

     

    Conclusion

    Dynamo has become the primary tool for many power users to automate various tasks in Civil 3D because it is so easy to put together.

    We saw how surface statistic labelling may be done with Dynamo including:

    • Extracting and formatting surface statistics 
    • Storing the formatted data in the description and/or property set
    • Accessing this data with any one of the available surface label styles 
    • Easily updating the data by simply rerunning the Dynamo script

    If you need a solution to any Civil 3D project, we would be glad to help and find a specific Dynamo solution for you. Reach out to us at info@solidcad.ca

    Autodesk Desktop Connector Update – February 13, 2023

    Posted on by Diana Gonzalez

    We are pleased to share with you the highlights of the latest Autodesk Desktop Connector update!

    New Feature and Enhancement:

    • Autodesk Construction Cloud drive now supports the View Online capability in Desktop Connector

    Resolved Issues

    • Users will experience faster performance when Opening DWG files that exist locally
    • Changes to how files are marked read-only which will significantly reduce occurrences of “File in use” category of errors
    • Improved messaging to provide better awareness when a file is opened if the file is locked by another user
    • Improved messaging in workflows which will result in files being sent to the recycle bin
    • When DWG files are opened from the Desktop Connector workspace, transient files (ex. bak, dwl, dwl2) will no longer be created
    • Desktop Connector will ignore activity initiated by Sophos anti-virus (SavService)

    For more information, visit here.

     

    Assign Point Layers by Note Column with Dynamo

    Posted on by Diana Gonzalez

    In this vlog, our Civil/Infrastructure Technical Product Specialist, Jae Kwon, will demonstrate how to assign point layers by Note Column with Dynamo application.

    Autodesk Dynamo is a programming environment that requires no programming experience. Dynamo enables designers to create visual logic so they can explore a wide range of parametric conceptual designs using logic, simple data and analysis without the need to create a physical prototype.

    This vlog will cover a demo of:

    • Problem to solve
    • No out of the box solution available
    • Dynamo script breakdown
    • Dynamo player, script run and result review