Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Any referenced datasets can be downloaded from "Module downloads" in the module overview.
Transcript
00:04
MORGAN SMITH: So if this is the first time you've met me,
00:08
I've been with Autodesk now for five years based
00:11
in Brisbane, Australia.
00:13
My background-- done a number of different roles over the years,
00:17
ranging from surveying, being a draftsman on the board,
00:21
through to CAD management senior technician,
00:24
so working on a lot of large complex infrastructure projects
00:27
here in Australia ranging from working with multiple road
00:32
transit authorities and joint ventures, airports, rail,
00:36
bus [INAUDIBLE],, roads and highways.
00:38
I've pretty much done most of it.
00:40
And then before I joined Autodesk,
00:43
I was a technical consultant for a couple of years,
00:45
doing a lot of technical support, software
00:47
implementation, training.
00:49
So you may have also seen me at Autodesk University
00:52
in the last couple of years.
00:55
So as the leading slide said, we're
00:57
going to be talking about Subassembly Composer, or really
01:00
an introduction to it.
01:02
So if you've never used such Subassembly Composer,
01:05
we're going to talk about why you would use it,
01:07
what the interface looks like, how to navigate it around,
01:11
and then also dig into how we actually
01:14
develop that subassembly.
01:16
Then, from there, I'll open up the product
01:19
and show you how to compose that subassembly.
01:22
And then once you've made your assembly,
01:24
we're going to take it into Civil 3D
01:26
and most importantly, show you how to update it.
01:30
If you made an error or something like that,
01:33
or it needs improvement, how do you actually
01:35
update that in your design?
01:36
And then from there, I'll just probably share some tips
01:39
and tricks that I've learned over a period of time
01:42
when using the software.
01:46
So being an Aussie, I love acronyms.
01:49
I love shortening everything.
01:50
So you'll find that sometimes there'll
01:52
be some acronyms in there.
01:54
So SAC stands for Subassembly Composer.
01:58
So let's focus on why we would use that.
02:01
So Subassembly is used to create your own
02:06
intelligent and interactive subassemblies
02:09
for a specific need.
02:11
So what happens is the computer used the computer's
02:15
intelligence to solve complex grading
02:17
problems with much less work that'd be required otherwise,
02:21
so basically creating something that has decisions in it.
02:25
And you're handing that over to the computer
02:26
to perform that task.
02:28
Now, the workflow, if you've used Dynamo or anything
02:31
like that, it's all about writing code.
02:35
But you don't require a large investment in time
02:38
to actually learn how to use it.
02:40
So that's about what the parallels
02:44
are when it comes to Dynamo.
02:45
Dynamo's the same.
02:46
It's a visual programming.
02:48
Same with Subassembly Composer, it's visual.
02:51
You drag and drop, you place things into things.
02:54
So when you're developing your subassemblies,
02:58
obviously the normal software development strategies
03:01
should be used.
03:03
And what I found is that like Dynamo, it
03:06
has a fairly shallow initial learning curve.
03:09
So it's fairly easy to pick it up once you've done that.
03:14
Now, most importantly, I believe that GHD
03:17
has deployed Subassembly Composer with Civil 3D.
03:21
If it hasn't, make sure you reach out to your IT help desk
03:26
to confirm that.
03:27
Now, what they'll do is they'll actually,
03:31
if it hasn't been deployed with the first time,
03:33
they'll just rerun the install and then add that back in.
03:37
But if you have admin rights and you're able to fix that,
03:40
you need a copy of the installer in order to fix that.
03:46
A couple of terms that you just need to be familiar with,
03:49
and I'll refer to these quite often during the presentation.
03:54
They're also terms that are used Civil 3D as well.
03:57
So if you're used to using assemblies and corridors
04:00
within Civil 3D, you will be familiar with points, links,
04:04
and shapes.
04:05
And then from also there, we have targets.
04:09
Then the last two, SAC, Subassembly,
04:12
so a bit of a mouthful, Autodesk Subassembly Composer
04:15
for Autodesk Civil 3D.
04:16
So you can understand why people quite often will shorten it.
04:21
Then the last one, PKT.
04:23
The PKT file is the file format that we use,
04:27
that the program uses.
04:29
And what it is, is basically a zip file.
04:31
And it contains all the necessary files
04:34
to make that custom assembly work.
04:36
And we'll talk about that later, about how to actually harvest
04:39
existing subassemblies so that you can have a look,
04:43
open them up in Subassembly Composer,
04:45
and see how they work.
04:46
So that way you can modify them to meet your needs.
04:52
So let's dive into the interface.
04:54
So if you've never seen it before,
04:56
this is what it looks like.
04:58
So it's really a simple interface.
05:00
What it's designed to do is to help you develop subassemblies
05:05
without the need to learn programming.
05:08
Now, underneath, Subassemblies.net.
05:11
And so this interface was created so that way
05:14
it would write the code for you.
05:16
So that way you didn't have to do that.
05:18
So it's a graphical interface.
05:19
It builds the components in the background
05:22
just by adding the bits and pieces.
05:24
So the basic interface is sort of what
05:28
you would call a drag and drop.
05:30
So I'll just get my laser pointer up.
05:32
So over here on the left-hand side, we have the toolbox.
05:35
So we basically will take a component.
05:36
We'll drag and drop it into the flowchart
05:39
in order to define the geometry.
05:41
Then, from there, you add basic building block of the assembly,
05:44
so think points, links, and shapes.
05:49
For a simple process, you can build something as simple
05:53
as a curb assembly.
05:55
Or you could go something more advanced,
05:57
where it's actually making decisions about grading
05:60
or even you can actually embed multiple shapes
06:05
into a subassembly.
06:06
And we'll show that a little bit later as well.
06:08
So depending on what your needs are,
06:11
this will probably do it for you.
06:12
But we'll also remind you that there
06:15
are a lot of components that are available with the product.
06:19
So you may be able to find that that meets your needs rather
06:22
than having to build a custom one.
06:26
So when you open the product, there's
06:28
the opportunity to rearrange the layout.
06:30
I personally, myself, have not done that.
06:33
But there is the opportunity to do that.
06:35
Up on the pulldown menu, if you go to the View tab,
06:38
there's a number of options there.
06:40
If you find that one of the panels is missing,
06:42
you can always go to Restore Default Layout
06:45
and that will restore its layout.
06:50
Then from there, we have the toolbox.
06:52
So this is where we're going to be doing a lot of the action.
06:56
So this is where all the elements
06:59
are stored for constructing your subassembly.
07:02
So the panel provides all the elements
07:05
that you'll use to build your flow chart.
07:08
At the simplest, we may just use two or three,
07:11
which is our points, links, and shape.
07:13
So if we want to build a curb, we'll drag those from there
07:16
into that flowchart.
07:17
And then to use any of those elements,
07:19
we just click and hold using a left mouse button
07:23
and drag and drop it into the Flowchart panel.
07:27
So as an example, we have the different elements,
07:30
so geometry, points, links, and shapes.
07:33
That's pretty straightforward.
07:35
Advanced geometry-- so this is where
07:36
we start getting into if we want to start calculating
07:39
points or generating curves.
07:41
So for example, you want to do a pipe or maybe
07:44
roof of a tunnel, things like that, daylight rounding.
07:48
Auxiliary-- these ones here, we use
07:50
these to generate geometry that may not
07:52
be included in the subassembly.
07:55
So if we need to, say, if we've got a valley gutter
07:60
and we need to locate a point to use to apply a radius to that,
08:05
that's an example of an auxiliary point.
08:08
Workflow-- these are great.
08:10
So for example, if we have a decisional,
08:14
where we want to talk about cut and fill,
08:17
so if we have something that's in either a cut
08:20
scenario or a fill scenario, we can put a decision
08:24
in with some switches.
08:26
And then finally the miscellaneous one.
08:28
So these are parameters.
08:29
So think of if we had an assembly with multiple curb
08:34
types in it.
08:35
Those curb types have different variables in it.
08:37
And we can set up what we call a switch and sequences.
08:43
And then we can put those variables in there.
08:44
And I'll show that to you later.
08:47
Then from there, the flowchart, this
08:49
is where all the action happens.
08:51
It's what I call-- it's a straight line of logic.
08:57
So basically you start with the green dot,
08:59
shown as a big green circle.
09:01
And then you start adding your elements.
09:05
And so the program will then process that logic one step
09:09
at a time.
09:10
So as you'll find, when I model a particular object today,
09:15
you'll see that those--
09:16
how it's built. If the program--
09:20
if there's an error that you've put into the program
09:23
as you're working, there will be a small red circle
09:27
with an exclamation mark.
09:29
And that will be displayed in the upper right-hand corner
09:31
of that particular component.
09:33
So then from there we have our Preview panel.
09:37
What that allows us to do is view our subassembly model
09:41
as it's built. And up at the top there,
09:45
you've probably noticed that there are two different modes.
09:49
Depending on which one you have toggled will show how the--
09:57
what we call the different states of that subassembly.
09:60
So the roadway mode is really your typical mode.
10:03
It shows anything to do with--
10:04
so if you put targets for surfaces, and target offsets,
10:10
and things like that.
10:11
And then the other one is when it's only
10:14
built using Subassembly-- then built--
10:16
in built the parameters, so slightly different but very
10:20
important in that, when you're doing that.
10:24
The properties-- if, when we place an element
10:27
into our flowchart, we want to inspect that,
10:30
so in the Properties, we will have different information
10:34
there.
10:35
And so what you basically will be doing
10:37
is defining the subassembly's geometry in that panel.
10:43
Then the last panel, multiple tabs on this one.
10:47
Basically what it does is it's all the miscellaneous settings
10:53
that define your Subassembly.
10:55
So talk about packet settings, input/output parameters,
10:58
target parameters, super, cant, and those sort of things.
11:01
They're all stored in there, and that's
11:04
what defines Subassembly.
11:05
So if we look at the different parameters,
11:10
I'll just quickly flick through that.
11:13
So in the Packet Settings, this is where you actually
11:17
assign the name of the subassembly,
11:20
give it a description.
11:21
Also, this gives you the opportunity
11:23
to define some help documentation.
11:25
So when you're in the product, it
11:29
gives the users an opportunity to review that documentation
11:32
and also an image of that.
11:36
Your input and output parameters,
11:38
these include our subassemblies and parametric,
11:44
we need to have these parameters built.
11:46
And we'll go through and talk about this.
11:49
Different values obviously have different types.
11:53
So think integer, double string, those sorts of things,
11:58
and then also whether they're inputs or outputs, how
12:01
they're controlled, and things like that.
12:04
Then from there, at Target Parameters, so obvious ones--
12:08
horizontal, vertical, surfaces, those sort of things.
12:11
Now, one little tip is that as you go through it, if I just
12:16
step back one slide, you'll notice that there are
12:21
no spaces in these parameters.
12:24
So very important little tip there
12:25
that as you go through and develop these,
12:28
there's no spaces available in those.
12:31
But yet in the preview values and the display names,
12:35
spaces are allowed.
12:36
So interesting one there.
12:38
Then from there, these are just if you're
12:40
using superelevation, cant for the rail and then, of course,
12:44
the Event Viewer.
12:45
So Event Viewer enables the users
12:47
to view the messages, to describe problems and things
12:50
like that as we go along.
12:52
What we're going to do now is we're
12:54
going to just talk about how to develop a custom subassembly.
12:58
Like anything, you need to spend the time
13:03
to do some planning, gets them organized.
13:05
And when you do that, it pays dividends,
13:07
and it saves you a lot of rework down the line.
13:09
So let's look at this process.
13:11
So what I've done here is just drawn a basic sketch.
13:16
So when I do that, I've got a valley gutter here.
13:21
I've shown basically what dimensions
13:25
that I may need to apply to this particular object.
13:29
So from here, you can see I've got
13:31
my width of the curb itself, what the depth of the valley
13:38
is, overall height of the object, and things like that.
13:40
So these are the things that you need
13:41
to consider when doing that.
13:44
And then from there, once you've drawn your sketch,
13:46
I just jump into Civil 3D.
13:48
And I draw my object up.
13:50
And then I put some dimensions on it
13:51
to see how that actually works.
13:54
So that way when you do that, it allows
13:59
you to give you some more thought and detail and what
14:04
is required.
14:06
And then from there, you can just create something
14:09
like just a basic flowchart to map
14:11
out what it may look like in draft.
14:13
So for example, here, I've just used an older product that's
14:17
actually not available anymore.
14:18
But start-- you identify your origin.
14:22
So if I go back to the previous slide,
14:24
you can see here that I've identified my origin.
14:27
Every subassembly point has an origin point.
14:30
Generally that is the attachment point.
14:32
That is placed when it's placed on the subassembly.
14:36
Then from there, talk about target widths,
14:39
creating points, and things like that.
14:41
and then entering parameters.
14:43
Then from there, we go into the product.
14:46
And we start placing our points.
14:49
So in this example here, I've got some points, AP,
14:52
which is Auxiliary Points, and auxiliary lines.
14:55
And then I've got my P1s and P2s and Ls for Lines and things
14:59
like that.
15:01
Once we've completed it, we then import it into Civil 3D,
15:04
place it on our palette.
15:05
And then we test, test, test.
15:08
So when we're doing this, we want
15:14
to stretch it to its extents.
15:15
We want to try and break it and see
15:19
if there's any difficult scenarios that it may not
15:22
work in.
15:23
And then from there, we just go back, and we go and fix that.
15:27
But if there is some limitations--
15:30
and it will occur in a small percentage of scenarios--
15:34
maybe the best thing to do is sometimes maybe
15:37
not solve that problem.
15:38
Maybe if the subassembly works for 80%,
15:45
If there are any limitations, put it in the documentation.
15:48
So when you share it with the users in your team,
15:50
that they're aware of that limitation of the subassembly.
15:56
Once you've found any weaknesses in that subassembly.
15:60
You obviously go back, refine that, tweak it
16:04
based on that feedback.
16:05
And then obviously then we document that.
16:11
What you'll find is in the existing Civil 3D
16:14
documentation, there is an extensive help file
16:18
on all the subassemblies.
16:20
It gives you all the information about the attachment point,
16:22
or the origin, the input parameters,
16:25
what they do, dimensions, how it behaves, those sort of things.
16:30
It's all there in the help file.
16:34
So we're getting to our first demonstration.
16:37
So what I'll do here is I'll just exit out of my slides.
16:41
Actually, [INAUDIBLE] first one.
16:44
So in our example, we've talked about the valley gutter simple.
16:48
So what we'll do here is--
16:50
there are a number of points in here.
16:52
But I also want to demonstrate and draw
16:54
your attention to other units.
16:55
So I'll just be opening this one prebuilt.
16:59
And I'll just walk you through the process
17:02
that I did when I generated this.
17:06
And as you can see in my presentation,
17:09
I'm just using the default layout.
17:11
Up here we have our View.
17:12
We click on that.
17:13
And it will just go back to the parameters.
17:16
So what I'll do here is I'm just going to open--
17:19
let's go back to my recent files.
17:23
This is the one I want.
17:26
So as you can see, once I've opened up the assembly,
17:32
you can see the flowchart.
17:34
I have my green start button, and I also have my flowchart.
17:37
And it walks its way through a number of objects there.
17:41
So what we've got--
17:43
so I'll just show you how this is actually built.
17:48
So as you know before, that this particular valley gutter has
17:54
defined widths, concrete depths, a flow-line depth,
17:57
and those sort of things.
17:59
So the first thing we always do is
18:01
we go to our Packet Settings.
18:04
And on the first tab-- and we actually give it a name.
18:07
So we go through, give this subassembly a name.
18:10
So in this case, we got a symbol--
18:12
a description.
18:13
So these information will actually
18:16
show up in the properties palette
18:19
when you place the object inside Civil 3D.
18:22
So important that you do fill them out as you go.
18:25
Then from there-- because we've sketched out our subassembly
18:31
we then enter all our parameters.
18:34
So these will be the dimensions that we sketched up
18:37
in Civil 3D.
18:38
So in order for this to work, what I've done
18:41
is I've gone through and I've got all my different parameters
18:44
here.
18:44
So concrete width is the dimension from P2 to P3,
18:49
my flow line depth, which is this one here.
18:51
I have my width1 and width2, which is 0.1 to 0.5.
18:56
And then I've also got another one on the other side
18:58
here, 0.4 to 0.6.
19:01
If I zoom out a little bit further,
19:03
you can see that I've got my target off sets in there.
19:06
And also when I change my different modes,
19:09
you'll see that I just have the parameters only here.
19:13
And notice that when I go to word, my mode
19:17
it actually shows my targets as well.
19:21
So that's the difference in those different views.
19:24
So once we've set up-- so once you've gone through and set up
19:28
all your parameters, you also got
19:30
to make sure that you have your target parameters as well.
19:33
They're also entered in this point.
19:35
So once you've done that, you then pretty much ready to go.
19:40
I'm just checking my notes here.
19:43
These ones here.
19:45
These-- so when you create a new subassembly,
19:47
these some of these tabs will be populated by default.
19:52
So for example, the Super and the
19:54
can't, they're in there by default as you start.
19:57
So-- so once you've done your setup in this bottom right hand
20:02
panel, we then go up to the top here
20:06
and we start assembling all our components.
20:08
Now what I'll do here is I'll just quickly show you
20:11
what it looks like to drag and drop an object.
20:13
So if I want to add an additional object of this,
20:17
I can just drag and drop, and add my point.
20:20
And when I do that the properties appear down here.
20:25
I've got my point number, I can also assign a code.
20:29
So think of, you know, when you want to call it your top datum
20:34
width sub-surface, those, sort of, things.
20:37
So they're used in your corridor code sets
20:40
to generate your surfaces.
20:41
And from there you just go through
20:43
and enter different values as you go.
20:46
So I'll just remove that one.
20:48
But that's how you quickly, basically
20:50
just do the drag and drop.
20:52
So to build this assembly, what I've done
20:54
is I've started applying a series of points and links.
20:59
So I start with 0.1.
21:03
Just stretch this up here.
21:05
And what we do is we start entering
21:08
those details in there.
21:09
So for example, 0.1--
21:12
it's-- I should--
21:13
I should mention this.
21:14
When you're creating your subassembly,
21:18
keep to the standard syntax.
21:20
So don't be tempted to change points.
21:23
You know, keep the P, the IP, the Els, all those prefixes.
21:29
Make sure you keep them the same,
21:30
don't be tempted to change them.
21:31
Because I find sometimes if you do
21:37
introduce something that may be custom, it may break something.
21:40
So for myself, I always try to keep within the existing
21:44
constraints of the program and not--
21:45
try not to change things too much.
21:48
All right.
21:48
So to construct 0.1, we start with our origin,
21:53
which is 0 come 0.
21:55
And it's just a delta X and Y. So then from there,
22:01
I go across to the other side and I
22:03
want to create an auxiliary point over here.
22:07
So I've said, create an auxiliary point.
22:09
So I've just gone over to these here,
22:11
drag and drop auxiliary point.
22:14
I want to control that by a slope and a delta.
22:17
So here at 0%.
22:20
So I've gone to the right at 0% from 0.1
22:25
and my delta X is the concrete width.
22:28
So there is where I've entered my parameter.
22:31
And also I have an offset target as well.
22:35
So, therefore, if I want to control the position of that,
22:40
I can do that.
22:41
And then also I've got here add a link and then
22:44
what's that name.
22:46
And then that goes through and then constructs that point.
22:48
And then from there, I then have gone and started
22:53
creating my object.
22:55
So notice as I go through, I start
22:58
applying different codes to it.
22:59
So obviously because this is the underside of my code,
23:03
I want my datum surface to follow that underneath,
23:05
so I assign a datum code to that.
23:08
And from there as you place the different components,
23:11
just think about the geometry type.
23:13
So for example, this one here is just a straight delta XY.
23:17
So I'm going to set--
23:20
set delta.
23:21
So I'm staying, my X plain 0 and I'm
23:26
going across my concrete depth.
23:28
Now notice the parameter, I've got a negative in there.
23:33
Then from there, so the negative going down.
23:35
And also create a link as we go.
23:38
So it's important to know that when
23:40
you create a point, quite often you
23:42
want to make a link as well.
23:43
So just add that in there, you do not need to add separately.
23:47
And as we go, we just keep on building it and go down.
23:51
So just be mindful of time.
23:53
I'll go down to this one here, my auxiliary point,
23:56
which is just above the my valley in my gutter.
24:03
And I've just done the same thing here.
24:04
What I've done is I've performed a calculation.
24:07
So from before, add my auxiliary 0.1.
24:11
And I've said, I want to be half the distance
24:16
of auxiliary length1.
24:18
So auxiliary length1 is from 0.1 to AP1.
24:21
So I'll just say, AL1.Length divided by 2.
24:25
And what that'll do is whatever measurement I put into there
24:28
or what value, it then haves that and that then
24:32
generates that point.
24:34
And then from there I go through and I can then
24:36
calculate another point.
24:41
And likewise, like that.
24:43
Now once you've gone through and then developed your object.
24:49
So up to this point here when we get
24:51
to link7 all we've really got is just an outline of our object.
24:55
So when we-- when we apply the subassembly to our corridor,
24:59
all we really get will be just the points in the links.
25:01
If we want to start taking quantities out of that object,
25:04
we need to apply a shape object.
25:07
So here what we do is we just say, shape number--
25:13
it's prefixed with an S. We give it a name.
25:16
In this case, ValleyGutter.
25:17
And then we provide the instructions
25:20
and we say, what links make up that particular shape.
25:25
And then we go through and what it will do
25:27
is then go trace that object.
25:28
So from here, we've gone link1, link4.
25:33
So what I've got here, it's a little bit
25:38
of what I've added them in a bit of an odd order
25:40
but it has figured it out.
25:42
What it is, generally I usually do
25:44
it either clockwise, or anti-clockwise,
25:45
or anything like that.
25:46
But program is intelligent enough to figure that out.
25:50
OK.
25:50
So that's-- that's how that works.
25:54
So what I'm going to do here is I'm just going
25:57
to make a modification to this.
25:58
I'm going to drop out--
26:02
I'm going to drop out my shape code.
26:04
So this would be an example, if I developed my subassembly
26:07
and I may have made an error or it emitted something.
26:12
So from here I'll just do--
26:13
I'll just say, save this.
26:22
You can-- when it comes to file names,
26:24
it's probably good to choose nice logical file names.
26:29
And I'll cover that in the closing comments.
26:31
But for now I'll just use this name just
26:34
for the purpose of the demonstration.
26:36
OK.
26:36
So now that I've created my subassembly, what I need to do
26:40
is I really need to exit the program.
26:42
So that way, it's aware that I've finished with subassembly.
26:47
And then we go back to Civil 3D.
26:49
So today, I'm using 2021 version and have all the latest
26:55
service packs.
26:55
So if you're not using 2021, there
26:59
may be some things in here that may be unfamiliar to you.
27:02
So if I start a new drawing, there
27:05
will be this home tab here.
27:06
So just be aware that term.
27:08
This is available in 2020 onwards,
27:11
or I should say 2022 onwards.
27:14
All right.
27:14
So to import our subassembly, The first thing you need to do
27:20
is I'll just go to my Home tab.
27:23
If you remember, subassemblies a hosted on your tool palette.
27:28
So if you can't remember how to find those--
27:32
just having trouble with my cursor here.
27:33
There we go.
27:36
It's found here.
27:37
You can also hover over control3,
27:40
is the hot-- is the shortcut key for that.
27:44
I'm using the-- just the metric, it's
27:48
just the standard metric profile that's available in Civil 3D.
27:53
And when we open up this subassembly,
27:55
we've got all the different ones that we've got.
27:57
So I recommend that you go through these
27:60
and have-- and review them.
28:01
There's some really good ones in there.
28:03
There are others available that are not loaded in here.
28:06
And I'll show you how to access those later.
28:08
But let's get back to importing our subassembly.
28:12
So to do that, we go to the Insert tab of the ribbon
28:15
and it's located here.
28:18
From there we go and browse our source file.
28:28
It's going to just take a little while for that dialogue
28:30
to come up.
28:37
OK.
28:45
So here's-- here's our PKT file that we had from before.
28:48
So I'll open that up.
28:50
Now this is really-- this is a good-- little good tip here,
28:52
if you were not aware of this.
28:55
When you import your subassembly,
28:57
it can go to a tool palette.
28:59
Now by default, it will list everything, so including,
29:03
the AutoCAD ones, you see the 3D ones.
29:04
So you can see here that there are
29:06
a lot of ones that you probably are not interested in.
29:09
Down-- further down, we start getting to our assemblies.
29:12
What I recommend is when you testing,
29:14
maybe just create your own new palette.
29:17
So if you've forgotten to create it before you've come in,
29:20
don't sweat it, there's one here.
29:22
So you go create your palette.
29:23
And so you, kind of, call the subassembly co testing.
29:29
Go.
29:30
OK.
29:31
And then OK, to that.
29:33
And what that'll do is that will create a new tab on the fly
29:37
and also place it there.
29:39
Now you can see that what it's done
29:41
is the information that I've put into subassembly
29:46
is now shown in the tool palette.
29:48
So I've got the name and also the description from that.
29:52
Now what I can do is I can go right click on the object
29:56
and go to properties.
29:59
And in here any of the information
30:01
that I may have entered into the subassembly,
30:04
I can check that there.
30:05
So here are my parameters that I set up earlier.
30:10
There's also other information provided with that.
30:15
Now if I want to place it into my drawing-- so let's
30:18
just quickly place assembly marker.
30:24
Excuse.
30:24
The default is here.
30:28
Now the place is in the drawing, I just select the object.
30:31
And when I do that my assembly, I'm
30:35
going to call it my properties palette appears.
30:37
And then I can go through and then
30:39
change any of these parameters before I place it.
30:42
So if I want to make that--
30:44
so apologies.
30:45
I'm from Australia, so I'm using metric here, so meters.
30:48
So I can go two meters and then place the object.
30:52
And then I'll just close that one.
30:54
Free up some real estate.
30:55
And then from there we can see now we've got our assembly.
30:59
If I select the object and open up my parameters,
31:02
you can see it's now been placed, I have my two meters.
31:05
I can go through change that to one.
31:08
I can also-- when I look at my assemblies,
31:13
I can see the name of the object, and also
31:18
all the different parameters, and things like that.
31:21
As mentioned before, we got our codes.
31:24
So I put in a shape called ValleyGutter.
31:28
It's interesting that it's in there.
31:29
But I've also got some other shapes in there,
31:31
so my datum on the top.
31:32
And they're all supported by my code sets.
31:36
OK.
31:37
So-- so from here what I need to do is--
31:43
if you recall before, I emitted a code from my assembly.
31:49
So what I need to do here is this-- just save
31:51
this drawing like that.
31:57
Now to update it, I can leave my existing drawing
32:00
as is but the catch is I need to close a Civil 3D.
32:04
So let's do that.
32:06
The reason being is when you have
32:07
Civil 3D open and the drawing open,
32:09
Civil 3D is touching that particular component.
32:13
So what you'll find is when you're
32:15
doing your testing that you will be opening and closing
32:20
Civil 3D, and subassembly composer a couple of times.
32:24
So-- so if we go back to now our component that we had before--
32:33
scroll down for this one here.
32:34
So we've got our shape.
32:35
I don't know what I did before but it's still in there.
32:37
So maybe a mistake.
32:39
Let's just take that out and then save that.
32:45
And from there, we exit the program.
32:50
And now we go back to Civil 3D again.
33:02
Now, when you do this process, you know,
33:06
exiting Civil 3D, opening the PKT, and subassembly composer,
33:10
I made my modification.
33:12
Note that when I did that, I didn't change the file name
33:16
and I didn't change the internal subassembly name.
33:18
Very important.
33:20
If I go back to my drawing now, you
33:27
can see that it's still there.
33:29
So what we do is we just go back to our tool palette.
33:33
And we where is some--
33:37
I remember.
33:39
Just need to delete it.
33:42
And there, delete that.
33:46
And then we just repeat the process.
33:47
There we go.
33:48
Import browse to our updated component.
33:54
Re-add it back to our palette.
33:59
OK.
33:60
That's an interesting message.
34:01
So what to do there.
34:03
So let's go in back to that.
34:07
Now the reason this--
34:09
that was a new message--
34:10
I've never seen one before.
34:11
But basically what that's doing is it's prompting you to say,
34:15
when you add this--
34:16
when you update your component, you
34:18
need to close and reopen Civil 3D
34:21
so that change can take effect.
34:23
So let's do that again.
34:25
So like I said, you will be doing this a couple of times.
34:29
So--
34:40
OK.
34:41
So now that we've updated that component, when
34:43
we reopen our drawing, all those changes should come through.
34:47
So-- so now if I go back and open my subassembly file--
34:53
so this-- so you can see there it's
34:54
still on my palette, which is good.
34:56
I go back to my Start screen and here is
34:60
my drawing so I open it up.
35:03
Now if it's read the change correctly,
35:06
I should be able to look at my parameters.
35:10
So I can't see the shape code here.
35:11
So let's go into our assembly properties.
35:17
And now it should-- it should have been
35:21
going but it's still there.
35:22
So yeah, that's because it's in the code set.
35:24
So one moment.
35:30
Yeah.
35:31
You know, live demos, I sometimes make mistakes.
35:35
But that's the workflow that you go--
35:37
I assure you that that's the workflow you go through
35:39
to update that.
35:40
I think probably what I've done is
35:42
the fact that I had left it in there
35:43
and then tried to delete it out.
35:45
I should have just omitted it in the first place
35:47
and that would have worked fine.
35:48
So but that's the process you go through
35:51
for doing that particular workflow.
35:55
What I'll do now is I'll go back to subassembly composer
35:59
and show you a couple of more advanced examples.
36:11
All right.
36:11
So from here, I'll just go back to my recent files use.
36:17
Well, this one here will be a good one.
36:21
So what I've got here is one with looping geometry
36:27
as an example.
36:29
So what this does is-- this is just what I
36:32
would call you basic benching.
36:34
So we start with our origin point.
36:37
So here's our start.
36:39
We've got our point.
36:40
And then our first auxiliary point as well.
36:44
And then from here we've got our daylight.
36:47
So what it's basically doing is--
36:51
excuse me.
36:51
Is from here, it's performing a calculation.
36:56
So you can see our auxiliary point is up here.
36:58
So what it's trying to do is determining
37:01
what the depth of 0.1 is relative to that surface
37:05
target.
37:06
Once it's got that information, we put it into a decision.
37:10
So we say, what's the height value in relation
37:14
to the max day light height.
37:15
And then depending on what the decision is,
37:18
we'll then go through and then generate that.
37:20
So obviously, if-- if it meets a certain criteria,
37:26
then it will just do the basic daylighting.
37:29
Or if it's say, exceeding a particular value say, 2, 3,
37:38
Now what I wanted to show you about this particular one is,
37:41
it's intelligent in the fact that--
37:44
notice that the workflow goes from links.
37:48
So we've got point3, so point5 and point link4
37:52
of the last object.
37:54
So from this point here, what we're doing is
37:57
we're putting a loop in there.
37:59
So that way you don't have to then--
38:02
so it will make another decision at this particular point.
38:06
So if we go to our loop here, you
38:08
can see that we've got a loop condition which
38:11
is our surface target.
38:12
So once it gets to that particular point,
38:14
it will then look at the surface target again.
38:17
If it meets that particular criteria,
38:20
then it will then repeat that process.
38:22
And then once we get--
38:25
so once it's-- so once it gets to a point that it meets that
38:29
minimum depth, then it will then put its last link in.
38:33
So that's an example of just a basic benching.
38:36
There are more advanced ones in terms of that.
38:38
But you know I just thought I'd show you
38:40
this one in particular, because it has a decision and also
38:44
an a loop in it to make it-- make that work.
38:48
Now the other example, I wanted to show you was--
38:53
let me think of which one it was.
38:55
I think it's this one here.
38:58
Now this one here is, you know, say, for example,
39:03
taking our ValleyGutter and taking it to the next level.
39:06
Now in-- in my--
39:10
my flowchart here, there's a lot of action going on here.
39:13
But I'll explain exactly what's going on.
39:16
Now this one here is creating a number of different curd types.
39:21
You may recognize the codes there
39:25
of all the different curb types.
39:26
So what's happening is that when we go into here,
39:29
we have some variables.
39:31
And these variables will be constant through all
39:33
the different curbs.
39:34
And we can define those in there.
39:39
Once we've done that, we can basically then put a switch in.
39:43
And what this is-- when you're in the assembly itself--
39:47
so maybe I'll just jump across to Civil here and just show you
39:51
an example.
40:01
I actually I've got one here if not--
40:06
that's OK.
40:07
What am I doing here?
40:16
Ugh.
40:16
I'll just-- I won't go looking for it
40:19
because I know it won't find it.
40:21
But basically what happens is when--
40:24
when you place a subassembly--
40:27
so just an example when I select it on there.
40:30
What will happen is in your-- in your events parameters,
40:32
you can actually put like a dropdown in here.
40:35
So you can say rather than [INAUDIBLE] you know, instead
40:39
of the default code type.
40:40
I want to use a barrier code or another different top code.
40:44
And what you can do is you can actually
40:46
have 10 different code types built
40:48
into that assembly from there.
40:50
So if I go back to here, these are all those built in.
40:53
So this switch, what it enables the user to do
40:56
is when they're navigating the palette within Civil 3D,
41:01
they can have this switch.
41:02
And when they toggle that switch, it then--
41:06
then executes that particular flow according to that object.
41:10
So for example now if the user had chosen IB2,
41:16
these are the variables.
41:18
So the variables that were defined earlier,
41:20
they're actually defined in here.
41:22
So they're the ones that dif-- that
41:24
are put into that particular curb type,
41:26
then they're then passed down to this area here.
41:28
And this is where all the-- all the components are built.
41:32
So for example, if I just go through,
41:37
you can see we have height-height front.
41:39
So maybe the easiest thing is all these parameters
41:42
they're all in here and they're also being leveraged in there.
41:46
And so what happens is when you're inside Civil 3D,
41:51
the user selects the curb type.
41:55
It takes those parameters, then applies it, and then draws it.
41:58
There's nothing stopping you from overriding dose
42:01
in palettes, so you can still apply those
42:03
to the properties side as well.
42:05
So just sort of, just show that as an example.
42:07
So this is an example of a more complex one where you can add
42:11
a lot more information into it.
42:13
All right.
42:13
So what I've done here is some of them-- some
42:16
of the information that I've gone through today
42:20
about how to import the subassembly.
42:23
I've put these in the notes here.
42:24
So that way you can refer back to them later on.
42:27
So I'll just, sort of, just skip through this part here.
42:32
But what I've done here is just, you know,
42:35
I didn't actually talk about this one, the checklist
42:39
about importing the subassembly into Civil 3D.
42:42
You know, these--
42:44
I find the save a lot of heartache when doing that.
42:48
So verify your geometry.
42:50
So you know, have a look at all the elements,
42:52
verify the parameters.
42:53
Look in the properties panel.
42:54
Preview the-- the geometry, make sure it's doing everything OK.
42:60
Look at the settings and the parameters,
43:01
and then save your project.
43:03
And then from there, it's just a matter
43:04
of going through that process.
43:06
So what I've done here is I've just called this out,
43:10
the steps that I did before.
43:11
So I'll just keep on going through it.
43:14
This is-- I touched on this a little bit.
43:18
If you are creating a--
43:21
a new subassembly and it has some really good features
43:26
in it, consider maybe [INAUDIBLE]
43:28
If your existing corridor code set doesn't support that.
43:33
You maybe should think about creating a new one.
43:36
The reason for that is, you know,
43:38
this corridor code set it controls everything arou--
43:43
what that subassembly does.
43:44
So how it's displayed.
43:45
So think of the links of the points, whether you assign
43:49
pay items, all those sort of things.
43:51
Just take that into consideration
43:53
while you're doing that.
43:58
And then before steps for updating your subassembly--
44:03
I've just put some drop points here
44:05
just so that you can go back through those when
44:08
you go to experiment with--
44:10
in product.
44:11
So last thing I want to do is just go through and just talk
44:14
about some tips and tricks.
44:15
So share some knowledge that I've learnt while using
44:19
subassembly composer.
44:21
The most important one is be aware
44:23
that there are additional subassemblies
44:25
and know where to find them.
44:27
So what I've done here is all these here are all hyperlinked.
44:32
These detail all the new subassemblies
44:35
that were added by versions.
44:37
So basically what happens is if you're using 2019.3,
44:43
it includes, all the subassemblies
44:46
prior to that in that particular version.
44:49
So if you find anything in 2021.1,
44:52
obviously it won't be in
44:56
and have a look at that.
44:57
There's some real awesome ones.
44:59
I've put some examples here up on the screen
45:02
of ones that have been introduced
45:03
over a period of time.
45:05
So there's been some great ones, especially around road rehab.
45:09
There's also some specific ones for around DOTs as well.
45:13
So I've got here--
45:14
I've got some example of Caltrans.
45:17
I think there's--
45:19
I think there's a couple of others as well
45:22
but they're not coming to me.
45:24
OK.
45:24
Couple of more tips and tricks.
45:28
This is a question that I get asked a lot.
45:30
Can I take the stock subassemblies
45:32
that have provided with the product and reuse them?
45:35
And the answer is this.
45:36
Unfortunately, no.
45:38
And the reason for that is even though--
45:44
I've been told by the product team,
45:45
they've just been recoded.
45:47
They've been coded a totally different way
45:48
and they don't use the PKTs for some reason.
45:51
So all you can really do is the examples that we've given
45:57
are pretty good.
45:58
They do give you a lot of examples in how they work.
46:02
So if you want to take an existing one
46:04
and maybe rework it a little bit,
46:06
that's my recommendation on that.
46:08
Now this next one, I did not know this for--
46:11
until I started using it.
46:13
Is that subassemblies are either metric or imperial.
46:17
So just make sure you use a proper naming convention
46:21
to identify what they are.
46:24
The other one is put a parameter in your subassembly
46:27
to make sure that you can control the versions.
46:29
Because those particular parameters show up
46:32
when you're looking in the tool palettes and those sort of,
46:35
things allows you to track that.
46:37
The other one, know your prefixes.
46:39
So I talked about points auxiliary points, lines,
46:42
auxiliary line, those sort of, things.
46:45
Don't try and change them, they will result in an error.
46:49
And then most importantly, this is around content or managing
46:53
of content.
46:56
Give me a bit of thought to how you name them.
46:60
So you use unique names.
47:03
Also try not to reuse a name that may be already available.
47:08
The help files.
47:09
So here you got them on the left.
47:10
There is the subassemblies reference
47:13
you can always go through there, and have a look,
47:15
and see if the particular name has been used.
47:20
The other one here, you know, save all the information.
47:24
So documentation, those sort of, things.
47:26
Save that, so it keeps it all together.
47:29
Use a legend registers, those sort of, things.
47:33
You know, it's all about management
47:34
tracking that because as you update them
47:37
you need to understand who's using what
47:39
and how it's being distributed.
47:42
And then the last one.
47:44
Make-- you know, make-- have an image in help file is--
47:49
you know, don't have to do that, but it
47:52
does save the users a lot of time
47:54
and makes them more productive.
47:55
Because that way, they got that information
47:57
at their fingertips.
47:59
And then they can just refer to it really quickly,
48:02
understand how the component works,
48:03
and make sure they're using it effectively.
48:07
Next one here, this is all about subassemblies.
48:11
Couple of catches when it comes to parameters.
48:15
As I said earlier, can't use--
48:17
can't use spaces.
48:19
One thing I've discovered is if you
48:22
are going to delete a parameter, make
48:24
sure you save it before you do.
48:26
Because once it's gone--
48:27
once you've deleted it, it's gone, you can't get it back.
48:31
Then the other one, parameters.
48:33
Once you've added it into the list,
48:35
so if you like them to be in a specific order,
48:39
note that there are no tools to adjust the order of those.
48:43
So whatever order you create those parameters,
48:46
they are there forever in that order.
48:50
And then the other ones there, you
48:51
can see parameters they are inherited from higher
48:55
up in the hierarchy.
48:56
So just be aware of that one, and comments,
48:59
and those sort of, things.
49:02
Hopefully-- I think this is the last.
49:04
I think I have one or two more.
49:06
I'm just drawing attention to creating new palette
49:10
on the fly.
49:10
That one we covered earlier.
49:13
The other one here is--
49:16
Yeah.
49:16
This is important.
49:17
Sharing.
49:19
So once you've gone and done all your awesome work
49:22
and created your custom assembly,
49:23
you want to share it with your team
49:25
and then actually be able to use it.
49:27
So with subassemblies, you need to think about where
49:32
you're going to store it.
49:33
Now these-- because these assemblies
49:36
are going to be used every time you rebuild a corridor,
49:41
they really need to be in a location that has low latency.
49:45
So when I mean like that, I recommend that when
49:49
creating your tool palettes that they
49:51
go into your content that's generally
49:55
stored on your C drive.
49:57
And at the moment, probably all your custom content
49:60
is stored in C drive.
50:01
The reason for that is to make sure
50:04
that your Civil 3D remains responsive when
50:06
leveraging those components.
50:08
So if you are creating your custom subassemblies,
50:11
there will be a process for you to get
50:13
that added to the system, to get that distributed to the users.
50:17
So you want do reach out to your product champion
50:21
to know what that process is.
50:23
So you can distribute that to the team.
50:25
And they will also, as you guess,
50:27
there'll be an approval process to make sure
50:29
that it's all valid.
50:30
So-- so just talk about that.
50:33
The other thing is that if you do
50:35
share a drawing with another user that doesn't have access
50:40
to that subassembly, they will start getting error messages
50:44
in their event viewer.
50:46
And also the performance of the program
50:50
or that particular drawing will start being negatively impact.
50:54
So you'll find your drawing will start-- like, Civil 3D will
50:58
try and rebuild the corridor.
50:59
But obviously because it can't find that particular sub
51:02
assembly, you'll find that there'll be bits missing
51:05
from your corridor and the program won't
51:07
will run quite slow.
51:09
So just be aware of that.
51:11
Try a new tool palette.
51:12
I Just talk to that above.
51:15
And then the other one is don't use it across the network
51:19
that those ones are there.
51:20
So I was just going to say just before we close out,
51:24
what I've got here on the screen.
51:27
Autodesk has a custom success learning hub
51:31
and there are a couple of courses on that.
51:35
It's just a matter of just going to the site.
51:37
I'll just open this up.
51:39
This is the address here, customersuccess.autodesk.com.
51:43
You log in using your Autodesk ID
51:46
and you go to the learning tab.
51:50
And in here, there's a number of different disciplines.
51:54
So I'll just scroll down here to Civil engineering.
51:56
What I'm going to do is I'll just give you all,
51:59
so you can see some of the options here.
52:02
So if you're interested in doing a little bit
52:05
around subassembly composer, I think
52:08
it's this learning path here.
52:12
We've got this one here using subassembly composers.
52:16
So if you're interested in having a look or running
52:20
through a course, it's-- you know, of course,
52:23
it'll take about 20, 30 minutes of your time.
52:26
There's videos, it shows you how to place the links
52:29
and everything else like that.
52:30
So if you're interested in running through that, it's
52:34
free, it's no cost to you.
52:36
There's also a lot of other different courses
52:40
available in there as well.
52:42
So, you know, ProjectExplorer that
52:44
was a new one, that was added recently,
52:46
there's also a couple there for Dynamo, InfraWorks
52:49
and that's just like that.
52:51
So I just thought I'd just mentioned that.
52:53
So there's the customer success learning hub.
52:55
We also have what we call the infrastructure reimagined
52:59
website.
52:60
The product team always regularly post
53:02
there about new features that are coming in the software.
53:05
So think of Civil 3D InfraWorks, BIM tracking, Dynamo,
53:09
all those sorts of, things.
53:11
BIM 360 Design, you know, for the infrastructure space
53:15
and those sort of, things.
53:16
So just thought I mention those before we close out.
Video transcript
00:04
MORGAN SMITH: So if this is the first time you've met me,
00:08
I've been with Autodesk now for five years based
00:11
in Brisbane, Australia.
00:13
My background-- done a number of different roles over the years,
00:17
ranging from surveying, being a draftsman on the board,
00:21
through to CAD management senior technician,
00:24
so working on a lot of large complex infrastructure projects
00:27
here in Australia ranging from working with multiple road
00:32
transit authorities and joint ventures, airports, rail,
00:36
bus [INAUDIBLE],, roads and highways.
00:38
I've pretty much done most of it.
00:40
And then before I joined Autodesk,
00:43
I was a technical consultant for a couple of years,
00:45
doing a lot of technical support, software
00:47
implementation, training.
00:49
So you may have also seen me at Autodesk University
00:52
in the last couple of years.
00:55
So as the leading slide said, we're
00:57
going to be talking about Subassembly Composer, or really
01:00
an introduction to it.
01:02
So if you've never used such Subassembly Composer,
01:05
we're going to talk about why you would use it,
01:07
what the interface looks like, how to navigate it around,
01:11
and then also dig into how we actually
01:14
develop that subassembly.
01:16
Then, from there, I'll open up the product
01:19
and show you how to compose that subassembly.
01:22
And then once you've made your assembly,
01:24
we're going to take it into Civil 3D
01:26
and most importantly, show you how to update it.
01:30
If you made an error or something like that,
01:33
or it needs improvement, how do you actually
01:35
update that in your design?
01:36
And then from there, I'll just probably share some tips
01:39
and tricks that I've learned over a period of time
01:42
when using the software.
01:46
So being an Aussie, I love acronyms.
01:49
I love shortening everything.
01:50
So you'll find that sometimes there'll
01:52
be some acronyms in there.
01:54
So SAC stands for Subassembly Composer.
01:58
So let's focus on why we would use that.
02:01
So Subassembly is used to create your own
02:06
intelligent and interactive subassemblies
02:09
for a specific need.
02:11
So what happens is the computer used the computer's
02:15
intelligence to solve complex grading
02:17
problems with much less work that'd be required otherwise,
02:21
so basically creating something that has decisions in it.
02:25
And you're handing that over to the computer
02:26
to perform that task.
02:28
Now, the workflow, if you've used Dynamo or anything
02:31
like that, it's all about writing code.
02:35
But you don't require a large investment in time
02:38
to actually learn how to use it.
02:40
So that's about what the parallels
02:44
are when it comes to Dynamo.
02:45
Dynamo's the same.
02:46
It's a visual programming.
02:48
Same with Subassembly Composer, it's visual.
02:51
You drag and drop, you place things into things.
02:54
So when you're developing your subassemblies,
02:58
obviously the normal software development strategies
03:01
should be used.
03:03
And what I found is that like Dynamo, it
03:06
has a fairly shallow initial learning curve.
03:09
So it's fairly easy to pick it up once you've done that.
03:14
Now, most importantly, I believe that GHD
03:17
has deployed Subassembly Composer with Civil 3D.
03:21
If it hasn't, make sure you reach out to your IT help desk
03:26
to confirm that.
03:27
Now, what they'll do is they'll actually,
03:31
if it hasn't been deployed with the first time,
03:33
they'll just rerun the install and then add that back in.
03:37
But if you have admin rights and you're able to fix that,
03:40
you need a copy of the installer in order to fix that.
03:46
A couple of terms that you just need to be familiar with,
03:49
and I'll refer to these quite often during the presentation.
03:54
They're also terms that are used Civil 3D as well.
03:57
So if you're used to using assemblies and corridors
04:00
within Civil 3D, you will be familiar with points, links,
04:04
and shapes.
04:05
And then from also there, we have targets.
04:09
Then the last two, SAC, Subassembly,
04:12
so a bit of a mouthful, Autodesk Subassembly Composer
04:15
for Autodesk Civil 3D.
04:16
So you can understand why people quite often will shorten it.
04:21
Then the last one, PKT.
04:23
The PKT file is the file format that we use,
04:27
that the program uses.
04:29
And what it is, is basically a zip file.
04:31
And it contains all the necessary files
04:34
to make that custom assembly work.
04:36
And we'll talk about that later, about how to actually harvest
04:39
existing subassemblies so that you can have a look,
04:43
open them up in Subassembly Composer,
04:45
and see how they work.
04:46
So that way you can modify them to meet your needs.
04:52
So let's dive into the interface.
04:54
So if you've never seen it before,
04:56
this is what it looks like.
04:58
So it's really a simple interface.
05:00
What it's designed to do is to help you develop subassemblies
05:05
without the need to learn programming.
05:08
Now, underneath, Subassemblies.net.
05:11
And so this interface was created so that way
05:14
it would write the code for you.
05:16
So that way you didn't have to do that.
05:18
So it's a graphical interface.
05:19
It builds the components in the background
05:22
just by adding the bits and pieces.
05:24
So the basic interface is sort of what
05:28
you would call a drag and drop.
05:30
So I'll just get my laser pointer up.
05:32
So over here on the left-hand side, we have the toolbox.
05:35
So we basically will take a component.
05:36
We'll drag and drop it into the flowchart
05:39
in order to define the geometry.
05:41
Then, from there, you add basic building block of the assembly,
05:44
so think points, links, and shapes.
05:49
For a simple process, you can build something as simple
05:53
as a curb assembly.
05:55
Or you could go something more advanced,
05:57
where it's actually making decisions about grading
05:60
or even you can actually embed multiple shapes
06:05
into a subassembly.
06:06
And we'll show that a little bit later as well.
06:08
So depending on what your needs are,
06:11
this will probably do it for you.
06:12
But we'll also remind you that there
06:15
are a lot of components that are available with the product.
06:19
So you may be able to find that that meets your needs rather
06:22
than having to build a custom one.
06:26
So when you open the product, there's
06:28
the opportunity to rearrange the layout.
06:30
I personally, myself, have not done that.
06:33
But there is the opportunity to do that.
06:35
Up on the pulldown menu, if you go to the View tab,
06:38
there's a number of options there.
06:40
If you find that one of the panels is missing,
06:42
you can always go to Restore Default Layout
06:45
and that will restore its layout.
06:50
Then from there, we have the toolbox.
06:52
So this is where we're going to be doing a lot of the action.
06:56
So this is where all the elements
06:59
are stored for constructing your subassembly.
07:02
So the panel provides all the elements
07:05
that you'll use to build your flow chart.
07:08
At the simplest, we may just use two or three,
07:11
which is our points, links, and shape.
07:13
So if we want to build a curb, we'll drag those from there
07:16
into that flowchart.
07:17
And then to use any of those elements,
07:19
we just click and hold using a left mouse button
07:23
and drag and drop it into the Flowchart panel.
07:27
So as an example, we have the different elements,
07:30
so geometry, points, links, and shapes.
07:33
That's pretty straightforward.
07:35
Advanced geometry-- so this is where
07:36
we start getting into if we want to start calculating
07:39
points or generating curves.
07:41
So for example, you want to do a pipe or maybe
07:44
roof of a tunnel, things like that, daylight rounding.
07:48
Auxiliary-- these ones here, we use
07:50
these to generate geometry that may not
07:52
be included in the subassembly.
07:55
So if we need to, say, if we've got a valley gutter
07:60
and we need to locate a point to use to apply a radius to that,
08:05
that's an example of an auxiliary point.
08:08
Workflow-- these are great.
08:10
So for example, if we have a decisional,
08:14
where we want to talk about cut and fill,
08:17
so if we have something that's in either a cut
08:20
scenario or a fill scenario, we can put a decision
08:24
in with some switches.
08:26
And then finally the miscellaneous one.
08:28
So these are parameters.
08:29
So think of if we had an assembly with multiple curb
08:34
types in it.
08:35
Those curb types have different variables in it.
08:37
And we can set up what we call a switch and sequences.
08:43
And then we can put those variables in there.
08:44
And I'll show that to you later.
08:47
Then from there, the flowchart, this
08:49
is where all the action happens.
08:51
It's what I call-- it's a straight line of logic.
08:57
So basically you start with the green dot,
08:59
shown as a big green circle.
09:01
And then you start adding your elements.
09:05
And so the program will then process that logic one step
09:09
at a time.
09:10
So as you'll find, when I model a particular object today,
09:15
you'll see that those--
09:16
how it's built. If the program--
09:20
if there's an error that you've put into the program
09:23
as you're working, there will be a small red circle
09:27
with an exclamation mark.
09:29
And that will be displayed in the upper right-hand corner
09:31
of that particular component.
09:33
So then from there we have our Preview panel.
09:37
What that allows us to do is view our subassembly model
09:41
as it's built. And up at the top there,
09:45
you've probably noticed that there are two different modes.
09:49
Depending on which one you have toggled will show how the--
09:57
what we call the different states of that subassembly.
09:60
So the roadway mode is really your typical mode.
10:03
It shows anything to do with--
10:04
so if you put targets for surfaces, and target offsets,
10:10
and things like that.
10:11
And then the other one is when it's only
10:14
built using Subassembly-- then built--
10:16
in built the parameters, so slightly different but very
10:20
important in that, when you're doing that.
10:24
The properties-- if, when we place an element
10:27
into our flowchart, we want to inspect that,
10:30
so in the Properties, we will have different information
10:34
there.
10:35
And so what you basically will be doing
10:37
is defining the subassembly's geometry in that panel.
10:43
Then the last panel, multiple tabs on this one.
10:47
Basically what it does is it's all the miscellaneous settings
10:53
that define your Subassembly.
10:55
So talk about packet settings, input/output parameters,
10:58
target parameters, super, cant, and those sort of things.
11:01
They're all stored in there, and that's
11:04
what defines Subassembly.
11:05
So if we look at the different parameters,
11:10
I'll just quickly flick through that.
11:13
So in the Packet Settings, this is where you actually
11:17
assign the name of the subassembly,
11:20
give it a description.
11:21
Also, this gives you the opportunity
11:23
to define some help documentation.
11:25
So when you're in the product, it
11:29
gives the users an opportunity to review that documentation
11:32
and also an image of that.
11:36
Your input and output parameters,
11:38
these include our subassemblies and parametric,
11:44
we need to have these parameters built.
11:46
And we'll go through and talk about this.
11:49
Different values obviously have different types.
11:53
So think integer, double string, those sorts of things,
11:58
and then also whether they're inputs or outputs, how
12:01
they're controlled, and things like that.
12:04
Then from there, at Target Parameters, so obvious ones--
12:08
horizontal, vertical, surfaces, those sort of things.
12:11
Now, one little tip is that as you go through it, if I just
12:16
step back one slide, you'll notice that there are
12:21
no spaces in these parameters.
12:24
So very important little tip there
12:25
that as you go through and develop these,
12:28
there's no spaces available in those.
12:31
But yet in the preview values and the display names,
12:35
spaces are allowed.
12:36
So interesting one there.
12:38
Then from there, these are just if you're
12:40
using superelevation, cant for the rail and then, of course,
12:44
the Event Viewer.
12:45
So Event Viewer enables the users
12:47
to view the messages, to describe problems and things
12:50
like that as we go along.
12:52
What we're going to do now is we're
12:54
going to just talk about how to develop a custom subassembly.
12:58
Like anything, you need to spend the time
13:03
to do some planning, gets them organized.
13:05
And when you do that, it pays dividends,
13:07
and it saves you a lot of rework down the line.
13:09
So let's look at this process.
13:11
So what I've done here is just drawn a basic sketch.
13:16
So when I do that, I've got a valley gutter here.
13:21
I've shown basically what dimensions
13:25
that I may need to apply to this particular object.
13:29
So from here, you can see I've got
13:31
my width of the curb itself, what the depth of the valley
13:38
is, overall height of the object, and things like that.
13:40
So these are the things that you need
13:41
to consider when doing that.
13:44
And then from there, once you've drawn your sketch,
13:46
I just jump into Civil 3D.
13:48
And I draw my object up.
13:50
And then I put some dimensions on it
13:51
to see how that actually works.
13:54
So that way when you do that, it allows
13:59
you to give you some more thought and detail and what
14:04
is required.
14:06
And then from there, you can just create something
14:09
like just a basic flowchart to map
14:11
out what it may look like in draft.
14:13
So for example, here, I've just used an older product that's
14:17
actually not available anymore.
14:18
But start-- you identify your origin.
14:22
So if I go back to the previous slide,
14:24
you can see here that I've identified my origin.
14:27
Every subassembly point has an origin point.
14:30
Generally that is the attachment point.
14:32
That is placed when it's placed on the subassembly.
14:36
Then from there, talk about target widths,
14:39
creating points, and things like that.
14:41
and then entering parameters.
14:43
Then from there, we go into the product.
14:46
And we start placing our points.
14:49
So in this example here, I've got some points, AP,
14:52
which is Auxiliary Points, and auxiliary lines.
14:55
And then I've got my P1s and P2s and Ls for Lines and things
14:59
like that.
15:01
Once we've completed it, we then import it into Civil 3D,
15:04
place it on our palette.
15:05
And then we test, test, test.
15:08
So when we're doing this, we want
15:14
to stretch it to its extents.
15:15
We want to try and break it and see
15:19
if there's any difficult scenarios that it may not
15:22
work in.
15:23
And then from there, we just go back, and we go and fix that.
15:27
But if there is some limitations--
15:30
and it will occur in a small percentage of scenarios--
15:34
maybe the best thing to do is sometimes maybe
15:37
not solve that problem.
15:38
Maybe if the subassembly works for 80%,
15:45
If there are any limitations, put it in the documentation.
15:48
So when you share it with the users in your team,
15:50
that they're aware of that limitation of the subassembly.
15:56
Once you've found any weaknesses in that subassembly.
15:60
You obviously go back, refine that, tweak it
16:04
based on that feedback.
16:05
And then obviously then we document that.
16:11
What you'll find is in the existing Civil 3D
16:14
documentation, there is an extensive help file
16:18
on all the subassemblies.
16:20
It gives you all the information about the attachment point,
16:22
or the origin, the input parameters,
16:25
what they do, dimensions, how it behaves, those sort of things.
16:30
It's all there in the help file.
16:34
So we're getting to our first demonstration.
16:37
So what I'll do here is I'll just exit out of my slides.
16:41
Actually, [INAUDIBLE] first one.
16:44
So in our example, we've talked about the valley gutter simple.
16:48
So what we'll do here is--
16:50
there are a number of points in here.
16:52
But I also want to demonstrate and draw
16:54
your attention to other units.
16:55
So I'll just be opening this one prebuilt.
16:59
And I'll just walk you through the process
17:02
that I did when I generated this.
17:06
And as you can see in my presentation,
17:09
I'm just using the default layout.
17:11
Up here we have our View.
17:12
We click on that.
17:13
And it will just go back to the parameters.
17:16
So what I'll do here is I'm just going to open--
17:19
let's go back to my recent files.
17:23
This is the one I want.
17:26
So as you can see, once I've opened up the assembly,
17:32
you can see the flowchart.
17:34
I have my green start button, and I also have my flowchart.
17:37
And it walks its way through a number of objects there.
17:41
So what we've got--
17:43
so I'll just show you how this is actually built.
17:48
So as you know before, that this particular valley gutter has
17:54
defined widths, concrete depths, a flow-line depth,
17:57
and those sort of things.
17:59
So the first thing we always do is
18:01
we go to our Packet Settings.
18:04
And on the first tab-- and we actually give it a name.
18:07
So we go through, give this subassembly a name.
18:10
So in this case, we got a symbol--
18:12
a description.
18:13
So these information will actually
18:16
show up in the properties palette
18:19
when you place the object inside Civil 3D.
18:22
So important that you do fill them out as you go.
18:25
Then from there-- because we've sketched out our subassembly
18:31
we then enter all our parameters.
18:34
So these will be the dimensions that we sketched up
18:37
in Civil 3D.
18:38
So in order for this to work, what I've done
18:41
is I've gone through and I've got all my different parameters
18:44
here.
18:44
So concrete width is the dimension from P2 to P3,
18:49
my flow line depth, which is this one here.
18:51
I have my width1 and width2, which is 0.1 to 0.5.
18:56
And then I've also got another one on the other side
18:58
here, 0.4 to 0.6.
19:01
If I zoom out a little bit further,
19:03
you can see that I've got my target off sets in there.
19:06
And also when I change my different modes,
19:09
you'll see that I just have the parameters only here.
19:13
And notice that when I go to word, my mode
19:17
it actually shows my targets as well.
19:21
So that's the difference in those different views.
19:24
So once we've set up-- so once you've gone through and set up
19:28
all your parameters, you also got
19:30
to make sure that you have your target parameters as well.
19:33
They're also entered in this point.
19:35
So once you've done that, you then pretty much ready to go.
19:40
I'm just checking my notes here.
19:43
These ones here.
19:45
These-- so when you create a new subassembly,
19:47
these some of these tabs will be populated by default.
19:52
So for example, the Super and the
19:54
can't, they're in there by default as you start.
19:57
So-- so once you've done your setup in this bottom right hand
20:02
panel, we then go up to the top here
20:06
and we start assembling all our components.
20:08
Now what I'll do here is I'll just quickly show you
20:11
what it looks like to drag and drop an object.
20:13
So if I want to add an additional object of this,
20:17
I can just drag and drop, and add my point.
20:20
And when I do that the properties appear down here.
20:25
I've got my point number, I can also assign a code.
20:29
So think of, you know, when you want to call it your top datum
20:34
width sub-surface, those, sort of, things.
20:37
So they're used in your corridor code sets
20:40
to generate your surfaces.
20:41
And from there you just go through
20:43
and enter different values as you go.
20:46
So I'll just remove that one.
20:48
But that's how you quickly, basically
20:50
just do the drag and drop.
20:52
So to build this assembly, what I've done
20:54
is I've started applying a series of points and links.
20:59
So I start with 0.1.
21:03
Just stretch this up here.
21:05
And what we do is we start entering
21:08
those details in there.
21:09
So for example, 0.1--
21:12
it's-- I should--
21:13
I should mention this.
21:14
When you're creating your subassembly,
21:18
keep to the standard syntax.
21:20
So don't be tempted to change points.
21:23
You know, keep the P, the IP, the Els, all those prefixes.
21:29
Make sure you keep them the same,
21:30
don't be tempted to change them.
21:31
Because I find sometimes if you do
21:37
introduce something that may be custom, it may break something.
21:40
So for myself, I always try to keep within the existing
21:44
constraints of the program and not--
21:45
try not to change things too much.
21:48
All right.
21:48
So to construct 0.1, we start with our origin,
21:53
which is 0 come 0.
21:55
And it's just a delta X and Y. So then from there,
22:01
I go across to the other side and I
22:03
want to create an auxiliary point over here.
22:07
So I've said, create an auxiliary point.
22:09
So I've just gone over to these here,
22:11
drag and drop auxiliary point.
22:14
I want to control that by a slope and a delta.
22:17
So here at 0%.
22:20
So I've gone to the right at 0% from 0.1
22:25
and my delta X is the concrete width.
22:28
So there is where I've entered my parameter.
22:31
And also I have an offset target as well.
22:35
So, therefore, if I want to control the position of that,
22:40
I can do that.
22:41
And then also I've got here add a link and then
22:44
what's that name.
22:46
And then that goes through and then constructs that point.
22:48
And then from there, I then have gone and started
22:53
creating my object.
22:55
So notice as I go through, I start
22:58
applying different codes to it.
22:59
So obviously because this is the underside of my code,
23:03
I want my datum surface to follow that underneath,
23:05
so I assign a datum code to that.
23:08
And from there as you place the different components,
23:11
just think about the geometry type.
23:13
So for example, this one here is just a straight delta XY.
23:17
So I'm going to set--
23:20
set delta.
23:21
So I'm staying, my X plain 0 and I'm
23:26
going across my concrete depth.
23:28
Now notice the parameter, I've got a negative in there.
23:33
Then from there, so the negative going down.
23:35
And also create a link as we go.
23:38
So it's important to know that when
23:40
you create a point, quite often you
23:42
want to make a link as well.
23:43
So just add that in there, you do not need to add separately.
23:47
And as we go, we just keep on building it and go down.
23:51
So just be mindful of time.
23:53
I'll go down to this one here, my auxiliary point,
23:56
which is just above the my valley in my gutter.
24:03
And I've just done the same thing here.
24:04
What I've done is I've performed a calculation.
24:07
So from before, add my auxiliary 0.1.
24:11
And I've said, I want to be half the distance
24:16
of auxiliary length1.
24:18
So auxiliary length1 is from 0.1 to AP1.
24:21
So I'll just say, AL1.Length divided by 2.
24:25
And what that'll do is whatever measurement I put into there
24:28
or what value, it then haves that and that then
24:32
generates that point.
24:34
And then from there I go through and I can then
24:36
calculate another point.
24:41
And likewise, like that.
24:43
Now once you've gone through and then developed your object.
24:49
So up to this point here when we get
24:51
to link7 all we've really got is just an outline of our object.
24:55
So when we-- when we apply the subassembly to our corridor,
24:59
all we really get will be just the points in the links.
25:01
If we want to start taking quantities out of that object,
25:04
we need to apply a shape object.
25:07
So here what we do is we just say, shape number--
25:13
it's prefixed with an S. We give it a name.
25:16
In this case, ValleyGutter.
25:17
And then we provide the instructions
25:20
and we say, what links make up that particular shape.
25:25
And then we go through and what it will do
25:27
is then go trace that object.
25:28
So from here, we've gone link1, link4.
25:33
So what I've got here, it's a little bit
25:38
of what I've added them in a bit of an odd order
25:40
but it has figured it out.
25:42
What it is, generally I usually do
25:44
it either clockwise, or anti-clockwise,
25:45
or anything like that.
25:46
But program is intelligent enough to figure that out.
25:50
OK.
25:50
So that's-- that's how that works.
25:54
So what I'm going to do here is I'm just going
25:57
to make a modification to this.
25:58
I'm going to drop out--
26:02
I'm going to drop out my shape code.
26:04
So this would be an example, if I developed my subassembly
26:07
and I may have made an error or it emitted something.
26:12
So from here I'll just do--
26:13
I'll just say, save this.
26:22
You can-- when it comes to file names,
26:24
it's probably good to choose nice logical file names.
26:29
And I'll cover that in the closing comments.
26:31
But for now I'll just use this name just
26:34
for the purpose of the demonstration.
26:36
OK.
26:36
So now that I've created my subassembly, what I need to do
26:40
is I really need to exit the program.
26:42
So that way, it's aware that I've finished with subassembly.
26:47
And then we go back to Civil 3D.
26:49
So today, I'm using 2021 version and have all the latest
26:55
service packs.
26:55
So if you're not using 2021, there
26:59
may be some things in here that may be unfamiliar to you.
27:02
So if I start a new drawing, there
27:05
will be this home tab here.
27:06
So just be aware that term.
27:08
This is available in 2020 onwards,
27:11
or I should say 2022 onwards.
27:14
All right.
27:14
So to import our subassembly, The first thing you need to do
27:20
is I'll just go to my Home tab.
27:23
If you remember, subassemblies a hosted on your tool palette.
27:28
So if you can't remember how to find those--
27:32
just having trouble with my cursor here.
27:33
There we go.
27:36
It's found here.
27:37
You can also hover over control3,
27:40
is the hot-- is the shortcut key for that.
27:44
I'm using the-- just the metric, it's
27:48
just the standard metric profile that's available in Civil 3D.
27:53
And when we open up this subassembly,
27:55
we've got all the different ones that we've got.
27:57
So I recommend that you go through these
27:60
and have-- and review them.
28:01
There's some really good ones in there.
28:03
There are others available that are not loaded in here.
28:06
And I'll show you how to access those later.
28:08
But let's get back to importing our subassembly.
28:12
So to do that, we go to the Insert tab of the ribbon
28:15
and it's located here.
28:18
From there we go and browse our source file.
28:28
It's going to just take a little while for that dialogue
28:30
to come up.
28:37
OK.
28:45
So here's-- here's our PKT file that we had from before.
28:48
So I'll open that up.
28:50
Now this is really-- this is a good-- little good tip here,
28:52
if you were not aware of this.
28:55
When you import your subassembly,
28:57
it can go to a tool palette.
28:59
Now by default, it will list everything, so including,
29:03
the AutoCAD ones, you see the 3D ones.
29:04
So you can see here that there are
29:06
a lot of ones that you probably are not interested in.
29:09
Down-- further down, we start getting to our assemblies.
29:12
What I recommend is when you testing,
29:14
maybe just create your own new palette.
29:17
So if you've forgotten to create it before you've come in,
29:20
don't sweat it, there's one here.
29:22
So you go create your palette.
29:23
And so you, kind of, call the subassembly co testing.
29:29
Go.
29:30
OK.
29:31
And then OK, to that.
29:33
And what that'll do is that will create a new tab on the fly
29:37
and also place it there.
29:39
Now you can see that what it's done
29:41
is the information that I've put into subassembly
29:46
is now shown in the tool palette.
29:48
So I've got the name and also the description from that.
29:52
Now what I can do is I can go right click on the object
29:56
and go to properties.
29:59
And in here any of the information
30:01
that I may have entered into the subassembly,
30:04
I can check that there.
30:05
So here are my parameters that I set up earlier.
30:10
There's also other information provided with that.
30:15
Now if I want to place it into my drawing-- so let's
30:18
just quickly place assembly marker.
30:24
Excuse.
30:24
The default is here.
30:28
Now the place is in the drawing, I just select the object.
30:31
And when I do that my assembly, I'm
30:35
going to call it my properties palette appears.
30:37
And then I can go through and then
30:39
change any of these parameters before I place it.
30:42
So if I want to make that--
30:44
so apologies.
30:45
I'm from Australia, so I'm using metric here, so meters.
30:48
So I can go two meters and then place the object.
30:52
And then I'll just close that one.
30:54
Free up some real estate.
30:55
And then from there we can see now we've got our assembly.
30:59
If I select the object and open up my parameters,
31:02
you can see it's now been placed, I have my two meters.
31:05
I can go through change that to one.
31:08
I can also-- when I look at my assemblies,
31:13
I can see the name of the object, and also
31:18
all the different parameters, and things like that.
31:21
As mentioned before, we got our codes.
31:24
So I put in a shape called ValleyGutter.
31:28
It's interesting that it's in there.
31:29
But I've also got some other shapes in there,
31:31
so my datum on the top.
31:32
And they're all supported by my code sets.
31:36
OK.
31:37
So-- so from here what I need to do is--
31:43
if you recall before, I emitted a code from my assembly.
31:49
So what I need to do here is this-- just save
31:51
this drawing like that.
31:57
Now to update it, I can leave my existing drawing
32:00
as is but the catch is I need to close a Civil 3D.
32:04
So let's do that.
32:06
The reason being is when you have
32:07
Civil 3D open and the drawing open,
32:09
Civil 3D is touching that particular component.
32:13
So what you'll find is when you're
32:15
doing your testing that you will be opening and closing
32:20
Civil 3D, and subassembly composer a couple of times.
32:24
So-- so if we go back to now our component that we had before--
32:33
scroll down for this one here.
32:34
So we've got our shape.
32:35
I don't know what I did before but it's still in there.
32:37
So maybe a mistake.
32:39
Let's just take that out and then save that.
32:45
And from there, we exit the program.
32:50
And now we go back to Civil 3D again.
33:02
Now, when you do this process, you know,
33:06
exiting Civil 3D, opening the PKT, and subassembly composer,
33:10
I made my modification.
33:12
Note that when I did that, I didn't change the file name
33:16
and I didn't change the internal subassembly name.
33:18
Very important.
33:20
If I go back to my drawing now, you
33:27
can see that it's still there.
33:29
So what we do is we just go back to our tool palette.
33:33
And we where is some--
33:37
I remember.
33:39
Just need to delete it.
33:42
And there, delete that.
33:46
And then we just repeat the process.
33:47
There we go.
33:48
Import browse to our updated component.
33:54
Re-add it back to our palette.
33:59
OK.
33:60
That's an interesting message.
34:01
So what to do there.
34:03
So let's go in back to that.
34:07
Now the reason this--
34:09
that was a new message--
34:10
I've never seen one before.
34:11
But basically what that's doing is it's prompting you to say,
34:15
when you add this--
34:16
when you update your component, you
34:18
need to close and reopen Civil 3D
34:21
so that change can take effect.
34:23
So let's do that again.
34:25
So like I said, you will be doing this a couple of times.
34:29
So--
34:40
OK.
34:41
So now that we've updated that component, when
34:43
we reopen our drawing, all those changes should come through.
34:47
So-- so now if I go back and open my subassembly file--
34:53
so this-- so you can see there it's
34:54
still on my palette, which is good.
34:56
I go back to my Start screen and here is
34:60
my drawing so I open it up.
35:03
Now if it's read the change correctly,
35:06
I should be able to look at my parameters.
35:10
So I can't see the shape code here.
35:11
So let's go into our assembly properties.
35:17
And now it should-- it should have been
35:21
going but it's still there.
35:22
So yeah, that's because it's in the code set.
35:24
So one moment.
35:30
Yeah.
35:31
You know, live demos, I sometimes make mistakes.
35:35
But that's the workflow that you go--
35:37
I assure you that that's the workflow you go through
35:39
to update that.
35:40
I think probably what I've done is
35:42
the fact that I had left it in there
35:43
and then tried to delete it out.
35:45
I should have just omitted it in the first place
35:47
and that would have worked fine.
35:48
So but that's the process you go through
35:51
for doing that particular workflow.
35:55
What I'll do now is I'll go back to subassembly composer
35:59
and show you a couple of more advanced examples.
36:11
All right.
36:11
So from here, I'll just go back to my recent files use.
36:17
Well, this one here will be a good one.
36:21
So what I've got here is one with looping geometry
36:27
as an example.
36:29
So what this does is-- this is just what I
36:32
would call you basic benching.
36:34
So we start with our origin point.
36:37
So here's our start.
36:39
We've got our point.
36:40
And then our first auxiliary point as well.
36:44
And then from here we've got our daylight.
36:47
So what it's basically doing is--
36:51
excuse me.
36:51
Is from here, it's performing a calculation.
36:56
So you can see our auxiliary point is up here.
36:58
So what it's trying to do is determining
37:01
what the depth of 0.1 is relative to that surface
37:05
target.
37:06
Once it's got that information, we put it into a decision.
37:10
So we say, what's the height value in relation
37:14
to the max day light height.
37:15
And then depending on what the decision is,
37:18
we'll then go through and then generate that.
37:20
So obviously, if-- if it meets a certain criteria,
37:26
then it will just do the basic daylighting.
37:29
Or if it's say, exceeding a particular value say, 2, 3,
37:38
Now what I wanted to show you about this particular one is,
37:41
it's intelligent in the fact that--
37:44
notice that the workflow goes from links.
37:48
So we've got point3, so point5 and point link4
37:52
of the last object.
37:54
So from this point here, what we're doing is
37:57
we're putting a loop in there.
37:59
So that way you don't have to then--
38:02
so it will make another decision at this particular point.
38:06
So if we go to our loop here, you
38:08
can see that we've got a loop condition which
38:11
is our surface target.
38:12
So once it gets to that particular point,
38:14
it will then look at the surface target again.
38:17
If it meets that particular criteria,
38:20
then it will then repeat that process.
38:22
And then once we get--
38:25
so once it's-- so once it gets to a point that it meets that
38:29
minimum depth, then it will then put its last link in.
38:33
So that's an example of just a basic benching.
38:36
There are more advanced ones in terms of that.
38:38
But you know I just thought I'd show you
38:40
this one in particular, because it has a decision and also
38:44
an a loop in it to make it-- make that work.
38:48
Now the other example, I wanted to show you was--
38:53
let me think of which one it was.
38:55
I think it's this one here.
38:58
Now this one here is, you know, say, for example,
39:03
taking our ValleyGutter and taking it to the next level.
39:06
Now in-- in my--
39:10
my flowchart here, there's a lot of action going on here.
39:13
But I'll explain exactly what's going on.
39:16
Now this one here is creating a number of different curd types.
39:21
You may recognize the codes there
39:25
of all the different curb types.
39:26
So what's happening is that when we go into here,
39:29
we have some variables.
39:31
And these variables will be constant through all
39:33
the different curbs.
39:34
And we can define those in there.
39:39
Once we've done that, we can basically then put a switch in.
39:43
And what this is-- when you're in the assembly itself--
39:47
so maybe I'll just jump across to Civil here and just show you
39:51
an example.
40:01
I actually I've got one here if not--
40:06
that's OK.
40:07
What am I doing here?
40:16
Ugh.
40:16
I'll just-- I won't go looking for it
40:19
because I know it won't find it.
40:21
But basically what happens is when--
40:24
when you place a subassembly--
40:27
so just an example when I select it on there.
40:30
What will happen is in your-- in your events parameters,
40:32
you can actually put like a dropdown in here.
40:35
So you can say rather than [INAUDIBLE] you know, instead
40:39
of the default code type.
40:40
I want to use a barrier code or another different top code.
40:44
And what you can do is you can actually
40:46
have 10 different code types built
40:48
into that assembly from there.
40:50
So if I go back to here, these are all those built in.
40:53
So this switch, what it enables the user to do
40:56
is when they're navigating the palette within Civil 3D,
41:01
they can have this switch.
41:02
And when they toggle that switch, it then--
41:06
then executes that particular flow according to that object.
41:10
So for example now if the user had chosen IB2,
41:16
these are the variables.
41:18
So the variables that were defined earlier,
41:20
they're actually defined in here.
41:22
So they're the ones that dif-- that
41:24
are put into that particular curb type,
41:26
then they're then passed down to this area here.
41:28
And this is where all the-- all the components are built.
41:32
So for example, if I just go through,
41:37
you can see we have height-height front.
41:39
So maybe the easiest thing is all these parameters
41:42
they're all in here and they're also being leveraged in there.
41:46
And so what happens is when you're inside Civil 3D,
41:51
the user selects the curb type.
41:55
It takes those parameters, then applies it, and then draws it.
41:58
There's nothing stopping you from overriding dose
42:01
in palettes, so you can still apply those
42:03
to the properties side as well.
42:05
So just sort of, just show that as an example.
42:07
So this is an example of a more complex one where you can add
42:11
a lot more information into it.
42:13
All right.
42:13
So what I've done here is some of them-- some
42:16
of the information that I've gone through today
42:20
about how to import the subassembly.
42:23
I've put these in the notes here.
42:24
So that way you can refer back to them later on.
42:27
So I'll just, sort of, just skip through this part here.
42:32
But what I've done here is just, you know,
42:35
I didn't actually talk about this one, the checklist
42:39
about importing the subassembly into Civil 3D.
42:42
You know, these--
42:44
I find the save a lot of heartache when doing that.
42:48
So verify your geometry.
42:50
So you know, have a look at all the elements,
42:52
verify the parameters.
42:53
Look in the properties panel.
42:54
Preview the-- the geometry, make sure it's doing everything OK.
42:60
Look at the settings and the parameters,
43:01
and then save your project.
43:03
And then from there, it's just a matter
43:04
of going through that process.
43:06
So what I've done here is I've just called this out,
43:10
the steps that I did before.
43:11
So I'll just keep on going through it.
43:14
This is-- I touched on this a little bit.
43:18
If you are creating a--
43:21
a new subassembly and it has some really good features
43:26
in it, consider maybe [INAUDIBLE]
43:28
If your existing corridor code set doesn't support that.
43:33
You maybe should think about creating a new one.
43:36
The reason for that is, you know,
43:38
this corridor code set it controls everything arou--
43:43
what that subassembly does.
43:44
So how it's displayed.
43:45
So think of the links of the points, whether you assign
43:49
pay items, all those sort of things.
43:51
Just take that into consideration
43:53
while you're doing that.
43:58
And then before steps for updating your subassembly--
44:03
I've just put some drop points here
44:05
just so that you can go back through those when
44:08
you go to experiment with--
44:10
in product.
44:11
So last thing I want to do is just go through and just talk
44:14
about some tips and tricks.
44:15
So share some knowledge that I've learnt while using
44:19
subassembly composer.
44:21
The most important one is be aware
44:23
that there are additional subassemblies
44:25
and know where to find them.
44:27
So what I've done here is all these here are all hyperlinked.
44:32
These detail all the new subassemblies
44:35
that were added by versions.
44:37
So basically what happens is if you're using 2019.3,
44:43
it includes, all the subassemblies
44:46
prior to that in that particular version.
44:49
So if you find anything in 2021.1,
44:52
obviously it won't be in
44:56
and have a look at that.
44:57
There's some real awesome ones.
44:59
I've put some examples here up on the screen
45:02
of ones that have been introduced
45:03
over a period of time.
45:05
So there's been some great ones, especially around road rehab.
45:09
There's also some specific ones for around DOTs as well.
45:13
So I've got here--
45:14
I've got some example of Caltrans.
45:17
I think there's--
45:19
I think there's a couple of others as well
45:22
but they're not coming to me.
45:24
OK.
45:24
Couple of more tips and tricks.
45:28
This is a question that I get asked a lot.
45:30
Can I take the stock subassemblies
45:32
that have provided with the product and reuse them?
45:35
And the answer is this.
45:36
Unfortunately, no.
45:38
And the reason for that is even though--
45:44
I've been told by the product team,
45:45
they've just been recoded.
45:47
They've been coded a totally different way
45:48
and they don't use the PKTs for some reason.
45:51
So all you can really do is the examples that we've given
45:57
are pretty good.
45:58
They do give you a lot of examples in how they work.
46:02
So if you want to take an existing one
46:04
and maybe rework it a little bit,
46:06
that's my recommendation on that.
46:08
Now this next one, I did not know this for--
46:11
until I started using it.
46:13
Is that subassemblies are either metric or imperial.
46:17
So just make sure you use a proper naming convention
46:21
to identify what they are.
46:24
The other one is put a parameter in your subassembly
46:27
to make sure that you can control the versions.
46:29
Because those particular parameters show up
46:32
when you're looking in the tool palettes and those sort of,
46:35
things allows you to track that.
46:37
The other one, know your prefixes.
46:39
So I talked about points auxiliary points, lines,
46:42
auxiliary line, those sort of, things.
46:45
Don't try and change them, they will result in an error.
46:49
And then most importantly, this is around content or managing
46:53
of content.
46:56
Give me a bit of thought to how you name them.
46:60
So you use unique names.
47:03
Also try not to reuse a name that may be already available.
47:08
The help files.
47:09
So here you got them on the left.
47:10
There is the subassemblies reference
47:13
you can always go through there, and have a look,
47:15
and see if the particular name has been used.
47:20
The other one here, you know, save all the information.
47:24
So documentation, those sort of, things.
47:26
Save that, so it keeps it all together.
47:29
Use a legend registers, those sort of, things.
47:33
You know, it's all about management
47:34
tracking that because as you update them
47:37
you need to understand who's using what
47:39
and how it's being distributed.
47:42
And then the last one.
47:44
Make-- you know, make-- have an image in help file is--
47:49
you know, don't have to do that, but it
47:52
does save the users a lot of time
47:54
and makes them more productive.
47:55
Because that way, they got that information
47:57
at their fingertips.
47:59
And then they can just refer to it really quickly,
48:02
understand how the component works,
48:03
and make sure they're using it effectively.
48:07
Next one here, this is all about subassemblies.
48:11
Couple of catches when it comes to parameters.
48:15
As I said earlier, can't use--
48:17
can't use spaces.
48:19
One thing I've discovered is if you
48:22
are going to delete a parameter, make
48:24
sure you save it before you do.
48:26
Because once it's gone--
48:27
once you've deleted it, it's gone, you can't get it back.
48:31
Then the other one, parameters.
48:33
Once you've added it into the list,
48:35
so if you like them to be in a specific order,
48:39
note that there are no tools to adjust the order of those.
48:43
So whatever order you create those parameters,
48:46
they are there forever in that order.
48:50
And then the other ones there, you
48:51
can see parameters they are inherited from higher
48:55
up in the hierarchy.
48:56
So just be aware of that one, and comments,
48:59
and those sort of, things.
49:02
Hopefully-- I think this is the last.
49:04
I think I have one or two more.
49:06
I'm just drawing attention to creating new palette
49:10
on the fly.
49:10
That one we covered earlier.
49:13
The other one here is--
49:16
Yeah.
49:16
This is important.
49:17
Sharing.
49:19
So once you've gone and done all your awesome work
49:22
and created your custom assembly,
49:23
you want to share it with your team
49:25
and then actually be able to use it.
49:27
So with subassemblies, you need to think about where
49:32
you're going to store it.
49:33
Now these-- because these assemblies
49:36
are going to be used every time you rebuild a corridor,
49:41
they really need to be in a location that has low latency.
49:45
So when I mean like that, I recommend that when
49:49
creating your tool palettes that they
49:51
go into your content that's generally
49:55
stored on your C drive.
49:57
And at the moment, probably all your custom content
49:60
is stored in C drive.
50:01
The reason for that is to make sure
50:04
that your Civil 3D remains responsive when
50:06
leveraging those components.
50:08
So if you are creating your custom subassemblies,
50:11
there will be a process for you to get
50:13
that added to the system, to get that distributed to the users.
50:17
So you want do reach out to your product champion
50:21
to know what that process is.
50:23
So you can distribute that to the team.
50:25
And they will also, as you guess,
50:27
there'll be an approval process to make sure
50:29
that it's all valid.
50:30
So-- so just talk about that.
50:33
The other thing is that if you do
50:35
share a drawing with another user that doesn't have access
50:40
to that subassembly, they will start getting error messages
50:44
in their event viewer.
50:46
And also the performance of the program
50:50
or that particular drawing will start being negatively impact.
50:54
So you'll find your drawing will start-- like, Civil 3D will
50:58
try and rebuild the corridor.
50:59
But obviously because it can't find that particular sub
51:02
assembly, you'll find that there'll be bits missing
51:05
from your corridor and the program won't
51:07
will run quite slow.
51:09
So just be aware of that.
51:11
Try a new tool palette.
51:12
I Just talk to that above.
51:15
And then the other one is don't use it across the network
51:19
that those ones are there.
51:20
So I was just going to say just before we close out,
51:24
what I've got here on the screen.
51:27
Autodesk has a custom success learning hub
51:31
and there are a couple of courses on that.
51:35
It's just a matter of just going to the site.
51:37
I'll just open this up.
51:39
This is the address here, customersuccess.autodesk.com.
51:43
You log in using your Autodesk ID
51:46
and you go to the learning tab.
51:50
And in here, there's a number of different disciplines.
51:54
So I'll just scroll down here to Civil engineering.
51:56
What I'm going to do is I'll just give you all,
51:59
so you can see some of the options here.
52:02
So if you're interested in doing a little bit
52:05
around subassembly composer, I think
52:08
it's this learning path here.
52:12
We've got this one here using subassembly composers.
52:16
So if you're interested in having a look or running
52:20
through a course, it's-- you know, of course,
52:23
it'll take about 20, 30 minutes of your time.
52:26
There's videos, it shows you how to place the links
52:29
and everything else like that.
52:30
So if you're interested in running through that, it's
52:34
free, it's no cost to you.
52:36
There's also a lot of other different courses
52:40
available in there as well.
52:42
So, you know, ProjectExplorer that
52:44
was a new one, that was added recently,
52:46
there's also a couple there for Dynamo, InfraWorks
52:49
and that's just like that.
52:51
So I just thought I'd just mentioned that.
52:53
So there's the customer success learning hub.
52:55
We also have what we call the infrastructure reimagined
52:59
website.
52:60
The product team always regularly post
53:02
there about new features that are coming in the software.
53:05
So think of Civil 3D InfraWorks, BIM tracking, Dynamo,
53:09
all those sorts of, things.
53:11
BIM 360 Design, you know, for the infrastructure space
53:15
and those sort of, things.
53:16
So just thought I mention those before we close out.
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