The Workflow of the Future… Now!
Do you have the Infrastructure Design Suite or the AEC Collection? Do you feel that the only thing you can possibly use from them is AutoCAD® Civil 3D®? What about Autodesk® InfraWorks®? Do you feel that it is more of a marketing or fancy planning tool?
In this article, we will look at a futuristic workflow that can be used now. This workflow encompasses more than just Civil 3D and can possibly take your project further faster than just using traditional one-software workflows.
Infrastructure Software
If you are reading this article there is a good chance that you are currently using Civil 3D. How many of you are using Autodesk® ReCap™? How many of you are using InfraWorks? A great deal of the conversations I have with drafters and designers have shown me that not a lot of people are taking advantage of what some of the other software can provide in terms of ease of use, speed of process, and ultimately, the quality of the output.
I will guide you through a workflow that will utilize Autodesk ReCap, Autodesk InfraWorks, and Civil 3D to get a final output consisting of a great topo, point cloud data, and other output that could help you move your project farther along and at a faster rate than how you may be doing things now.
Scope of Work & Deliverables
Obviously, some of the first things that need to be determined on an awarded project are the scope of work and the deliverables of the project. Some of the common questions are; What does the project consist of? Where is it located? How large is the area? What are the final deliverables the client is requesting? Answering these questions early in the project can help guide the technology train down the right tracks. The proper use of technology can get you to the finish line quicker, easier, and with better quality deliverables, making this a win-win situation for all involved. Could your projects be more profitable when properly utilizing technology? I don’t think you have to answer that question, but if you really need to, then the answer is YES!
Figure 1
Project Description
Let’s talk about the project that I will be using to go through this workflow and what the end deliverables will be. This is a conceptual project that will consist of a proposed subdivision and roadways contained in it. We will be responsible for some preliminary design work showing the roadways, grading, underground utilities, and more.
Figure 2
Technology Decision
After getting the scope of work and deliverables defined and agreed upon, consultants will have to decide what technology will be used for producing the deliverables. If you have been doing projects for a while there may be some reluctance to making any changes to your workflow. Resistance may come from management or users, but their reasoning will usually be for different reasons. Obviously, management is concerned with profitability and users are concerned with learning new workflows. While all of this is understandable, sometimes we need to step out of that comfort zone and try new things that may improve our organization in both of these areas.
Let’s discuss some of the technology decisions that will play a major part of this workflow. First, the site we will be working with has had a drone flight performed to produce point cloud information as well as geo-rectified aerial photography. For this portion of the project deliverables, there are a couple of routes to go for data processing. If you go outside of the Autodesk world, Pix4D is a great tool for processing the data produced by drones. If you decide to stick with the Autodesk workflow, there is a partnership with 3DR that utilizes Autodesk ReCap with 3DR’s own Site Scan software. This produces great results, but currently there is an image limitation. Not a show stopper, but I just wanted to mention that.
Existing Conditions
Regardless of what is used to process the data, ReCap is still an important piece in the workflow. After the drone data processing is complete, the point cloud data should be processed through ReCap to produce an RCP file so it will go into other Autodesk software seamlessly. ReCap can also be used to clean up point cloud information as well, so if some of the “noise” or other unwanted data needs to be trimmed out, ReCap is fully capable of doing this.
Figure 3
With a fresh RCP file in hand, we might be thinking it is time to head over to Civil 3D to bring in the point cloud. Not so fast! Yes, Civil 3D can bring in an RCP file and it can produce a topo for you. However, you may not be satisfied with the topo it produces and the file size of it as well. We have a better way to do it!
Figure 4
The Use of InfraWorks
Now coming to the computer screen: Introducing InfraWorks!
I know you are probably thinking, “InfraWorks? Really?” Let’s break down exactly how we can use InfraWorks in this workflow. First, hold onto your ReCap file. We will use that a bit later.
Now, in InfraWorks, we will start a new project using the Model Builder. Why would we do this if we have fresh drone data that is probably more accurate than what Model Builder provides? This will give us a canvas from which to start that will most likely include a larger area than what our drone data encompasses. This can be useful to be able to see surrounding areas to the project area.
Also, keep in mind that InfraWorks’ ability to bring in various data formats means that we can start with this Model Builder data and then supplement the model with the data that we got from our drone flight. We can drop in our sharp aerial imagery, of course, and the overall quality of it compared to the original imagery is going to be instantly obvious, but the really cool piece of this is bringing in our point cloud. “But I have seen what a point cloud ends up looking like! I don’t want a pixelated picture, I want something I can use!” Sure, I understand and that is what is so cool about using InfraWorks in the workflow. InfraWorks can process the point cloud and create terrain from it. Surface data! Additionally, it can model some of the elements from the point cloud data as well. In Figure 5, you can see that the point cloud terrain data has been wrapped into the model terrain and 3D elements such as vehicles have been replaced with yellow boxes. In some cases, I have changed the boxes to be 3D models of what the original objects were.
Figure 5
Let’s pause here and clarify what we have going on up to this point. By using the point cloud terrain tools in InfraWorks, I can get tight terrain data, some 3D elements, and, one of the coolest things is that InfraWorks trims out things that don’t seem to belong to the terrain. Look at Figure 5 and you will notice some vehicles in the underlying aerial imagery, but those vehicles did not make it into the terrain data. How cool is that? InfraWorks did the cleanup for us. Now that we have our existing conditions modeled and tied down pretty well, let’s talk about our conceptual design and what we will do with it after we get it drawn out.
Conceptual Design
With existing conditions taken care of, I can now go into InfraWorks and do things like layout design roadways, grade areas such as basins, pads, etc. After getting design roads created, such as the ones in the proposed subdivision in Figure 6, I can even get drainage networks quickly designed. Simply selecting the road, I can right click, go to drainage, and choose “add drainage network.” I am then prompted with a dialog box that allows me to put values into the drainage network. Very cool stuff, but wait until you see what this will give us when we round-trip the data into Civil 3D. This next section will cover bringing this data into Civil 3D.
Figure 6
Bringing Data Into Civil 3D
Now that we have both our existing and conceptual design data in InfraWorks, it’s time to bring it into Civil 3D so that we can pick up the “design ball” and run with it. You will find that creating elements in InfraWorks is very easy to do, so that is why InfraWorks is an important part of this workflow: point cloud /terrain processing, as well as ease of creating elements.
Now, let’s cover this process. I recommend shutting down InfraWorks before trying to connect to the model from within Civil 3D. Notice I said “connect to the model” and didn’t say anything about importing a file? I didn’t even say to export anything from InfraWorks!
In Civil 3D, create a new drawing. Setting a coordinate system to match the coordinates in InfraWorks is good, but you will be prompted for that when you attempt to connect to the model. For Civil 3D 2018, there is a new ribbon tab totally dedicated to collaboration with InfraWorks as shown in Figure 7.
Figure 7
On the Import panel of this ribbon tab, click “Open Model” and you will see the “Open InfraWorks Model” dialog box. This will prompt you to select the model to open (.sqlite file), the coordinate system to use (in which you can specify the model coordinates or the dwg file coordinates), and other choices to refine which elements you want to bring in.
After making these decisions, click the “Open Model” button to begin the import process. After a few minutes, take a look at the results. You will get alignments for all of the roads, if you had chosen them. You will notice that major roads will come in with their actual names thanks to their Open Streets properties. Any design roads you created will come in with both alignment and profile data.
Remember when I pointed out that you could create a drainage network on your design roads? Well, that came in as a Civil 3D pipe network! See Figure 8 to get an idea of the imported objects you get using this process. Now you can take it from here and get the project further “down the road.”
Figure 8
Conclusion
If you have been on the fence wondering if Autodesk InfraWorks can fit into your current workflow or you are just not sure if you can use anything in your suite or collection other than Civil 3D, the workflow we discussed should help make your decision a more informed one.
If you have any questions regarding this workflow or the software used in it, feel free to contact me at the email listed below.
Ron Couillard has over 18 years of experience in Civil CAD production for commercial, military, and airport projects as a Designer and CAD Manager. He provides technical expertise and training, including software installations, and product customization in the support of AutoCAD Civil 3D, InfraWorks 360, AutoCAD Map 3D, AutoCAD, and other Autodesk solutions. Additionally, Ron is an Implementation Certified Expert in both Civil 3D and Map 3D and is also a Certified Professional in AutoCAD Civil 3D 2016. He has instructed classes at Autodesk University as well as AUGI CAD Camp. Ron currently works as a Solutions Consultant with U.S. Cad. He can be reached at ron.couillard@uscad.com
