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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 you’ve invested.
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