We have just recently finished hosting our Civil 3D User Group here at Excitech – it proved to be a very popular event, attended by users from all around the country, from organisations both large and small. The intention of the User Groups is to provide a forum where users can learn from technical presentations about the technology, see how others are using the software on live projects, share experiences through discussion, and ultimately help drive successful adoption of the software.

We had some very interesting user presentations, with John Freeman from Kier Group showing how they had used Civil 3D for a number of projects, including a Rope Conveyor in Jamaica and a port redevelopment project. Tushar Meshram from Halcrow gave a very relevant presentation on how they are using Civil 3D to design underground services for a large development in the Middle East. This is one area of design that many companies are now carrying out in Civil 3D, and the workflows they are using were of interest to many of the attendees.

Jack Strongitharm from Autodesk “wowed” the audience with a demonstration of the latest features in the 2010 release. There are lots of good things in this version, but the new Intersection Wizard stole the show. A recording of Jack completing a junction design in Civil 3D 2009 (at around 15  - 20 mins, but speeded up!) was compared with the new release where a full crossroads intersection was designed in just a few minutes. It certainly got everyone’s attention and will no doubt have users asking their CAD Managers for this release. (If you want to learn about the new features, then you can view our 2010 Presentations On Demand). Paul Lloyd-Smith from Datech did an excellent job showing the surveying functionality – in particular the new linework processing commands, which now make it so easy to produce a survey drawing from field coding.

But back to the topic!

During one of the breaks I got talking to one of our customers whose organisation is considering their options for Civil Engineering design software. Yes, you guessed it, the MX versus AutoCAD Civil 3D debate!  The issues are often the same for any design house that has already invested in Bentley MX over many years:-

• Should we look to adopt Civil 3D?
• Can Civil 3D do the same job as MX?
• How much will it cost to implement Civil 3D?
• Can we afford the learning curve?
• What do we do with MX if we decide to adopt Civil 3D?

As a proponent of AutoCAD Civil 3D you will probably assume that my advice would be “Just do it!”, but that’s simply not a professional approach to this issue. The fact is that MX does a good job, and although it has its quirks, it is a tried and tested solution. In fact, for an experienced user of MX, it is packed full of features that any similar software package would struggle to match.  So when I get asked these questions, my response will be different depending on the client that’s asking them. In my opinion, Civil 3D can certainly do the work that MX does – but it makes no sense for an organisation just to ditch MX if it has loyal, experienced staff who know how to use MX and can produce designs efficiently with it. On the other hand, if the pool of experienced users of MX is dwindling, and they are considering hiring or training staff, then it makes good sense to look at a more efficient alternative. Civil 3D has a great plug-in, available on the Autodesk Subscription Centre, that allows users to import and export MX data directly. This makes Civil 3D a great tool to implement alongside MX.

How about considering:-

• Keep MX for the experienced, trained MX users – you’ve already invested a lot in that resource. As these users decline, through retirement, perhaps, or simply because they move around, then you can gradually run down your installed MX software base
• Implement Civil 3D for the new blood that you bring into your design teams – they are often graduates, and will probably feel more comfortable learning a product based on the AutoCAD interface. They may even have already learnt to use it at University
• Use Civil 3D to remove bottlenecks in your design processes. If you have engineers waiting on information to come back from the MX team simply because of their workload, then clearly you cannot be working efficiently. Civil 3D can be used to perform many of the design tasks that MX is being used for – it is particularly efficient for drawing production (long-sections, cross-sections etc) where you can work natively in AutoCAD. If you are going to keep MX, use it for the very large transportation schemes that it is good at.

You’ll notice of course that I don’t advocate doing nothing! I am not alone in voicing concern over the future of MX – and there is a gulf of difference in the amount of development effort that Autodesk are putting into Civil 3D, compared with Bentley and MX. And it is the future that you must take a serious look at when considering the MX / Civil 3D debate. Civil 3D gains market share daily, it has many 3rd party solutions that have been developed for it, and a network of dealers that can support and train in it. It’s future is secure, and I’m not sure anyone can say that about MX.