How to import high-resolution imagery from Nearmap to AutoCAD with Plex-Earth

Now you can design directly onto Nearmap imagery in your CAD design today, via Plex-Earth’s simple and super-efficient interface, which auto-aligns exactly what you need, where you need it!

Plex-Earth is empowering thousands of engineers worldwide with correctly-aligned geographical views of their project sites, while still inside AutoCAD.

It’s super-fast and easy, via Google Earth, Bing Maps, OpenstreetMap or ANY other web-map service (WMS) provider.

BUT we don’t stop there!

We’re also partnered with PREMIUM imagery providers to enable you to access ultra high-resolution and updated imagery, still right inside your AutoCAD, via Plex-Earth’s easy-to-use interface.

Let’s look at a great example, Nearmap:

Nearmap is one of our most popular premium providers for the 3 countries they cover, which are the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

Nearmap offers top-notch updated aerial imagery, down to an impressive resolution as fine as 3” – 7cm per pixel, and yes, automagically georeferenced, scaled and aligned for you, inside AutoCAD! This automatic aspect of Plex-Earth saves you a LOT of time or re-tries, and time is money!

You can do this either by using your own API key (if you already have a subscription with Nearmap) or by purchasing data directly from Plexscape and benefit from Plex-Earth’s acclaimed user interface. Using Plex-Earth optimizes both image clarity and the way you use your data, specifically for civil engineering and architectural use, without you needing to keep zooming or panning around.

Want to learn more about how Plex-Earth can geo-visualize your next, or even your current project, because it’s so easy to use? Then contact us and we’ll be glad to show you the process and answer any and all of your questions.

Or you can just start designing with Plex-Earth right now, because you can download your fully-functional free trial.

Locating your project area in a blank drawing - AutoCAD 2021

The following question recently arrived at our support team’s mailbox:

“I know the coordinate system and my project’s location in Google Earth, but how can I find its exact position in a blank drawing?”

Up until Plex-Earth 4, there was a command that allowed you to synchronize AutoCAD with the current view in Google Earth. It was one of the first commands developed in Plex-Earth back in 2008, and it was the base of more advanced functions (such as imagery mosaic importing). However it’s not directly available anymore due to the discontinuation of Google Earth's COM API.

But as we've already said, we accepted the challenge, and instead of downgrading functionality due to Google Earth’s changes, we instead took it as an opportunity to enhance the existing functionality, actually making it more meaningful and more useful than ever!

We improved that humble AutoCAD - Google Earth sync command by adopting the copy & paste functionality of Google Earth objects as a part of other commands, making them easier to use and more complete.

So, regarding the original question, you can choose between two simple ways/methods:

Method 1: Locate your project area in Google Earth. Create a placemark, path or polygon (any will work), copy it, and then simply paste it (Ctrl-V) in AutoCAD.

Plex-Earth will automatically do the rest and will zoom AutoCAD drawing to your project area.

Sounds almost too simple to be true, but Plex-Earth is smart enough to figure it out, and will automatically zoom the AutoCAD drawing to your project area for you! See the video below.

Method 2: Locate your project area in Google Earth, create a placemark (or other objects), copy it, and return to AutoCAD.

Click the "Import Imagery" button in Plex Earth 5 ribbon, select to import Simple Image, and choose Google Maps (or any other provider) on the next screen.

Again, Plex- Earth will do the rest and import an image to your project location.

Method 2 means you not only zoom your drawing to a specific geographic location, but you also import useful objects that can help you better identify and understand your project area.

Videos are good but wanna check it yourself, with a real project? Start your 7-day UNRESTRICTED free trial and experience Plex-Earth’s full capabilities in the next few minutes!

3 tips to optimally export your 3D AutoCAD designs to Google Earth (Solar farm example)

Design should be a productive experience, not a laborious process don’t you think? We constantly improve Plex.Earth to increase your workflow efficiency and enable any engineer focus on what matters most: his/her design.

Therefore, we have put together a detailed tutorial with three clever tips to show you how you can export your 3D AutoCAD designs into Google Earth faster, better and more efficiently.

Take a look here and don’t forget to start your free trial today. The latest version of Plex.Earth is out with new features like this one and important improvements!

Copy KML/KMZ objects from Google Earth to AutoCAD with Plex.Earth

We have introduced a powerful new feature in the latest version of Plex.Earth 4, which allows you to import objects from Google Earth into AutoCAD with a simple copy and paste operation.

You can even import KMZ elements that are loaded dynamically into Google Earth!

Interested to find more? Read our tutorial here.

How to create terrain contours with Plex.Earth

With Plex.Earth 4, you can visualize terrain morphology with elevation contours and import thousands of terrain elevation points into AutoCAD, automatically and incredibly quickly.

We have created a detailed tutorial to guide you through the process of creating contours easily with Plex.Earth 4.

For a detailed guide on how to import terrain, check our post on our support section.

You are one step away from focusing on what matters most: your design. Start your free trial today and watch this space for more!

How to export object information to Google Earth with Plex.Earth

When it comes to your design, the devil is in the details. Plex.Earth 4 allows you to export even the most complex 3D models to Google Earth and visualize materials like bricks and textures.

You can even add object data to your elements (both as plain text and in an HTML format), which can then be exported to Google Earth with your AutoCAD drawing.

This way you can share information with your colleagues, customers, anyone you want, let everyone understand your designs and take instant feedback, keeping your project on time and on budget.

We’ve put together a detailed tutorial on how to do this in a few simple steps with Plex.Earth 4. Read it here and start your free trial today!

Lineweight options when exporting AutoCAD drawings to Google Earth

Do you want to assign lineweights to the polylines that you export to Google Earth, as KML/KMZ files?

Normally, when you publish elements, they attach to Google Earth in only one size by default (1 Google Earth unit) and they do not change when zooming in or out.

Plex.Earth 4 allows you to define lineweights to your drawings choosing from constant width, multiplier and physical scale.

Read our detailed tutorial for more and start your free trial today!

How to create imagery and terrain corridors with Plex.Earth 4 (roadwork/railroad projects)

Looking to import imagery/terrain along a corridor into AutoCAD for your roadwork or railroad project?

We have prepared a tutorial to show you how to do this, with Plex.Earth 4, easily and quickly: By choosing to import imagery using the “By Path” option, you can decrease the import time significantly and boost your productivity.

Check it out and watch this space for more tutorials and helping materials!

How to connect to the Hellenic Cadastre with Plex.Earth 4

Plex.Earth enables thousands of engineers worldwide to have the complete 3D geographical view of their project sites within minutes, through Google Earth, Bing Maps, OpenstreetMap or any other WMS provider.

For those based in Greece, we have prepared a tutorial to show you how to connect to the Hellenic Cadastre with Plex.Earth 4, easily and quickly.

The Hellenic Cadastre records the legal, technical and other additional details about real estate properties and the rights on them, meaning that every person or legal entity that owns a real property or a registrable right on real property is obliged to submit a declaration to the service.

Due to the non-proper spatial representation of real estates mostly in rural areas, the submission of a dependent topographic diagram is required.

Thanks to Plex.Earth’s integration with the Web Map Service (WMS) of the Hellenic Cadastre, every land surveyor and civil engineer can have the real-world representation of a land property.

Also, with Plex.Earth’s 4 powerful mosaic tools, you can import hundreds of high-resolution images into AutoCAD from the service and merge them into one in few minutes, covering even the largest areas.

You can read our tutorial here and try Plex.Earth 4 for free today!

How to 3D print terrain created with Plex.Earth 4 (Civil 3D users)

Most 3D printing professionals, like Aristeidis Loukrizis (read his story here) have to visualize the surrounding environment and represent the terrain morphology of a project area to reproduce it in their final 3D printed models - a process that is time-consuming and prone to errors.

However, they can overcome these difficulties and create the desired 3D printed models with Plex.Earth, easily and quickly.

We’ve prepared a detailed tutorial to guide you step by step on how to create a 3D solid object from your imported terrain with Plex.Earth, before exporting it as an .stl file which is proper for 3D printing.

Read it through and stay tuned for more technical resources and tutorials.

You can also unlock Plex.Earth’s 4 powerful capabilities by starting your free trial today!

JPG Quality: Image Clarity vs File Size

Is your AutoCAD drawing file size too large because it contains big mosaics?

Nikos Chanakoulas from our technical support team explains in a detailed tutorial, how you can set the JPG quality to the desired level to decrease the file size.

The difference can be very subtle in imagery clarity and you can work with smaller files, taking not much space on your hard drive!

Read more here.