landproDATA
Vicinity Map SDF to DWG Conversion:
*Requires AutoCAD Civil 3D software with Map 3D
1. Download a Vicinity Map “SDF” file from landproDATA.com
2. Open AutoCAD Civil 3D, create a new drawing using the template of your choice and set the workspace to “Planning & Analysis”
3. Import the SDF file
a. Type “MAPIMPORT” and select the SDF file to be converted.
b. The “Import” dialog box will open.
i. Under “Current drawing coordinate system” (upper left)
1. Click on the globe icon in the upper left of the dialog box under “Current drawing coordinate system”
2. The “Assign Global Coordinate System” box will open.
3. Click on “Select Coordinate System”
4. In the “Search” box type ID83
5. A list of NAD83 Idaho State Plane Coordinate Systems will display.
6. Click on the correct system in US Survey Foot for the map’s location and then click “Select”
7. In the “Assign Global Coordinate System” click on “OK”
ii. Under “Spatial filter” (upper right)
1. Click “None”
iii. Under “Import properties for each layer imported:”
1. For each layer
a. Click the checkmark box next to the layer name for each layer to be imported.
b. Leave the “Drawing Layer” as is.
c. Leave the “Object Class” as is (it will auto populate)
d. Leave the “Input Coordinate System” as is (Civil 3D will do any conversions automatically).
e. The “Data” field will display “<None>” for each layer and each will need to be linked to their associated data.
f. Click inside the cell and an icon will appear on the right side of the cell.
g. Click on the icon and the “Attribute Data” box will open.
h. In the “Attribute Data” box, pick “Create object data”
i. The Layer name will automatically display under “Object Data Table to use”
j. Click on “Select Fields”
k. When the “Object Data Mapping” box
opens, the list of available data fields will display. All the Input fields will be automatically
checked, so click on “OK”.
l. Click “OK” in the “Attribute Data” box
m. Leave the “Points” field as is (it will read “<ACAD_POINT>”
iv. Under “Saved profiles” (lower left) you have the option of saving the layer import properties as a file (profile) for future use in importing the same type of map file. Once you have a profile saved, clinking on “Load” for future map imports will automatically load the layer properties and save time.
v. Check the box next to “Import polygons as closed polylines”
vi. The “Use class defaults for out of range values” will be automatically checked and grayed out.
vii. Once all the import properties are set, click on “OK”
c. An “Import Progress” dialog box will open, after which the map will be loaded in the drawing (you may need to zoom-extents to see the linework.)
4. Trim the map to the desired area
a. Create a polygon boundary around the portion of the map to remain
b. Type “MapTrim”
i. The “Trim Objects at Boundary” box will open
1. Under “Boundary”
a. click on “Select Boundary” then click the “Select” button
b. Pick the polygon boundary drawn previously.
2. Under “Objects to Trim”
a. Pick “Select Manually”
b. Click the “Select” button and then window the entire map
3. Under “Trim Method”
a. Pick “Trim Outside Boundary”
b. Check “Skip Topology Objects”
c. Check “Retain Object Data”
4. Under “Objects That Cannot be Trimmed”
a. Check “Ignore”
5. Click “OK”
c. An “AutoCAD Map Confirmation” box may open that displays a warning.
i. Click “Yes”
5. Clean up any duplicate linework
a. Type “Overkill”
b. “Select Objects” type “All” and hit enter
c. The “Delete Duplicate Objects” box will open
i. Under “Object Comparison Settings, “Tolerance” should be “0.000001”
ii. All “Ignore object property” boxes should be unchecked.
d. Under “Options”, all boxes should be unchecked except “Maintain associative objects”
e. Click “OK”
6. Restore linetypes
a. Type “MPEDIT”
b. “Select Objects” type “All” and hit enter
c. When asked “Convert lines and arcs to polylines?” Type “N”
d. When asked “Enter an option” Type “L” for linetype
e. When asked “Full PLINE linetype?” Type “ON”
f. When asked “Enter an option” Type “X” for Exit
7. Finalize
a. The map will now be loaded in the
drawing, cleaned-up and with separate layers for the data. All the data fields for a particular line or
point will appear in the “Properties” dialog box.
8. Add an aerial photo
a. Preparation
i. Make sure the Google Earth Pro software is installed on your computer. (It is a free program available at https://www.google.com/earth)
ii. In Civil 3D, create a new layer to receive an aerial photo image and make the new layer current
b. Download the Aerial
i. Go to landproDATA and zoom to the project area.
ii. Select a parcel near the approximate center of the desired vicinity map area. (Note: the location and scale may be adjusted later, so approximate location is fine)
iii. In the “Task Pane” (upper right in the map window), click on the “Task List” down arrow and select “Google Earth”
iv. Under “Static “Snapshot” KMZ”, click on “Download KMZ”
v. “Your KMZ file is being generated and will download in a few seconds” will appear in the “Task Pane” window.
vi. A file with the suffix .kmz will either be saved to your default file download location or a box will appear asking for the save location and file name.
c. Creating the Aerial
i. Open Google Earth Pro
ii. In the “File” menu click on “Open” and select the saved KMZ file
iii. Google Earth will automatically zoom to the general area
iv. The parcel that was selected in landproDATA will display in green
v. Click on the “View” menu and scroll down to “Reset” and “Tilt and Compass”
vi. Zoom in or out until the display area is approximately the same size as the linework that was imported to Civil 3D
vii. Choose what information to show on the aerial
1. In the sidebar menu expand the “Layers” field. Check or uncheck items as desired (leaving the “Roads” layer visible is beneficial)
viii. Maximize the aerial view in preparation for saving
1. Close all dialog boxes
2. Close the sidebar menu
a. Go to the “View” menu and uncheck “Sidebar”
ix. Save the aerial Google Earth
1. In the “File” menu click on “Save” and “Save Image”
2. Click on the “Map Options” down arrow and uncheck all items
3. Click on “Resolution” and choose the desired size (1920x1080 provides a good size and quality)
4. Click “Save Image” and save the JPEG Image file.
a. The resultant JPEG will show the originally selected parcel from landproDATA in green.
5. Create and save a final version of the aerial photo without the green parcel
a. Without zooming or moving the map from the previous display, click on the “View” menu and check the box next to “Sidebar”
b. In the Sidebar, under “Places”, uncheck all the boxes (this turns off the green parcel)
c. Turn off the sidebar again by going to the “View” menu and unchecking “Sidebar”
d. Save the Image following the same procedures as for the first JPEG but give this one a different name
d. Import the aerial photo into AutoCAD Civil 3D
i. In the DWG file, with the current layer set to Aerial, type “image”
ii. The “External References” box will open
iii. In the upper left, click on the down arrow next to the DWG icon and select “Attach Image”
iv. Find the saved aerial jpg file on your computer, select it, and click on “Open”
v. The “Attach Image” dialog box will open
1. Check the box under “Insertion Point” to “Specify on-screen”
2. Uncheck the box under “Scale”- “Specify on-screen” and type “5000”
3. Uncheck the box under “Rotation” – “Specify on-screen”
4. Click on “OK”
vi. The command line prompt will ask for an insertion point – pick a location near the imported linework
e. Scale the aerial photo to match the linework
i. Looking at the aerial photo and the linework, identify a feature that is easily found and measurable in both (typically, the green parcel is the best feature to use for this)
ii. Type “Dist” at the command prompt and find and jot down a distance measurement for the common feature in the aerial and do the same for the linework.
iii. Using a calculator enter the distance that was determined for the feature in the DWG linework and divide it by the distance for the same feature in the aerial photo. Jot down the number
iv. In Civil 3D, select the aerial photo and open the “Properties” dialog box
v. Under “Geometry” – “Scale” – click on the “5000” and then click on the calculator icon
vi. In the “QuickCalc” window, multiply the 5000 by the scale factor obtained by the comparison measurement and then click “Apply”
f. Align the aerial photo to the linework
i. Select the aerial photo, right-click and select “Display Order” – “Send to back”
ii. Move the aerial photo under the linework and align.
iii. If the alignment is not as close as desired, repeat the measurement and scaling process
iv. Once the aerial is aligned, save the file
v. To turn of the green parcel in the final aerial photo, change the aerial image to the second version of the jpg that was saved.
1. Type “Image” at the command prompt
2. In the “External References” dialog box, click on the Aerial Photo
3. In the “Details” window, click on the listing for “Saved Path” and then click on the “…” button to the right
4. Locate and select the second version the JPG aerial and click “Open” and then close the dialog box
vi. Check over the alignment of the new aerial with the linework (It should align exactly as before)
9. Finished!
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