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Anyone here draft with TBC?
Posted by BStrand on May 6, 2021 at 6:48 pmI did not realize this until somewhat recently but apparently TBC can be a full-on drafting software. Has anyone here actually gone that route? If so, what do/did you think of it?
Also, for anyone else familiar with TBC– do you have a suggestion for what level of it to purchase if you wish to do mainly data processing and adjustments?
kscott replied 2 years, 10 months ago 10 Members · 24 Replies- 24 Replies
If you want to process GNSS data, you’ll need TBC Advanced.
If all you are doing is processing and adjusting, you will need the Intermediate level. As of v5.40, that includes GNSS baseline processing, traverse and level adjustments, as well as network (least squares) adjustment.
TBC does a decent job with drafting. They now have a command line drafting option that works similar to AutoCAD. I don’t use it much and don’t think that I have any customers that are using it for the drafting part. If you are like me and have used Carlson much, switching over may be a bit of an uphill battle. If you don’t have a lot of experience and are jumping out and hanging your own shingle, TBC may well be a valid option.
There are a ton of tutorials and online options for learning the software. All can be found under the Support tab. I suggest looking at the eLearning options. I believe the TBC classes are free.
Right, I was looking at the feature matrix and it seemed like intermediate might be ideal for my plan. I used Carlson a tiny bit in school and it was OK but the vast majority of my experience is with Civil 3D. The perpetual license with TBC is appealing, especially compared to Civil 3D subscription. My main concern with TBC are clients not wanting whatever file format (.vce I think?) TBC drawings are in.
Anyway, really good info; I appreciate it.
@bstrand You can export in just about any format you want to. DWG, DXF, SHP, etc. Talk to your dealer and request a trial. Most dealers should have a set of demo codes. If they don’t, they should know where and how to get them.
One thing about the perpetual license… It is a very good idea to keep up with the annual maintenance fees. I see a lot of people that don’t keep up and it ends up costing a lot more than if they had just kept up and stayed on the latest version. If you keep your warranties up to date, and break the dongle (it happens a lot) they will replace it for free.
You can export in just about any format you want to. DWG, DXF, SHP, etc.
Oh really? That changes things a bit then. The local guys did mention a demo code so I’ll definitely look into that.
As far as the maintenance fee I was hoping it covers both Access and TBC but it appears there is a separate fee for each. We’ll see on that, the dealer mentioned there is a small fee if the owner lets the maintenance lapse.
@bstrand There is a small fee for up to a certain amount of time. After that, you have to almost repurchase a license. I don’t get into the money side of things, so I cannot give you a price, but I know it is substantial.
The license is per seat, however you can load TBC on multiple computers, but only one at a time will be fully functional.
I don’t use it as a drafting program, but I do load autocad features into it and use it to write descriptions. It’s basically the same program offered by legalaid, but without the yearly extra cost.
I see, I did not know that.
I wouldn’t mind updating it every few years or whenever a new feature came along that I thought I could use, so it’s not like I’d be one of these guys trying to use 2008 Civil 3D in 2020. Hah But at the same time I want to be smart with my money.
Anyway, I forgot to ask about this:
If you are like me and have used Carlson much, switching over may be a bit of an uphill battle.
What do you mean by this? TBC is harder to learn?
Yeah, I noticed the legal description writer– nice bonus.
I too like the legal description writer, but I especially like TBC for plotting descriptions – having a dynamic interface that keeps all of the metes on the screen, and automatically updates the figure when you change it, is awesome.
I haven’t used the drafting tools heavily since the CAD command line interface came out, but I after trying it out a few times I am pretty sure I could transition from C3D to TBC for drafting easily. For linework, symbolization, surface entitities, it works just fine. IMO annotation is still a little clunky. It’s usable, but it’s not as fast as C3D. But a far easier price tag to swallow considering everything else it does.
“…people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.” -Neil PostmanI forgot that I needed Advanced because I use it for earthwork calcs, surfaces and contours. My bad.
I forgot that I needed Advanced because I use it for earthwork calcs, surfaces and contours. My bad.
IMO, a user can draft using TBC but why would you want to? CAD is so much smoother and easier to configure and automate with templates and other settings.
For adjustments and processing data you??ll need the full blown version with the ??survey? module otherwise you??ll get an error about licensing.
T. Nelson – SAM, LLCTBC is a much flatter learning curve to output reasonable documents. C3D is the top of the heap for full Field to finish, and has more options than the Ace Hardware Fastener aisle that not only will you never use, but maybe never even know they exist there. I’m still lost at times when trying to figure out which over ridden over ridden style layer style etcetc etc…. is hiding.
The reason I was considering it is because it appears the version that does data processing and adjustments (intermediate) is almost the same as the one that does the drafting (advanced), and of course the perpetual license is a nice money-saver compared to Civil 3D. If it doesn’t have the ability to do auto-linework or some of the other nice things that Civil 3D can do then maybe that will be a dealbreaker.
I’ll take a closer look at the modules though; I was under the impression the versions I described above would contain all of the features I was looking for.
Hold tight too.
I know few people inside the yellow castle.
The SAAS options are really close to becoming reality.
C3D allows a single month subscription and worked well for a project I had and didn’t want to drop the full price at that time.
I??ve been to a couple of TBC training sessions where they went over drafting. It??s either an old drafting module or a first try, because it??s so non intuitive. It seems to intentionally be made to not operate like auto as or microstation, that it??s painful to try to use. If you only do simple single sheet survey drawings, you could eventually get to to look right to save money from buying Autodesk. But a lot of surveyors use Carlson as an autocad alternative.
Apparently, I forgot that twice.
I’ve been playing around with it a bit and the first thing that jumped out to me is the UI isn’t scaled to work on a 4K monitor. I have a question in to the dealer about this.
I changed the resolution of one of my monitors to 1080p and that fixes the UI but the drawing area doesn’t seem to display right as the linework and text is super thin and difficult to read. This might just be a matter of configuring things.
I like how streamlined and simplified certain things are but I also keep running into basic stuff that I would have to relearn that I can tell I would dread spending time on.
I guess we’ll see…
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