Well, it’s finally here, and I can play with it. I’ve been anticipating this for a while, as have some of my customers. Finally, I have an alternative to offer people who don’t want nor need the incredible functionality of Civil 3D.

Yes, there are other software manufacturers out there who make civil and survey software. One of these is Carlson. To be honest, I had heard about it being a total solution, but have never had the chance to put my hands on it until now.

Carlson offers the Carlson Civil Suite 2007 add on to AutoCAD. In fact, Carlson Civil Suite will run on AutoCAD, Autodesk Map 3D, Autodesk Land Desktop, or Autodesk Civil 3D (I personally find the last one very interesting, as you could possibly figure.)   It includes Carlson Civil 2007, Carlson Survey 2007, Carlson Hydrology 2007, and Carlson GIS 2007.   It’s touted on the Carlson website as, “Without a doubt, these four civil-related modular programs, working together, create the ultimate civil package.”

That remains to be seen.

In the coming weeks, I will be posting here a comparison of Carlson Civil Suite 2007 and Civil 3D.  And since we attempt to be unbiased, I will be pointing out pros and cons of BOTH software packages. Since the site is www.civil4d.com and not www.civil3d_and_carlson_civil_2007.com, I won’t be posting any real tips and tricks on Carlson (especially since I don’t know that many yet…), but will stick to the comparative posts. If you’d like any more in-depth information that I don’t include in one of these posts, feel free to email me.

Have fun!