AUGIWorld Magazine November/December 2007

Figure 1: Navigate to your site of interest within Google Earth. 3D provides us three options when importing data from Google Earth. We can import just the image, just the surface, or both the surface and the image. Each of these options can be found by going to “File > Import > Import Google Earth…” • Image Coordinate System: After starting the Google Earth import, a coordinate system prompt will come up. Simply press [Enter] to have Civil 3D project the Google Earth data into your drawings coordinate system. Civil 3D will take a moment to process the requested Google Earth data, and then display it into your current drawing. Due to some limitations in the Google Earth API, the imagery that comes into Civil 3D will be black and white. The terrain data will of course assume one of your Civil 3D surface styles. On a side note, it is actually possible to display your Civil 3D model in Google Earth. This can be done from the “File” menu, selecting “Publish to Google Earth.” The resulting dialog will walk you through a series of steps to export your design to file that can be opened by Google Earth. The native Google Earth integration with AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008 definitely adds value to the Google Earth system within civil engineering companies. While the practical uses of this technology are likely apparent, the legal ones are not. The free version of Google Earth contains some legal restrictions that may prevent you from using it in production drawings. Google offers a paid version of the software, which lifts some of the legal restrictions contained within its free version. Donnie Gladfelter is the Design Systems Specialist for Timmons Group; an ENR 500 design and consulting firm headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, with offices throughout the Mid-Atlantic. Backed by more than a decade of CAD experience, he is jointly responsible for the development and delivery of training, support, and CAD standards for their more than 200 CAD users. He can be reached at donnie.gladfelter@ timmons.com, or through his CAD Blog online at www.TheCADGeek.com. 19 Legal restrictions Figure 2: Google Earth Surface and Image in Civil 3D. Civil 3D. Thus, once you get accustomed to the controls within Google Earth, “fly” to a point of interest. As you’re getting your view configured, be sure of a few things: • Buffer your site: give yourself a little room beyond your site’s boundary. • Keep your view flat: For Civil 3D to import things correctly, no “tilting” can be applied to your view. The slider bar just above the north arrow controls tilt in Google Earth. Be sure to slide it to the far left, ensuring that no tilting is being applied. • North is up: Civil 3D is going to assume that north in your Google Earth import is the top of your image. If this is not the case, Civil 3D will still import the requested data, but north will be skewed. Simply double-clicking the “N” in the Google Earth controls will ensure that your view is properly rotated. Nov/Dec 2007 The new functionality found within Civil 3D 2008 will let us import the view we just configured inside Google Earth. Keeping Google Earth open and untouched, we’re going to start a session of Civil 3D. As with any other Civil 3D drawing, you will want to start a new drawing using your company’s standard. Civil 3D does ship with a few drawing templates (stored in the default template directory) containing some predefined styles. At this point you’re only a few steps away from having Google Earth data inside of your Civil 3D drawing. • Set your drawing datum: Right-click on the drawing name and select “Edit Drawing Settings” from the “Settings” tab within the Civil 3D Toolspace. Use the “Units and Zone” tab to define the appropriate coordinate system. • Import data from Google Earth: Civil Importing data into Civil 3D http://www.TheCADGeek.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of AUGIWorld Magazine November/December 2007

AUGIWorld Magazine November/December 2007 Table of Contents The CAD Manager Education & Training Finance Training Google Earth: Now Showing in AutoCAD Civil 3D Get Your Input Here A Good First Impression, Part 2 Share and Share Alike Who's Using Revit MEP? Ready… Get Set… Properties! On the Back Page: The Brazilian Model

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