C3D User here. I'm Looking for some sample jobs with field to finish in action so I could get some practice understanding how the setup works. The old company I used to work at had it very well done and I became very good at using databases, Survey Figures, and cleaning up surfaces for topography. Just trying to get back into the swing of things and knock the rust off. Thanks!
My C3D workflow evolved into kind of a modified field to finish. The extents of my F2F is my points being assigned certain point styles (whether the point is just for reference or symbols used for final plots), point labels and layers. This happens when I use IMPORTPOINTS and my Description Key Set.
All of my linework is drawn manually in cad. If it’s a line I want elevation data on I draw a Featureline. If I only need it for 2d I’ll draw a polyline.
This suites me because I am a very fast drafter. And maybe have a poor short term memory in regards to keeping my all my linework codes clear in my head. To me, F2F with a gps where you have little concern out line of sight is one thing but F2F with a total station is another. I might start shooting a curb line for 150 feet then I can’t see anymore from where my total station is set up and know that I need to continue shooting that from another setup. When I finally get to shooting the rest of that curb 2 hours or 2 days later do I remember what linework code I need to continue that line? Sometimes. But often not. I am also trying to remember 78 other linework codes to continue.
Also when u am shooting topo I try to shoot one object as long as possible. As in I will shoot all the curb in one pass. Then switch to the sidewalk. Then maybe shoot utilities. This is more conducive to using F2F to generate linework. But sometimes my topo shooting is more of a shotgun approach where I get everything in one pass. Constantly changing codes. If your using linework codes on top of that I have a hard time keeping them straight.
As far as drawing the linework manually, having points come in on different layers helps me draw these lines faster. I can differentiate by color or freeze certain point layers if I need to declutter my screen. Also having a high resolution aerial in the background really helps.
I also found that using survey figures were slightly more of a pain in the butt than just using feature lines. I remember some frustration with them being linked to the Survey Database and trying to edit them, blah blah blah. If you go this route I’m sure it gets easier over time but was a bit frustrating.
As far as building a surface. Once I’m done drawing all my featurelines I add them to my surface. Then I have a point group for my surface points. Points that I want for my surface that wasn’t touched by one of my featurelines gets added to this group. Add this point group to my surface as well. Then delete a few triangles around the topo limits, swap a few triangles around and there ya go.
All that being said I evolved into this method using a TSC3 using a crappy small screen. I think having a better screen on your data collector that is worth looking at makes remembering your linework coding much easier. I may give it a try again now that we have a TSC5.
Hello bulldog,
Begin with your survey codes, features and lines. Review the blocks and familiarize yourself with the point label styles for the features. The line codes will have to go into a figure prefix library. All codes will have to go into the"description key database" Add an asterisk to each line code at the left, this will allow for the initial curb and then curb1...BC...BC1. for all line codes, command codes for lines such as BC B or BC ST...BC BC. BC EC. BC CL....If your using Trimble go into the Feature Code Manager and create a Feature Code Library for your codes, this will give you the ability to create models in TBC, a .fxl file will be created. A .fal file will be created to download to your data collector which will generate lines as your surveying...These files can be downloaded to Leicas version of TBC. Having used both, Leica presents a more powerful presentation although Trimble I found was more use friendly.
I'll try to dig up a .fxl file...there are a lot of good field to finish videos out there. I found the best way was to create a new system from scratch, there are several moving parts which are dependent on the others.
It's a big front end load but the return is worth it in the long run.
Good Luck!
Paul
If you check out the "Documents" tab over on the left column of the main page you will find a file "COB-for-C3d.zip". That is my template and other supporting files for F2f in C3d, my way. Good luck!
thank you so much!
I appreciate the response. this is a great step in the right direction so I will go play around with it. thank you!
I’ve spent 10 years continuing to develop and tweak C3D dwt, description codes, feature prefix database, point groups, blocks
do you have any samples jobs and setups I could get my hands on to play around with these tools in Civil 3D?
Thanks!
10 years! I thought I was going all in at 6-7 years.
My latest template is in a folder that I named “this is definitely the final template”. This of course was preceded by the the previous folders named “Final Template_01”, “Final Template_42”, “Final Final Template_23” and so on.
Just needs a few more tweaks until I’m done with it. (That’s what I’ve been saying for the last 4 years).
Get the info you're looking for? Been "using" the survey database since 2009. Majority of the time we use the survey database as a work around for automated linework.
Having a good template and understanding desc key files and figure prefix db is a must. Once that's good, focus on the styles and ensuring the crews don't make up codes.
