Plotting GEOMAP Aerial Imagery in Civil 3D 2015

Autodesk has made it easier to import and print aerial imagery in Civil 3D 2015. The GEOMAP tool was introduced in Civil 3D 2014 with aerial imagery provided by Bing. GEOMAP allows the user to display the aerial imagery but the user was unable to plot it. Civil 3D 2015 is available for download and the GEOMAP tool has been improved. The user is allowed the plot the aerial imagery. Below are the steps to import the aerial imagery into a drawing using the new GEOMAP tools. In order to use the aerial imagery, you are required to sign in to an Autodesk 360 account.

 

To sign up for an Autodesk 360 account, go to www.360.autodesk.com.

I’m using local GIS parcel data for a reference location of this exercise.

1.   Sign in to Autodesk 360.

2.   Click Yes to use Online Map Data.

3.   Make sure the project is in the correct location.

4.   Set the correct Coordinate System for the project. I usually set the Coordinate System in the Toolspace Settings Tab.
     a.   Click the Toolspace button on the Home tab of the ribbon.
     b.   Click the Settings tab on the Toolspace.
     c.   Right click the drawing name on the top of the view.
     d.   Click Edit Drawing Settings….
     e.   In the Units and Zone tab, select the Zone Categories.
     f.   Select the Available Coordinate System. (This project is located in central Virginia, USA so the coordinate system is NAD83
Virginia State Planes, South Zone, US Foot, VA83-SF)

 

 

5.   Once the coordinate system is set, a Geolocation tab will appear on the Ribbon.

 

6.   In the Geolocation tab, you can change the coordinate location, add position markers, turn the aerial map on and off and capture
aerial imagery for plotting.

7.   Click the down arrow under the Map Off button on the Online Map panel of the ribbon.
     a.   Map Aerial - This will turn on the aerial imagery.
     b.   Map Road – This will turn on the road map without the aerial imagery.
     c.   Map Hybrid – This will turn on the aerial imagery along with the road map.
     d.   Map Off – This will turn off the map imagery.

8.   Click Map Aerial to turn on the aerial imagery.

 

9.   The Capture Area button will activate after the aerial imagery is turned on.

10.  Pan and zoom to the project area.

11.  Click the down arrow under the Capture Area on the Online Map panel of the ribbon.
     a.   Capture Area – This will allow the user to specify the captured area.
     b.   Capture Viewport – This will capture an area of the current model space extents.

12.  Click the Capture Area button and select an area around the project limits.

 

13.  Click Map Off to turn off the aerial imagery.
     a.   You will now see the captured area. This image is now printable.
     b.   The captured area is reading Bing data and does not save a local copy of the image.

 

14.  The captured aerial imagery can be adjusted within the properties palette.
     a.   Select the captured aerial image.
     b.   Open the properties palette.
     c.   The Map Type can be adjusted to Aerial, Road and Hybrid.
     d.   The Resolution can be adjusted to Coarse, Optimal, Fine and Very Fine.

 

15.  If additional aerial imagery is need for the project, delete the captured area and repeat the steps selecting a larger area.
16.  Enjoy plotting the aerial imagery.