Is InfraWorks Taking Over?
I get asked all the time, “Is InfraWorks™ going to become the next Autodesk® Civil 3D®?” My answer, whether truth or not, is “Absolutely no way!” People are just now getting over the Land Desktop massacre—with many still refusing to move from their Land Desktop software. So for Autodesk to take Civil 3D away would cause a possible WWIII within the industry. I see no way Autodesk could, or would, move away from Civil 3D.
But InfraWorks has benefits for almost any project, small or large, and this article explores some of the things InfraWorks just does better (and quicker) than Civil 3D. I’ll also show you some thing you can do to streamline workflows by introducing InfraWorks early on in your projects. So relax, sit back, and enjoy the ride that is InfraWorks!
Highlights
Taken directly from Autodesk: “Engineer large-scale preliminary designs in context with InfraWorks 360™ and collaborate with multiple stakeholders virtually anytime and anywhere. Extend your design capabilities with the ability to access specialized industry tools. Take advantage of foundational sketching and modeling capabilities with InfraWorks™ in a Suite, create 3D models, and generate design concepts.”
In a more appropriate explanation for people like me, it does cool stuff! It is like Sim City, but you get paid to do it! It makes you look good whether or not you put any real amount of time into it. After all, your client doesn’t have to know you took only 30 minutes to have a 3D tour of their project, right?
Leave No Project Behind
“But this InfraWorks is way too much overkill for me, all I do is site plans and simple subdivisions. It’s like fishing with dynamite!” Yep, another brilliant quote by yours truly, Shawn Herring.
I had that attitude for the longest time, thinking InfraWorks was just for the big guys. Then I decided to give it a shot on a simple subdivision, with only 30 minutes to spare before the client walked in the door.
Gone are the days of sending a black and white 2D concept plan over to the client, or even worse, to the Planning Commission for public meetings.
With some simple GIS data connections, maybe out to Civil 3D for parcel layouts, back into InfraWorks and then some simple placement of trees or buildings, you can quickly have a 30-minute 3D presentation. Take it one quick step further by creating a storyboard and 3D flythrough.
Figure 2: Quick and dirty 3D model
Remember the Google Earth Link?
Of course you do… everybody does! Probably one of the most-used tools in almost everybody’s workflow, removed from the software (and not Autodesk’s doing). There have been workarounds, add-ons, and numerous attempts to replicate what the Google Earth link gave us. But has anything really worked well?
Project Basejump (Bing Maps 2013/14) – How many of us said “Sweet! I can get images with just a quick link? Yes!! Oooohhhhh…….so I can’t print it. Crap!” Yup, that was me. Not to mention no surface capabilities.
Autodesk GEOMAP is a great way to quickly get imagery. You may have noticed the new Geolocation tab on the ribbon. This will allow you, through your A360 account, to connect to imagery all over. But now you can print these images with a simple Capture Area command.
Figure 3: Capture Image
The Model Builder within InfraWorks may just be your solution, and help you cope (still) with the loss of the GE link. This allows you to search any area you want, up to 150 sq. km (58 sq. mi). You first window in your Area of Interest and name your model.
Figure 4: Model Builder AOI
It will ask you for a model name and a group to publish to in the cloud. You can then continue on with your other work because you will receive an email notifying you when your model is completed and ready for download! As simple as that.
Figure 5: Model Builder email
Now, IMX (see Figure 6) your InfraWorks model out and import into Civil 3D. Done! You now have a surface for pretty much any area you would like. Couple that with the Bing maps tool and you have your imagery and surface just as before with Google Earth (maybe a few more steps then GE, but still simple).
IMX
Ever wonder what that IMX button is in Civil 3D? Well, wonder no more. That is your new best friend! Working with InfraWorks and Civil 3D, the IMX file will be invaluable. The speed with which InfraWorks exports out even the largest surfaces and other data is amazing. Then import into Civil 3D and again, see how fast it responds to the amount of data. Very easy, very quick, very good!
Figure 6: Import IMX into Civil 3D
Upon import into Civil 3D, the .imx contains three surfaces: base, existing, and proposed. The base surface is just the base terrain model. The existing surface contains the base terrain as well as any roads you may have imported in from GIS data. The proposed surface contains only areas affected by features created using InfraWorks drawing tools such as a coverage area. The .imx also includes road centerlines, which will be turned into alignments in Civil 3D. Importing the same .imx multiple times will overwrite existing surfaces and alignments with the same names, so you can adjust the data in InfraWorks, and reimport it into the same Civil 3D drawing.
GIS Sites
There are some really good sites out there for free GIS data. I usually start at the local level, city, county, and state. Typically they have more current (and a broader range) of GIS data. One of the hardest things to find, from what I have seen, are GIS files of buildings. Model Builder also lacks in this area for most places. A lot of counties have that data for assessor needs. So start local, then move to some of the large scale sites.
Some of my favorite sites are:
http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/
http://data.geocomm.com/catalog/
http://freegisdata.rtwilson.com/
http://lib.stanford.edu/GIS/data
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/site/national/home/
And a shameless plug for my home state—we in Utah have a fantastic site with tons of GIS information: AGRC GIS Portal – www.gis.utah.gov
Use SketchUp Models Easily
Save yourself a ton of time and headaches in having to model certain landmarks, 3D objects such as water fountains and fixtures, or even if you want T-Rex to invade your downtown (I can’t be the only one who has tried this).
Go out to the 3D Warehouse and search for any item or search the name of your city/state. See what comes up and bring it into InfraWorks.
Web Link - https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com
Figure 7: 3D Warehouse
Tip: Occasionally I have found that models done on the Warehouse will lose a lot of data and/or textures if brought directly into InfraWorks as a .DAE file. Try bringing it into SketchUp Pro first, then out as an SKP file, or Max Design first.
Drainage Analysis
The new Drainage Design module can be extremely useful in working with Big Data. Imagine bringing sections and sections of a large DEM into Civil 3D, then go to lunch and come back only to see it still crunching. Or better yet, get the data into the software and then let it crash while doing a watershed analysis.
This may be a task you try out in InfraWorks. Use the Model Builder to bring in your large watershed area, then run the analysis right there in InfraWorks.
Figure 8: Watershed in InfraWorks
The analysis examines the terrain model to find the watershed tributary to a single point location or to locate all of the watersheds that are tributary to a portion of a design road. The resulting terrain analytics provide the crossing streams and the tributary watersheds for use in cross-drainage design.
It will calculate peak flows based on the Rational or Regression method. You have to provide some key info such as location, C factors, etc.
Culverts that start within a watershed that has a calculated peak flow will automatically size themselves based on that flow.
Add a Pavement Drainage network under a design road and/or add pavement drainage features one at a time
So give it a shot, or better yet, benchmark the task by doing it in Civil 3D and InfraWorks at the same time.
Intersection Design/Analysis
Another very useful analysis task is Intersection design and analysis. Want to run through multiple vehicle scenarios? Want it to automatically resize according to AASHTO Standards? Want it to run a visibility check and have a very nice presentation board from it?
If your answer was “Yes” to any or all the above, then give the InfraWorks Roadway Design module a shot.
Figure 9: Intersection Design
Storyboards & Rendering
I always think of the software within the Infrastructure Design Suites as having Good, Better, and Best options to do renderings. Civil 3D is Good; InfraWorks is Better; and Autodesk® 3ds Max is Best.
But it all depends on the project, the client, and the time you have allocated to do a 3D flythrough or even a series of still shot renderings. Welcome again to one of the simplest tasks within InfraWorks.
We do this by using a “Storyboard”—a very simplified way to set up, modify, and export out a 3D virtual tour.
A storyboard can be a series of snapshot views or a dynamic, video pathway through parts of a model. It can display titles and captions and use a variety of camera angles to create sophisticated visual effects.
Use Storyboard Creator to create and edit the visual sequence.
Package the storyboard in a scenario, then publish the scenario for viewing on the Web Viewer or the InfraWorks 360 iPad app.
Figure 10: Storyboard in InfraWorks
Conclusion
I must admit that at first, I was totally against InfraWorks being a design tool, mostly out of fear that Civil 3D was headed for extinction. I saw it as no more than a landscape architect tool (no offense), and I didn’t want to face the fact that this “pretty picture” could be included in my “engineering” workflow.
The moral of this story is: TRY IT! You might just end up liking it.
Thanks again, and Happy Modeling!
