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AutoCAD Civil 3D Custom Template Setup & Training Done Right

September 23, 2012 in Associate Membership, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Topics, Business, Continuing Education, Geomatics, Land Surveying, Members, Premium Membership, Professional Land Surveyor Practice, Surveying Software

Civil 3D Setup and Training

Civil 3D Setup and Training

A large organization asked me this week if I could give them AutoCAD Civil 3D custom template setup and training. They’re looking to use AutoCAD Civil 3D in their workflows. What struck me about their request is they recognized that a successful implementation of AutoCAD Civil 3D is more than simply setting up a template, and that training throughout the template creation process and implementation is important.

Members OnlyThis organization clearly put a lot of thought into their needs and what a successful customized Civil 3D templates project would look like and more impressively, what levels of training they need. Today, in this Premium Post, I want to share with you how this organization is doing AutoCAD Civil 3D custom template setup and training right.

Here is their approach to AutoCAD Civil 3D custom template setup and training done right!

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Customized AutoCAD Civil 3D Survey Templates For Land Surveyors, Engineers and Designers

May 17, 2012 in Associate Membership, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D Templates, Business, Geomatics, Land Surveying, Members, Surveying Software

AutoCAD Civil 3D Customized Templates

Get Your Customized AutoCAD Civil 3D Survey Templates The Easy Way!

Can your business afford to waste time and money setting up AutoCAD Civil 3D?

AutoCAD Civil 3D is a great program …. Once it’s set up and you know how to use it!

BUT, getting to that point takes a serious investment in your time, which means lost productivity, billing, and money.

And, what if your self-created AutoCAD Civil 3D setup doesn’t work or make you more productive?

I’ve seen it time and time again: Land surveyor, engineer, or designer spends hundreds of hours (if not more) setting up AutoCAD Civil 3D, only to discover that their setup is wrong. They then get super frustrated as their productivity and accuracy gets worse, and not better!

Are you prepared to start all over after you discover your attempts at setting up AutoCAD Civil 3D fails?

Who in their right mind would spend tons of time and resources to fail, and then repeat the process. The definition of insanity, it’s said, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results!

Get Your Customized AutoCAD Civil 3D Survey Templates The Easy Way!

I will solve all the above problems, and more, by creating customized AutoCAD Civil 3D templates for you!

I stand behind that statement because:

  1. I’m an everyday user of AutoCAD Civil 3D (from the first release) for land surveying and civil design, and,
  2. I’ve devoted myself to teaching others how to effectively (and profitably) use AutoCAD Civil 3D.

Listen, what I’m telling you isn’t all just a sales pitch, because I was in your shoes once, too. Yes, I’ve put in the hard work to learn the pitfalls of setting up and using AutoCAD Civil 3D, so that you don’t have to! Just understand, I got paid to do this, will you?

The first step to AutoCAD Civil 3D success is having great templates!

I can create customized survey templates for you that will get you quickly up and running with AutoCAD Civil 3D. The first step to AutoCAD Civil 3D success is haaving great templates, and I can create them for you.

I offer four separate AutoCAD Civil 3D template customization services:

And, I offer a Customized Starter Package Plan (recommended) which includes all four templates at a reduced rate! With the Customized Starter Package Plan, you’ll be up and running in no time.

Each template includes:

  • 1 hour initial online or telephone consultation and follow-up email coordination.
  • Your purchased AutoCAD Civil 3D template, of course.
  • Detailed manual describing the template, its features, and how to use it.
  • 1 hour delivery online or telephone consultation.

Here are more details on each template package:

AutoCAD Civil 3D Points in 2D Template Buy Now

  • All points at the same elevation in the drawing (their real elevations aren’t changed) so you can draw 2D lines and measure 2D distances. This takes a lot of the frustration out of working with points in AutoCAD Civil 3D!
  • Standardized Layer Names – Either your own layering standards, our layering standards, or a hybrid approach.
  • Description Key setup
  • Point Block creation
  • Point Style setup
  • Point Label Style setup
  • Point Group setup
  • Point Table Styles setup
  • Coordinate system/units setup (feet, usfeet, meters)
  • Dozens of little known, but important settings

AutoCAD Civil 3D Points in 3D Template Buy Now

  • All points at their real elevation in the drawing
  • Standardized Layer Names – Either your own layering standards, our layering standards, or a hybrid approach.
  • Description Key setup
  • Point Block creation
  • Point Style setup
  • Point Label Style setup
  • Point Group setup
  • Point Table Styles setup
  • Coordinate system/units setup (feet, usfeet, meters)
  • Dozens of little known, but important settings

AutoCAD Civil 3D Parcels Template Buy Now

  • Standardized Layer Names – Either your own layering standards, our layering standards, or a hybrid approach.
  • You’ll actually get two templates for the price of one! One Parcels template for survey parcels (existing) and one Parcels template for design parcels (proposed)
  • Parcel Styles setup
  • Parcel Label Styles setup (Area, Line, Curve)
  • Parcel Table Styles setup
  • Coordinate system/units setup (feet, usfeet, meters)
  • Dozens of little known, but important settings

AutoCAD Civil 3D Surfaces Template Buy Now

  • Standardized Layer Names – Either your own layering standards, our layering standards, or a hybrid approach.
  • You’ll actually get two templates for the price of one! One Surface template for survey surfaces (existing) and one Surface template for design surfaces (proposed)
  • Surface Styles setup
  • Surface Label Styles setup (Contour, Slope, Spot Elevation)
  • Surface Table Styles setup
  • Coordinate system/units setup (feet, usfeet, meters)
  • Dozens of little known, but important settings

Customized Starter Package Plan (recommended) Buy Now

All four of the above described templates in one easy starter pack:

  • AutoCAD Civil 3D Points in 2D Template
  • AutoCAD Civil 3D Points in 3D Template
  • AutoCAD Civil 3D Parcels Template
  • AutoCAD Civil 3D Surfaces Template

Visit our Online Store to But Now!

Buy Now

 

AutoCAD Civil 3D for Land Surveyors Coordinate Systems Refresher Video

April 23, 2012 in Associate Membership, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks, Business, Continuing Education, Geomatics, Land Surveying, Land Surveying Videos, Members, Professional Land Surveyor Practice, Surveying Software, Technology Videos, Videos

AutoCAD Civil 3D for Land Surveyors-Coordinate Systems

AutoCAD Civil 3D for Land Surveyors-Coordinate Systems

In this oldie but goodie video, I show you how to set up coordinate systems in AutoCAD Civil 3D Drawings & Survey Databases.

If you’re new to AutoCAD Civil 3D, properly setting up your Drawing and Survey Databases is the most important thing you need to do.

While this video shows you how to set up coordinate systems in AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010 Drawings & Survey Databases, the concepts remain the same for older releases and newer releases, like; AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011, AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012, and AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013.

Watch the AutoCAD Civil 3D for Land Surveyors Coordinate Systems Refresher Video

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Create AutoCAD Civil 3D Parcels From Objects Video

February 1, 2012 in Associate Membership, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks, Business, Continuing Education, Geomatics, Land Surveying, Land Surveying Videos, Professional Land Surveyor Practice, Surveying Software, Technology Videos, Videos

Create AutoCAD Civil 3D Parcels From Objects Video

This AutoCAD Civil 3D for Land Surveyors Video shows you how to create AutoCAD Civil 3D Parcels from objects, like:

  • Lines
  • Curves
  • Polylines

Watch The Video

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Create Survey Point Groups in AutoCAD Civil 3D Survey Databases Video

January 27, 2012 in Associate Membership, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks, Business, Continuing Education, Geomatics, Land Surveying, Land Surveying Videos, Professional Land Surveyor Practice, Surveying Software, Technology Videos, Videos, Vlog

Create Survey Point Groups in AutoCAD Civil 3D Survey Databases Video

Create Survey Point Groups in AutoCAD Civil 3D Survey Databases Video

Create Survey Point Groups in AutoCAD Civil 3D Survey Databases

In this AutoCAD Civil 3D for Land Surveyors Video, I show you how to Create Survey Point Groups in AutoCAD Civil 3D Survey Databases.

Survey Point Groups allow you to filter, organize and more easily work with Survey Database Points in your AutoCAD Civil 3D drawings and surveying projects.

Watch the Video

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AutoCAD Civil 3D Set Survey Databases Working Folder Video

January 20, 2012 in Associate Membership, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks, Business, Continuing Education, Geomatics, Land Surveying, Land Surveying Videos, Professional Land Surveyor Practice, Surveying Software, Technology Videos, Videos, Vlog

AutoCAD Civil 3D Set Survey Databases Working Folder Video

AutoCAD Civil 3D Set Survey Databases Working Folder Video

AutoCAD Civil 3D Set Survey Databases Working Folder Video

In this AutoCAD Civil 3D for Land Surveyors Video I will show you how to set the Survey Databases Working Folder.

Watch the Video

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Knowing Your Numbers-How to Develop Project Metrics for Your Land Surveying Company

November 12, 2011 in Associate Membership, Business, Business Practices, Continuing Education, Geomatics, Land Surveying, Premium Membership, Professional Land Surveyor Practice

Knowing Your Numbers-Project Metrics for Your Land Surveying Company

Knowing Your Numbers-Project Metrics for Your Land Surveying Company

If you’ve followed the last few Premium Posts, then you know that I’ve been working through the “Knowing Your Numbers” series of posts, describing how to use Metrics in your professional land surveying business.

To date, I’ve written Knowing Your Numbers-Business Metrics for Your Land Surveying Company, an article on which business metrics you can use to run your land surveying business, Knowing Your Numbers-How To Measure Your Success, an article on the importance of developing your own set of metrics and benchmarks to accurately measure your success, and Knowing Your Numbers-Project Metrics for Your Land Surveying Company, an article on how to use Project Metrics for your land surveying company.

In this Premium Membership post I share: How to Develop Project Metrics for Your Land Surveying Company.

How to Develop Project Metrics for Your Land Surveying Company Read the rest of this entry →

Knowing Your Numbers-Project Metrics for Your Land Surveying Company

October 9, 2011 in Associate Membership, Business, Business Practices, Continuing Education, Geomatics, Land Surveying, Premium Membership, Professional Land Surveyor Practice

Knowing Your Numbers-Project Metrics for Your Land Surveying Company

Knowing Your Numbers-Project Metrics for Your Land Surveying Company

In earlier Premium Posts, I wrote Knowing Your Numbers-Business Metrics for Your Land Surveying Company, an article on which business metrics you can use to run your land surveying business, and Knowing Your Numbers-How To Measure Your Success, an article on the importance of developing your own set of metrics and benchmarks to accurately measure your success.

In this Premium Membership post I expand on that theme; specifically how to use Project Metrics for your land surveying company.

Your land surveying business, no doubt, collects at least two business and project metrics, being: Time and Employee. Every week you have a the metrics of your employees hours worked, what projects they’ve worked on, or time spent on non-project specific hours worked. Because this is the least data required to collect to pay your employees, this is often where project metrics collection ends in many land surveying firms.

With this minimal amount of collected project data, you simply do not know and understand enough about your land surveying projects and business to run your business.

Project Metrics for Your Land Surveying Company Read the rest of this entry →

AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks-Importing AutoCAD Civil 3D Styles

February 2, 2011 in Associate Membership, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks, Business, Continuing Education, Land Surveying, Premium Membership, Professional Land Surveyor Practice, Surveying Software

AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks

AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks

In today’s AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks I will show Importing AutoCAD Civil 3D Styles.

This is another technique that helps you to speed up the creation of AutoCAD Civil 3D Styles by using already created Styles from your other AutoCAD Civil 3D drawings and templates.

You can also read AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks: Using Layer Source From Other DWGs When Creating Styles for tips on how to transfer AutoCAD Civil 3D Layers between drawings and drawing templates.

The Problem:

You have existing AutoCAD Civil 3D drawing and template files with existing Styles setup that you would like to insert into a new AutoCAD Civil 3D drawing and/or template.

Short of manually recreating each individual Style, what can be done so as not to have to reinvent the wheel?

Two things we’re trying to accomplish are:

  1. Work faster by selecting existing Styles from one AutoCAD Civil 3D drawing or template and import those Styles into a new AutoCAD Civil 3D drawing or template.
  2. Maintain Style consistency and drawing standards across projects and project files.

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Knowing Your Numbers-Land Surveying Field Metrics for Success

December 27, 2010 in Associate Membership, Business, Business Practices, Continuing Education, Land Surveying, Premium Membership, Professional Land Surveyor Practice

Numbers image

Do You Know Your Numbers?

A while back, I wrote Knowing Your Numbers-How To Measure Your Success, an article on the importance of developing your own set of metrics and benchmarks to accurately measure your success, or failure, which is something we all need to understand. In this Premium Membership post I expand on that theme; specifically how to use land surveying metrics for success.

To have a successful and profitable professional land surveyor business, like any other business, requires mastery of your business and operational practices by everyone from owner, manager, to employees working on the front lines, like your surveyors and crews working in the field.

As I wrote before, whatever it is you’re trying to succeed at, you need to measure some aspect of that goal to track your progress, determine what is working, what is not working, and to know when you’ve fully accomplished what you set out to do.

If you don’t measure, track and evaluate; then you can’t apply Business Intelligence, can’t find solutions and can’t fix problems-it’s that simple.

Land Surveying Field Metrics for Success-Why, What & How to Measure Read the rest of this entry →

Knowing Your Numbers-How To Measure Your Success

September 14, 2010 in Associate Membership, Business, Continuing Education, Land Surveying, Premium Membership, Professional Land Surveyor Practice

Numbers image

Do You Know Your Numbers?

Know your numbers to measure your success.

We all need to know our numbers, but do you know what numbers are important for your success? The metrics and benchmarks to accurately measure our success, or failure, is something we all need to understand.

This is true in any professional land surveyor business, whether you are an owner, manager, or you’re an employee working on the front lines. Knowing your numbers is also important in your personal life, too.

Whatever it is you’re trying to succeed at, you need to measure some aspect of that goal to track your progress, determine what is working, what is not working, and to know when you’ve fully accomplished what you set out to do.

If you don’t measure it, then you can’t find solutions and fix problems-it’s that simple.

So, what numbers do you track? Read the rest of this entry →

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

August 24, 2010 in Associate Membership, AutoCAD, AutoCAD Civil 3D, Business, Continuing Education, Land Surveying, Land Surveying Videos, Surveying Software, Videos

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

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 →

AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks: Using Layer Source From Other DWGs When Creating Styles

August 12, 2010 in Associate Membership, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks, Business, Continuing Education, Land Surveying, Surveying Software

AutoCAD Civil 3D With Two Drawings Open

AutoCAD Civil 3D With Two Drawings Open

In today’s AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks I will show 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.

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Spotted Turtle Found While Land Surveying

August 4, 2010 in Associate Membership, General, Land Surveying, Pictures

Spotted Turtle

Spotty The Spotted Turtle

Yesterday I was cutting line for a roughly 40 acre survey I’m working on when I came across this Spotted Turtle. He or she – we really didn’t get to know each other that well in the short time we visited together – turned out to be the shy type.

Spotty can’t be blamed for being defensive and shy; a six foot tall humanoid carrying a machete would be reason enough. Two woods travelers crossing paths, a few words exchanged, a couple of pictures snapped, and then we parted ways. OK, so I did all the talking, but I could tell that Spotty was warming up to me and was just about ready to open up.

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Professional Land Surveyor Video-AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011 for Land Surveyors: Create a Surface From a Point Group

June 25, 2010 in Associate Membership, AutoCAD Civil 3D, Business, Continuing Education, Land Surveying, Land Surveying Videos, Surveying Software, Videos

AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011 for Land Surveyors - Create a Surface From a Point Group

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

June 22, 2010 in Associate Membership, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks, Business, Continuing Education, Land Surveying, Surveying Software

Surface Banded

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.

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AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks: Drawing Scale Settings

May 13, 2010 in Associate Membership, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks, Business, Continuing Education, Land Surveying, Surveying Software

AutoCAD Civil 3D Drawing Scale Settings

AutoCAD Civil 3D Drawing Scale Settings

This is the fifth 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 fifth of the five AutoCAD Civil 3D settings Professional Land Surveyors need to know was, “Drawing Scale Settings“, which is explained in today’s AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks.

To be specific, this AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks shows you how to set the Model Space Drawing Scale. While easy to do, more than a few AutoCAD Civil 3D users, particularly if they’re new to AutoCAD or the newer interfaces, have asked me in frustration where one does this – I’ll show you two simple ways to set the Model Space Drawing Scale. Of course, you need to set the scale in Paper Space, too, but we’ll leave that for another day.

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AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks: Angle Format Settings

April 13, 2010 in Associate Membership, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks, Business, Continuing Education, Land Surveying, Surveying Software

AutoCAD Civil 3D Angle Format Settings

AutoCAD Civil 3D Angle Format Settings

This is the fourth 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 fourth of the five AutoCAD Civil 3D settings Professional Land Surveyors need to know was, “Angle Format Settings“, which is explained in today’s AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks.

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AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks: LandXML Data Imperial Units Settings

March 30, 2010 in Associate Membership, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks, Business, Continuing Education, Land Surveying, Surveying Software

Select Edit LandXML Settings

Select Edit LandXML Settings

This is the third 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 third of the five AutoCAD Civil 3D settings Professional Land Surveyors need to know was, “LandXML Data Imperial Units Settings“, which is explained in today’s AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks.

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AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks: Survey Database Units and Zone Settings

March 22, 2010 in Associate Membership, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks, Continuing Education, Land Surveying, Surveying Software

Select Edit Survey Database Settings

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 →

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