Autocad Civil3d transition to Bricscad

Mark Crane

Hi There,

We have been using AutoCAD Civil3d for ages now and new way they are pricing things has really P^*sed me off and for this, we are still getting a very unreliable package which Autodesk programmers cant seem to get right!!!! We use autocad as our drafting package (12d as our designing tool) however we do use some civil3d features in our drawings figures mainly - using surfaces by the way of data shortcuts (so to keep the drawing figure file size small) and so that we can change contour intervals and label the surface easily on the fly and to be able to show 3d rendered surfaces in our figures. I was hoping not to have to recreate the surface just open all the existing files in bricscad and continue working as normal. i can open the files up in bricscad how ever the surfaces come in as an "proxy" box with no surface contours shown.

There seems to be quite a lot of addons to Bricscad these days and I don't have time to trial every addon to find one I'm happy with.

Soooo my question is: can someone strongly advise an addon that will perform some basic 3d function as mentioned in my sprawl above?

Thanks in advance

Mark

 

Donald Broussard

Hello Mark,

The surface displays in BricsCAD as a proxy as it was last saved in Civil 3D ... you should see contours. I just did a test to confirm.

I suspect the data shortcut is the issue. Try XREFing or opening the surface drawing directly?

As for the addon, we're on heading away from Civil 3D to Advanced Road Design by CSS.We're also looking into their surveying software, Stringer.

Donald Broussard

Also take a look at Plateia.

Mark Crane

Hi Donald,

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly and for the advise on the addons.

I have opened the original drawing that I created the surface in and it shows only a line around the extents of the surface.

I also xrefed the drawing of the surface into a clean drawing and still only shows the line around the out side.

I've toggled the setting for proxy data in settings and still no luck.

I'm using Bricscad Classic Version 15.1.11 x64 revision 36421 - Maybe the classic doesn't allow this!

Cheers

Mark

 

Jason Bourhill

Mark,

To view Civil3D objects you would need an object enabler, which isn't available for BricsCAD. I see the Open Design Alliance has a special interest group looking at providing this functionality, but they don't state any sort of timeline.

If you're wanting to look at 3rd party applications such as the ones mentioned by Donald you will need BricsCAD Professional. This provides access to the full API. You also get additional tools to boot such as MAPCONNECT

Regards, Jason Bourhill CAD Concepts 

Donald Broussard

Hello Mark,

I'm not sure what the issue is but I've attached a screen capture of the civil 3d surface displayed in BricsCAD as we see it. In this example I have the surface style set to show the boundary and contours.

We are using BricsCAD Pro 15.2.05 but I know Civil 3d surfaces have been displayed correctly for many releases. I would try pro.

surface in BCad.png

Owen Wengerd

I have opened the original drawing that I created the surface in and it shows only a line around the extents of the surface.

You need to set PROXYGRAPHICS to 1 in Civil 3D in order to save proxy graphics in your file (but beware it will increase file size).

Joe Dunfee

 I had just learned recently about Autodesk's new licensing plans, where there will no longer be perpetual licenses solid after this year.  I was considering going to Autodesk for a piping solution, and literally started laughing when I head this new plan.  In essence, it means, that you must "rent" a program to view your own drawings.  I know they have provided free viewers, but in the past, even that option was taken away for a time.

It didn't matter if they might have had a wonderful program at a good price, their new licensing strategy eliminated them from any consideration by my company.

-Joe

Donald Broussard

@Joe - we have come to the same exact conclusion.

A simple mistake anywhere is the process, accounting department, contract data, etc could have your project data and software held ransom by Autodesk.

"I'm sorry Mr. Broussard. Our records show that you are 5 days late on your subscription renewal. We will not be able to release your data or provide access to your applications until the matter is resolved."

Once Autodesk gets enough users on the cloud and monthly subscriptions, I wonder how long it will be before they raise prices? After all any change like this has only exists to achieve one goal.