Change Civil 3D Styles in a Snap with Dynamo

Civil 3D has long been a powerful solution for site civil design, but when it came to customizing or increasing efficiency, the options were limited. A couple years ago when you ran into the limits of what Civil 3D could do, you had 2 options: Pay for someone to write programs for you or write Lisp routines.  Paying for full on programming services can get expensive quick and Lisp routines are limited and clunky. Thankfully now there is a third option proving to be a game changer for Civil 3D Automation and Customization – Dynamo! 

Dynamo is a relatively simple visual programming interface based on the Python language. You don’t have to actually know how to program, you can just search for your node of choice and put powerful scripts together. These scripts can be disseminated to the entire design team for easy use through the Dynamo Player.   

There is a learning curve with Dynamo, but putting in a little time on the front end can save you and your team literally hundreds of hours on the back end. Every project can be done more efficiently with a little Dynamo integration. If you can dream it, you can probably do it in Dynamo! Let’s take a look at an example.

CHANGE ALL STYLES IN A DRAWING AT ONCE

Have you ever received a file from an outside firm where the styles (surfaces, alignments, feature lines, profile views, etc.) are jumbled and not set to your company’s standards?  It can be a time-intensive process to change all the styles to what your company uses – not with the Style changing Dynamo script:

• Select Existing Style for Each Civil Object in Drawing
• Select the Desired Style for Each Civil Object
• Hit Run

Viola – the drawing styles magically change!

Download the Dynamo Graph Here >

MG’S DYNAMO SERVICES

MG is an industry leader for Dynamo services for Civil 3D. We can be contracted to provide Civil 3D through Dynamo customization for organizations as well as training for designers looking to add Dynamo to their skillset to maximize their efficiency in Civil 3D.

At MG, Nick Turner brings his expertise within the Civil Engineering community. He trains surveyors, engineers and contractors across the nation on the latest design techniques. These include GIS to Civil 3D, Civil Infrastructure, Point Clouds, Virtual Construction, Hydraulic Design, Scanning, Lidar and 2D Hydraulic Modeling. He is a passionate, knowledgeable, committed and innovative individual.