The Dirt

Layer Prefixes in Civil 3D

Are you eager to have each Civil 3D object (surfaces, alignments, etc.)  defined to its own unique layer?  This tip shows you how.

To view a demonstration, download LayerPrefix.wmv.

Survey Database File Tip

Here is a tip that shows you how to save default settings to survey database files (SDB) with Civil 3D. Using this method, you will not need to set the same settings to SDB files each time you create one. The demonstration also contains a tip within a tip for those of you using Trimble Link.

To see the demonstration, download sdb_settings.wmv.

AU Unplugged

SUBMIT A TOPIC HERE

This year's AU will have 600 structured sessions, carefully selected by Autodesk divisions and the AU team. Most classes are focused on helping attendees get more productive with our software. AU attracts a great number of industry experts and power users that have much to share with the AU community. Much of their knowledge would be difficult to package into a regular AU session. However, we strongly believe in the value of that knowledge and we will provide a venue this year to allow for sharing that knowledge by introducing the “Unconference” concept.

Wikipedia provides a good explanation of what an unconference is. We are calling our unconference "AU Unplugged!".  Anyone registered for Autodesk University this year will be given the opportunity to submit topics for discussion with a small group of AU attendees, Autodesk employees, speakers, or exhibitors. The AU community will select which topics to include in AU Unplugged!.

Basic rules:

• Any topic related to your industry or Autodesk is fair game
• Absolutely no selling or promoting of any product
• No lectures—only discussions

Each session is scheduled for 50 minutes. In most cases, the session leader will start out introducing the topic. Each participant in the room will do a quick 10 second introduction. All this should take about 10 to 15 minutes. Once the stage is set, the session leader will start asking questions and directly solicit comments and opinions from those in the room around topic. The value of an AU Unplugged!—or any unconference for that matter—is that the line between presenter and audience is blurred. At an unconference, there are only session leaders and session participants. A session leader has to prepare and is expected to set the stage for the session, but it is likely that the leader learns as much from the participants as the participants learn from the leader or each other.

Beyond providing the space and the structure, the AU team will take a hands-off approach to AU Unplugged!.  It's really a forum to help move some of the great hallway conversation that folks have at AU into a classroom setting,  and put it out there so more attendees with similar issues or interests can join in.

• If you are a CAD manager who would like to chat with other CAD managers about a particular issue, submit a topic.
• If you are a landscape designer who would like to connect with other landscape designers who use AutoCAD, submit a topic.
• Perhaps you did something very cool in Civil 3D and you want to share it and find out what other users think of it, submit a topic.

Not quite ready to grab the microphone and lead a session at AU Unplugged!?  No problem. Just keep an eye out for topics that bubble up and be sure to join the conversation.

AU Unplugged! will run concurrently to other AU classes. Unlike regular classes, you are not able to sign up for a particular AU Unplugged! session. Sessions are on a first come, first serve basis and each session will be limited to 40 participants to allow for good dialog.

The deadline to submit your topic is October 15, 2007.

CAD Manager Survey

Here is a link to Robert Green's annual CAD Manager Survey:  www.cad-manager.com/survey.  Bob puts out this survey every year "to measure the metrics and take the pulse of the marketplace we all work in."  The results are always interesting!

Kite Aerial Photography

In my last post, I mentioned that I attended the VII International Conference on Easter Island and the Pacific that was held at Gotland University in Visby, Sweden. There I met many of the world’s leading archaeologists who study Rapa Nui (Easter Island). I also had the pleasure of meeting Elaine Dvorak. Elaine and her husband Don are kite aerial photography (KAP) experts who have flown their camera-carrying kites on Rapa Nui.

This has to be one of the most ingenious and affordable methods of remote sensing that I have ever come across. I simply had to do a posting about it. For about $400 and a digital camera you too can do aerial photography. Many of you are laughing right about now, but imagine you are on Rapa Nui, the most remote, inhabited island on the planet. You have little to no budget, so it is out of the question to have your site flown by an aerial photogrammetrist outfit like Sanborn, etc. Or imagine that you are a government surveyor in India or Ethiopia with similar economic challenges, but are desperate to obtain this crucial data for analysis, planning, GIS, construction, etc.

KAP may be the ideal solution. Just check out these results Elaine and Don gained on Ahu Tepeu on Rapa Nui (the same site I spent three days surveying in February). One simply has to georeference the photos with Raster Design and voilà!

For those of you who are interested on pursuing this further, here are just a few sites:

Parts and KAP Kits:
http://www.brooxes.com
http://www.kapshop.com

KAP Sites:
http://arch.cedberkeley.edu/kap/kaptoc.html
http://scotthaefner.com/kap
http://www.bults.net/kapnet/index.php
http://www.kaper.us

Thank you, Elaine, for your time and for sharing this innovative solution with me!