Release News - Dynamite VSP 3.5 and Civil 3D 2008
Having already established a worldwide user base consisting predominately of Bentley MX and InRoads users, we recently decided to look at whether AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008 specific functionality could be incorporated into the next Dynamite VSP release. Our R&D project which ran through the summer involved input from Autodesk and a number of Civil 3D resellers and distributors. I’d particularly like to single out Prodesk in Antwerp in Belgium for a special mention - their knowledge and support has been invaluable.
The result of all this hard work, is today’s announcment of the release of Dynamite VSP 3.5.
If you are already a Civil 3D user or have been thinking about taking a closer look the product for your civil design needs, I’d definitely recommend taking a look at what we have achieved in this new release of Dynamite VSP. The results really are stunning - and far exceed my original expectations.
Sowing the seed
If you currently generate your terrain surfaces in MX, you’ll be only too familiar with the most painful part of the process - seeding/grouping the triangles in MX. Not only does this process take quite some time to master, but it has to be re-applied every time a design changes. The use of input files can help ease the pain, but unless you are a veteran MX user this can be a daunting prospect to say the least.
Corridors, assemblies, and a new dedicated exporter
There are two key reasons that our Civil 3D based support has turned out to be such a strong solution.
Firstly, Civil 3D takes an “object oriented” approach to highway modelling. “Corridor” objects (roads) are built from assemblies (very sophisticated cross section templates, basically). Assemblies are built from sub-assemblies - each representing typical highway components such as kerbs, lanes, verges, etc. We can hook into this information and intelligently build fully textured triangulated surfaces for use in Dynamite VSP. The process is entirely automated.
Secondly, we opted to build a dedicated exporter specifically to handle the data transfer process to Dynamite VSP. This exporter actually sits inside Civil 3D, and it´s sole purpose in life is to generate a proprietary intermediate file format which we have designed specifically for the job of passing Civil 3D design data into Dynamite VSP. The use of this binary file format - known as VSP3D - puts us in direct control of the way in which Civil 3D design data is interpreted for visualisation purposes. It also allows us to permanently retain a high degree of design intelligence in the visualisation after the civil model is transferred to Dynamite VSP.
The new exporter - known as Dynamite EXPORT for Civil 3D 2008 has a thorough understanding of the hierarchy within Civil 3D design elements and is capable of filtering out parts of the civil design which would be completely redundant in a visualisation environment. Importantly, corridor sub-assemblies are interrogated by name to ensure that material assignments are carried out automatically to each component of a corridor surface upon import into Dynamite VSP.
News of our planned support for AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008 certainly travels fast - we have received a steady stream of phone calls and e-mails on the subject since we started discussing our plans with a few key resellers and users back in the summer. I´m delighted that this latest version of Dynamite VSP is finally released, and the timing couldn’t be better - it’s just in time for our attendance at the forthcoming Autodesk University event in Las Vegas next week.
So where can I get it?
Even if you are not a Civil 3D user, there are plenty of other new features to interest you in Dynamite VSP Version 3.5. For a full set of release notes, please visit:
http://www.3am-solutions.com/products/dvsp3/releaseNotes35.asp
To download Version 3.5 in service pack form, please visit our User Support Centre on the main 3am Solutions web site:
http://www.3am-solutions.com/support/downloads.asp
Comments
Thanks Cees. Please take a look at this discussion forum thread on the subject here.
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Bruce,
We are in a BIMCaseweek now and I need some support for importing a Civil3D model very soon.
How to export from Civil3D and import in VIZ 2008.
I downloaded the files and installed them already.
Please give a short workaround.
Regards,
Cees Kruit, DMC
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