I've owned copies of AutoCAD and MicroStation in the past which you could buy other software to work in. With TerraModel I have used Trimble Survey Office then TGO and then TBC. I used TerraModel for over 20 years until Trimble finally put its functionality into TBC. What would you say are the biggest differences I'd see between TBC and C3D? I'll try it out soon when I have a little more of a need.
Good to know! I'll be able to get a free trial of full TBC from our site-tech dealer. Good thing is once you learn TBC you won't really need to know anything else. The lastest version is very powerful and about the only software you'd need. If yours is a Trimble shop I'd say TBC is the best option. Surveying interest me a lot so I'm trying to learn some more as I go. I'm trying to find out, but I think they build our model in Carlton software, then convert it for Trimble Machine Control. I'll just be tinkering a little bit with all of this, which is why I made this post.
Luckily the C3D licensing in my situation works out well because I might have an opportunity to have the full version on my computer without our project paying anything. No money will be invested in me because surveying tasks are not part of my job duty. Thanks for the insight! I'm actually not doing much with either software. These are only examples, maybe a full version of TBC might be a better option as you are already using the heavy civil edition to create you machine and rover files. In Australia alot of surveyors use 12D, Magnet Office, LisCAD, and Microsurvey. If you do decide to go down the C3D path thouroughly investigate what you need as you may need multiple licences for different functions, and they're not cheap! I have found the survey functions in C3D to be a bit convoluted, and even lacking, last time I checked it had no traversing or least squares adjustment routines. I would speak to your surveyor and discuss what would be a better option for your operation, in my experience C3D is more oriented to full time engineering designers. We have a site foreman running around the site with a Trimble Access rover with no previous survey experience and he can run an entire site on his own, only calling me occasionally for a sanity check or for a bit of advice.Īs for office software, some people with disagree with me here but I would suggest that you don't invest in Civil3D. My experience with SCS900 in the past has been terrible, I pretty much came to the conclusion that I would only use it to set-up machine control components. If you're running Trimble equipment I don't think you'll have much choice other than Trimble field software, but I'd suggest that you use Trimble Access, don't let yourself get dragged into SCS900.
They all offer the ability to calculate volumes and areas in the field, but some need an extra licence to unlock this function. I know this discussion could start a fight but I know that someone can give me an honest opinion on the pros and cons of each platform.Īll the major survey equipment manufacturers have pretty intuitive survey software. When you guys build models, is there one software program that stands out for the different trades and projects? I know Carlson software is highly regarded but that I don't think I'll ever have access to. Of course I don't have full access to features in TBC but I still thought even for basic commands it seemed easier to use. I have some decent AutoCad experience and C3D was very familiar but didn't seem as intuitive or simple to use as compared to TBC. That is one good thing about Autodesk with the remote licenses, I might be able to get access without it costing anyone any money.
I'm working on getting a license for C3D from the company. I know our survey staff uses Carlson, I've talked a little with the survey manager about that. Our company uses all Trimble and we now have a GPS rover and data collector on the project for use by the non-surveyors. This has been very useful for me, just being able to hover over to see station/offset/elevation. I had downloaded Trimble Business Center HCE before, and was able to load our model on there, and the existing conditions surface. Being in a pinch, I downloaded C3D 30-day trial, messed around a little and got a number (waiting on confirmation from our surveyor). I had a situation the other day when our main surveyor was on vacation and I needed to take topo information from a data collector and calculator a fill to finish volume for our road job. I am getting more interested in the software surveyors use and wanted to ask a few questions here (hopefully without starting an argument). I've been in the industry for 5 years and I've gotten a little bit of experience in surveying along the way. I'm on the contractor side of heavy highway construction.