Being Civil

AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009 Update 2.1 Available for Download

The much anticipated Update 2.1 for Civil 3D 2009 has been released and is now available for download. Per the readme, these are the issues resolved in Update 2.1:

Pipes

• 2D and 3D inside edge to inside edge pipe length values are calculated as expected.

Surfaces

• The fix that enabled you to save surfaces to .mms files when an out of memory condition is encountered has been removed from AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009 Update 2.1 due to unforeseen side effects.
• Previously, when a named drawing containing large surfaces was autosaved, the .mms files saved in the temporary location along with the autosaved drawing, were being removed inadvertently, causing them to disappear. Now the .mms files are saved for surfaces containing two million or more points. The missing .mms file error message no longer appears when the drawing is closed and reopened.

Plotting

• Using the Etransmit command no longer results in the program closing unexpectedly.

This update can be installed if you have either Update 1 or Update 2 installed. You can download it here.

Have a great weekend!

My Colors Will Not Display!

This issue may not arise frequently – as a matter of fact, you may never see it. However, you can guarantee a headache if it does. Have you ever added a table with colors (i.e. a slope arrows table?) What if the colors don’t show up? Do you know how to get them back?

Wishes can come true...

AUGI has launched their latest wish list ballot here - this is your opportunity to vote on other's suggestions and add some of your own for future releases.  Do these lists have any effect on future products?  Well for the 2010 version, the press release event mentions an Intersection Design tool - have a look at the last AUGI wish list from last June (and the one from Oct. 2007) - both listed an Intersection Design tool as top of the list.  Now of course there is no guarantee you will see what is voted on, but I think it is safe to argue there is stronger power when many users vote on proposals rather than product development receiving individual wishes.

If you haven't joing AUGI, it is another great resource with forums and training, news, etc. - worth a look!

2010 video sneak peek - the Ribbon, part I

Hi all, I apologize for the delay, as I had mentioned a couple weeks back, we want to give you some sneak peeks at the 2010 release.  Because we wanted to try hosting our videos on You Tube however, it took awhile to get the settings right so you can actually see it fairly well and it's not completely fuzzed out!  Enjoy this first look, more to come...

You can view the original on our YouTube channel here, which is a bit bigger.

Update:  on our YouTube channel I have also added AutoCAD 2010 videos to the "2010 Preview" playlist.  Might be worth subscribing to our YouTube channel if you want to view our wide format videos there!

How to change the default Project Templates Folder location

When you create a new Data Shortcut folder, you are given the option to use a Project Template.  This Template is just a snapshot of how you want your folder structure to look.  If you, for example, want every project to have an Images folder, than this is the place to make that change.  I am going to show you a quick tip to make this selection process a little easier for you.

Welcome BIM on the Rocks, and welcome back Dana!

In case you haven't found out yet, sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee's BACK!  There's a new kid on the block, BIM on the Rocks; well okay, not really new since Dana Probert has already been posting for years over on Civil 3D Rocks.  But as she says herself in the Obligatory Manifesto on her new blog, "I couldn't quite get comfortable back at Civil 3D Rocks. It was as if I had moved back into my college apartment. The electric nature of the joint just didn't fit in with who I was anymore. At some point I just had to face the facts that a person outgrows wire spool end tables and black light posters. It was time to find new digs."

This is a great example of her style; full of personality and you will get great insight and technical info to boot.  She joined Autodesk a few months back and is on the Civil Engineering Technical Marketing Team.  Blog on, girl! 

Maintenance tips for your computer

I don’t really like blogging about other people’s blogs, but Adrian over at ZDnet wrote up a post on some best practices for the thing we rely on for almost everything we do – our computers! 

While at first glance these would come across as common sense, unfortunately, they often get forgotten about, or their importance underestimated.  Especially in regards to data-backup.  So take a few minutes and make sure you are following these tips to keep your computer running smooth, and your data secure.

Enjoy!

What version was this drawing created in?

Sometimes when troubleshooting an issue for a customer is it useful to know what version of Civil 3D the drawing was created in. For all you Windows XP users, this can be discovered in Windows Explorer by setting your file display type to Details, and right clicking on the grey bar and selecting More:

     

The dialog box displays a wealth of information to be displayed for your files, but in this case, we are only concerned with DWG Creator Name and DWG Creator Version. Check these boxes to display them and click OK to exit. You will now be able to see the information displayed in Windows Explorer. Please keep in mind that if you save an earlier drawing in a newer version, it will update both of these columns.

I thought this was pretty cool when I was shown this, and if you haven’t discovered it yet, I hope you do too!