Being Civil

Google Earth Utilities with R2013 products

Just wanted to make you aware of one post that explains to some of you who wondered about Google Earth in Civil 3D 2013. Here is a forum post with an official statement from Autodesk posted by Dave Simeone, Senior Product Manager for Civil 3D.

Due to limitations on the use of the Google Earth API, AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2013 does not include API access to allow customers to import Google Earth imagery and/or surfaces directly into Civil 3D. We are aware of the importance of including preliminary surface and aerial imagery in your design workflows and are actively looking for an alternative.  However, we cannot share any specific information about potential future product enhancements. When appropriate, we will communicate technology plans via various channels including Autodesk Labs, Facebook, Blogs and the Civil 3D Discussion Group.     

Google Earth Updated Extension for AutoCAD 2012 Available Now

It's no secret that Google Earth plug-in for AutoCAD has been one of the top downloads on Autodesk lab. This is something Civil users have enjoyed for a few years now, but unfortunately this update was not tested on Civil 3D 2012, so it may not be possible to install it. Today we got a word that Googe Earth Update is now available for other members of AutoCAD family.  On top of that we can now import Google Earth image in COLOR (it used to be possible only in back and white), 3D model can now be published to Google Earth, will automatically populate geographic information during publish, image can be draped onto a surface, and other cool things ... and all that while still in AutoCAD. Before installing it check these two links to get better picture of what to expect; read Getting Started and User Guide.

You can download Google Earth Extension Update for AutoCAD on this link: Google Earth Extension on Autodesk Labs.

Enjoy!

 

Mirrored Images When Draped Over a Surface

I had a customer log a case recently with quite an odd problem – and an even more odd fix. When you import an image and surface from Google Earth, the image is draped over the surface as a render style when you view the surface in 3D. However, a particularly annoying thing can happen – the image becomes flipped for some odd reason. Follow the jump to see what I’m talking about and how to fix it!

Surface Elevation Data Incorrect – Google Earth

It is no secret here that I am a huge fan of the integration of Google Earth into Civil 3D.  For that reason, these cases tend to land on my desk.  The use of this data for preliminary planning purposes can save both time and money. 

Here is a quick and easy one that may have you scratching your head at first.

If you ever find that your Surface Elevations are off by a considerable amount, make sure to check your insertion scale.  The elevations should be in feet, but if you happen to have your insertion scale set to inches, your elevations will be off by a factor of 12.

To change this, type UNITS at the command line.  In the Insertion Scale section, change this to feet.  Because this only applies to data being inserted, you will need to reinsert your Google Earth Surface to show the corrected information.

Enjoy!

Check out more Google Earth posts.

Latest version of Google Earth and importing images

Google released an update (5.0.11733.9347) to Google Earth recently, and there have been some reports of images not coming in correctly.  The images will show up in the approximate location, but the scale appears to be off.

Until Google gets this sorted out, you can download the last version (5.0.11337.1968) that still imports correctly. 

You can check your version of Google Earth by going to the Help Menu, and then selecting About Google Earth.

I will keep you posted, as I hear more.

[edit: The original link did not have the download anymore, so I removed it.  However, a quick google search should provide you with the previous version]

Unknown command when Importing Google Earth Mesh

In 2010, if you tried to import a Google Earth Mesh from the Ribbon, you may have been greeted with this:

Not to worry, it’s an easy fix.

1. Open your CUI
2. Expand Ribbon > Tabs > Civil 3D Insert
3. Click on “Civil 3D Insert Import & notice the Preview appear on the right side
4. Click on Google Earth on the right side
5. Back on the left, click on Google Earth Mesh
6. Now back to the bottom right, you can see the Command name and Macro
7. Change the macro and remove the AECC so that it just reads:
   • ^C^C_ImportGEMesh
8. Hit Apply and then OK.

That should do it!

Draping images 101

I am currently working with a customer on a problem he is having with draping images.  However, despite his specific issue, the process is really quite simple, but I don’t hear that people are using it very much.  I wanted to give you a quick overview of the process, as you might find this useful on your projects.

How to control line weight when publishing to Google Earth

As you have already noticed, beside so many cool features, Civil 3D can also publish objects to Google Earth so we can now visualize how our corridor, alignment, parcel, etc. look on the ground. All you need to do is to install Google Earth Extension for AutoCAD Civil 3D. AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009 version comes with extensions while for previous versions could be downloaded from this site: http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/google_earth_extension_beta/

But, that is an old news. What I am about to do here is to provide a workaround for displaying lines to be legible on the Google Earth image. For some reason all lines published to Google Earth’s KML file are shown with 4.0 widths. Back in Civil 3D 2009 you made sure all lines are 0.0 width. To illustrate…. you wanted your image to look like the one called “After” but you got is “Before”.

   

That setting is part of the Style Setting of Google Earth. If you publish your object in Google Earth on the left side of the screen you should see the file name you just published (Places).  Right-click on it and choose Properties. Then you will see Style, Color tab where yo  u should be able to set Width from 4.0 to whatever you wish. But this will only take care of the line you selected or multiple objects you selected.

    

There is another workaround to achieve your ultimate goal of having “Before” image look like “After” image. Again, it seems that Google Earth default is still 0.0 only if the lines are coming in default line weight. So by changing all layers from 0.00 (or other widths) to default in Layer manager within AutoCAD Civil 3D and then using File>Publish to Google Earth or PUBLISHKML command to publish this can be achieved. By the way, make sure you don’t use “Elevation relative to sea level” in the Publish AutoCAD DWG to Google Earth dialog if you want to be able to see your objects….like I didn’t.