Getting To Know Civil 3D

I read a post in the Civil 3D discussion group this afternoon that broke my heart. It sounded to me like the CAD Manager began working on a project using a Land Desktop mindset and workflow, and expected the only difference to be those new fancy Civil 3D commands – but hey, it’s cool to watch the profile labels change as the PI is moved with a grip!

If you start to dabble in Civil 3D for the first time by using it on a live subdivision, not only will you be HEART broke – you’ll be broke, period.

C3D requires a different mindset – a different workflow, different processes, different standards, different techniques. Before you jump into a project, spend some quality time with the software. Do the tutorials, watch the webcasts, talk with a consultant with experience implementing Civil 3D – and then have them demonstrate the differences to your team; get a feel for how vastly different than anything on the market it truly is. Trust me when I say, before you jump head-first into a project using Civil 3D, you need to know how it will fit into your organization. Determine what process changes you’ll need to adopt (you’ll definitely need some), and then document a plan to move forward.

If you’re goal is to be successful with your Civil Engineering solution, then before you make that purchase, ask your reseller or consultant what they know about implementing change, and get documented proof that they’ve done so with success – cheaper doesn’t mean better, and free training can’t possibly answer your implementation questions.

MHO