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!
Think of it as burning our boat!
The world has a number of boat (and bridge) burning festivals and folk-sayings, but here I'm referring to the English expression, probably based on the example of Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortés...
In the early 16th century he arrived in what is today Mexico, upon which he ordered his crew to burn the ships they arrived on, deliberately destroying any option of retreat!
That's an extreme example, and perhaps more daring than changing our company look and logo, but we changed our logo with the same fighting spirit!
So what exactly did we do, and why?
If you somehow missed the excitement around the launch of Plex-Earth 5 at last month's Autodesk University, and now keep hearing about version 5? Well this short blog post will help explain what all the buzz is about!
The first big change is not the nifty new logo – nice as it is and more about that in a next post – but that Plex-Earth is now a multiple-provider platform.
Following a partnership between Plexscape and Airbus, engineers using AutoCAD can now have easy and fast access to OneAtlas, the Airbus’ geospatial digital platform delivering the freshest satellite imagery, through the new version of Plex-Earth.
By getting access to recent imagery, engineers get a complete understanding of their project sites' conditions from the very beginning of their design workflow, speeding up processes and avoiding the high cost of rework by reducing errors.
