Civil 3D Peanuts

The new GENIO import/export extension tool for Civil 3D 2011

May 14, 2010 at 10:34 am 1 comment

Very recently the new GENIO import/export extension tool for Civil 3D 2011 is released and it can be downloaded from the Autodesk Subscription website.

The GENIO tool is a conversion tool like LandXML does for exchanging Civil elements but now especially from MX-strings from Bentley’s Civil solution: MX ROADS.

One interesting and new feature is the possibility to import the 3D model of MX ROADS into Civil 3D 2011. This 3D model is saved in the model.fil file and has more possibilities for converting the model into Civil 3D objects then previously released versions.

After installing the tool a command will be made available in the Toolspace Toolbox tab under Subscription Extensions. Right clicking and selecting Execute will start the command.

The command has two tabs, where the first one let you choose for the available MX-strings to convert from the model. And where the other tab will let you make settings for the conversions like putting an alignment into a site or not, and assigning styles.

One particullar conversion setting had my attention: Alignment Options settings.

With the option for

– Fixed Elements or
– Fixed-Floating-Floating Elements

And the option to choose the type of Spiral:

Unfortunately both options for chosing the elements are greyed out and the default value Fixed Elements is selected.
With this default, an alignment converted from MX ROADS always loses it’s tangency if applied between the horizontal alignment elements.

I hope this feature will be implemented in the near future, as the Fixed-Floating-Floating option will possibly remain the tangency.
And this would be a great benefit and advantage because if you need to make some changes to the alignment you always have to go back to the source or you have to reconstruct the alignment in Civil 3D.

At the Autodesk website under Skillbuilders you will find a description how to use the GENIO tool and how to use the data dynamically with data-shortcuts. http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=7151908&linkID=9240695

Later I will continue explaining other settings in detail.

Entry filed under: AutoCAD Civil 3D, Conversions. Tags: Civil 3D 2011, extension.