Eric D. Colburn, PLS

Eagle Point Surveyors' Companion For Civil 3D Overview Professional Land Surveyor Video

Here’s a quick video overview of the features, functions, and command set for Eagle Point Surveyors’ Companion For Civil 3D.

At this point I don’t know too much about Eagle Point Surveyors’ Companion For Civil 3D, so this video is sort of an unpacking and peek into this software package.

Already, I’ve quickly used the List Points and Unused Points reports, which are very handy. This, and everything else I’ve seen, makes me very excited to put Eagle Point Surveyors’ Companion For Civil 3D into action.

Watch the video after the jump Read the rest of this entry →

Survey Database Point Groups-AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011 Professional Land Surveyor Video

In this installment of my Professional Land Surveyor Video series, AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011 for Land Surveyors: Survey Database Point Groups, I will show you how to:

1. Create Survey Database Point Groups.
2. Select Survey Database Points to populate your Survey Database Point Groups.
3. Use Survey Database Point Groups to filter points you insert into and remove from your AutoCAD Civil 3D drawings.

Watch the video after the jump Read the rest of this entry →

Here are a few tips to help you succeed in having a more productive next week.

Question: Why Saturday?

Answer: Why not? No seriously now; because the best way to execute success is to plan for success. The day really isn’t important, so let’s call it “End of the Week” Tips for a More Productive Next Week, if you prefer.

Question: It was a tough week this week, so why can’t I just put this off and worry about it next week? Besides, I love the exhilaration of scrambling everyday to make deadlines and putting out client and project fires as they arise!

Answer: Think about it, you probably experienced a tough week at work, scrambling to make deadlines while putting out all those client and project fires, because you didn’t plan for the things you could control.

Question: But I can’t plan because I’ll just have to change everything next week as circumstances change?

Answer: So what? What you said and what I heard are two different things. I heard, besides fear, is “I choose guaranteed failure rather than give myself a great chance at success” or, maybe even, “I’m really comfortable with chronic failure”. It’s not cast in stone; it’s just a plan for goodness sake – so change it as need be.

Those who set goals and plan for success more often reach their goals and enjoy success than those who don’t.

5 Saturday Tips for a More Productive Next Week Read the rest of this entry →

Before I get to this article about marketing a land surveying business online, first a little about how you might be reading this post. This is my first endeavor in creating a post exclusively for you, a Premium Member. Congratulations on joining my site as a Premium Member!

With that said, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few glitches and bumps in the road: If you, as a Premium Member to this site, had any troubles accessing this post, then please let me know about your experience. If you’re not a Premium Member you will be asked to register in order to read this post.

Now let’s get down to business

Read the rest of this entry →

AutoCAD Civil 3D With Two Drawings Open

In today’s AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks I will show you Using Layer Source From Other DWGs When Creating Styles. This technique helps you speed up the creation of AutoCAD Civil 3D Styles by using already created layers from your other AutoCAD Civil 3D drawings and templates.

The Problem:

You are creating new styles in an AutoCAD Civil 3D drawing or template and in doing so you want to speed up the process of assigning Layers to the new point style; let’s say for display, for example. If the layer is not already in your AutoCAD Civil 3D drawing or template you have to create that layer (and its settings), which is either cumbersome through the Style Editor, or you need to exit the Style Editor to do it using the Layer Manager.

Either way, it requires a certain amount of manual input and risks inconsistencies between drawings and templates.

Two things we’re trying to accomplish are:

1. Work faster by select an existing Layer from another AutoCAD Civil 3D drawing or template to use in creating Styles.
2. Maintain Layer consistency.

Read the rest of this entry →

5 Winning Strategies To Running A Professional Land Surveying Business

5 Winning Strategies To Running A Professional Land Surveying Business

I’m hoping that you all had an awesome week last week. News on the economy was mixed, with private sector jobs showing another small gain, while the jobs market, overall, is anything other than awesome. I did hear, over the weekend, that one pundit is predicting that the housing market will double in the next two years pulling us out of this recession. Sounds good to me!

How are you making out in these times?

While I’ve seen an uptick in the economy, and I’m grateful for it, it’s nothing to make me think that we’re out of the woods yet. The flow of money is loosening up, a little, and people are increasingly more willing to spend a few of their hard-earned money on things, like professional services. It is, however, a bumpy road to recovery with weeks looking up, and others not cooperating so much.

Is technology the answer?

Last week I posted the Professional Land Surveyor Survey-Business Conditions Survey for August 2010?, and had a few lively discussions about the economy and running a land surveying business. One land surveyor asked me what I thought was a winning strategy in these times. That’s a good question!

Immediately, I began to think about implementing technology and the like, which are generally all good ideas. But after giving it some thought, and knowing that it’s the basics that often matter the most, these are my answers:

Read the rest of this entry →

In this installment of my Professional Land Surveyor Video series, AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011 for Land Surveyors: Create a Surface From a Point Group, I will show you how to:

1. Create a Point Group specifically for project surface points.
2. Create a Surface.
3. Use the Point Group to define the Surface.

Watch the video after the jump Read the rest of this entry →

AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks: How To Setup and Use Surface Styles To Edit Surfaces Efficiently

In today’s AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks I will show you How To Setup and Use Surface Styles To Edit Surfaces Efficiently. This technique increases your CAD drafting and AutoCAD Civil 3D Surface creation and editing productivity by employing proper template setup and reducing switching between Toolspace Tabs and drilling down through what can be a rabbit-hole of options and settings AutoCAD Civil 3D uses to do the voodoo that it do.

This really leads to an important note: The overall techniques and processes that I’m showing you here are specific to setting up Surface Styles in your AutoCAD Civil 3D Templates so that you can Edit Surfaces Efficiently, but if you concentrate on the bigger picture, that of setting up your AutoCAD Civil 3D Templates with preset Styles to increase your productivity, then this is really what this post (and more to come) is all about. In fact, using the techniques that I describe below is really just one small part of a mindset and process which will allow you to take many small efficiencies and accumulate them into big increases in productivity, efficiency, and profit.

Two things we’re trying to accomplish are:

1. Have a preset Surface Style setup for editing AutoCAD Civil 3D Surfaces in your Template Drawing so that you only have to do this step once, saving you time from this point out.
2. Speed up the AutoCAD Civil 3D Surface editing process, reducing the need to switch back and forth between Prospector Tabs, find an appropriate Surface Style, and then drill down to switch on the Surface Style Components you’d use for surface edits, like Points, Triangles, and Border, for instance.

Read the rest of this entry →

New England Section ACSM - To promote geomatics education and to advocate for the advancement of surveying and mapping in New England.

GNSS Positioning Short Course Sponsored by New England Section ACSM and CALS

The New England Section ACSM and CALS are proud to present a GNSS Positioning Short Course offered on five consecutive Saturdays this summer starting on July 10, 2010 and ending on August 7, 2010. Each Saturday class begins at 8 am and ends at noon, and will be held at the University of Connecticut located in Storrs, Connecticut.

Summary:

This course will present the foundation information needed for a GNSS positioning professional to understand how their equipment works, with guidance to its proper usage. It is not a course on GNSS processing software or GNSS orthometric heighting.

Preparation:

Attendees are expected to be familiar with the operation of GNSS positioning equipment and to be proficient in surveying and mapping. Although the course will start with the basics of GNSS technologies, some prior knowledge of GNSS technology is assumed because of the speed of the presentation.

Read the rest of this entry →

New Professional Land Surveyor Learning Center (PLSLC) Course: AutoCAD Civil 3D Basic Units Settings

New Professional Land Surveyor Learning Center (PLSLC) Course: AutoCAD Civil 3D Basic Units Settings

Yesterday I announced the new online Professional Land Surveyor Learning Center (PLSLC) I’ve created for professional land surveyors, AutoCAD Civil 3D users, and designers.

Today I want to let you know about the first available course called AutoCAD Civil 3D Basic Units Settings. Here’s a little information about this online course:

C3D-101: AutoCAD Civil 3D Basic Units Settings

This course discusses the processes and procedures to setup your AutoCAD Civil 3D drawing Basic Unit Settings to eliminate mistakes due to inappropriate and inconsistent settings.

Specific AutoCAD Civil 3D Basic Units Settings covered in this course are:

1. Units and Zone Settings.
2. Survey Database and Survey Database Zone Settings.
3. LandXML Data Imperial Units Settings.
4. Angle Format Settings.
5. Drawing Scale Settings.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials. This course cost $19.00.

For full access to this course you’ll need to take a minute to create a new account for yourself on the Professional Land Surveyor Learning Center (PLSLC) if it is your first time.

Read the rest of this entry →