Carlson Civil and C3D file compatibility

I am assuming that the transfer of files between Carlson Civil (running on AutoCAD) and Civil 3D is not workable, is this correct?

We are just now exploring the Carlson addon's that will recognize some of C3D's entities, but this doesn't seem to be the same thing as a direct compatibility with C3D files.

One of our primary clients has standardized on C3D 2009, so are we stuck with the higher cost of moving to C3D?

That's a loaded question. What exactly is your company's role in the process?

As you have seen, Carlson and C3D are two different products. However, you can convert data between the two. So, for example, you can do a design survey in Carlson, and give that to an Engineer who designs in C3D. That is not a problem.

But if you are for some reason being required to produce actual C3D files with C3D entities, then the only way to do that is to use C3D.

Our firm does basic survey mapping (i.e. not certified) and engineering designs. Carlson has worked for us for years; however, we are looking at functions in the new packages (both Carlson and C3D) for landscape and hydrologic analysis that may help us quite a bit. The big push is our client's requirements for C3D files.

Your reply tells me that there may be some areas where entities created in Carlson can be understood by C3D, but that wholesale file transfer between the two is not possible if the entities must remain intact and modifiable.

This suggests a forced path into C3D, one that makes us dizzy in contemplating the short-term acquisition cost (assuming Carlson is purchased with the default Intellicad platform). I suspect that long-term cost-of-ownership of C3D may even out over a few years; but the initial cover charge is a heckuva thing for a small firm like ours.

Thanks for your feedback.

Some design entities (points, surfaces, alignments, profiles, etc) can be transferred between the programs using LandXML.

If you are just doing Survey work, it would be relatively easy to stay on Carlson, and then just use LandXML to transfer things like Surfaces. Then the Engineer could basically just use your drawing as an XREF for his design, pulling the OG surface in via LandXML.

But if you are doing Engineering work, then I can see why they might like C3D files. However, unless they also give you template with the Styles they want you to use, that can be problematic, too. It can get hairy trying to simultaneously navigate the Styles developed by two different companies working independently.

Have you actually tried using Carlson on Intellicad? It's getting better every year, but right now a lot of people have a really tough time going to Intellicad after being used to Autocad. Give it a good trial run before you decide that route is an option.