Note from Brian: I wrote up an article showing an alternative way to bring in free surface and image data (at least for those in the United States) HERE. Go take a look at it and tell me what you think.
More new information: Check out Project Basejump now available from Autodesk Labs. “With Project Basejump, AutoCAD Map 3D and AutoCAD Civil 3D software users can access Microsoft Bing data including aerial imagery, road, traffic, and other information within an AutoCAD environment.”
So, there is a lot of talk about the cool new features in Civil 3D 2013 but, there is something I’m very bummed about. Do you like to have access to free data for preliminary design? Do you like to show your client where you project is in relationship to the world? How do you do this? Well, you use Google Earth. Unfortunately, in Civil 3D 2013 there is no longer the option to import from or export to Google Earth.
Here’s an image showing not only the ribbon where the import command should exist but also the surface settings showing where the command settings for these tools would be. As you can see, they are not there:
No Option to Import From Google Earth
On the Output tab, you’ll also so that the commands to export to Google Earth are missing as well:
No Option to Export to Google Earth
Why were these tools removed from Civil 3D? I honestly have no idea why they were removed. Perhaps someone in the know will comment and let us know why. Here’s my guess and yes, this is truly a guess; Autodesk was contacted by the Google legal team and was told not to include the functionality.
Anyways, I hate talking about the bad but if you use Google Earth regularly, you might want to hang onto Civil 3D 2012 a little longer.
:Authors note:
I’m going to close comments on this topic. Also, I’m going to remove all approved comments with the exception of Dave’s. If you would like to discuss it, head over to the discussion forum where there is a thread with this topic. You can find it HERE.
::Update::
Looks like it’s not limited to just Civil 3D. The Google Earth extension for AutoCAD in labs has “graduated”. Not sure what that means. Thanks to Juan Soto @Civil3d_Jedi for this info.
Google Earth extension “Graduates”
April 5, 2012 at 9:25 am
Hi Brian (and readers) – Here’s a summary of where we stand on this.
Due to limitations on the use of the Google Earth API, AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2013 does not include API access to allow customers to import Google Earth imagery and/or surfaces directly into Civil 3D. We are aware of the importance of including preliminary surface and aerial imagery in your design workflows and are actively looking for an alternative. However, we cannot share any specific information about potential future product enhancements. When appropriate, we will communicate technology plans via various channels including Autodesk Labs, Facebook, Blogs and the Civil 3D Discussion Group.
People are welcome to contact be directly via EMAIL to discuss.
Thanks
Dave Simeone
Senior Product Manager – AutoCAD Civil 3D