Google Earth Images

[JCarlsness]

Is there a way in insert google earth images into c3d for a background that is geo correct? If so, how do you do it and can you assign a coordinate system to it.  Thanks

[Westhills]

Yes, Make sure your drawing is in the correct coordinate sytem for your area ie UTM NAD83. In civil 3d 2011, from the insert tab sect google earth and choose what you want to import. Note that GE must be open and showing the area theat you want to import. Sometimes local areas have scaling factors to go to UTM so dont forget to account for that.

[JCarlsness]

Thanks. Google Earth does not show up in the insert drop down. I dont use the ribbons in c3d. I am a toolbar junkie and the ribbons are slower to use. Do you know another way to do it? Thanks

[Westhills]

Are you using 2011? Hard to remember, but it might be under file/import?

[JCarlsness]

Yes I am in c3d 2011. I clicked file import and still don't see it. Any idea where else I could find it? Thanks Jeremy

[Westhills]

Heres what the help file has. You may need ot switch to the ribbon for this operation.

NoteThe imported image is displayed as grayscale in the application.

You can import Google Earth images into your AutoCAD Civil 3D drawing.

You can manually specify the image insertion point or you can insert the image using the defined coordinate system in the drawing. Before you start, ensure that no tilting, turning, or rotation have been applied to the image.

Tutorial: Importing a Google Earth Image

To import a Google Earth image into a Civil project

1. In Google Earth, fly to a point of interest (see the Google Earth User Guide for more information).

   The image that is displayed in the Google Earth 3D Viewer is the source image that will be imported. See the Google Earth User Guide for more information.

2. Click Insert tab Import panel Google Earth drop-down Google Earth Image At the Command prompt, enter ImportGEImage.
3. Follow the instructions at the command prompt and, depending on whether your drawing has a coordinate system defined (see Specifying Units and Zone Settings), do one of the following:
   • Choose to locate the image using the defined coordinate system or manually identify the image location.
   • Manually specify the image insertion point and define image rotation angle by entering the corresponding values or clicking in the drawing workspace.
   NoteIf a map projection coordinate system is defined, AutoCAD Civil 3D can automatically place the image or terrain data in the proper location in the drawing.

The image is displayed in the drawing as a new object. The image file name is generated and the image is saved in JPEG format in the same folder as the current drawing file. You can use the imported image for adding design objects and data.

[Westhills]

and this....

ImportGEImage

Ribbon

Insert tab /Import panel /Google Earth drop-down /Google Earth Image

Menu

File /Import /Import Google Earth Image

Command Line

ImportGEImage

[JCarlsness]

I will give it a shot. Thank you

[JCarlsness]

I found that you can type in "importgeimage" and this works too. Thanks. I didnt realize this was in the help menu. Thank you very much.

[ksorsby]

Hi all,

Any way of doing this in colour? I guess it's a licensing issue.

Cheers,

Kevin

[Westhills]

Dont know about the color. However most local area governements (county, city, municiplity) have hi res tifs that will will distribute for free  or for a small fee. 

[JCarlsness]

Our county is greedy. We can't get any high res aerials from our local governemnt. We have to pay $2500 just for parcel infromation. Google Earth works. Not very good resolution though. If you have Arcview GIS there is a free GIS to CAD tool that will enable you to access high resolution aerials and other GIS information in CAD. It was made for 2010 and 2011. Not sure if will work for C3d. You can also link to the same database that GIS does right in C3d. It just bogs down the computer. GIS handles the earial data base so much better. That is why the GIS to CAD tool is nice. I haven't tried it yet. I will post and let you know how well it works. I will be testing this today.

[NathanBee]

JCarlsness,

Before you get your potentially get your company into legal strife with using GEarth images, I suggest you check out this thread.

[Jason.Hickey]

Google Earth's API does not allow the extraction of color images, only black and white. This is a limitation imposed by Google Earth, and has nothing to do with licensing - even the pro version (which is what should be used for any type of commercial work) won't allow for color image imports.

[BrianHailey]

Import the b/w image; in GE, save the image to your network; in C3D, change the image reference to point at the color image.