Does it take forever to set up Civil 3D?

One of the questions I often receive when doing training is how long it will take to set up AutoCAD Civil 3D. Between templates and styles, all your regular AutoCAD settings and also your CUIs, it often seems like it might be time-consuming. Let me be the first one to tell you that it is a lot of work and it can take time. The software is set up in such a way that it allows us to get deep within the settings and to make it our own. This way of doing things can set the stage for a lot of setup time, especially when coming from different software.

Also, when I refer to a long setup time I am really referring to a rather short period of time, compared to how long this product will be around. This time is also not going to touch the amount of productivity you see when it is properly done. This method can be used to mirror your existing styles and standards and almost eliminate mistakes commonly made on items such as text or determining what layer an item is supposed to be on. The beauty is that it is automatic.

Think of all the time your company spends fixing and editing small mistakes such as the ones I mentioned beforehand. Now add all the time up over the course of one year and dedicate that much time to setting this software up. The results will amaze you. Not only does a little dedication go far with the setup, but it is a one-time obligation that will lead to far fewer editing errors, accurate design standards and no more rogue layers or text. Best of all, annotating your drawings should almost be automatic, with a few exceptions.

The items involved in this setup are mostly Layers, Object Styles, Label Styles and Command Settings stored in a .dwt file. These are quickly followed by the profile and main cui file for the complete setup.

This really is a process that can lead to a highly productive office. I wish that people were less discouraged about this practice and instead embraced it, as it is definitely something that will place your company at the forefront of design and production.

So to get back to the title question, Does it take forever to setup Civil 3D?
My answer is it can take a little while (one week, maybe two if you have a lot of content that you need), but the payoff is going to far exceed what youve invested.

This page last edited on Thursday, June 03, 2010