Civil 3D 2015

I recently joined a survey company that uses Civil 3D 2015. I'm floored to know that this version is so similar to the recent vanilla AutoCAD versions. Every single command that I use in AutoCAD is right here. I just need to figure out the current fancy menu to work with all the point data, etc.

I'm curious though; when did Civil 3D made this change to fully resemble the AutoCAD (in style and commands) we've all been familiar with? I remember working on the 2008 version and completely despised it because there was just too much stuff on the screen that even working on 2D was a nightmare...or maybe I'm just exaggerating.

Since it's inception, Civil 3D is analogous to an onion, where generally speaking (there are exceptions) Civil 3D is built on Map 3D, which itself is built on 'vanilla' AutoCAD.

2009 brought the advent of the Ribbon, which was not even customizable until SP3, so there's been no major UI change since then, and all UI changes that have taken place are the result of AutoCAD changes, not Civil 3D per-se (which does inherently have some UI differences, and not just additional Tabs, etc.).

What you shouldn't do, is underestimate how much learning you have to do to step up from AutoCAD into Civil 3D, as it is fundamentally a different way of working on many levels.

As for your new position, congrats!

Are you familiar with the Survey/Civil industry, or is this your first time in such a role?

Cheers

Thanks for the info, BlackBox. I'm not sure if it's my amateur/younger self thinking 2008 Civil 3D was a chore to learn or if I have gotten some decent experience throughout the years to finally know what I'm getting myself into.

Thank you! No, this is my second position. In my previous position I worked 4 years for a large civil/survey office and all the surveyors used Carlson Civil, which I found the software rather easy to learn and very complete for our daily tasks. I see that you're a Civil 3D certified professional. I'm interested in some online courses for Civil 3D; could you recommend me a very good place to start?

I use Civil3d 2015 for surveying as well and it is great, especially when it comes to revisions. Everything (well, lots of things) are dynamic so one small change and everything associated with what changed gets updated automatically.

For what it's worth, the ribbon is your friend...

T

Its worth mentioning that CIV3d was a step up from Land desktop.

You can have multiple work spaces click on gear wheel lower right, so we have our own setup a mix of Civ3d and Autocad as well as CIv3d, Autocad, Map etc and jump between them.

Your probably going into a company with it all setup, you should spend some time looking into "Styles"

 

 

Your probably going into a company with it all setup, you should spend some time looking into "Styles"

This could probably be one of the most important suggestions for you!

Styles are where it's at! Embrace them and the ribbon.

I have a PDF that helps you move from LDT to C3D. It covers the basics but was a decent reference.

Thank you! No, this is my second position. In my previous position I worked 4 years for a large civil/survey office and all the surveyors used Carlson Civil, which I found the software rather easy to learn and very complete for our daily tasks.

You may be able to appreciate this then....

When I was recruited for my current position with a very small outfit (+/-10 employees) from my former, very large employer (+10K employees), they were still using Land Desktop 2004 without the Land component installed (I know!?). My surveyor (and the VP of the firm) is _still_ using AutoCAD 2000 + Eagle Point on his old WinXP workstation, which he accesses through RDP from the new workstation I procured for him (last year I overhauled our network, all new workstations, servers, etc.).

To boot, earlier this year his workstation crapped out (blown capacitors), and I replaced his MOBO to get him back up and running - he's the VP, and continues to pay my handsome salary, so what are you gonna' do? *shrugs* Haha

There's always room for improvement, but we've come a long way.

I see that you're a Civil 3D certified professional. I'm interested in some online courses for Civil 3D; could you recommend me a very good place to start?

I am; in fact I used a post here at CADTutor to learn that Autodesk was offering special days last year where a certification exam was at a greatly reduced price. *IF* memory serves, I got both the AutoCAD and Civil 3D Professional exams for less than what one would have been at regular price.

Short of formal, in house, or remote session training, Al Gore's Interweb's will be your best bet for learning Civil 3D on your own... More specifically, there's the [not-so-much] Help Online, Autodesk University online courses, and also some great blogs which are always informative... Here are just a few links to help get you started:

http://help.autodesk.com/view/CIV3D/2015/ENU/

http://au.autodesk.com/au-online/classes-on-demand/search?full-text=&productName=AutoCAD+Civil+3D&video-only=on

http://cadpanacea.com/

http://blog.civil3dreminders.com/

http://civilizeddevelopment.typepad.com/

Cheers

[Edit] - Also, if you would prefer to have additional training time using the software at home, so you don't have to stay late at the office, and your employer doesn't already provide access... You might consider becoming a Professional Member of AUGI (some employers will pay for this as it's a field-related professional membership), which comes with a FREE Autodesk Developer Network (ADN) membership granting you access to _everything_ Autodesk has, software, versions, non-public knowledge base articles, as well as technical support from the development team directly.