December 1, 2009
I’ve recently started using a very cool feature in Carlson Software. The bad thing… it was in the 2009 version and I didn’t even realize it!
I had no idea exporting our DWG files from IntelliCAD or AutoCAD out to Google Earth was so easy.
- Download and install Google Earth. You can download it here: http://earth.google.com/
- Open any one of your project DWG files that has been positioned at its correct state plane coordinate system.
- In Carlson, go to Settings –> Drawing Setup and then select the correct Projection and correct Zone for the project site. If you’re not sure of the Projection, try using “State Plane 83”. This will work for most systems.
- Next, go to File –> Polyline File –> Write Polyline File. When prompted for “Polyline File Format”, type “G” for Google. You will be prompted to specify a new filename and save location for a “Google Earth File to Write (.kml)”.
- You will then be prompted to select the entities that are to be exported out to the .kml file and viewed in Google Earth. After selecting the entities, press Enter. For this exercise, we only want to see the drawing entities in 2D, so press “N” for “No” when prompted to “Use elevation from drawing in Google Earth [Yes/<No>]?”
- Finally, you are then prompted “Would you like to display the file in Google Earth now [<Yes>/No]?”. Press “Y” for “Yes”. Google Earth should automatically launch and zoom into the project location.
Click for larger image
In the example shown below and pointed out with arrows, notice how closely the new roads and designed turn lanes match up to the existing roadway. Also, you can see the designed graded slopes perfectly avoiding the tank that is to be preserved during construction.
Not too shabby…
This feature is available in all of the Carlson Desktop products: Carlson Civil, Survey, Hydrology, Construction and TakeOff.
Look for a future post on bringing Google Earth surface data into Carlson Software. Hint: It’s easy too!
Leave a Comment » | 
Carlson Software, Civil, Construction, ESRI, GIS, Hydrology, IntelliCAD, Machine Control, News, Product Updates, Survey, TakeOff | Tagged: 3d, carlson, Civil, Construction, GIS, google earth, hydro, IntelliCAD, render, Survey | 
Permalink
Posted by Jennifer DiBona
November 30, 2009
With more construction bid sets being issued in Portable Document Format (PDF), more companies find themselves in the position of needing to generate estimating and construction data from these files. Carlson Software now provides tools to import PDF files into a drawing as either an image or as CAD linework. These tools are available exclusively through Carlson Takeoff 2010 and the new Carlson Construction 2010.
Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Carlson Software, Construction, Machine Control, TakeOff | Tagged: Carlson Construction, Carlson Takeoff, Converting PDF to CAD, PDF, PDF Conversion, PDF to CAD | Permalink
Posted by Felicia Provencal
October 20, 2009
The 2010 version of Carlson software running with IntelliCAD is officially available. This version offers support for 64-bit operating systems, Windows 7, and AutoCAD® 2010. This release is available from the Carlson website for download, or contact us for more information on requesting a demo CD. For those of you on the Carlson maintenance program, you may download the latest release from the Software download section of the Carlson website which can be found here.
If you are already using Carlson software and are part of their maintenance program, the Carlson update page has a new feature that allows you to receive your 2010 serial numbers through an on-line lookup feature. This can be found here. If you want to install your 2010 upgrade immediately, use this tool to look up your serial number, then download and install the software. CD’s will be shipped out to maintenance customers automatically, but you don’t have to wait, you can get started with all of the new features today!
To view the archived webinars covering several of the new features of this release, please visit the Carlson webinar archive here.
More information on this latest release will be provided as it becomes available.
Update by Jennifer: You can download a PDF with a list of Improvements in 2010 here: Carlson 2010 Improvements
Leave a Comment » | Carlson Software | Tagged: Carlson 2010, Carlson Software | Permalink
Posted by Felicia Provencal
August 26, 2009
Update 9/12/2009: Much appreciation to James Wedding at www.civil3d.com for extending the Carlson VS Civil 3D discussion to his website. A lot of commentary and good discussion has taken place on both sites. I’ve just posted my response to the comments. Also, as noted at the end of my reply, I am working on setting up a very thorough Shootout between Carlson and Civil 3D. Invitations have been sent, so keep looking for updates.
www.civil3d.com Carlson VS Civil 3D Post
Latest Autodesk Discussion Group Post
Update 9/1/2009: Folks at www.civil3d.com have started a post comparing Carlson to Civil 3D. Link is here. James has a minor detail wrong about my background. As a sole-proprietor, I was never an Autodesk reseller, but I did work for a couple of them before going out on my own. I’ve posted that as a comment and thanked James for starting the thread but, as of a couple hours later, it is still telling me that “Your comment is awaiting moderation”.
Update: Not that the edits, so far, have changed the original Posts too much, but wanted to make everyone aware that the Moderator is revising some of the posts. Mostly, it makes me look like I don’t know grammar and don’t proofread very well.
An interesting discussion has been started on the Autodesk Discussion Group here:
http://discussion.autodesk.com/forums/message.jspa?messageID=6243535#6243535
Harry Ward discusses the shootout between Carlson, Civil 3d and Bentley and several others discuss their experiences and compare their use of the products.
Leave a Comment » | AutoCAD, BIM, Bugs, Carlson Software, Events, Hydrology, Machine Control, Survey | Tagged: autocad lt, autodesk.autocad, bentley, carlson, civil 3d | Permalink
Posted by Jennifer DiBona
August 7, 2009
As someone quite entrenched in both disciplines (Civil and Architectural), I’ll add my 2 cents worth on the BIM vs. GIS subject.
In my opinion, BIM and GIS are both “methodologies” rather than “products”. The acronyms each have their own meaning and refer to designing, building, and managing information in a full life-cycle.
Each discipline has its own standards; from CAD standards to design standards (think of AIA vs. AASHTO), but both BIM and GIS rely on correct As-Built data to provide accurate information about their models.
BIM
The National BIM standard states the definition of BIM as:
“BIM is best thought of as a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility…and a shared knowledge resource for information about a facility forming a reliable basis for decisions during its life-cycle; defined as existing from earliest conception to demolition.”
Autodesk has taken the BIM acronym that has provided a great deal of success with their Architectural Modelling packages and applied it to their Civil products as well. Their logic appears to be that its a “3D” product, therefore it is a “BIM” product. I believe that it is irresponsible to change terminology to simply advance product sales.
On the Autodesk Web Site, Autodesk lists a number of products as being “BIM” products:
- Revit
- Navisworks
- Design Review
- AutoCAD LT
- + several more
With the acronym meaning Building Information Modelling (with building being a verb OR a noun), its interesting to see products such as AutoCAD LT and Design Review being shown on the list. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | AutoCAD, BIM, Carlson Software, Civil, ESRI, GIS, IntelliCAD | Tagged: archibus, architect, AutoCAD, autocad lt, autodesk, BIM, cadapult, carlson, Civil, civil 3d, civil suite, design review, ESRI, famis, fm desktop, fm:systems, fmdesktop, GIS, manhattan, Navisworks, tririga | Permalink
Posted by Jon Luby
August 6, 2009
Several months have passed since I made my original post BIM This, BIM That… What is BIM?. In that time, I have asked a lot more questions, read a lot more on the internet and had a lot of discussions with Ladd and Felicia and also read the post by one of our commenters. I think I’ve developed a more concrete idea about BIM and how it applies, or doesn’t, to the civil/survey world and where the various software packages stand in regard to their “BIM-ability”.
Now, after all this additional information has percolated in my brain, I’m drawing two main conclusions: Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | BIM, Carlson Software, Civil, ESRI, GIS | Tagged: autocad map, BIM, building information modeling, carlson, carlson gis, Civil, civil 3d, ESRI, GIS, map | Permalink
Posted by Jennifer DiBona
July 31, 2009
Some of you may have heard David Palumbo, PE, Technology Manager for Dewberry, at the Carlson User’s Conference back in April. For those that missed his presentation, his story has been published in CE News this month. Read about the process Dewberry used to evaluate new technology, its impact on their business methodology, and how they planned the roll-out and implementation. Regardless of the size of your company or the software you use, there are some good tips and pointers in this article.
http://www.cenews.com/article.asp?id=3928
Leave a Comment » | Carlson Software, News | Tagged: 3D workflow, Carlson Civil Suite, Carlson Software, Civil Site Services, dewberry | Permalink
Posted by Felicia Provencal
July 18, 2009
Leave a Comment » | AutoCAD, BIM, Carlson Software, Civil, ESRI, Events, GIS, Hydrology, IntelliCAD, Machine Control, News, Product Updates, SurvCE, Survey, TakeOff | Tagged: BIM, carlson, Civil, Engineering, ESRI, GIS, SurvCE, Survey, TakeOff, utilities | Permalink
Posted by Jennifer DiBona
June 23, 2009
With the adoption of machine control for construction, the ability of various GIS systems to accept 3D data, and now with the expansion of the term BIM to cover elements outside of a building proper, surface modeling has become a critical aspect of any project. Since so many elements down the line rely on the surface model, it is critical that the model be as accurate as possible and free of errors. This article will be the first in a series that will take a look at various tools and options within the Carlson product line to ensure the accuracy of your surface models, sometimes known as triangulated irregular networks (TIN) or digital terrain models (DTM). Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Carlson Software, Civil, Machine Control, Survey, TakeOff | Tagged: BIM, CIM, dtm, Machine Control, surface editing, surface model, surface modeling, tin | Permalink
Posted by Felicia Provencal
June 18, 2009
With the economy what it is and everyone trying to get as much bang for their buck as possible, I’m finding that online training for your CAD software programs is an increasingly popular and cost effective option.
Although this post describes my personal approach and may be different considering your trainer, hopefully it will answer some of your questions about online training and will encourage you to give it a try. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | AutoCAD, Carlson Software, Civil, GIS, Hydrology, IntelliCAD, Machine Control, Survey, TakeOff | Tagged: CAD, carlson, gotomeeting, gotowebinar, interactive, online, Software, training, webex | Permalink
Posted by Jennifer DiBona
June 8, 2009
Those currently using Carlson with IntelliCAD are eligible for a new “GIS Starter Kit” from ESRI. The Kit includes:
- ArcGIS ArcView desktop software
- A copy of the book A to Z GIS: An Illustrated Dictionary of Geographic Information Systems
- A copy of GIS Tutorial: Workbook for ArcView 9, Third Edition
- A 10% discount for the ESRI Survey & Engineering GIS Summit ($325 – standard registration price)
To take advantage of the offer, call 1-800-GIS-XPRT (1-800-447-9778) and request the Carlson-IntelliCAD GIS Starter Kit and please have your Carlson Serial Number available.
You can read more about ESRI’s commitment to survey and engineering services by visiting http://www.ESRI.com/engineering.
4 Comments | AutoCAD, Carlson Software, Civil, ESRI, Events, GIS, IntelliCAD, News, Product Updates, Survey | Tagged: ArcGIS, ArcView, carlson, Engineering, ESRI, GIS, IntelliCAD, Survey | Permalink
Posted by Jennifer DiBona
June 5, 2009
The ability to import and export to LandXML has been around for quite awhile, but I still get a lot of curious looks when I mention it in my training classes. So, what is it? And why should you be using it? Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | BIM, Carlson Software, Civil, Hydrology, Machine Control, Survey, TakeOff | Tagged: archive, carlson, civil 3d, eagle point, land, land desktop, land xml, project data, terramodel, xml | Permalink
Posted by Jennifer DiBona
May 26, 2009
There are times when you need to know information about an object in your drawing such as its layer, elevation, or direction and distance. The Drawing Inspector provides a quick and easy way to gather information about drawing entities on the fly. Simply turn on the Drawing Inspector using the Inquiry pull-down menu, then hover your mouse over any entity. Soon the information you require will be displayed in a tooltip next to your mouse location. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | AutoCAD, Civil, GIS, Hydrology, IntelliCAD, Survey, TakeOff | Tagged: CAD entity data, Drawing Inspector | Permalink
Posted by Felicia Provencal
April 22, 2009
If you are working in an IntelliCAD version of Carlson Survey or Civil and need to bring in surface entities (contours) from a Civil 3D (C3D) or Land Desktop (LDT) drawing, it’s actually very easy to do. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Carlson Software, Civil, IntelliCAD, Machine Control, Survey, TakeOff | Tagged: carlson, Civil, civil 3d, contours, convert, IntelliCAD, land desktop, Machine Control, surface model, surfaces, Survey, TakeOff, tin | Permalink
Posted by Jennifer DiBona
April 18, 2009
There have been many articles, discussions, and presentations on Building Information Modeling in the recent months. If you haven’t already heard the basics, this post covers it well. For surveyors, civil engineers, and construction firms, there are two things you should know about BIM and how it will impact your business.
Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | BIM, Carlson Software, Civil, GIS | Tagged: BIM, Carlson Software, GIS, Navisworks | Permalink
Posted by Felicia Provencal
April 8, 2009
So, how cool is this?
At the Carlson User Conference this week in Lexington, KY, Brent Jones of ESRI announced a new grant program in coordination with Carlson Software. The program will bring ESRI products to every IntelliCAD-based Carlson program.
Speaking with Brent on Tuesday, he said that a few of the details have yet to be worked out, but Carlson IntelliCAD users should be hearing details in about a month.
Leave a Comment » | AutoCAD, Carlson Software, Civil, ESRI, Events, GIS, Hydrology, IntelliCAD, News, Product Updates, Survey, TakeOff | Tagged: brent jones, carlson, carlson user conference, ESRI, GIS, IntelliCAD | Permalink
Posted by Jennifer DiBona
April 1, 2009
I’m going to post a LONG email stream between one of my clients, David Farina, Bruce Carlson and Dave Carlson. You can see the new feature that David requested and Bruce and Dave’s responses. David received a “development” version of the new features approximately a week after submitting this request.
I asked him for a statement describing his experience with Carlson: Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Carlson Software, Direct from Carlson, Hydrology, Product Updates, Wishlist | Tagged: carlson, civil 3d, dtm, feature, haestad, Hydrology, intellisolve, storm, tech support, time of concentration, tr-55, update, Wishlist | Permalink
Posted by Jennifer DiBona
April 1, 2009
I’m not privy to the “official” list of coming updates, but I can share a few things that I know will be in the next release. Most of these come from “wishlist” items I have submitted on behalf of my clients.
The folks at Carlson are welcome to add their 2-cents in the Comments of this post or on Direct From Carlson. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | AutoCAD, Carlson Software, Civil, IntelliCAD, Product Updates, Survey, Wishlist | Tagged: bug, building, c & g, c&g, carlson, Civil, curb, elevation, feature, IntelliCAD, nc dot, pad, setback, slope, super, Survey, update, Wishlist | Permalink
Posted by Jennifer DiBona
March 27, 2009
Autodesk has announced that their 2010 products will be released on March 24, 2009. I found this post by Randy McSwain to be a good overview of the new features in AutoCAD 2010.
As of March 13, 2009, Autodesk no longer supports or offers upgrades from their 2006 products.
Because of the retirement of Land Desktop, I see that Autodesk is offering to crossgrade existing Land Desktop customers to Map or Civil 3D with special pricing. Subscription will probably be mandatory, but I’m not certain.
Leave a Comment » | AutoCAD, Events, News | Tagged: autocad 2010, autodesk, civil 3d, land desktop, map | Permalink
Posted by Jennifer DiBona
March 27, 2009
Carlson Software put out a press release this week announcing that a representative of Dewberry will be making a presentation at the User Conference about their recent implementation of Carlson Survey and Civil Software.
This is a good supporting argument for my Myth #7 about how large companies DO use Carlson.
Click here for the press release about Dewberry.
Leave a Comment » | Civil, Events, GIS, Hydrology, Survey | Tagged: carlson, Civil, dewberry, GIS, hydro, implement, palumbo, Survey | Permalink
Posted by Jennifer DiBona
March 27, 2009
Q: What is BIM? And, exactly how does it relate to the civil engineering industry?
A: BIM, by definition, has nothing to do with civil engineering.
BIM stands for “Building Information Modeling”. The term “BIM” originated in the Architectural world and, generally, defines the process of inputting information to and extracting information from a 3D model of a building/facility. Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | BIM, Civil, GIS, Hydrology, Survey | Tagged: autodesk, BIM, building, Civil, civil 3d, GIS, Hydrology, information, land desktop, modeling, Survey | Permalink
Posted by Jennifer DiBona
March 27, 2009
I’m asked many of these questions on a fairly regular basis and thought it was time to look into some of them and provide the fullest answer I could. Where possible, I’ve researched and found the answer myself. In a few cases I had to rely on Carlson representatives to supply the answers.
Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | AutoCAD, BIM, Bugs, Civil, ESRI, Hydrology, IntelliCAD, Survey, Wishlist | Tagged: AutoCAD, autodesk, BIM, bug, building pad, carlson, Civil, civil 3d, dynamic, ESRI, export, Hydrology, import, IntelliCAD, land desktop, land xml, lotnet, Machine Control, map, Mining, myths, pond, SurvCE, Survey, TakeOff, tech support | Permalink
Posted by Jennifer DiBona
March 27, 2009
Thanks for taking the time to visit us at Carlson Connection.
The site is a little bare right now, but keep checking back. We hope to make it an active community with lots of good information and discussion.
If you’d like to be a Contributor to the site, please email me here.
Leave a Comment » | AutoCAD, Bugs, Civil, ESRI, Events, GIS, Hydrology, IntelliCAD, News, Survey, TakeOff, Wishlist | Tagged: SurvCE | Permalink
Posted by Jennifer DiBona
