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Also in this issue: From Novice to Master…Forge Your Career Path | Considering Making The Jump To Point Clouds?

AUGIWorld

February 2022

CONTENTS FEATURES

12

6

BIM

8

Career Path

12

BIM

16

3ds Max

20

Point Clouds

26

AutoCad

32

Trending Technologies: BIM 360 Design From Novice to Master…Forge Your Career Path What Is Classification And Why Is It Important?

3ds Max – Tips for Beginners Considering Making The Jump To Point Clouds?

LayerApps: Filling in the Gaps

Civil 3D

Autodesk Civil 3D- Project Explorer

16 COLUMNS 4

Letter from the President

10

Tech Manager

38

Inside Track

20 augiworld.com

February 2022 | AUGIWorld Magazine

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AUGIWorld www.augiworld. com

From the President

H

ello everyone! Are you all ready for 5 months with no work holidays? I know some of you have MLK day, but my next holiday is Memorial Day at the end of May. I’ll definitely have to squeeze in a vacation day here or there for a 3-day weekend!

The February edition of AUGIWorld is devoted to helping beginner users of CAD/BIM software.

I think we are all beginners at something. I know I’m a veteran AutoCAD, AutoCAD Map and Civil 3D user, but I haven’t had much Revit experience. So I’m definitely a beginner in that arena as well as many others.

I encourage you all to read an article from this edition on something you are a beginner on and learn something new and then share it with a co-worker or friend and help them grow as well!

Editors

Editor-in-Chief

Todd Rogers - todd.rogers@augi.com

Copy Editor

Isabella Andresen - isabella.andresen@augi.com

Layout Editor

Tim Varnau - tim.varnau@augi.com

Content Managers

3ds Max - Brian Chapman AutoCAD - Jim Fisher AutoCAD Architecture - Melinda Heavrin AutoCAD Civil 3D - Shawn Herring AutoCAD MEP - William Campbell BIM Construction - Kenny Eastman Tech Manager - Mark Kiker Inside Track - Brian Andresen Inventor Revit Architecture - Jay Zallan Revit MEP - Nathan Mulder Revit Structure - Jason Lush

Advertising / Reprint Sales

Kevin Merritt - salesmanager@augi.com AUGI Executive Team President KaDe King Vice-President Frank Mayfield Treasurer Todd Rogers

If you have something you’d like to share, please let us know, we’re happy to have more AUGIWorld writers!

AUGI Board of Directors

Take care,

Publication Information

KaDe

Brian Andresen Kimberly Fuhrman KaDe King Chris Lindner

Frank Mayfield Todd Rogers Scott Wilcox

AUGIWORLD magazine is a benefit of specific AUGI membership plans. Direct magazine subscriptions are not available. Please visit www.augi.com/account/register to join or upgrade your membership to receive AUGIWORLD magazine in print. To manage your AUGI membership and address, please visit www.augi. com/account. For all other magazine inquires please contact augiworld@augi.com

Published by:

AUGIWORLD is published by AUGI, Inc. AUGI makes no warranty for the use of its products and assumes no responsibility for any errors which may appear in this publication nor does it make a commitment to update the information contained herein.

AUGIWORLD is Copyright ©2022 AUGI. No information in this magazine may be reproduced without expressed written permission from AUGI. All registered trademarks and trademarks included in this magazine are held by their respective companies. Every attempt was made to include all trademarks and registered trademarks where indicated by their companies.

AUGIWORLD (San Francisco, Calif.)

ISSN 2163-7547

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AUGIWorld Magazine | February 2022

augi.com

A Global Community for AEC Professionals to Learn, Grow and Exchange Knowledge.

Become a member: www.dbei.org/membership

BIM 2022

by: Eric Wing

Trending Technologies: BIM 360 Design

T

o be honest I can’t stand the term Trending.

Especially when my brand of technology is wrapped into it. I tend to avoid the topic. I’m more comfortable with the term reliable technologies. Yeah, that’s not a real term but I assume you know where I’m going with this.

It’s been a while since I’ve actually felt there was a technology we were using that didn’t have scary gaps where it’s only a matter of time when all our stuff gets broken. To me trending means, it’s what the cool kids are doing, so you should too. Sure, day-to-day devices such as iPhones, and the fact that we are actually finally away from physically having to own a blue ray player and a tilting stack of movies is great. The thing is; however, those technologies are actually pretty old and most of the bugs have been systematically worked out.

Our industry is a tad different though isn’t it? Also, our industry is now being dragged through the “I should be able to work from home” trend. The trend that seems to have emptied out offices where people would actually plug into a network because they knew doing that was the best way to open and sync a huge Revit. How on earth do we keep people productive on the technology side when someone is working from their couch, using God knows what for an internet connection.

Well, luckily the BIM 360 workflow wasn’t really a technology trend until the “I can no longer work in

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AUGIWorld Magazine | February 2022

an office” trend hit. Brought to us by COVID. It has actually been around and a lot of the bugs have been painfully worked through.

WHERE DID IT START?

BIM 360 started off as Collaborate for Revit (C4R).

It was just for Revit. Nobody else, outside of Revit users got to play in the cloud. Just like during COVID it was there at exactly the right time. About 6 years ago, my firm had just won a huge airport project where we were working with multiple firms.

We were not using C4R. It was going terribly. First of all, between our Syracuse office and Orlando office, synchronizing the models was awful when it worked… but most of the time syncs were simply failing. Of course, when we needed to see an update to the other firms models we had to do the ugly process of overwriting their models. Even worse, to solve that, we were mapping our C drives to other firm’s servers. Yikes. Luckily for me (and all of 200+ users on the project) the decision was made to use the new cloud solution C4R. Not too many projects were on it nationally but hey, it couldn’t be worse. Once we moved over it was like a weight was lifted.

Awesome.

Figure 1: The inaugural BIM 360 icon in the Places panel within Revit

Because it was so brand new, there were no bells OR whistles. augi.com

BIM 2022 Just straight up direct linking and syncing. I like that. I still like that. It was so basic, you couldn’t even set up a folder structure. It was just a pile of models all in one spot. BIM 360 Docs was in beta.

Although it was much better than the traditional server based worksharing (and of course Revit Server), it still would get hung up on syncs and you had to audit your models at least once a week. But the platform was there. It was happening. We were actually working in the cloud and being productive.

We could see updates in other company’s models just they were sitting in the cube next to us.

Then Autodesk started adding stuff. Instead of doing Navisworks clash detection and coordination we were now “Gluing” models weekly. Yep. BIM 360 Glue. Instead of working off our F drive we were working in the cloud. And it all actually worked.

That’s my favorite part.

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

6 years later, on the design side, the combination of DOCS with 360 design made a big difference.

The next move was to create and rebrand the suite of products to BIM 360 Team. It’s currently, at the time of the writing of this article, called BIM Collaborate Pro. Now the project administrator can set permissions and have a project workflow that reflects a typical workflow you would see in a traditional Windows Explorer environment. A folder for each trade or company etc. We can still direct link Revit models the “old fashioned way”, which is the way I like. We can also publish models and each trade can consume the newest version instead of constantly getting the updates. I prefer the constant update approach, but hey, each to their own. At least the choice is there. Also marking up drawings and viewing published models is wonderful. Because it’s in the cloud, non-Revit users can open the models in their internet browser. They can take dimensions, slice the models and make notes.

Also, on the construction management side Autodesk is trying their hardest to take a share of the market away from Procore which has owned the construction admin space for quite a while. The biggest advantage Autodesk is touting, is the ability to integrate with design models. It will be interesting to see if Autodesk can keep or gain traction in this market.

The current BIM 360 icon seen in the Home screen within Revit augiworld.com

exposed to BIM 360, I suppose it’s the trend now.

I have moved any project that is allowed (there are some federal restrictions as to if you can use it or not) over to BIM 360. It is a fantastic workflow.

Outside firms that are either our clients or are our subs work with us with no delay in the passing of information. I dip you dip. I sync you sync. It’s the way to go.

And oh, yeah. Working from home on large projects is no longer a huge concern. At least not on the Revit side. Heck, I even publish point clouds to BIM 360 which runs off of Forge. Call me old fashioned though. I still feel like I need to be in the office.

Eric Wing lives in Syracuse NY where he is the Director of BIM Services for C&S Companies. Eric is a popular speaker at events around the country speaking on many BIM-related topics.

Eric has authored several books including Autodesk’s official training guide for their BIM solution “Revit” called Revit for Architecture No Experience Required. Eric is also an author for LinkedIn Learning where he has authored around 60 full courses on BIM management, Revit, AutoCAD MEP, Navisworks and Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) Eric has truly been a leader in the architecture, engineering and construction industry since the conception of BIM and 3D design, and has specialty skills in BIM coordination, training and development of technical staff along with daily application of these tools on multi scale, multi-disciplinary projects.

Eric is also currently a Professor at Syracuse University teaching BIM and Advanced BIM at the School of Architecture, and at the School of Engineering.

Eric has also taught courses at the Rochester Institute of Technology and Clarkson University on the subjects of Analytical tools for Facility Management, BIM, and Integrated Project Delivery.

Since most firms have at least been February 2022 | AUGIWorld Magazine

7

Career Path

by: Dana Rice

From Novice to Master…Forge Your Career Path

D

o you want to use Autodesk products to create a new world, design innovative structures or build futuristic machinery but are currently doing little more than cleaning up red-lined drawings from Architects and Engineers? Are you a student, either in high school or college, who would love to figure out a way to make a career out of your favorite AutoCAD class?

Do your coworkers come to you when they have a Revit question?

This article will offer advice, learned from career experience spanning twenty-two years, on moving up from a CAD technician drawing as-builts to being respected by design firms for your expertise in using and managing Autodesk applications.

Five career tips will be presented that have helped this author build a fulfilling career from a love of high school drafting class and two years of learning AutoCAD in community college.

MASTER THE SOFTWARE, NOT JUST YOUR WORKFLOW.

Mastering an Autodesk application provides a solid foundation for various career paths in the design and manufacturing industries. Too many users only want to know the “picks and clicks” needed for their specific workflows. This approach can make them very efficient in their current role but how do they move up from there? How prepared are they for a company layoff?

Like a master mechanic knowing how to use every tool in their shop, CAD users with full knowledge of their software open themselves up to more opportunities when seeking employment.

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The Autodesk Knowledge Network (AKN) is an excellent starting point for training and houses a treasure trove of instructional videos from industry experts. Learning partners and authorized training centers can be found through this site as well.

Another resource is your employers Autodesk reseller. Contact them to inquire if they sponsor local user groups or offer training.

Don’t let a lack of employer support halt your learning. This is your career path at stake. AKN resources and local user groups are available to you.

User group networking can help you move to an employer who appreciates a knowledgeable CAD technician and has the resources to send you to Autodesk University (AU) or help you on that path to becoming a P.E.

CROSS TRAIN…NOT JUST FOR FITNESS.

At my current employer we have over one hundred Civil 3D users and I would be thrilled if even one of them learned Inventor. Why? While we don’t have the workload to employ an Inventor user full-time, we could benefit from having someone with an intermediate knowledge of part modeling to build custom pipes and structures.

Autodesk is encouraging cross-training of their applications and many employers are seeing the value of having employees who can do work traditionally contracted out. It’s important to master the software you use daily but to truly stand out, learn workflows in a secondary application that plugs in to your primary. AU and AKN are loaded with classes and training resources for Dynamo, Infraworks and Inventor part modeling. augi.com

Career Path TAKE A BREATH AND PUT ON YOUR DETECTIVE CAP.

I have worked with countless people who are intimidated by Autodesk products and immediately tap a coworker’s shoulder whenever they encounter a new dialog box. All they must do is read the message or follow the command line prompt but fear of crashing the computer seizes them. On the other end of the spectrum, I’ve worked with an equal number of people who click every square inch of the interface in a panic. Inevitably the drawing locks up and they blame the software developers.

You are smarter than AutoCAD. You can outfox Civil 3D. You’re more intelligent than Revit. Incorporate the practices listed below into your daily workflows to see your knowledge of the software grow and your confidence soar.

• Save your work often.

• Read the command line.

• Hover over an icon to read its ToolTip. • Pay attention to dialog boxes and read them before pressing enter.

• Utilize the Help search bar.

• Utilize the AKN • Utilize Toolbar and Project Explorer (Civil 3D)

MOVE UP WHEN CHANGING COMPANIES. I was not formally trained for the biggest career move of my life, but it was successful and set me on an upward path from CAD Technician to Application Administrator. After a lay-off in 2015 I realized that my strengths are not in design, but I have a strong knowledge of AutoCAD and Civil 3D. I also enjoy digging into new features after an upgrade and sharing them with my coworkers. Focusing on this in my job search, I pursued an application support and training role at an Autodesk reseller in the Carolinas. The job description stressed teaching the software and assisting companies with template and standards manuals creation.

Had I ever been taught how to teach? No, but throughout my career I had always been the CAD Tech everyone turned to when they had a software question or got an error message. Template management was second nature to me and how hard could it be to type up a manual? Part of the interview process was presenting to the company owners. Had I ever done any public speaking before that? No, but I was confident of my AutoCAD and Civil 3D knowledge, so I went for it. augiworld.com

That career jump doubled my salary and allowed me to buy my first home. My employer paid for my certification process and sent me to Chicago and Denver for Autodesk training. Making a career move from CAD production to Application Support at an Autodesk reseller set me on a path to develop the license management and technical experience needed for my current role as Application Administrator at the City of Charlotte.

Focus on your strengths and search for roles outside of your comfort zone.

NEVER BURN A BRIDGE. YOU WILL SEE IT AGAIN. Professional circles are smaller than you think. It’s also common in our industry to change employers several times throughout our careers so it’s very likely that you will work with a former colleague at a different company. Bet you wish you hadn’t made that snarky remark to them on the last day at your previous employer.

Never mind the importance of being a decent human being when interacting with others, maintaining positive professional relationships can help you obtain your career goals. That engineer who left the company six months ago to become a Project Manager at another, more lucrative, firm will remember the CAD Technician who never missed a deadline and knew Civil 3D like the back of their hand.

Ms. Dana Rice is an Autodesk Certified Professional in Civil 3D, a Certified Drafter through the American Design Drafting Association and was an Autodesk Certified Instructor from 2017 to 2019.

She has 22 years of experience in CAD production, teaching, consulting, and managing Autodesk licenses for civil engineering and survey firms in the Carolinas and east Tennessee. Dana is currently an Application Administrator for the City of Charlotte and began her Autodesk journey at Walters State Community College in 1997 where she earned an Associate Degree in Drafting and Design.

February 2022 | AUGIWorld Magazine

9

Tech Manager

by: Mark Kiker

Eight Messages Tech Managers Should NOT be Sending

I

send messages all the time. I am not talking about emails, texting or posting. I am talking about those subtle and not so subtle messages I send with my words or my gestures. It may not be Morse code or semaphore as many may not be able to decipher those anymore. These are messages I do not intend to send and sometimes I do. They are caught by others and the message lets others know what is on my mind. You may not know it, but you are sending signals and others are receiving them loud and clear.

Let’s start with the negative messages I might be sending. Some are saying “you are wrong” or “I am right” and others may be interpreted as overly cautious or that I am throwing caution to the wind.

Either way, what you say matters and others are watching for the messages that you send.

“It won’t work.” I may have sent this message in the past without even knowing it, and I may have even

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said exactly those words. In my confidence, I may telegraph this when I say things like, “I have not seen that done before,” or, “This will only frustrate people and delay our progress”. Try not to wave off solutions or plans that are not yours, or that you think are futile. Others may have some insight that you do not.

Be willing to let others take the lead.

“How hard can it be?” On the flip side of thinking it will never work, is underestimating the time and effort it will take to complete a project. I may not have finished by homework and want to move on something that others know more about. They tell you and others that we should do more research and I just want to plow ahead. Others may take your confidence as a signal to trust your decisions, even if they are not fully informed. Make sure you are right!

“We don’t have time.” Another way of throwing negative vibes is to think that you don’t have time to do something. When something is a good idea augi.com

Tech Manager or a good fix… there is always time to do it. You may have to negotiate an extended deadline, but do not undercut a good thing. This is usually transmitted prior to starting an effort. And don’t let it be that you never have time for other people’s ideas, when yours seem to have enough space to give it a go.

“We tried that before.” This one always seems to pop into conversations from somewhere… try not to have it be you. When this comes up, unless it was just tried last week, you need to not have it be a deterrent to new attempts. If you do need to remind people that something was actually tried before, then frame it as a reminder with lessons learned.

I call them “History Lessons” and actually say that, then outline what was tried. But I try to end by saying, “With that in mind, let’s give it a try.”

“It has to happen now.” Letting deadlines derail quality can happen to everyone. “Just get it out the door,” is a message that we sometimes broadcast by trying to get people to move too fast. It is similar to “Not having time,” but it differs in that it can make a lower quality product go out the door. Don’t let the old adage that, “There is never enough time to do it right, but there is always time to do it over,” impact your team. Avoid it by defining the level of effort and quality with the team before you start.

“I am not a team player.” No one ever says this, but they often show others that they are not fully a team player. I am hoping that you do not take this attitude often, but it can be sensed by others. It comes when you take too many tasks to do yourself and it is evident that you just don’t trust others to get it done right. It can be shown when your ideas and perspective seem to always bubble to the top of the list. It can happen when you drag your feet when others are taking the lead. It can be demonstrated when you do not fully share all your input. Or you may appear divide the team into small groups and then rally a group to your side. Others can see this happening, even if you think you are really good at the politics of teams.

“I don’t have time for you.” When this is detected by others, it can be offending to them. It comes when you always seem rushed. When you do not take a seat when someone wants to talk to you.

When you do not RSVP to calendar invites. When you never take notes as others talk. When others can rightly say, “You are always talking to someone, but it is never me.” Slow it down and pay attention. Interact augiworld.com

in such a way that others know that they have been heard. You know you have fallen into the message when others open their conversations with you by saying, “I know your busy, but…”

“I am in charge.” This is a big one. No one like to be told what to do. Even if they are doing things wrong. Yes, someone needs to be ‘in charge’ but not in a dictatorial way. This can also come across via another statement no one actually says – “My way or the highway”. When someone sends a heavy -handed message, it almost challenges others to not follow their lead. This might be a combination of all the prior messages I mentioned above. It could be the pinnacle of what a leader should not be saying. Leading others takes time, patience, courage, negotiation skills and more. What it does not take is just telling others what to do with no input at all.

Leadership is not just pulling rank.

Take some time and think through this short list.

See if you are guilty of any of these and see which ones you may need to work on. No one is perfect, but we all can make progress. I fall into some of these negative messages before I catch myself and you might also.

Next time, we will look at messages you DO want to be sending and how that can impact others in a positive way. Until then, remember to pass on to others what you have learned.

Mark Kiker has more than 30 years of hands-on experience with technology.

He is fully versed in all areas of management from deployment planning, installation, and configuration to training and strategic planning. As an internationally known speaker and writer, he was a returning speaker at Autodesk University for 20 years. He is a former Board member, President and Executive Director of AUGI. Mark is currently serving as Chief Technology Officer for SIATech, a non-profit public charter high school focused on dropout recovery. He maintains two web sites, www.caddmanager.com and www.bimmanager.com.

February 2022 | AUGIWorld Magazine

11

BIM 2022

by: Marin Ljuban

What Is Classification And Why Is It Important?

D

igitalisation of the construction industry introduces many opportunities in all parts of the building lifecycle. In the design phase, it helps in the analysis of a larger number of possible solutions. In the construction phase it helps to speed the construction process up and make it safer, and the main benefits in the operation and maintenance phase are facility monitoring, and process optimisation that leads to lower energy consumption. As a consequence of these processes, a very large amount of data is created. In order to use the data effectively, it is necessary to develop an efficient data storage mechanism to ensure their adequate usage.

Historically, the analog data storage presented a limiting factor to better data usage, but the advancement of BIM enabled a more intuitive way of storage by putting it in the context of a 3D building model. To sum up, technology enables creation of huge amounts of data as well as a digital way of storing that data, but one of the main problems still remains, and that is development of a system that would enable us to reach the right data at the right time, when it is needed to make an informed decision. As an illustration, a study conducted by Autodesk & FMI estimates that bad data could have cost the construction industry as much as $1.84 trillion in 2020. It is therefore clear that the data in the industry should be organised

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in a way that would make collaboration between all the stakeholders. A part of the solution could be implementation of one of the classification systems.

The simplest way to describe classification is as a system to organize and access the required information. The most famous classification system is the biological classification, which categorises living beings. Classification in the construction industry is a process assigns a specific code to all the building entities, thus enabling their distinction.

Classification has been present for a long time in the construction industry, with many classification systems being developed through time, depending on the area of the industry whose requirements it was supposed to meet. Currently, 4 classification systems are predominantly used throughout the world. They are analysed in a paper made by K. Afsari and C. M. Eastman, and their characteristics are shown in the table in Figure 1.

Each classification system is unique in its certain way, so it would be the best to decide which one to use in the beginning of the project. That is usually defined in the BIM Execution Plan (BEP).

If the decision has not been made beforehand, the Uniclass system is mostly applied in Europe, and is compliant with ISO 19650, the standard that defines information management in the augi.com

BIM 2022 System Name

OmniClass

MasterFormat

UniFormat

Uniclass

Origin

North America

North America

North America

North America

Purpose and properties

Organization, sorting and retrieval of product information for all objects in the built environment in the project life cycle.

A master list for organizing construction work results, requirements, products and activities. Mostly used in bidding and specifications.

A master list for organizing construction work results, requirements, products and activities. Mostly used in bidding and specifications.

For all aspects of the design and construction process. For organizing library materials and structuring product literature and project information

Framework

ISO 12006-2, ISO 12006-3, MasterFormat, UniFormat, EPIC

ISO 12006-2, ISO 12006-3, MasterFormat, UniFormat, EPIC

ISO 12006-2 , Professional judgment

ISO 12006-2 , SfB, CAWS, EPIC, CESMM

Grouping principle

faceted

hierarchical

hierarchical

faceted

Organization and taxonomies

15 inter-related tables categorized by number and name. A combination of Table 21, Table 22 & Table 23 allows for classifying a product precisely.

One table with a series of six numbers and name: Level one with 50 divisions (2004 version) each is made up of level two, level three, and sometimes level four numbers and titles for more detailed areas of work results.

One table with alphanumeric designations and titles in five levels: level one is in nine categories separated by their special function. Level 2 separates them into constituent parts, level 3, 4 and 5 further

The division among facets is based on the alphabet in 11 tables and within each facet by decimal scale up to 6 digits. Table G, J, K and L can be used for classifying product models.

Figure 1

Figure 3: Uniclass system hierarchy [5]

Figure 2: Comparison of Uniclass i OmniClass systems [4]

construction industry and would therefore be my recommendation. Some other strengths of Uniclass system are regular updates and great flexibility.

It is also necessary to explain the coding system of the elements classified in Uniclass system. The first code element is a combination of two letters that specify which of the Uniclass tables was used in the coding. The other rest of the code consists of two numbers that describe the classified element in augiworld.com

Figure 4: Uniclass system hierarchy [5]

more detail, as well as describing the level of detail in the classification, as shown in Figure 4.

February 2022 | AUGIWorld Magazine

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BIM 2022

Figure 5: BIM Interoperability Tools kartica na alatnoj traci Revita

To understand the mentioned concepts better, an example of classification from highest (Complex) to the lowest d(Product) level will be carried out.

1.

The highest classification level is the classification of the whole complex, and therefore the subject is classified as Co_20_15_58 – Office complexes 2. The next step is to classify all the entities in the complex, i.e., parks, bridges, roads etc.

Our analyzed office building will therefore be classified as En_20_15_10 – Multiple occupation office buildings 3. Afterwards, it is necessary to classify the spaces according to their type (classroom, office, conference hall etc.), as well as the type of activity that occurs in a particular space. In example, our analyzed space can be classified as Ac_20_15_50 – Meetings (activity type) and SL_20_15_15 - Confidential meetings rooms (space type) 4. Finally, it is necessary to classify the building elements of the building, as shown on an example of a curtain wall of our analyzed building. According to function, the curtain wall is classified as a wall element with the code EF_25_10 – Walls. According to system type, it is classified using the Systems table as a unitized curtain wall with the code Ss_25_10_20_85 – Unitized curtain wall system. In the end, each part of the panel can be classified using the Pr table, i. e. a part of the frame will be classified as Pr_20_76_51_02 – Aluminum curtain wall frame sections.

Autodesk Classification Manager is one of the tools in the BIM Interoperability Tools set, developed as a response to a growing need for collaboration between all the stakeholders in a construction project. It enables simple data ogranization, and contains all the mentioned classification systems, as well as a possibility to implement them simultaneously in a BIM model, while maintaining the possibility of development of a custom classification system, depeding on the internal standards of particular user groups.

The tools itself is very simple to use. After installation, a new tab named BIM Interoperability Tools appears on the ribbon. That tab contains a tool named Classification manager, that contains two icons, Setup and Assign (see Figure 5).

IMPLEMENTATION OF A CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM IN A BIM MODEL After deciding on a certain classification system, it is necessary to implement in the BIM database.

Since the primary BIM tool in the Autodesk ecosystem it the BIM Authoring Tool named Revit, it was chosen as the tool to use. The whole process is made easier with the use of a plugin developed

by Autodesk, that enables quick classification of building elements.

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Figure 6: Available Classification Systems

The click on the Setup icon opens the Classification Manager User Interface, which enables the user to choose between all the available classification systems. augi.com

BIM 2022 In example, the Equipment Data tool in the BIM Interoperability Tools set can be used to create a predefined parameter set that would be embedded in elements depending on the classification. That help maintaining a unified structure of parameters that get exported from Revit to other software tools, i. e. Autodesk Tandem, the tools that is used to create a digital twin model to be used in the O&M stage of the designed building.

Marin Ljuban was born in 1994. After finishing primary and secondary school in his hometown, he went to study in the capital, Zagreb, in 2013. He attained a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 2019., and a Master of Science of Mechanical Engineering in 2021. After spending some time working as a HVAC engineer, he got employed as a BIM Application Engineer at an Autodesk Gold Partner in Croatia, Prior Inženjering, helping companies implement BIM solutions in their workflows.

Besides Croatian, he speaks English and German.

Figure 7: Assigning classification to chosen elements

After choosing the desired classification system, the elements should be classified by clicking the Assign button. That opens up a new Classification Manager Window which allows the user to choose the category to assign the particular element to.

After clicking the Assign button, new Type parameters showing the classification are created in the chosen element (see Figure 8).

REFERENCES 1.

It is visible that the process of assigning a certain classification system is made easy in Revit with the utilization of the Classification Manager in Revit. Therefore, the more difficult part of the job is figuring out the specific classification codes for each of the elements. That is where a guide through Uniclass system could prove useful. Application of this kind of classification enables better interoperability between various stakeholders, but it also creates a possibility of automating certain part of workflows in the future.

“Harnessing The Data Advantage in Construction.”

Accessed: Nov. 16, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://a. storyblok.com/f/64835/x/137c281eda/harnessing_the_ data_advantage_in_construction.pdf

2.

“Hrvatska komora arhitekata.” , https://arhitekti-hka. hr/hr/bim/klasifikacija/ (accessed Nov. 16, 2021).

3.

K. Afsari and C. M. Eastman, “A Comparison of Construction Classification Systems Used for Classifying Building Product Models Cloud-BIM and Internet of Things (IoT) View project,” 2016, doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.20388.27529.

4.

“The Definitive 2018 Guide to BIM Classification Systems.” Accessed: Nov. 16, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.kreo.net/

5.

“TfNSW Application of Uniclass 2015.” [Online].

Available: https://confluence.transport.nsw.gov.au/ display/DMS/Digital+Engineering

Figure 8: Newly created parameters augiworld.com

February 2022 | AUGIWorld Magazine

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3ds Max 2022

by: Brian Chapman

3ds Max– Tips for Beginners T

his month, we’ll share some tips to help users create better content using 3ds Max as a beginner. Topology, UV mapping, and lighting influence everything in creating 3D content, so I’ll focus on those.

TOPOLOGY

Topology is the foundation of everything in 3D. There are many ways lousy topology can lead to undesirable results. We’ll discuss some of these, hoping to inspire beginners to build a solid understanding and foundation of topology as they begin their journey into the 3D world.

First, let’s discuss the base of topology. For 3D models, topology can consist of tris, quads, and n-gons (any object with more than four sides). It’s a common misconception that almost everything has to be quads. That is primarily true for characters requiring skin weights and proper deformation (however, triangles are often unavoidable, so strategically placed). On the other hand, hard16

AUGIWorld Magazine | February 2022

surface objects do not need to deform. That means we can collapse edge loops to reduce vertices and polygons (especially on flat surfaces like tabletops and walls).

Avoid n-gons altogether. The software doesn’t know how you want n-gons divided and will attempt to divide it in its way. That leads to problems with rendering and game engines and how those faces will display when it divides them. Instead of leaving it to software to guess how to divide it, divide it yourself intentionally. See Figure 1 by Giuseppe Mottola demonstrating optional ways to divide an n-gon.

Second, having proper topology allows for faster selection. Every click on an object costs time. As we reduce the number of unnecessary clicks, we can spend more time on more important details. That means we need to consider methods like edge channels and flow. Utilizing proper channel techniques allows us to select, model, augi.com

3ds Max 2022

Figure 1

and UV map more quickly (along with many other tasks). Coincidently, channels are equally crucial for character animation as they control the deformation quality around essential areas such as mouths and eyes to generate proper expression.

Third, topology impacts baking. Baking is one of the most critical steps in the pipeline, and bad topology can make baking more complicated and lead to errors.

Fourth, poles are many triangles that converge to a single point, which can’t be subdivided. That makes them challenging to deal with throughout various activities in the pipeline (they are especially problematic during baking procedures or porting over to software like Zbrush to work on higher resolution details). See Figure 2.

Fifth, topology along edges and curves can produce different gradients in engines and shaders. These gradients influence how objects display. While these aren’t necessarily a problem, it’s essential to pay attention to them and be aware they exist.

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Figure 2

UV MAPPING

First, objects should have similar texel density, so their materials and textures appear uniform.

However, UV shells that aren’t seen can be February 2022 | AUGIWorld Magazine

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3ds Max 2022

Figure 3

reduced in size, while hero parts can be upsized for higher resolution.

Second, stack similar UV shells. If we have fifty bolts on an object that are the same but aren’t that visible unless we are incredibly close to them with a camera, there is no reason to have separate shells.

Third, hide UV shells for objects that aren’t visible to the user inside one another to give a higher resolution to hero parts. There is no reason to lose resolution to objects that can’t be seen.

LIGHTING

Lighting is a critical element to the presentation, and taking a few steps can ensure better results.

First, avoid primary lighting from the same direction as the viewer, which flattens objects.

You want your lights to produce shadows for depth, making it appear more 3D. See Figure 3, for example. Depth is lost, especially in the leg areas without shading. If you refer to the bot on the right, more depth is produced with shadows making the object appear more 3-Dimensional.

or overcast images regardless of the textures you use. Slight changes can have dramatic impacts, and without a goal, we can fumble around for hours and end up with poor results. References serve as our goal.

Third, textures and objects can look completely different when worked in 3ds Max then ported over to software like Substance or Unreal Engine.

It’s important to check early and often how objects look in their final environment while working on it. If you intend to render in 3ds Max, select your environment lighting early and lock it in place. That will help you texture and apply materials that fit your scene more appropriately. If you intend to build your content in 3ds Max and send it to software like Unreal Engine or Unity, work on the lighting in the engine early and port over content as soon as possible to review the progress.

Brian Chapman is a 3D Artist, Autodesk Authorized Developer, and Application Specialist in Las Vegas, Nevada. You can reach out to Brian at procadman@ pro-cad.net.

Second, use a reference. Using references keeps us targeted and helps us to aim for a better result.

A sunset HDRI lighting a scene will produce a completely different look and result than daytime 18

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Point Clouds

by: Nate Philbrick

Considering Making The Jump To Point Clouds?

A Comparison of Propeller and Autodesk Products to compute Stockpile Volumes

I

n the fall of 2021, I had the opportunity to fly drones at active stockpiles in southern Washington State. I have been fascinated with drones since I was a kid (after all, they’re pretty cool!). As a Topcon Application Engineer, frequently I am having conversations with Civil Engineers who are either utilizing or experimenting with point clouds. I am excited to be a part of advancing the civil infrastructure industry as we use drones to capture dense amounts of accurate existing conditions data.

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I constantly see new devices and platforms in this industry. Obstacle sensing technology, camera quality and efficiency are some of the key pieces pushing this rapidly changing field. Top end drones worth thousands of dollars a few years back are worth mere fractions of that today. With the constant advancement in technology, I took the opportunity with this stockpile project to compare two drones and platforms for engineering use.

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Point Clouds For this project, I flew the same stockpile with two different drones and used two different software platforms to compute the results.

For drones, I used a Phantom 4 RTK (retails for $6600) and a Mavic 2 Pro (retails for less than $2,000). The Phantom 4 RTK, geared for surveyors and mapping, boasts centimeter accurate data while requiring fewer ground control points. The Mavic 2 Pro, a consumer grade drone, features many of the same camera capabilities as the Phantom 4 RTK without the high-level mapping features which can require more ground control. For our ground control, I used Propeller AeroPoints and a TopCon HiPer HR (multi-purpose GNSS receiver).

On the software end, I used the Autodesk suite of products which included the following: Recap Photo, Recap Pro and Civil 3D. Propeller is a slick platform which focuses on eliminating the labor-intensive backend processes allowing surveyors to double their collection capabilities in a single day.

Figure 1: Site and Stockpile (A)

Understanding the site and the process to collect data is extremely important with the final outputs.

After all, the results are only as good as the raw data. This includes monitoring the weather and collecting accurate and well-located ground control data.

I collected six control points at the site. Recap Photo requires a minimum of three. While Propeller uses the AeroPoint and only requires a single point. It is important to label the ground control so that it is visible from the drones’ photographs.

Labeling can be accomplished in a Figure 2: Photos & Ground Control variety of methods some of which After the ground control had been collected and include targets and washable paint. When a drone locations targeted, it was time to fly. Recap Photo is flying at north of 200’ Above Ground Level (AGL), requires a minimum overlap of 60%. We captured ensure these points are large enough as they can photos at 80% overlap at 250’ AGL to stay on the get lost in the details of the terrain. safe side. In addition, all data was collected in a augiworld.com

February 2022 | AUGIWorld Magazine

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Point Clouds single flight to ensure the highest data collection quality. Using the DJI app, we set the following parameters and let the “birds” individually fly their respective 10-minute missions.

After collecting the photos, I did a quick photo quality check in the field before heading back to the office to process the data. My co-worker, Curtis, and I split the tasks; he would work on the propeller output, and I would do the Recap to Civil 3D output.

Afterwards, we would compare our results. I was a bit jealous I drew the short end of the stick as you’ll find the Recap to Civil 3D workflow is a lot more labor intensive than Propeller.

RECAP PHOTO

In Recap Photo, we created an Aerial Project. Aerial projects have a maximum of 2000 photos and consumes 1 Cloud Credit per 50 photos. Each of these projects ranged from 90 to 150 photos.

After adding the photos to the project, the ground control points (GCP’s) needs to be tied in with the respective photos. Recap requires a minimum of 3 GCP’s on 4 separate photos. The more photos the GCP is attached to the better the results.

After tying in our ground control data, it was time to submit the project for cloud processing. Before submitting, I inputted a project name, cloud drive location, requested outputs (RCM, RCS and TIF) and selected the desired coordinate system. Primarily, I am looking for the RCS file on the output as that contains the point cloud data. Establishing that correct coordinate system from the beginning is important as the rest of the software platforms need to follow suit.

You may notice the PPK/ RTK enabled photos option. This is a new feature in Recap 2022 where cloud processing will add more weight to the EXIF data of the photos increasing the accuracy.

Figure 3: Aerial Project

Figure 5: Create Project Figure 4: Ground Control Points (GCP)

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Point Clouds

Figure 6: Recap Mesh File

Figure 7: Full Point Cloud

After a few hours, the project was ready to download. I cracked open the RCM (mesh) file in Recap Photo to have a look at the results. The mesh file mirrors the results of the RCS (point cloud) which was imported into Civil 3D.

RECAP PRO

Next step was to eliminate the extraneous data in Recap Pro. For most projects, this is generally optional. With the dense data from these point clouds, it is best to only carry what you are actively using.

In Recap Pro, I edited the full outputted point cloud to simplify the stockpile.

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Once I was satisfied with my edits, the point cloud was ready for Civil 3D. The point cloud can either be saved or exported out as a unified RCS file.

Personally, I prefer the RCS as it eliminates the “attached” support folder which tags along with an RCP file.

CIVIL 3D

Now I am ready to bring attach the cleaned point cloud file in Civil 3D. Point clouds can carry thousands if not millions of points. As a rule, it is best to “weed” or “decimate” these points prior to bringing into Civil 3D. New workflows in InfraWorks and decimating in Recap minimize the number of points in Civil 3D. Since this stockpile is about only 100’ in diameter, I left all the points since I wanted February 2022 | AUGIWorld Magazine

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Point Clouds the most accurate volumetric calculation possible.

With the point cloud attached, I created a surface from it, Pit Surface (Figure 9). Once I had the Pit Surface, I needed a base surface to compare it against. I extracted the border of the pit surface and

created a base surface. I proceeded to compute the volume of the base and pit surface.

Looking back on it, it would have been advantageous to shoot control points around the pit (or at least at the toe). This would have allowed the base surface to be created from the points and not the extents of the Pit Surface. One of the important lessons of understanding the site. Next time!

COMPARISON OF RESULTS

The photo quality between the drones was similar.

With identical cameras outside of the mechanical shutter for the Phantom 4 RTK, I would expect similar results. The mechanical shutter helps with quality when taking photos at a moving speed as opposed the Mavic 2 Pro which has a rolling shutter.

It is interesting the Phantom 4 RTK’s photos are a shade darker even though these drones were flown within 20 minutes of each other on a cloudless day.

Notice in figure 6, the outputted mesh also follows suit with the shading. In all, I give a slight edge to the Phantom 4’s results since the quality of the photos were better when flying at a moving speed.

Theoretically if the Mavic 2 Pro stopped before taking each photograph, the quality would be identical.

Figure 8: Edited Stockpile

Now let’s look at the volumetric results (Table 1).

Curtis and I did not converse during this process so both of our results were unbiased!

Table 1: Summary of Results Autodesk: ReCap to Civil 3D # Of Photos

# Of Points

Pit Volume (cu. yd.)

Mavic 2 Pro Flight 1

97

520,000

2025

Mavic 2 Pro Flight 2

172

627,000

1985

DJI Phantom 4 RTK

88

479,000

1980

Propeller

Figure 9: Surface Created in Civil 3D

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Origin

# Of Photos

# Of Points

Pit Volume (cu. yd.)

Mavic 2 Pro Flight 1

97

520,000

2025

DJI Phantom 4 RTK

88

N/A

1930

Overall, we were satisfied with the results. The estimated Pit Volume was within 100 cu. yd. for all augi.com

Point Clouds

Figure 10: Photo Quality

four flights. An interesting result is the relationship between the number of photos captured and the number of points created in the outputted point cloud. Comparing the first and second flights of the Mavic 2 Pro, we see more than 100,000 more points added to the point cloud file for the same area. While it is logical to see more points with more pictures, I was surprised to see the number of points increase that much. If you are chasing high levels of detail, take more photos.

Using the Autodesk platform, the results from the drones are similar. Phantom 4 RTK has better location accuracy than the Mavic 2 Pro. The Mavic 2 Pro has a consumer grade GPS (think of your iPhone maps navigation). On the other hand, the Phantom has RTK accuracy. This means the drone has a better idea of the X, Y and Z data of the photos. Yet, with quality GCP data, we are seeing similar results with both drones.

With RTK enablement in ReCap Photo, you will get better results when processing projects without GCP data. The photos know where they are in relation to each other. You will also get better results with fewer GCP’s. For example, some cases you may only need three GCP’s for the Phantom 4 RTK and six for the Mavic 2 Pro. With Autodesk products, the quality of the result is most dependent on the quality of the photos and accurate, well collected GCP data.

So, now you may ask if the Mavic 2 Pro and Phantom 4 RTK results are only 5 cu. yd. different, what’s the incentive on the price tag of the Phantom 4 RTK? augiworld.com

The key is efficiency.

Using the propeller platform, you only need a single Ground Control Point. This makes it much faster to survey a site. It is also a lot easier if you don’t have access to certain regions of it. This is a great platform if you are planning to survey a lot of sites or frequently survey the same sites. You also don’t need to tie in the ground control data to the photos afterwards. That is all done with the AeroPoint; simply uploading the control data for the AeroPoint and the photos produces the result.

Nate Philbrick is an application engineer at Topcon Solutions Store in Portland, OR. He is an Autodesk Certified Professional for Civil 3D as well as a Part 107 Drone Certified Pilot.

Nate grew up in a small New England town called Henniker, NH (kudos if you recognize from the Civil 3D realm). He attended the University of New Hampshire and earned a B.S. in Civil engineering followed by my MBA. After school, he worked in the consulting world in New England focusing on wastewater projects. Following that experience, Nate took off for the west coast, Portland, OR, and worked at Autodesk as an infrastructure specialist focusing on Civil 3D, InfraWorks and ReCap. In his free time you can find him skiing, mountain biking and whitewater kayaking in the Pacific Northwest.

February 2022 | AUGIWorld Magazine

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AutoCAD 2022

by: Paul Li

LayerApps: Filling in the Gaps I

AUTOCAD LAYER COMMAND

n the early 80’s when AutoCAD was first introduced, it had already built into its engine the very useful Layer command. Though at first it was just invoked from the command line, by 1987 AutoCAD Release 9 introduced for the first time a dialog box user interface for Layer manipulation with the DDLmodes command (see Figure 1).

Figure 2

the screen while drawing modification continues (see Figure 2).

Figure 1

Since then, AutoCAD has continued to develop and enhance the Layer command user interface to the current Windows based Layer palette. The Layer palette is now filled with many more selections, scroll bars and a resizable window that can float on 26

AUGIWorld Magazine | February 2022

AutoCAD has also through the years provided many additional tools to assist with Layer manipulations. But since there is always room for improvement users like me decided to develop a few additional commands to fill in the gaps. A few years back I grouped these AutoLISP/Visual LISP and DCL coded commands into a single app I call LayerApps and shared it for free on the Autodesk App Store: LayerApps | AutoCAD | Autodesk App Store augi.com

AutoCAD 2022 INTRODUCING LayerApps

LayerApps is made up of 5 separate added commands to assist in controlling Layers within AutoCAD. Since each of these commands presents a dialog box interface to facilitate with Layer manipulations, I’ve named the commands prefixed Figure 3 with “DD” to mimic AutoCAD commands using the Dynamic Dialog Box interface first introduced back in 1992 on AutoCAD Release 12.

After successfully installing LayerApps and AutoCAD is launched, there is a new LayerApps panel added under the Add-Ins menu in the Ribbon. In addition, there is a new LayerApps Toolbar that can be either docked or left floating on the graphics screen for quick command selection (see Figure 4).

would be missing the prefix which Layer naming standards like the AIA would call a discipline designator. So now using the DDLyrAdd command I can use a dialog user interface to add the Prefix to some or all Layers that are selected to be given a discipline designator like A- for Architects or S- for Structures etc. (see Figure 6).

Figure 6 Figure 4

DDLyrAdd

The first LayerApps added command is called DDLyrAdd. This command can be accessed by selecting from the LayerApps Add-Ins drop down or Toolbar the button with the three + symbols. The DDLyrAdd command offers the option Figure 5 to add to all the Layer names in the current drawing a Prefix, Suffix or Both. For example, there are times when I would receive drawings from other Architects to work on for either a remodel or addition and the Layer names augiworld.com

DDLyrCas

The second LayerApps added command is called DDLyrCas. This command can be accessed by selecting from the LayerApps Add-Ins drop down or Toolbar the button showing the three letters CAS. The DDLyrCas command offers Figure 7 the user the feature to change the letter case of the Layer names. I usually use this command when I get confused by looking at a mixture of uppercase and lowercase Layer names on the Layer palette. Now with all the Layer names listed alphabetically in a dialog user interface I can February 2022 | AUGIWorld Magazine

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AutoCAD 2022 Layer is also Frozen, the user is given the option to have those layers Thawed. Lastly, there’s an option to sort the listing by Layer name in alphabetical order or based on the Layer Frozen/Thaw Status (see Figure 10).

Figure 8

select some or all the Layer names to be Capitalized or Lowercased or just change the first letter in the name to Uppercase like in a sentence (see Figure 8).

DDLyrOn

The third LayerApps added command is called DDLyrOn. This command can be accessed by selecting from the LayerApps Add-Ins drop down or Toolbar the button with the three black light bulbs. The DDLyrOn command Figure 9 is extremely useful because although AutoCAD provides an excellent command to select objects to turn Off the Layer, there isn’t a graphic user interface to select those Layers to turn back On. Now with the DDLyrOn command all Layers turned Off are presented in a window for selection to be turned back On. Furthermore, if a 28

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Figure 10

DDLyrTh

The fourth LayerApps added command is called DDLyrTh. This command can be accessed by selecting from the LayerApps Add-Ins drop down or Toolbar the button with the three white snowflakes. The DDLyrTh command is similar Figure 11 to the DDLyrOn command.

DDLyrTh offers to the user all Layers that have been Frozen and presents them in a window for selection to Thaw. If a Layer that’s Frozen is also turned Off, augi.com

AutoCAD 2022 the user is given the option to have those Layers turned On (see Figure 12).

In addition, if the current Paperspace Viewport has Viewport Frozen Layers, DDLyrTh will also present on a second listing side by side next to the Frozen Layer listing for the user to select Layers to be VPLayer Thawed (see Figure 13).

Lastly, like the DDLyrOn command the DDLyrTh command offers sorting options by Layer name or

by Layer Off/On status.

DDLyrVpc

The fifth LayerApps added command is called DDLyrVpc. This command can be accessed by selecting from the LayerApps Add-Ins drop down or Toolbar the button with the three colored squares.

The DDLyrVpc command adds Figure 14 a much needed legible 255 Color assignment selection to Layers. I have always thought that AutoCAD’s Color selection window is just way too small to see (see Figure 15).

Figure 12

Figure 13 augiworld.com

Prior to AutoCAD 2000 when AutoCAD relied on the DCL files (Acad.dcl & Base.dcl) to present the Color selection window I was able to edit and customize those files to enlarge the window and even reposition the color swatches to match our office color pen weight standards. But since AutoCAD added support for millions of colors including Color books selections, in addition to dropping the use of the DCL files to present the Color window it has also chosen to continue to present the small Color selection window. I decided to code DDLyrVpc to give myself a large easier to see set of Color swatches for Layer assignment selection. The window automatically expands in width to accommodate Layer name listing up to 120 characters in length. The Layer name listing can show All, No Xrefs or only Xref Layer names. The Listing can be sorted by Layer Name, Color or VP Color if run from Paperspace. I also included the option to remove Xref or Viewport Layer Color assignment overrides. If there are Layer Color February 2022 | AUGIWorld Magazine

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AutoCAD 2022 IN CONCLUSION

Though Autodesk has accomplished the amazing task of developing AutoCAD for the past 4 decades to the feature rich product offered to customers today, it still acknowledges there are areas where they have missed addressing the various user needs. This is why Autodesk has always offered various methods to their customers to customize and add to AutoCAD to fill up those gaps. I hope you’ll find my LayerApps tool an excellent addition to fill the gap as you continued your AutoCAD expeditions.

Figure 15

overrides, these are shown in the Layer listing preceded by a dash “-“ in front of the Color number (see Figure 16).

Mr. Paul Li graduated in 1988 from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Architecture degree. He worked in the Architectural field for small to midsize global firms for over 33 years.

Throughout his tenure in Architecture, he has mastered the use and customization of AutoCAD. Using AutoLISP/ Visual Lisp combined with Dialog Control Language (DCL) programming he has developed a number of Apps that enhance the effectiveness of AutoCAD in his profession.

All the Apps actually came out of meeting challenging needs that occurred while he worked in the various offices.

He has made all the Apps available for free and can be downloaded from the Autodesk App Store. Though he recently retired from the Architectural profession, Paul continues to write articles depicting his past work experience. Some of these articles can be found in AUGIWorld Magazine where he shares his knowledge learned. Paul can be reached for comments or questions at PaulLi_apa@hotmail.com.

Figure 16

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AUGI Members Reach Higher with Expanded Benefits AUGI is introducing three new Membership levels that will bring you more benefits than ever before. Each level will bring you more content and expertise to share with fellow members, plus provide an expanded, more interactive website, publication access, and much more!

Basic members have access to: • Forums • HotNews (last 12 months) • AUGIWorld (last 12 months) DUES: Free

Student members have access to: • Forums • HotNews (last 24 months) • AUGIWorld (last 24 months) • AUGI Educational Offerings DUES: $2/month or $20/year

Professional members have access to: • Forums • HotNews (full access) • AUGIWorld (full access and in print) • AUGI Library • ADN Standard Membership Offer DUES: $5/month or $50/year

Are you ready to upgrade yourself and your membership?

Access additional benefits and upgrade at www.augi.com

Civil 3D 2022

by: Shawn Herring

Autodesk Civil 3DProject Explorer F

or this article I wanted to take a look at the new (ish) Project Explorer extension in Civil 3D. Some may have heard of it; some may not even know it exists! Even on the simplest of projects you will see a huge time/cost savings by being able to review and modify your design as well as utilize automated reports that will help you further understand your design at every step of the game.

step-by-step outline along with some sample files and videos.

One quick caveat……Project Explorer is only available if you have a subscription to the AEC Collection! You can also use this on previous versions (2020-2022).

As this article will be more of a high-level overview/ explanation, feel free to email me and I can send a

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Figure 1 augi.com

Civil 3D 2022 Once installed, depending on the version, Project Explorer can be accessed from the Add-In’s tab of the ribbon, or from the Home tab next to your Toolspace.

HOW IS IT USED?

Typically, to manage project and drawing objects, users would use the Toolspace Prospector tab in Civil 3D. Now, you can view and edit Civil 3D designs in a tabbed series of object lists, profile and section views, parameter lists, and many other design review tools.

You can validate your design using an extensive range of dynamic tooltips.

And finally, you can automate the production of user configurable reports, spreadsheets, dynamic tables, and AutoCAD drawings (see Figure 2).

In this article, I will break Project Explorer down into 4 topics.

• Review / Understand Project Figure 2 Explorer Capabilities • Design / Modify your design • Validate your design using Project Explorer • Report and share data with the touch of a button!

REVIEW / UNDERSTAND PROJECT EXPLORER CAPABILITIES

Project Explorer provides users with an easy-touse Civil 3D design model review tool and userconfigurable report generator. Civil 3D users now have a more efficient way to access, interact, and share the staggering array of design information that is in a Civil 3D model.

Project Explorer will help you: • Simplify project data navigation, review, and model editing.

• Make it easier to discover and evaluate design criteria warnings to help meet design standards • Facilitate a more efficient generation of custom

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reports and tables that help meet delivery requirements.

With Project Explorer, project teams can reduce overall design times, better manage project complexity, and leverage project resources more effectively.

There are two different aspects to the customization of the user interface: User Interface Layout The layout of content is handled from the Layout Options window, which can be accessed from the Layout button in the bottom left of the main Project Explorer window. You can use this window to edit the layout, visibility, and name of all data columns.

Layout Options can be saved to Layout Styles which can also be used to control the layout of reports and tables.

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Civil 3D 2022 or added to the Civil 3D model, the content in Project Explorer will update automatically.

If you use dual monitors, consider keeping Project Explorer open on your second monitor while you work in Civil 3D.

DESIGN / MODIFY YOUR DESIGN

Figure 3

User Interface Preferences The remaining options in the Project Explorer window such as fonts, colors, the layout, and visibility of Object Category tabs, and profile view colors and scales, are controlled from the Project Explorer Preferences window.

All information displayed in the Project Explorer window is live geometric project data from the Civil 3D model. Therefore, if something is modified

Alignments, Profiles & Sections Being able to see all alignments, profiles and sections in one area, and to be able to switch between features is key to streamlining workflows. Here, we will start with viewing and editing alignments, profiles and sections within project explorer.

Assemblies & Corridors A massive amount of data exists within your assemblies and even more so within your corridor model. Project Explorer streamlines the viewing and editing of these models and provides insight into the data behind the scenes like never before.

Figure 4

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Civil 3D 2022 Point Groups, Surfaces & Parcels The are many other objects in Project Explorer you can view, edit, analyze and report on. Here we will quickly explore a few additional tools.

Pipe Networks The options within Project Explorer for pipe networks are never ending! You can easily switch between pipe runs, edit multiple lines, SWAP

Figure 5

Figure 6 augiworld.com

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Civil 3D 2022

Figure 7

MULTIPLE parts and make global changes that you’ve always wanted to make, but never had the option to.

One thing that I think every pipe designer has wanted since Civil 3D day 1 has been the ability to select a run of pipes and tell it to grade them all at a specified percent! You can now do that using Project Explorer.

There are essentially three keyways to make changes to your Civil 3D design from the Project Explorer window.

• •

•

Double-click any highlighted parameter to directly edit the underlying individual value.

Right-click a selection of objects or points to access a slightly more limited range of parameters which can be edited for multiple selections.

Use a dedicated tool such as the Edit Pipe Run tool or the Swap Multiple Parts tool.

Because Project Explorer always displays live information from the civil model, you can monitor how each violation is impacted by every design decision you make.

REPORT AND SHARE DATA WITH THE TOUCH OF A BUTTON!

Sharing & Reporting Data Within your Civil 3D files there is an abundance of information. As you know, within Civil 3D there are many reporting methods for creating tables and exporting reports.

Project Explorer has its own built in, customizable and exportable, reports and tables. These can be built from individual objects as well as a group of “Object Sets”.

VALIDATE YOUR DESIGN USING PROJECT EXPLORER Dynamic violation reporting is an important feature within the Project Explorer window.

Violation reporting quickly draws your attention to: • Areas of your design which may not fully meet your design goals • Objects within your civil model which are considered to be in an abnormal state.

Figure 8

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Civil 3D 2022

Figure 9

Also within Project Explorer are the options to export out to 2D AutoCAD drawings. This export ONLY the Civil 3D Entities, and no other linework.

Object Sets The Object Sets tab in the main Project Explorer window allows one or more sets of objects to be persistently defined in your AutoCAD drawing. Object Sets are particularly useful for automating the generation of one or more reports from your drawing.

Actions may be associated with each Object Set, and these actions can be triggered with just a single mouse click. For example, a report generating action could be used to create a report file using a pre-configured Layout Style, Report Style, Output File Name, and Path (see Figure 9).

Reports There are two key methods for generating reports and spreadsheets from Project Explorer. The quickest and simplest method is to use the Quick Report to File option. Alternatively, if more control is required over the content or scope of the report, or if it is likely to require updating repeatedly, an Object Set can be used to control the generation of your report.

Generate AutoCAD Drawings The purpose of the 2D drawing export function in Project Explorer is to allow users to generate DWG files containing simplified 2D versions of their Civil 3D content. Exported geometry should look identical in plan but be built only from 2D entities. Sub-surface geometry and complex relationships that exist in the source Civil 3D drawing should be excluded from the exported drawing.

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Generate AutoCAD Tables There are two key methods for generating AutoCAD Tables from Project Explorer. The quickest and simplest method is to use the Quick Report to AutoCAD table option which supports the creation of static AutoCAD tables only. Alternatively, if more control is required over the content or scope of the table, or if it is likely to require updating repeatedly, an Object Set can be used to control the generation of your table. The Object Sets workflow supports the creation of dynamic AutoCAD tables which are linked back to source object geometry in Civil 3D.

CONCLUSION

When I first saw Project explorer in action, I thought it would be a bit overwhelming and didn’t see the real value in it. Afterall, can’t I do the exact same stuff natively in Civil 3D?? But once I got into it on my first couple projects, I realized that there is so much more to PE than I thought. The value add for pipe design alone is worth it, then you add in the robust reporting and ease of use, and you have a winner!

I also see Project Explorer as a great tool for managers and those who just want to review or explore a project but may not have much experience using Civil 3D objects. The QA/QC tools capabilities, especially on larger projects, can really help solidify your designs and identify errors early on.

Thank you!

Shawn has been a part of the design engineering community for roughly 15 years in all aspects of design, construction and software implementations.

He has implemented and trained companies across the Country on Civil 3D and other infrastructure tools and their best practice workflows. Shawn can be reached for comments or questions at sherring@ prosoftnet.com.

February 2022 | AUGIWorld Magazine

37

Inside Track

by: Brian Andresen

Welcome to AUGIWorld Inside Track! Check out the latest opportunities to advance your skills, processes, and workflows in your firm with the most current AEC-related software and hardware updates available.

3D PRINT PLUS

https://apps.autodesk.com/FUSION/en/ Detail/Index?id=2942207745179825936&a ppLang=en&os=Mac Autodesk Fusion 360 3D Print Plus and 3D Print Pro are extended versions of the 3D Print utility shipped with Autodesk® Fusion 360™.

Common features for 3D Print Plus and 3D Print Pro: • Export BRepBody and MeshBody object • Customize the orientation of the exported object • Ability to scale the object (uniform or non-uniform) • Convert active unit to MM, CM, meter, inch, foot • Mesh preview and mesh refinement option • Name STL file w/body name, component name, date • Send STL data directly to 3D print utilities Extra features for 3D Print Pro: • One-click export • Save settings in design between Fusion 360 session • Export file in binary or ASCII format • Ability to customize the STL file header • Convert existing STL files (file format and unit dimension) • Merge existing STL files • Adjust graphics settings for mesh display

EXPORT BLENDER

https://apps.autodesk.com/ALIAS/en/ Detail/Index?id=8025871794580309750&a ppLang=en&os=Win64 Autodesk Alias Automotive, Design, & Surface Versions: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 Autodesk® Alias® Plugin to export Surfaces, Shells, Curves, Layers, and Shaders to a Blender® file.

POINTCLOUD TO SURFACE SUITE

Surface from Point Cloud Selection: This allows you to draw a selection box around the points of interest then select whether they should be mapped as either a topography, floor or roof element. The section box can be used to filter out points on a broad scale, for specific filtering of points to be added to each new element.

Surface from adaptive points: Reads all adaptive points and creates a new topography, floor or roof element mapped to those points.

Add Adaptive Points to Existing surface: Reads all adaptive points from your document and adds them to the existing topography, floor or roof element chosen.

Wall Tool: Mark out your wall lines with adaptive points that snap to the point cloud then use the wall tool to create straight or curved walls that align to your marks.

Model Lines: Mark out your lines with adaptive points that snap to the point cloud & use the Model Lines tool to create straight or Model Lines aligned to your marks.

4 Utilities: Single click buttons to hide/show pointcloud instances, access the graphics setting for point clouds, clear all adaptive points from your document and add adaptive points.

3 Exporters: Write point data to commonly used external files including PTS and CSV from pointcloud selection, and XYZ CSV from adaptive points.

2 Importers: Import saved or selected point data as a floor, roof, topo, or set of adaptive points.

AUGIWorld brings you recent developments in Autodesk and related software items

https://apps.autodesk.com/RVT/en/Detail/ Index?id=1999407438437529160&appLan g=en&os=Win64 Autodesk Revit Version: 2022, 2021, 2020 PointCloud to Surface Suite has been designed for surveyors, architects, builders and developers working on as-built projects. It reads laser scan data captured onsite and imported into Autodesk® Revit®, streamlining the workflow needed to create complex surfaces in a BIM project to match as-built conditions. The 14 Tools include:

If you have some news to share with us for future issues, please let us know. Likewise, if you are a user of a featured product or news item and would like to write a review, we want to know. brian.andresen@augi.com 38

AUGIWorld Magazine | February 2022

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