Tips you can use.

Check back often. We’re regularly sharing expertise through new tips on a variety of topics based on conversations and consultation with professionals just like you.

AutoCAD AutoCAD Civil 3D Autodesk Autodesk Subassembly Composer Bentley InRoads MicroStation MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries) OpenRoads Designer OpenRoads V8i (SELECTseries) Revit Architecture SUDA

OpenRoads Designer – Drainage & Utilities Tip: Annotating Invert Direction

The common practice of annotating the direction of pipes connecting to structures in storm drain and sanitary sewer systems is not natively provided for in…

MicroStation Tip: Design File Settings that are User Preferences

There are some design file-based settings that can vary from file to file, causing annoyance and confusion. The more common ones are the default Snap mode and…

Civil 3D Tip: Partial Surface Data References

Civil 3D 2026 introduces a significant new feature called Partial Surface Data References. This allows the user to reference only a specific portion of a…

MicroStation Tip: Attaching Bing Maps to a 3D DGN File

One of MicroStation’s helpful features is the ability to attach Bing Maps as part of the default configuration. Note: there must be a Geocoordinate…

OpenBridge Modeler Tip: Adding “Extra” Deck Components

Once a deck has been place, “extra” deck components can be added. To prepare for the new deck component, the existing deck component may need to be…

OpenRoads Designer Tip: Customizing the Popup Spacebar Menu

An often overlooked method to enhance productivity for repetitive tasks is editing the Popup menu. You can add frequent tasks – including civil tasks…

MicroStation Tip: VBA Library Error

When launching MicroStation, OpenRoads Designer, OpenBridge Modeler, or other similar application you may occasionally encounter a warning dialog similar to…

Civil 3D Tip: Shade Corridor Materials in Plan View

Creating shaded materials within a Civil 3D corridor allows you to visualize the model in plan view. Colors, hatches, and shading can represent materials like…

OpenBridge Modeler Tip: Adding a Curb or Sidewalk to the Deck

Once a Deck has been placed, “extra” components can be added via the Place Barrier tool such as a curb or sidewalk. These components are extruded…

OpenRoads Designer Tip: Pavement Preservation – Part 1

OpenRoads Designer includes several tools to evaluate existing geometric design conditions when projects are programmed for pavement preservation. These types…

MicroStation Tip: SmartLine Close Element Change

In the Place SmartLine tool with the Join Elements option toggled on and when the end point of the line matches the start point, the tool settings will change…

OpenBridge Modeler Tip: What’s New in OBM 2024

Steel Elevations OpenBridge Modeler version 2024 has added the ability to produce a static schematic elevation of a steel beam. Once the steel beams have been…

Civil 3D Tip: Civil Object Labels Not Appearing in Viewports

In Civil 3D 2023.2 and newer versions, civil object labels that are not entirely within a viewport do not display by default. The labels will plot, but are not…

Civil 3D Tip: Display Optimization – Essential Application Best Practices

Efficient display performance in Civil 3D is essential for maximizing productivity and minimizing frustrations. Following Windows, hardware, and AutoCAD…

OpenBridge Modeler Tip: What’s New in OBM 2023

There are a number of changes in the 2023 version of OpenBridge Modeler. In a previous article, we covered the 2D/3D separation. This article will be about the…

OpenRoads Designer Tip: Displaying a Linear Feature from a Template Point in the 2D Model Residing Under the Top Mesh

OpenRoads Designer corridor objects generate content in both a 2D plan model as well as a 3D model. To simplify management of content displayed in the 2D…

MicroStation Tip: Annotation Scale with Nested Cells

In some situations, using nested cells is a necessity. When placing nested cells using Annotation Scale, things become a bit more complicated. When creating a…

OpenBridge Modeler: What’s New in OBM 2024

While there are many interesting and useful enhancements made to the OpenBridge Modeler program, we’re going to focus on the addition of the ability to…

Civil 3D Tip: Set One Crossing Profile to Match the Elevation of Another

How can a designer set the elevation of crossing profiles so one of the crossing profiles adheres to the elevation of the other, and automatically adjusts to…

MicroStation Tip: Working Around the DGN Browse Problem

You’ve probably all had this happen to you: This is incredibly frustrating, having to repeatedly navigate through layers of folders to get to the correct…

OpenRoads Designer Tip: Extract From Graphics – Use Element Elevation

Issue As the civil design industry continues to embrace model-centric workflows, many agencies are now undertaking efforts to generate models for existing…

MicroStation Tip: Selecting a Color from an External Source

Occasionally, we may want to use a customized color in our designs. To select a color from an external source (matching a building, etc) open the Modify Color…

Civil 3D Tip: Expand Categories in Toolspace

There are times when you want to see all of the contents in a category or even the entire drawing. To easily do this without clicking the Expand button for…

OpenBridge Modeler Tip: What’s New in OBM 2023

The 2023 version of OpenBridge Modeler brings a number of changes. We’ll discuss one specific feature in this tip due to its impact. 2D/3D Separation…

OpenBridge Modeler Tip: Finding the Tool Settings Window and a Missing Toolbox

One problem that has continued to plague users occurs when the Tool Settings window or a Toolbox goes missing. The possibility of this issue occurring…

OpenRoads Designer Tip: How to Compute Pond Volumes

OpenRoads Designer includes a Compute Pond Volumes application tool. This report can be helpful for Drainage Analysis and Reporting for Stormwater Water…

Civil 3D Tip: New in Surface Workflows (What’s New in 2025.1 and 2025.2)

Civil 3D has now enabled – by default – the ability for the appropriate style display component to be activated when using surface editing…

MicroStation Tip: DGN Audit

The DGN Audit tool has been added as a Technology Preview in MicroStation 2024. This tool has the options to automatically fix corrupted element range values…

OpenRoads Designer Tip: Export to IFC

As the civil engineering industry continues moving towards Digital Delivery, one of the things we need to look at is how to export our design models from…

Civil 3D Tip: Importing Codes into Figure Prefix Database

OpenBridge Modeler Tip: Bridge Report Tips

A few simple tricks can help to make Bridge Reports more effective. Adding Deck Elevations to the Bridge Report If a deck template does not have a certain…

MicroStation Tip: Setting Personal Color Preferences

The traditional method for setting Element Highlight and Selection Set colors is through the File Settings: File > Settings > File > Design File Settings.…