This is a good article about Bruce Carlson and where Carlson Software is planning to go in the future…
What is Carlson up to?
May 13, 2010
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AutoCAD, BIM, Carlson Software, Civil, Construction, ESRI, GIS, Hydrology, IntelliCAD, Machine Control, Microstation, News, Product Updates, Survey, TakeOff | Tagged: AutoCAD, bentley, CAD, carlson, Civil, Construction, ESRI, GIS, IntelliCAD, microstation, Survey | 
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Posted by Jennifer DiBona, That CAD Girl
Carlson, Civil 3D and Shootouts
August 26, 2009Update 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.
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Posted by Jennifer DiBona, That CAD Girl
BIM is not GIS
August 7, 2009As 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 »
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Posted by Jon Luby
Carlson Webinars – BIM, GIS and CAD Standards
July 18, 2009Carlson Software recently asked Felicia and me to present webinars on topics we have particular interest in or specialize in.
Felicia’s webinar on BIM, GIS and Carlson Software can be viewed here: BIM, GIS and Carlson Software Webinar
My webinar on CAD Standards can be viewed here: CAD Standards for Carlson Software with AutoCAD or IntelliCAD
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Posted by Jennifer DiBona, That CAD Girl
Online Training – Friend or Foe?
June 18, 2009With 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 »
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Posted by Jennifer DiBona, That CAD Girl
Carlson-IntelliCAD GIS Starter Kit from ESRI
June 8, 2009Those 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, That CAD Girl
A Closer Look at the Drawing Inspector
May 26, 2009There 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 »
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Posted by Felicia Provencal
Carlson + ESRI = Wow!
April 8, 2009
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.
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Posted by Jennifer DiBona, That CAD Girl
Coming in Carlson 2010
April 1, 2009I’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 »
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Posted by Jennifer DiBona, That CAD Girl
Poll Question 3/30/2009
March 27, 2009
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Posted by Jennifer DiBona, That CAD Girl
AutoCAD 2010 Release, Autodesk 2006 Software Retirement
March 27, 2009Autodesk 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.
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Posted by Jennifer DiBona, That CAD Girl
Top Myths About Carlson Software
March 27, 2009I’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 »
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Posted by Jennifer DiBona, That CAD Girl
Welcome!
March 27, 2009Thanks 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.
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Posted by Jennifer DiBona, That CAD Girl
