View in Google Earth command or button needed!!

[holsteinson 0]

Asides of KML and KMZ file formats import and export commands in VW, a View in Google Earth command or button that sends the active open drawing to GE should have been available in VW2009 since it launch in September 2008.

Everyone should request this valuable tool to NNA!

[holsteinson 0]

All clients request our designs to be uploaded to GE for real state marketing, environmental impact studies, road designs, etc so why is this feature so hard to come in VW?

[holsteinson 0]

NNA bought ARCHISOFT's ARCHICAD and they have not realize that this feature is already supported by this software but not by VW09 SP2

View in Google Earth support in ARCHICAD

[panta rhei 0]

NNA bought ARCHISOFT's ARCHICAD and they have not realize that this feature is already supported by this software but not by VW09 SP2

Did it really?

[Jeffrey W Ouellette 3]

Alexander,

First, Nemetschek AG, our parent company, purchased Graphisoft. We are "sister" companies, but remain unique development platforms.

Second, there is an "Export KML" command in the "File > Export" menu. This will export all 3D objects in visible classes and layers to a KML which can be opened in Google Earth. One Button, no, but there IS support, none the less.

[panta rhei 0]

This will export all 3D objects in visible classes and layers to a KML which can be opened in Google Earth. One Button, no, but there IS support, none the less.

And the day I'll see any valid 3D by a civil engineer, I'll buy a Chevy.

[Miguel Barrera 18]

And the day I'll see any valid 3D by a civil engineer, I'll buy a Chevy.

I am with you Petri but I will buy a Fiat.

Not only would it be time consuming and expensive to model everything in 3D but you would also need a supercomputer to show a street network without slowing down to a crawl.

On the positive side, if the design could be modeled, conflicts between different structures could be identified earlier in the design stage rather than later during construction. Those change orders can be very expensive also.

[islandmon 4]

It is my understanding that the 3D topography utilized by GE is generated from satellite 1m radar data.

Satellite images at various resolutions are then 'surface mapped' to the data points using sophisticated algorithms.

KML protocols allow for 3D model placements onto the virtual surface.

An entire 90gb global raw dataset is available from various sources including from the XPlane DVD's which also provide texture and image mappings used by the simulator ( including the entire surface of Mars... as a bonus ).

Use of the raw radar data for specific Long-Lat site work requires some Excel conversion>export to conform to the XYZ coordinates required by VW Landmark.

Maybe it is possible for a Civil Engineer to create a valid 3D topo after all ; )

[panta rhei 0]

Incidentally, just a few weeks ago I received engineer's drawings of a few kilometers of a new 4-lane road. To my surprise, they had at least attempted to work in 3D (it's been a few years since I last had anything to do with this kind of thing. The road edges etc were in 3D (although quite a few points here and there were at z=0). No pavement surfaces unfortunately, so the intended 3D visualisation of landscaping does not seem to be feasible within the landscape consultant's fee.

So, it may be that there needs to be a software revolution before the actual construction can be efficiently modeled to a level of conflict identification.

[jbrhwy 0]

If you want to see tools that quickly & elegantly allow you to display road infrastructure in 3-D take a look at Charles Chandler's Land Planning Vw add-on "http://scs-inc.us/default.php?page=products". I use it check potential location conflicts between underground utilities, but there are many other tools that are beneficial to any one who works with site plans.

[panta rhei 0]

Right. These tools obviously work fully in 3D in conjuction with a DTM?

[holsteinson 0]

Definetly your lack of technical skills to follow any post is refreshing

You are not able to articulate a single technical sentence related to the post, so I guess you must a great 3D designer.

Send me the Chevy anytime (not that I need it since I have 2008 BMW X5, but I can have my junior civil engineers do errands on it) since all of our designs are 3D, from a highway, golf course, tourist resort down to a breakwater ...

The post is to have a georeferenced Google Earth ONE BUTTON in VW, which it doesnt has. It has an Export command for all 3D objects to KML with no geospatial framework.

[holsteinson 0]

Miguel try Trimble Terramodel Design Road Module and Creative Engineering HighRoad for 3D road and any land development designs... you dont need a supercomputer to run your designs on them

[Miguel Barrera 18]

Miguel try Trimble Terramodel Design Road Module and Creative Engineering HighRoad for 3D road and any land development designs... you dont need a supercomputer to run your designs on them

I do not need another program to do 3D and road design when I can do it all within VW. The plugins I use are 2D/3D objects that model the road, curbs, sidewalks, driveways, drainage, utilities, etc. in 3D. The road objects also hold the information needed to draw profiles and sections automatically. I have used other programs and researched HighRoad (from Australia if I am not mistaken-Ugh!) but none can produce exactly what I need. Sometimes the learning curve is so steep that I rather use the time to create the tools that I need.

This is just a matter of scales. Sure you can display a road segment without a problem but if you start adding more segments, it gets to a point where a personal computer cannot handle all the data. I have made the mistake of loading the parcel shape file in Arcview without configuring the zoom limits to display the data and this takes a while to load. These are just polygons so can you imagine how long it would take to display detailed 3D objects? You also need to consider that the internet is not as fast as a hard drive so getting the data will delay the display time even more.

I am in agreement that this would be beneficial for some folks but you also have to be realistic. You may be able to display one detailed 3D building or road segment at a time but not one square mile of the real world.

[panta rhei 0]

For better or worse, I am in agreement with Miguel, who also seems to be a Current Resident of This Planet.

HighRoad is no longer Australian. An Italian firm bought it a couple of years ago and is, I understand, recoding it from scratch.

[jbrhwy 0]

Miquel

Vw can not be used to dynamically design roads, ie move an intersection point in plan view & observe the effect on cross sections & material quantities at the same time. Since Vw doesn't provide for the selection of design speeds, vertical curves or superelevation how are you able to only use Vw to design roads that comply with accepted standards?

Chris Baker as passed HighRoad off (not sold) to Sauro Agostini of Interstudio. Who sent me the following message looking for user feedback - "we are working on developing a new version of HighRoad. This requests some time, because it isn't a simple upgrade, it is a completely re-writing. HighRoad was developed in Forth, that is a beautiful and elegant developing language, but it isn't supported on the new operating systems, so we are writing a new version of HighRoad based on XYWidgets, a C++ cross platform developing system for Mac Os X, Windows and Linus. This allows us not only to translate the current HighRoad Forth code, but also to add important user interface features, like multiple undo-redo, complete DWG support, drag and drop and others."

[panta rhei 0]

Fair enough, Bruce. I'm in agreement with you, too! And am learning...

Although I'm a total ignoramus, I've been able to gather that road design is not a trivial exercise. Seems to be almost as complex as architecture.

However, notwithstanding etc: surely there is a conceptual stage, too? Or is it a separate discipline? At some stage, a road network must be considered from the point of usefulness? No? You just start with defining radii, intersections, curves and so on. Fair enough.

[Miguel Barrera 18]

Vw can not be used to dynamically design roads, ie move an intersection point in plan view & observe the effect on cross sections & material quantities at the same time. Since Vw doesn't provide for the selection of design speeds, vertical curves or superelevation how are you able to only use Vw to design roads that comply with accepted standards?

Bruce,

How wrong are you on this. You just do not know or have not bother to explore the full potential of the program. Plugins are indeed dynamic objects which may change in response to user input. If I change the grade or any other parameter of the road through the OIP, I made it smart enough to search for all other plugins (profiles, sections, etc.) that may be affected and to change them accordingly. I use my road section plugin while establishing road grades to ensure that driveways meet the maximum 14% grade and also to avoid the use of retaining walls due to the proposed road cuts. I also use the section to observe the cross grade, which should be 2% to 4%, when I change the elevations or grade on the road plugin. The estimate for asphalt, base, curb, and sidewalk gets updated every time I change any OIP parameter.

So you see, dynamic design can be accomplished with VW. You just need a better understanding of the program and some imagination to fully exploit the capabilities of VW.

It also helps to be a long time user which in my case, I have used it since around 1985 (MiniCad 1).

[holsteinson 0]

Miguel HighRoad is way more productive and detailed as a road design tool that VW OIP plugins approach

Just to mention some samples of these dedicated tools, Highroad can support up to 29 roads including overpasses and ramps in a single project.

Culverts can be dimensioned and located as easy as click of mouse and input dimensions and elevations.

Curve Transitions are automated only need the crossfall percentage

Again we need the one button GE in VW09

[Jeffrey W Ouellette 3]

Alexander,

Landmark is NOT Civil Engineering package of such sophistication. Never claimed to be. Such solutions are better found elsewhere. That is fine. If you want more, use another tool.

You have Google Earth support in VW2009. It is what it is.

[Miguel Barrera 18]

Miguel HighRoad is way more productive and detailed as a road design tool that VW OIP plugins approach

And how would you know that it is more productive if you do not even know my workflow? I can produce PS&E in a fraction of the time than consultants in this area using Microstation or AutoCad. By the way, Microstation is the standard civil engineering CAD for most state DOT's so using HighRoad in the USA would be out of the question. Not being produced locally might be a problem also for most users if it could not be easily customized.

As an example, I have to produce consent forms for property owners whose driveways will need to be reconstructed outside the public right of way. Doing each manually will take about half an hour to compose and draw all property information, profile, and elevations. A regular project will have about 30 affected driveways so it would take about 2 to 3 days to do all the forms. Now, I can do them all in a minute with a script.

But back to the GE question. If VW has support for KML files, what is the problem with taking 3 steps instead of 1 to view in GE? It is not like you do this function constantly to make a difference.

[jbrhwy 0]

Miguel

I sent an email to the address shown on your profile on January 4 & a private message on January 6, I would very much like to get information on how you are using Vw to design roads. I have always used 3rd party software as there was no apparent means in MiniCad+ in 1992.

Thanks

[Miguel Barrera 18]

I developed plugins that try to model the roads as much as possible. Road plugins are similar to the ones included in VW but are more detailed and hold all the information for profiles and sections. Everything is tied to the center line stationing so if I want the cross section at a particular station, the section plugin gathers information from the DTM, road segment, pipes, etc. and draws each for the requested station.

Since property lines are not always linear and/or parallel to the center line, I use survey point plugins, which can calculate the DTM elevation, as placeholders for the left and right property line profiles.

I also use custom notation plugins for the profiles and sections. When I place a notation on the profile, it calculates the station and elevation so if the note needs this information, the plugin can include it as part of the text.

[holsteinson 0]

Again the post is about the need for VW09 to have an uploading to GE button

[Thom 14]

Miguel

Good stuff - want to sell the plug-ins?

[jbrhwy 0]

Miguel

I sent you a personal & a private email last week regarding your road design plug-ins. Would very much like you to contact me as you are having great success in doing all your design work within Vw, whereas, I have depended upon third party software.

Thanks