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In This Issue
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Carlson Pricing Going Up On 9/15/2010
Carlson Civil Suite $1,995 Limited Time Only |
2 Day, Hands On Training Classes
MY Company Standards $349 |
Carlson 2011 is (Almost...) Here!
Launch parties in Atlanta GA, Columbia SC and Richmond VA |
Need CAD & Carlson Classes in Your Area?
If so, I need your suggestions and your help |
December Workshops - Early Registration $89
Wilmington, Raleigh & Statesville NC |
The Best Carlson Command(s) You're Not Using
Working with Google Earth in Carlson |
The Best CAD Command(s) You're Not Using
TEXTMASK & WIPEOUT Commands
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Pandora.com - The Music Genome Project
The Best, Just-For-the-Fun-Of-It Website You've Never Heard Of |
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| Carlson Pricing Going Up on 9/15/2010 |
We knew it was too good to last. Carlson's "Recovery Special" will end on 9/14/2010 in anticipation of the Carlson 2011 release. The end of this promotion will return Carlson's price of the Carlson Civil Suite back to $3,500 after having been $2,500 all spring and summer.
[And yes, for those of you who have seen a 9/1/2010 date for the price increase, I was notified this morning that it's been extended another 2 weeks. It's apparently still in flux... all I can say is to keep checking.]
As long as Carlson pricing remains at $2,500, That CAD Girl pricing for Civil Suite will remain at $ 1,995 and we hope to keep it at that price through the end of the year. This package includes Carlson Survey, Civil, Hydrology, GIS and IntelliCAD. Those using the IntelliCAD engine are also eligible for a free copy of ArcView as part of a GIS Starter Kit from ESRI.
Pricing for other products are listed below:
- Carlson Civil Suite 2010 $1,995 (Retail $3,500)
- Carlson Survey 2010 $1,195 (Retail $1,500)
- Carlson Civil 2010 $1,195 (Retail $1,500)
- Carlson Hydrology 2010 $850 (Retail $1,000)
- Carlson GIS 2010 $850 (Retail $1,000)
- Carlson TakeOff 2010 $7,650 (Retail $9,000)
- Carlson Point Cloud Complete 2010 $6,750 (Retail $8,500)
(Includes Point Cloud and Civil Suite 2010)
You can add Network installation and Annual Maintenance to any of these products for an additional 10% of Retail (10% for Network plus 10% for Maintenance).
Visit our Carlson Software Support page to see 5 minute videos of many of the most popular features of Carlson Civil Suite.
For a comprehensive outline of the Carlson Software pricing structure, please refer to this new page on our website:
What You Need to Know About Purchasing Carlson Software.
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| Upcoming Training Class |
My Company Standards Sept 20-21, 2010
This class provides training and guidance to help you create a comprehensive CAD standard for your company. We will cover standard layers, linetypes, pen weights, text styles, blocks and title blocks. A more detailed list and description of needed content will be provided after registration. In order to ensure that each attendee is prepared for and brings the content needed for the class, a one hour pre-training session will be held online approximately 2-3 weeks before the class.The cost for this 2-day session is $349. Please click here for pre-requisites and more details or download a PDF with agenda and directions here.
This class will be held at the Hampton Inn on Hampton Woods Lane in Raleigh, NC. Lunch will be provided and NC licensed Land Surveyors and Engineers will receive PDH credit hours for attending. A certificate will be provided to everyone completing the training and may be used for PDH credit in other states.
Registration for all classes is limited to 10 people - please call us at 919.417.8351 to register.
Wonder what others have to say about our training classes and other services? Check out our new Testimonials page here.
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| Carlson 2011 is (Almost...) Here! |
Carlson has recently begun beta testing for their 2011 products with an anticipated release date in September. Delivery for this version of the Civil, Survey, Hydrology, GIS, TakeOff and Point Cloud products will include IntelliCAD 7 and will give you the ability to run your Carlson products on top of AutoCAD-based products 2000-2011.
Please join us at one of the "launch parties" we've organized in Atlanta GA on October 5th, Columbia SC on October 6th and Richmond VA on Oct 7th to see the latest release.
For each event, the morning session will focus on the newest features of Carlson Civil, Survey, Hydrology, GIS and Point Clouds. In the afternoon, we will move to the parking area to see a demonstration of the new Carlson RTK GPS system with SurvCE data collection software.
The cost for each event is $25 and lunch is provided. You'll also have the opportunity to compete for and win several door prizes.
More about the Atlanta GA event on Oct 5th or Sign Up Now
More about the Columbia SC event on Oct 6th or Sign Up Now
More about the Richmond VA event on Oct 7th or Sign Up Now
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| Need CAD or Carlson Classes in Your Area? |
I have recently received several inquiries from folks around the country asking if I have regional training classes scheduled in their area. At this time I don't but would definitely be interested if I can get some help. To date, requests have come in from New Hampshire, Maine, Texas, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Nebraska and Illinois.
So, I am interested in holding a series of regional CAD and Carlson Software classes around the country similar to the ones I hold here in North Carolina. I have several topics that I've outlined and that are popular, but I am willing and happy to customize 1 or 2 day classes on just about any topic that's requested. When possible, I also try to coordinate with the state licensing agency so that the classes meet PDH/CEU requirements.
Possible topics are:
I always try to keep the cost of the training down to $249 or $349 per person and have a maximum of 10-12 people in the class. Obviously, if I have travel expenses, I'd have to charge a bit more, but hopefully not much. It's a narrow range - max of 12 - because I'd also need to guarantee attendance of 5 or 6 to make it financially possible.
My main challenge in having regional classes is notifying the surveyors, engineers and contractors in the area. I am building my database but it's still primarily in the southeast. A group in Texas is helping me coordinate with their local Society chapter and may arrange for me to come in to make a presentation, hold a class or both. One of the members works at a Community College and thinks I'll be able to use a classroom there.
If you have any suggestions on how I could get the word out in your area, recommendations about logistics or just general feedback on what I've outlined above - I'd love to hear it. Please email me at ContactUs@thatcadgirl.com with your thoughts.
Thank you in advance.
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December Workshops
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It's that time again! This will be the 4th annual series of workshops geared specifically for NC licensed surveying, engineering and construction professionals.
Like in years past, we will have a morning session where an overview of Carlson Software and CAD Tips & Tricks will be presented. Then, for the afternoon session, you will be able to attend two sessions (from a total of 6) on a variety of topics.
Topics this year will include:
- What's New with Carlson 2011
- Using Carlson & ESRI to compile maps with GIS data
- What's New with Carlson Software 2011
- Carlson Point clouds - New & Improved for 2011
- Surface Modeling with Carlson Software
- SurvCE data collection with Surveyor+ GPS System
The cost for the 1-day workshop is $99. Early bird pricing is available through October 31, 2010 for $89 per person. Lunch will be provided and NC licensed professional surveyors and engineers will receive 8 PDH credits for attending.
Tuesday, Dec 14th in Wilmington NC
Find out more here or click here to register
Wednesday, Dec 15th in Raleigh NC
Find out more here or click here to register
Thursday, Dec 16th in Statesville NC
Find out more here or click here to register
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| Working with Google Earth in Carlson Software |
Many Carlson Software users don't realize how much interoperability exists between Carlson and Google Earth. I wrote a post on the Carlson Connection blog detailing the steps for exporting your drawing entities and viewing them as an overlay in Google Earth. It's very easy and totally cool! and that's also the case for the features listed below.
Place Google Earth Image In addition to taking your drawing entities out to Google Earth, you can also use Carlson GIS to "Place a Google Earth Image" into your CAD file. This command only requires that you specify the "Projection" and "Zone" under Drawing Setup and have Google Earth installed.
Once you have inserted the image into your CAD file, you can then go to Images → Image World File → Create By Image in Drawing in order to create a World File from the image. Doing this allows you to place the image into any other drawing at its proper coordinate location. The World File can be used to place images in all Carlson programs using the Draw → Image → Raster Image command or in Carlson Survey or GIS using the "Place Image By World File" command.
Import Google Earth Surface This is another handy and useful command available in both Carlson Survey and Carlson Civil.
You will find it under Surfaces → Import/Export Surface Data → Import Google Earth Surface. Again, the only requirements are that you have the correct "Projection" and "Zone" settings in Drawing Setup and have Google Earth installed.
After starting the command, you will be prompted to specify a windowed area in the drawing in which you need the surface data, and then to specify a file name for the Carlson surface file (.tin).
I believe this goes without saying, but keep expectations in perspective: This is Google Earth data... it's not survey quality.
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| The TEXTMASK and WIPEOUT Commands |
If you're not familiar with the TEXTMASK or WIPEOUT commands, you'll probably like this tip. Both commands are available in IntelliCAD and AutoCAD.
The TEXTMASK command allows you to select a TEXT or MTEXT entity that "hides" or "masks" other CAD entities behind it. The TEXTMASK command creates a WIPEOUT entity that frames the text and "hides" objects behind it. You must use the DRAW ORDER commands to make sure the WIPEOUT entity hides the entities it's meant to hide. For instance, in the example below, the black polyine is on the "bottom" in the DRAW ORDER. The WIPEOUT is the red rectangular area around the TEXT entity and is "above" the black polyline in the DRAW ORDER. Then, the TEXT entity is on "top" in the DRAW ORDER.
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The WIPEOUT command allows you to manually create a WIPEOUT area that "hides" or "masks" entities behind it in the DRAW ORDER. When you start the WIPEOUT command, you are prompted to select points defining the WIPEOUT area. You can also use the "Polyline" option to select an existing polyine defining the WIPEOUT area. The image below shows a WIPEOUT defined by TEXTMASK and also one with an irregularly shaped WIPEOUT.
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The other option in the WIPEOUT command is for "Frames". This option serves as a toggle to turn the WIPEOUT frames ON or OFF. The image shown above has Frames turned ON and the image below has Frames turned OFF.
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And, the image below shows the value of incorporating WIPEOUT entities in your blocks to hide linework behind the block. In the example below, the linework has not been trimmed inside the circle at the corner, the linework is just hidden.
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One thing to keep in mind when using TEXTMASK is that the WIPEOUT entity created is NOT associated with the text it's masking. So, if you turn the Frames OFF and then move the TEXT, the Text will no longer be "masked". For this reason, I recommend leaving WIPEOUT Frames turned ON but placing them on a special layer that you set to "NO PLOT".
On a related note, a few AutoCAD versions ago we gained the ability to add a "BACKGROUND MASK" to MTEXT entities. For this, you do not have to create either a TEXTMASK or WIPEOUT, just turn ON the BACKGROUND MASK property of the MTEXT object through Object Properties. There have been some issues with the BACKGROUND MASK showing up as a solid black box when printing to PDF, but I believe these have been corrected in newer releases.
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| Pandora.com - The Music Genome Project |
This is a great website for those of you who enjoy listening to music while you're slaving away on your computer all day.
Pandora.com is a site that allows you to listen to a variety of music online. For the FREE version, you're limited to 40 hours per month and you have to put up with ads every 10-15 minutes or so; But, you can pay $36 for a year to listen unlimited and ad-free.
The cool thing about this site is that you design your own radio station or stations. You start by typing in a song or artist and Pandora will start playing that music. The title and artist for each song is shown in the queue and you can pick a "thumbs-up" if you like it and a "thumbs-down" if you don't. If you like it, Pandora will start mixing in songs and artists with the same musical characteristics as the ones that you like and will toss out music that's not your taste. You can also choose to move a song to another station, find out why Pandora chose to play that song or indicate that you're just tired of that song. |
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