No model builder imagery

[jmackey]

• Created model using model builder, no imagery in downloaded model.
• It cannot be configured, see error dialog below.
• Any help would be appreciated.

 

[elliott.rosenfeld]

You can try to re-download the imagery by opening the data sources panel, choosing Add Database Data Source, then select Bing as the provider. I would recommend Tile Level 17 as it is the Model Builder default.

If that doesn't work, you may want to try to regenerate the model, or re-create the model with Model Builder.

Hope this helps,

Elliott

[jmackey]

• No, reconnecting data source didnt work. Red circles were not functional, so I couldnt enter bing as the service.

• Regerating model didnt work either.

• I have recreated model 3-4 times, same result.....!
• This is very frustrating. I need imagery to work on proposal site.
• Do I need any updates, or hotfixes?

Please help

[kronec · Accepted solution]

Hi,

I'll ask for some information to try to track down the source of the problem below, but first let's look at how to add a new Bing imagery datasource to your model to see if this helps you with your immediate problem.

To add a new Bing datasource, you choose Add Database Data Source ad you showed in your message. However, you also need to edit the Connection type to be "Bing Maps" rather than "Oracle":

You can change the data source name, as well as the imagery resolution. Once you click OK, you'll have a new, configured Bing datasource:

If you select this datasource and click "Refresh", InfraWorks should try to download new imagery for your model.

Regarding the source of the initial problem, I'm wondering if you might be experiencing problems due to proxy settings. Do you know if your organization uses a proxy server for web access?

One handy way to troubleshoot this issue would be to try to refresh a new Bing datasource added as described above, and check for any warnings or errors written to the InfraWorks log. If you open up the Message Log from the InfraWorks Help menu:

then Refresh the imagery datasource, do you see any errors in the log?

One more thing we can try to troubleshoot is if you can provide the Tracking ID from one of more of the problem models. You can find this in the notification emails sent by InfraWorks:

We can use this ID to look through our logs to see if an error occurred.

I hope this helps,

curt

[roskirko]

Note if you add your own aerial imagery (GeoTiff for example or a Tif and a world file), the imagery has to be changed to 8 bit color depth (256 maximum colors) to come into Infraworks. In AutoCAD Civil, I can use 16 bit color and I think I was able to use 32 and 64 bit as well. I used either GIMP (free) to make the change or Photoshop which is not free.

[kronec]

In general, it should not be necessary to reduce color depth of imagery to 8 bits for use in InfraWorks. If this is a continuing issue for you, it might be best to take it up in a separate thread, as this is unrelated to the use of Bing imagery under discussion here.

[roskirko · Accepted solution]

Elliot; Curt:

This is a common problem I have encountered with Infraworks and your explanation, Elliot, now makes the reason clear. 

AIW's primary source of imagery is Bing Maps. Bing Maps are not up to date in many geographic areas.

I have attached a document with some comparison of Bing Mpas Civil 3D 2016, Infraworks 360 16.3, Google Maps and aerial imagery from a government agency all of the same geographic area.

When Bing Maps is of poor quality in Civil 3D, Infraworks, rightly so, ignores using it; thus the blank canvas showing the terrain topography only (likely SRTM).

I then resort to GeoTiffs; of those, often (actually always) these have to be converted to 8 bit color depth to work in Infraworks.

The original poster should seek out GeoTiffs from the area or use AutoCAD Raster Design to create one from Google Maps or Bing Maps.

Too bad Autodesk was forced to use Bing Maps services once Google Maps became controlled by ESRI approximately one year ago; That corporate move explains why Autodesk no longer supports a link to Google Maps since these are far superior to Bing Maps.

[roskirko]

Further review of comparing Bing to Google Maps can be made at this link:

http://www.jonasson.org/maps/

I found the area in question that I was referring to; Google Maps has the aerial image when zoomed in closely; Bing Maps does not.

[roskirko]

I have attached a document on how to create a georeferenced image on the cheap and place it into Infraworks.

[elliott.rosenfeld]

Hi roskirko,

Thanks for providing you thoughts on this. A couple of comments inline below:

AIW's primary source of imagery is Bing Maps. Bing Maps are not up to date in many geographic areas.

This is true, a connection to Microsoft Bing Maps is used to provide the imagery for Model Builder-created models. Unfortunately, as is the case with many providers, there are areas where the satellite imagery is not up to date. When this happens, but you can see camera icons over the terrain, in some cases you can decrease the Bing Imagey Tile Level to display the aerial imagery. You can see a forum case about this here: http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/infraworks-360-general/why-doesn-t-my-model-show-map-image-little-came.... Your other option is to import additional data layers that you source on your own, which I would generally recommended for high-resolution, detailed work if the default Model Builder imagery isn't satisfactory for your purposes.

I then resort to GeoTiffs; of those, often (actually always) these have to be converted to 8 bit color depth to work in Infraworks.

To my knowledge, you do not need to convert the GeoTiffs to 8 bit color depth in order to make things work in InfraWorks. Where are you acquiring the geotiffs (you list a few options in your comment)? And what are the coordinates of your project location, (if you are allowed to share that information)?

Thanks,

Elliott

[jmackey]

Thanks Roskirko, all is fixed, once I upgraded to IW 16.3.

[jmackey]

Thanks Kronec, all imagery is loading, once I upgraded to IW 16.3, then I set the connection type: to Bing maps, which previously was unavailable. Thanks again.

[kronec]

Excellent! Glad to hear you're up and running.

[Anonymous]

Good morning,

I´ve browsed through the forum seeking for an answer for my problem that is the same explained here. I´m using IW 17.2 and I´ve tried all the solutions given in the thread, but I had no luck.

The imagery of every model is set in configured, but when I try to refresh the model the following message appears

 

We need the imagery in order to perform several projects, so any help will be much welcomed.

Thanks!