Mastering AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008 | 
 enlarge | Authors: Dana Probert E.i.t., James Wedding P.e.
Creators: P.e. Mark Scacco, Jason Hickey
Publisher: Sybex
Category: Book
List Price: $69.99
Buy New: $38.36
You Save: $31.63 (45%)
New (35) Used (15) from $37.28
Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 89340
Media: Paperback
Edition: Pap/Cdr
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 984
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.9
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 7.3 x 2
ISBN: 0470167408
Dewey Decimal Number: 624.0285536
EAN: 9780470167403
ASIN: 0470167408
Publication Date: July 30, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: New Publisher's Overstock! We provide delivery confirmation emails that includes tracking numbers on all domestic orders.
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Product Description
Understand concepts, create perfect designs, and manage every stage of a project with this thorough guide to Autodesk's powerful civil engineering software. Authored by experts with close ties to Autodesk and the Civil 3D community, it features an in-depth, tutorial-based approach grounded in real-world examples so that you get the very most out of Civil 3D. This practical guide focuses squarely on how to use the software in a production environment and provides insights, insider tips, and advanced techniques you won't find anywhere else.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 Close, but not good enough. July 5, 2008
At this point, I will say this book is the best out there for Civil 3D training.
With that being said, however, the book is LOADED with errors. Features are called one thing in a step of the tutorial, then called something else a few steps later. Some steps don't work exactly as they say it will. (They leave certain "tricks" out - tricks that make the feature work as it should) I've contacted the publisher several times regarding the mistakes I've discovered that weren't covered in their errata page, and only received patronizing responses or no response at all.
It is quite obvious to even the least experienced user of Civil 3D, that this book was rushed to print. For the authors to be practicing P.E.s and an E.I.T., the mistakes are inexcusable.
Mastering it isn't June 8, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
With a title like "Mastering" I expected a lot more. While it is about the only current offering on the subject the title should be "Beginning", it does not teach you to "Master". Within a few pages I had doubts about the credibility of the book. Words were missing and the general feel was rather amateurish. I also strongly suggest that they have a practicing Land Surveyor review the next edition before publishing, it is painfully obvious that like most engineers they know just enough about surveying to be dangerous.
Example: On page 7 in the first paragraph: "Many engineers continue to work in an arbitrary coordinate system using the settings as shown earlier, but using a real coordinate system is easy! For example, setting up a drawing ...." and they procede to show how to choose the North Central Zone, US foot, of the NAD83 Texas State Plane. There is a lot more involved in obtaining state plane coordinates then just choosing the zone of a state plane coordinate system. Very expensive equipment with highly trained and skilled people to operate it are necessary. The implication above is that all you need to do is pick a coordinate system and go. WRONG!!!!! I have had managers that would refuse to purchase up to date equipment after reading such a misleading published statement, saying what do you need it for, all you have to do is click on the right coordinate system.
I suspect their friends are the ones who post the glowing 5 star reviews.
If you have Civil 3D 2009 and are counting your pennies, work your way through the tutorials included with the software first. AutoDesk has greatly improved their help files. Search the Civil 3D newsgroup for any specific questions. You will probably find you don't need this book.
 Great teaching tool April 21, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Mastering AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008
I bought this book the week it came out and used it to teach myself Civil 3D from the ground up. I was able to, in a short time, use Civil 3D in a production environment. This book along with the web site for it have been invaluable in expanding my knowledge of the software.
Recently in a new position at a new company we purchased a dozen of these books as the text I will be using to teach Civil 3D to the entire company, as we transition from Land Desktop to Civil 3D.
As a self teaching guide or a classroom text this book is the best.
 My new Bible April 21, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is exactly what I needed to "kick-start" our Civil 3D turnover from Land Desktop. This book gives real world examples and real applications, unlike the autodesk "bells and whistle" workshops. If you are not sure if this book is for you, trust me it is. The book is well written and doesn't miss a step. Very easy to follow along for the Land Desktop user to skip intermediate steps and straight forward for the novice. The only drawback is the small text.
Currently the best book on the topic April 8, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
It's interesting to read some of not so great reviews on this book. I'm not sure what people expect but if you want a comprehensive introduction to Civil 3D 2008, This is the best book on the market right now. The book is well organized, easy enough to digest (as technical self teaching software books go). For $45 you have the tools to learn this software.
Writing books of this nature has to be a real challenge. Autodesk puts out a new release every year, most users have the latest release, the books have a very limited period of marketability & writers have little time prior to offical release to prepare. Considering all that, I find the price very reasonalble, the content accurate & appropriate and errors minimal.
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