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Carlson Survey/GIS 2018
Posted by Skeeter1996 on January 17, 2018 at 1:52 amI recently bought Carlson Survey/GIS mainly because it is suppose to load Google Earth images. It took me forever to figure out how to create a .kml in Google Earth. So now I’ve got the .kml file created, but when I use the Place Google Earth image in Carlson. Nothing happens. In the Carlson manual it says there is an Acguire Google Earth Image. Ive searched every menu in Carlson and can’t find that command. Any ideas?
ladd-nelson replied 6 years, 3 months ago 7 Members · 18 Replies- 18 Replies
Try KMLREAD
I have the 2016 version. You may have to have an earlier version of Google Earth. I think the version that works with GIS 2016 is Google earth 5.2.1.1588 (not the pro version).
Try googleimage.
I don’t know how to manually enter commands in Carlson 2019. Doesn’t appear to me that you can. It’s kind of frustrating that Carlson’s manuals are way behind their software.
Carlson 2018.
I haven’t used it but:
file> import> google earth file
Looks like @stephen-ward has it for the command line. When I hit the buttons as shown above (file> import> google earth file), the commandline read, “kmlread”
Carlson 2018 civil.
I don’t have Civil 2018, just Survey/GIS 2018. When I execute that command nothing happens when I input my .kmz file. I had to create a .kmz file because it didn’t accept .kml files.
I also don’t have a command line that I can manually input commands. Every command has to be done through the menu. Is that normal?
Supposedly even without the command line showing, you can still type commands. Try left clicking in the drawing then type CMDBAR. If your Survey/GIS is running on Intellicad that should bring up the command line.
Not sure what the problem is, all versions of Carlson Survey that I’ve used in the past have that command, kmlread. And it works for both kml and kmz.
What happened to your command line? I’m sure there’s a way to get it back.
ctl 9 is supposed to get it back, but it didn’t work for me. Maybe it’ll work for you.
Actually it is google_image but only if you have Map3D as your CAD engine.
Your command line is hidden somehow.You can enter commands by typing in the command line. Not sure how to get it back, as I’ve never lost mine that I can remember.
The GIS menu in the Survey program is not the full blown GIS package. I have both, and the GIS module has many more tools in it for images than the GIS menu in the Survey module.
Yep that worked, but I’m still not able to insert a Google Earth file. It makes sure I have a projection set, but not happens after that.
It appears I’m not creating the kmz file correctly in Google Earth. How do you do that?
Right click/save place as
There seems to be a great deal of confusion regarding Google Earth files, images, Carlson Survey and Carlson GIS so I’ll attempt a bit of clarification.
At the Product level, we have two main products being discussed here:
- Carlson GIS
- Carlson Survey
As many persons here already know, Carlson Survey is currently offered in two primary forms:
- Survey OEM (“Embedded AutoCAD”), and,
- Survey IntelliCAD/AutoCAD add-on
Within either Carlson Survey product, is a GIS menu with a small subset of the commands found in the GIS module (product) cited above. Survey OEM does not allow customization beyond the product itself or other product “extensions”… it’s sort of a one-stop-shop. Carlson Survey featuring the IntelliCAD/AutoCAD add-on configuration permits other module configurations (such as Carlson GIS) to be incorporated into the overall solution for clients that ultimately want to build the solution that suits specific needs.
The ability to Import and Export KML/KMZ files (typically produced by or opened by Google Earth) is available in all products cited above since the 2015 release of the products.
Images become a bit trickier to understand.
First off, the Carlson GIS module (product) is the product that contains the ability to fetch images from Google Earth or from Esri ArcGIS on-line Services. Some of this functionality was discussed in an ArcGIS Map Services video from years back. If, however, you have a KML/KMZ file with an image overlay placemark (similar to a point, line or polygon placemark) already defined in it, the intent of the Import KML/KMZ routine would be to import and place the image(s) from the KML/KMZ file into the drawing as image underlays in the drawing.
If you don’t have image placemarks in a KML/KMZ file and if the Carlson GIS module isn’t in your immediate plans, the Place Google Earth Image functionality can be closely approximated via this “poor-man’s” approach that would entail a series of steps with Google Earth that should work:
- Launch Google Earth and navigate to your desired area of interest, and,
- Place a pair of Google “point” placemarks into the area of interest (I’d suggest a circle or “box” placemark image), and,
- Save the pair of placemarks to a KMZ/KML file, and,
- Press the “R” key on the keyboard to Restore the North direction in Google Earth, and,
- Issue the Google Earth — File — Save — Save Image command to save the current area of interest, and,
- Issuing the File — Import — Import Google Earth File command to import the point placemarks saved in Step 3 above, and,
- Issuing the Points — Draw-Locate Points command to place the pair of points into the drawing, and,
- Using CAD to place the image saved in Step 5 above into the drawing, and,
- Using the Edit — Align — 2D Align routine to map the pixel locations of the placemarks in the image to the coordinates of the points brought in through the KML file.
The placement of the image would be fairly close to a truth position (relative to the positional accuracy provided by Google Earth itself).I hope this information helps.There seems to be a great deal of confusion regarding Google Earth files, images, Carlson Survey and Carlson GIS so I’ll attempt a bit of clarification.
At the Product level, we have two main products being discussed here:
- Carlson GIS
- Carlson Survey
As many persons here already know, Carlson Survey is currently offered in two primary forms:
- Survey OEM (“Embedded AutoCAD”), and,
- Survey IntelliCAD/AutoCAD add-on
Within either Carlson Survey product, is a GIS menu with a small subset of the commands found in the GIS module (product) cited above. Survey OEM does not allow customization beyond the product itself or other product “extensions”… it’s sort of a one-stop-shop. Carlson Survey featuring the IntelliCAD/AutoCAD add-on configuration permits other module configurations (such as Carlson GIS) to be incorporated into the overall solution for clients that ultimately want to build the solution that suits specific needs.
The ability to Import and Export KML/KMZ files (typically produced by or opened by Google Earth) is available in all products cited above since the 2015 release of the products.
Images become a bit trickier to understand.
First off, the Carlson GIS module (product) is the product that contains the ability to fetch images from Google Earth or from Esri ArcGIS on-line Services. Some of this functionality was discussed in an ArcGIS Map Services video from years back. If, however, you have a KML/KMZ file with an image overlay placemark (similar to a point, line or polygon placemark) already defined in it, the intent of the Import KML/KMZ routine would be to import and place the image(s) from the KML/KMZ file into the drawing as image underlays in the drawing.
If you don’t have image placemarks in a KML/KMZ file and if the Carlson GIS module isn’t in your immediate plans, the Place Google Earth Image functionality can be closely approximated via this “poor-man’s” approach that would entail a series of steps with Google Earth that should work:
- Launch Google Earth and navigate to your desired area of interest, and,
- Place a pair of Google “point” placemarks into the area of interest (I’d suggest a circle or “box” placemark image), and,
- Save the pair of placemarks to a KMZ/KML file, and,
- Press the “R” key on the keyboard to Restore the North direction in Google Earth, and,
- Issue the Google Earth — File — Save — Save Image command to save the current area of interest, and,
- Issuing the File — Import — Import Google Earth File command to import the point placemarks saved in Step 3 above, and,
- Issuing the Points — Draw-Locate Points command to place the pair of points into the drawing, and,
- Using CAD to place the image saved in Step 5 above into the drawing, and,
- Using the Edit — Align — 2D Align routine to map the pixel locations of the placemarks in the image to the coordinates of the points brought in through the KML file.
The placement of the image would be fairly close to a truth position (relative to the positional accuracy provided by Google Earth itself).To summarize, if want images in your drawing from Google Earth and you:- Have a KML/KMZ file with Image Overlay Placemarks defined in it and have any of the products cited above, the Import KML/KMZ file should bring those images in (presuming the images can be found and fetched on the local computer… some image overlays are brought in dynamically over the web), or,
- Have the Carlson GIS module, the Place Google Earth Image or Esri ArcGIS Services routines (possibly others in the module) might provide what you’re looking for (presuming the host service provider allows their content to be fetched in the future), or,
- Do not have the GIS module nor an KML/KMZ file with Image Overlay Placemark defined in it, the “poor-man’s” approach would be about the last course of action.
I hope this information helps.I guess my confusion begins with properly preparing the GE file for import into Carlson. I have both the Survey module and the GIS module. A few of the responses sent me on a wild goose chase. It was very easy to create a .Tiff file in GE and import it into Carlson. Trouble was it wasn’t scaled and georeferenced. I’m now chasing the .KMZ route. I’ve figured out how to create the .KMZ file in GE, but the command import Google Earth image hangs up and nothing gets imported. What is the significance of creating place Mark’s in GE before creating the .KMZ file? My experience in creating the .Tiff file was only the image was created, none of the points or lines came with the image.
- Posted by: Skeeter1996
I guess my confusion begins with properly preparing the GE file for import into Carlson.
Think of the Google Earth file as the “vector” data (e.g. typically the points, polylines and/or polygons) that would be imported via the File — Import — Google Earth command. I typically insert the aerial images via the GIS module via the previously cited summary item #2 (my apologies for the apparent double-post, I’m not sure what happened there). If those routines are not fetching the images as intended, my recommendation would be to contact the Carlson Technical Support Staff for further diagnostics.
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