AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012 Essentials 1st Edition

It is an excellent book. Not only does it train you the Essentials of AutoCAD Civil 3D, it goes to the basic principles of Civil Engineering and teaches you Land Development Design in particular.At the beginning of every chapter, it introduces the subject matter using simple day-to-day related analogies to teach the reader the basics and then builds on that.Accompanying the book are very well prepared drawings covering/illustrating every section in every chapter which the reader can freely download. Hands on tutorials have been provided at the end of every section where the reader can actually exercise using Civil 3D and recap what has been learnt in that particular section. The hands on exercises are so rigorous that they guide the reader through every step and every click in order to complete the task using AutoCAD Civil 3D.Furthermore, side notes have been provided to explain to the reader some important notations and to keep the reader well aware of how things should be done.Additional exercises have been provided at the end of every chapter in order to recap what has been learnt in the chapter.Moreover the reader can approach Eric who is readily available to provide his prompt help as required.Overall it is a very useful and handy reference for AutoCAD Civil 3D. I strongly recommend the book to anyone who wants to learn Civil 3D.

The book is a great start to help you get through a lot of the beginner's problems when it comes to using Civil 3D. After using Civil 3D for 4 years, I finally passed the Autodesk Civil 3D certification. This book is really "essential" when it comes to understanding deeper than the Richard Graham's "Mastering AutoCAD Civil 3D" books. But this book again is "essential" but not to the point of becoming "innovative" as this book as a very VERY small and limited discussion or how-to on using parts builder.I met Eric at the Autodesk University conferences in the past and I'm glad to hear that he still practices and uses the software daily and his books reflect it. But nothing is better than meeting him in person to get some real inspirational ideas of how to use the software to a different level (or even understanding and using the parts builder).

This book is well written for the novice Civil 3D user. The material was explained well and the examples easy to follow and informative. I would absolutely recommend this book for the novice 3D user. For anyone that is an advanced user, this book will not improve your skills very much. There were a few tips and procedures that the advanced user may find helpful. The book is titled "essentials" and that is exactly what it provides - ESSENTIAL steps, advice and explanations for using the program. Even for an advanced user this book is a good reference. I wish this book had been available when I first started with Civil 3D.

As others have said this is a good book for beginners in Civil 3D. I found few errors and the example problems worked flawlessly. I purchased another very thick Civil 3D "Bible" and tried to work through the examples, but it would take months to get through. The beauty of this book is that you can read a chapter and get through the problems in 1-3 hours. Within a week or 2, you are done and have a good overview of much of the functionality of Civil 3D. In fact, I found reading the chapter first then going back to work the problems to be a time saver. My recommendation would be to purchase this book and a thorough reference to turn to when you have a specific task or problem not covered in the essentials book.

For anyone looking for a quick and on point brush up, or just to learn how to work your way around Civil 3D. Back in college, besides a freshmen graphics class, and computer Apps, there was not really much time to learn this program. Let just say, in two weeks I learned and master Civil 3D!! Get it you will as well.

I am a engineering student fixing to graduate with little to no CAD experience other than Bentley Software. This book has got me started in the right direction in learning Autodesk. The tutorials that build off one another are excellent. I would recommend this book to any new Civil 3D user.

Helpful for beginner good learning tool. Have used similar book in the classroom with good results. Will continue to purchase this style and brand of books.

The book do not have the issue of superelevation, by sure, if in the next edition is include, it will improve the quality of the product