Autodesk Civil 3D is one heck of a complex program! And with each new release, more functions are added. This now includes surveying, plan production, site subdivisions, road and pond design, and everything in between. On top of that, GIS functionality is offered, as well as all the basic drafting and design features of AutoCAD.
Creating a comprehensive training guide for this program is a challenge, even at a “fundamental” level. To achieve this, over the last number of releases we have been incorporating more and more content into the Autodesk Civil 3D: Fundamentals learning guide, so much so that what had been designed as a four-day guide has become jam-packed with material. To accommodate the four-day teaching schedule, more and more content was being delegated to appendices. Eventually, instructors were having to pick and choose what content could be done in four days.
We received feedback from instructors who had resigned themselves to teaching the guide in five days anyway, or who felt they were skipping too much material in order to complete the course in four days. Over time, to accommodate the many changes in the software, we found ourselves creating chapters with a mix of both fundamental and more advanced topics, which could be overwhelming for new students.
Therefore, for the 2023 release, we made a major transition: we split the Autodesk Civil 3D: Fundamentals guide into two separate learning guides called Essentials and Beyond the Basics.
The Autodesk Civil 3D 2023: Essentials guide is geared towards new and novice users of the Civil 3D software. A working knowledge of the AutoCAD software and the computer’s operating system plus a basic understanding of civil terminology and concepts is recommended for this learning guide. The book contains ten chapters (and no appendices!) and focuses on the essential skills that users need. It is designed so that the learning material can be covered within three days.
The chapters are:
- The Autodesk Civil 3D Interface
- Survey, Points, and Linework
- Surfaces
- Alignments
- Profiles
- Corridors
- Grading
- Pipe Networks
- Project Explorer
- Plan Production
The Autodesk Civil 3D 2023: Beyond the Basics learning guide is geared towards more advanced users of Civil 3D. As with the Essentials guide, a working knowledge of the AutoCAD software and the computer’s operating system plus a basic understanding of civil terminology and concepts is recommended for this guide. Having completed the Essentials guide is NOT a requirement if users already have knowledge of Civil 3D, as many existing Civil 3D users can take this guide to “go beyond the basics”.
This guide contains eight chapters (and still no appendices) and is intended to sharpen the skills of more seasoned Civil 3D users in various aspects of the software. It is designed to cover two days’ worth of material.
The chapters are:
- Civil 3D Styles and Settings
- Project Management
- Parcels
- Surfaces – Beyond the Basics
- Corridors – Beyond the Basics
- Pipes – Beyond the Basics
- Sheet Set Manager
- Quantity Takeoff and Visualization
Dividing the Fundamentals learning guide up in this way may pave the way for future specialized intermediate to advanced level learning guides on specific topics or themes within Civil 3D, with the three-day Essentials guide to serve as a foundation upon which other learning guides can be based. It is perceived that moving forward, the contents and concepts within the Essentials guide will change very little. Any advancements in the software from release to release will be handled in such specialized guides geared towards intermediate to advanced users.
For those instructors used to the full Fundamentals guide, we are offering the Essentials and Beyond the Basics guides combined into the now five-day Autodesk Civil 3D: Fundamentals learning guide, as we know that schools and our ATC partners may prefer to continue teaching the full five-day course. For those of you that roll out 2023 in the new split format, we hope that you like it!
Stay tuned for my upcoming blogs that cover more details on each of these two new learning guides.
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