Eric D. Colburn, PLS

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 →

Professional Land Surveyor News

Professional Land Surveyor News Trimble Introduces New Desktop and GPS Handheld Solution for Utility and  Smart Grid Asset Maintenance and Inspection

SAN DIEGO, July 12, 2010 — Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB) introduced today a new version of its Trimble® Field Inspector solution for utility infrastructure and smart grid asset maintenance and inspection. The solution is comprised of the Trimble Field Inspector software for handheld computers and Trimble Field Inspector Desktop software. Scalable and easy to deploy, the solution leverages Trimble Global Positioning System (GPS) and handheld computing technology to automate a wide variety of field applications for electric, gas, water, and wastewater utilities—from smart meter deployments to routine asset maintenance inspections.

The announcement was made today at the ESRI International User Conference.

Read the rest of this entry →

Select Edit Survey Database Settings

This is the second of five AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks expanding upon a previous article I wrote outlining the 5 AutoCAD Civil 3D Settings Professional Land Surveyors Need To Know.

The second of the five AutoCAD Civil 3D settings Professional Land Surveyors need to know was, “Survey Database Units and Zone Settings“, which is explained in today’s AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks.

Read the rest of this entry →

AutoCAD Civil 3D Bright Ideas

It’s frustrating as heck trying to learn how to setup and use AutoCAD Civil 3D and also get projects completed. You’re not a professional student; you’re a Professional Land Surveyor, Engineer, Designer, etc.

Whatever you are, you’re trying to get the job done right and earn a living!

Depending on what’s in your AutoCAD Civil 3D drawing, there can be hundreds of settings, if not more. Many of  these settings may only control how something looks and is eventually plotted, but several are really important settings controlling important elements of your work. You must ensure that your data, the input and output, is handled appropriately with the software for land surveying uses.

Read the rest of this entry →

This video shows you how to Import Field Books in AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010 Drawings & Survey Databases. This is one of the most often asked questions I get from professional land surveyors just starting out with AutoCAD Civil 3D.

If this is you, you have probably already figured out that using AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010, or any version for that matter, is not always an intuitive process. So there you are, with your electronic Field Book containing all of your survey measurements and readings at the ready, and you can’t figure out how to get that data into your Survey Database and Drawing. This video shows you how to get your surveying data into your Survey Database and Drawing.

Read the rest of this entry →

If you are interested in surveying education check out the FIG SURVEYING EDUCATION DATABASE (SEDB) which according to the FIG SEDB site currently contains information on more than 250 institutes and 450 surveying courses in more than 70 countries.

Source:FIG

• You can Overview Query the FIG SURVEYING EDUCATION DATABASE (SEDB)
• You can Search Courses in the FIG SURVEYING EDUCATION DATABASE (SEDB)
• You can Search People in the FIG SURVEYING EDUCATION DATABASE (SEDB)
• You can Review the FIG SURVEYING EDUCATION DATABASE (SEDB) Statistics