C3D 2011 New Pipe Network Features.

Three weeks ago was an exciting week for Autodesk as they announced some of the new features coming with C3D 2011. The pipe networks ribbon introduced new features such as the split and merge pipe networks. The split pipe network command allows you to split one pipe networks into two without moving the objects. This feature basically assignments a new network name to the selected pipes you chose.The merge pipe network command allows you to merge two different pipe networks into one. Within the command, it will ask you which pipe network you want as the source and which as the destination pipe network. Last but not least, the new vertex elevation feature when creating a new pipe network from objects. Instead of automatically assigning the elevation of the object to the centerline of the pipe, you can now specify which part of the pipe (Outside Top, Crown, Centerline, Invert, or Outside Bottom) is used to specify the elevation of the part. This can come in very handy for me. This feature should not be used when creating a pipe network from structures only or pipes only option. The best thing to do is to create your pipe and structures and then delete the structure you do not want. As a reminder you can create a pipe network from lines, 2d polylines, 2d spline polylines, 3d polylines, arcs, and feature line alignments. You can also select these same objects through an xref.

Overall I think everyone will love the performance and stability of C3D 2011 running in Windows 7- 64 bit OS. No more crashing a few times a day and slow lag time. :)