GS5102:
AutoCAD® Map 3D Functionality in AutoCAD Civil 3D®: How
to Use Geospatial Data in Civil 3D
Seth Cohen
CAD Management Resources Inc.
CAD Applications Specialist
Autodesk Civil 3D Implementation Expert,
Level 5 Geospatial Applications Engineer
© 2011 Autodesk
About Me
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Worked for a consulting engineering firm in New Hampshire…
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Surveying – Topo, boundary, as-built, landfill closure, GPS, etc. In field and in office.
Design Technician – Worked on STP, bridge (roadway approach work), highway design and Bypass study projects for
VTrans, MDOT (Maine) and NHDOT (New Hampshire)
CAD Manager – Managed, trained and supported users in 3 offices, on company and DOT workflows.
Software used - AutoCAD, Softdesk, LDT, MicroStation and InRoads
 Work for CADmanage
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CAD Applications Specialist
 Provide Training, Consulting, Support, and courseware development for Civil 3D, AutoCAD, Map 3D, MicroStation,
InRoads.
 Train engineers at Ford Motor Company with their use of AutoCAD.
 Developed CAD and Design standards for ITD (Idaho DOT), and ALDOT (Alabama DOT).
 Worked with Devens Municipality of Massachusetts in the development of their GIS
 Worked extensively with FDOT (Florida DOT) in helping them develop an AutoCAD drawing template for utility
companies to use for better coordination of CAD files.
 Work with FDOT, providing documentation related to their implementation of Civil 3D.
Presenter
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National AUGI CAD Camps, Presented at AU
© 2011 Autodesk
Class Summary
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You may be aware that AutoCAD Map 3D functionality is included with AutoCAD
Civil 3D, but how do you use it, and why would you need to? In this class, we will
examine the basics of using Map 3D and how civil engineers can leverage Map
3D functionality for land planning, topo map creation, etc. One of the great things
about geospatial data is that it can be downloaded for free. In this class, we will
discuss where this data can be obtained, and how it can be brought into Civil 3D
using Map 3D functionality.
© 2011 Autodesk
Learning Objectives
At the end of this class, you will be able to:
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Leverage geospatial information for use in preliminary design and land planning
 Use AutoCAD Map 3D functionality for general daily processes in AutoCAD
 Create surfaces for preliminary use in AutoCAD Civil 3D
 Find freely available geospatial information and use it in AutoCAD Civil 3D
© 2011 Autodesk
Agenda
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Introduction
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Map 3D Introduction
 Terminology
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User Interface
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Workspaces
 Task Pane
 Map 3D Status Bar
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Map 3D Tools
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Drawing Cleanup Tools
 Additional Tools
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Downloading Geospatial Data
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Finding Geospatial Data
Working with Geospatial data
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DWG files
 Create a Civil 3D Surface from Geospatial Data
 Connecting to geospatial data
 Importing Geospatial Data
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Exporting Civil 3D Data for Geospatial Use
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Export to SDF
Map 3D Rendering
© 2011 Autodesk
© 2011 Autodesk
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Map 3D Introduction
© 2011 Autodesk
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Terminology
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Data Store – Consists of an integrated set of objects that are modeled by classes or feature classes defined within one or more
schemas. Data stores can be either file based, such as SHP, or a database, such as Oracle®.
Drawing Objects – Objects that exist in a drawing file (DWG) or an attached drawing.
Feature(s) – An abstraction of natural or man-made, real-world object. A spatial feature has one or more geometric properties.
For example, a road feature might be represented by a line, and a hydrant might be represented by a point. In Autodesk Map 3D,
features are accessed and added to maps using FDO via the Data Connect window.
Feature Class – A schema element that describes a type of real-world object. It includes a class name and property definitions.
Commonly used to refer to a set of features of a particular class. For example, the feature class “roads” or the feature class
“hydrants.”
FDO Data Access Technology (FDO) – An Autodesk® software standard and general-purpose API for accessing features and
geospatial data, regardless of the underlying data store.
FDO Provider – An implementation of the FDO API (application programming interface) that provides access to data in a
particular data store, such as an Oracle or ArcSDE database, or to a file-based data store, such as SDF or SHP.
Feature Layer – A layer in Autodesk Map 3D software’s Display Manager containing features from a feature source such as
SDF, ESRI SHP, or ArcSDE.
Feature Source – In Autodesk Map 3D, a feature source is any source of feature data that has been connected by means of
FDO.
SDF – spatial database format. The current version of the SDF format. Each SDF file can contain multiple feature classes or
types of data stored in tables with attributes and geometry.
© 2011 Autodesk
© 2011 Autodesk
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Planning and Analysis Workspace
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Civil 3D is delivered with a default workspace that can be used to modify the interface to
accommodate the current workflow. The Planning and Analysis workspace displays only those
interface components specifically used for working with geospatial data
© 2011 Autodesk
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The Panes
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The Map Task Pane provides a centralized location for
many of the tasks and tools needed to work with geospatial
data. The following is a brief description of the tabs
included in the Map Task Pane.
Map Explorer – This pane is used to work primarily with AutoCAD
drawing objects. It is used to setup coordinate systems, attach
additional DWG files, and connect to drawing objects along with
databases using link templates.
 Display Manager – The Display Manager pane is commonly used
to connect and query geospatial data. This is also where
connected geospatial data is stylized.
 Map Book – Use the Map Book pane to publish and manage map
books.
 Survey– Use the Survey pane to add survey data to a .SDF file.
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NOTE: This is not related to any survey functionality in Civil 3D, and is
strictly used in the geospatial realm as a means by which to view,
stylize and add properties to survey data.
© 2011 Autodesk
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Status Bar
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The Map 3D status bar, when enabled, provides live feedback when working with geospatial data. To enable the
Map 3D status bar, you must edit the following registry key:
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HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R18.2\ACAD-A000:409\Applications\AcMap
Locate the Statusbar DWORD key, and then set it to 1
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To turn on the Drawing Status Bar, right-click on the Status Bar, and toggle on Drawing Status Bar
If you need to change the status bar between Civil 3D and Map 3D, create two registry files (.REG) and execute the
appropriate file prior to opening the software application.
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Warning
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Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious, system-wide errors, which may require Windows to be reinstalled in order to correct the
problem. Edit the registry at your own risk.
© 2011 Autodesk
© 2011 Autodesk
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Cleaning Up Drawings
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Although many of the Map 3D tools listed in this section were
developed for cleaning up drawing data prior to using it for
processing by Map 3D functionality, they are also very useful when
working with regular AutoCAD graphics.
 The drawing cleanup tools that are available in Map 3D are listed in
the following table
© 2011 Autodesk
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Cleaning Up Drawings
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There are additional tools that aid in daily drafting processes
© 2011 Autodesk
© 2011 Autodesk
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Geospatial Data
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A lot of geospatial data is free for download or connecting to as it
is in the public domain realm.
 The following websites provide free downloadable geospatial
data.
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GeoCommunity
http://www.geocomm.com/
 EPA Geospatial Data Download Service
http://www.epa.gov/enviro/geo_data.html
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Utah GIS Portal
http://gis.utah.gov/
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WMS NASA DTED and SRTM data
http://wms.jpl.nasa.gov/wms.cgi
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WFS Virginia, USA Census tracts, Congressional districts, counties, interstates and
other layers
http://regis.intergraph.com/wfs/dcmetro/request.asp?
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The National Map Seamless Server
http://gisdata.usgs.net/website/seamless/viewer.htm
© 2011 Autodesk
© 2011 Autodesk
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Attaching Drawings
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Map 3D gives you the ability to access DWG files through querying (searching). Querying provides a more
controlled method of bringing in DWG data, as opposed to referencing, as it allows you to bring in data based
on object data or properties, along with defined data constraints, such as a specific location
 To work with objects that exist in other drawings, you must attach them first. Drawing are attached through
the Map Explorer tab of the Map 3D Task Pane
© 2011 Autodesk
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Querying Drawings
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Once you have attached drawings, you can specify four types of querying criteria, location, property, data,
and SQL. Querying is processed in the Define Query dialog box. Once the objects are in the drawing, they
can be edited, annotated, etc.
© 2011 Autodesk
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Create Surface from Geospatial Data
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AutoCAD Civil 3D allows you to connect to a geospatial datastore (i.e. .SHP, ArcSDE, Oracle) and will import
the geospatial data, such as contours and point collections, without any intermediate file conversion
© 2011 Autodesk
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FDO (Feature Data Object)
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When accessing data through FDO (Feature Data Object),
an FDO provider is used to connect directly to a data source,
such as SDF, SHP, Oracle, SQL Server, or ArcSDE, and
work in its native format
 Using FDO allows you to access data directly without having
to translate the data or create duplicate information. If you
must edit an ESRI SHP file or data in a relational database
such as Oracle, FDO is the tool of choice as it allows you to
check out individual features, edit them, and then check
them back into the file in its’ native format.
 A feature is the spatial description of a real-world entity, such
as a road, utility pole, or river. Features are organized into
collections, called feature classes, and are stored in a spatial
database or file. The spatial database or file is sometimes
referred to as a feature source.
Available FDO Providers in Civil 3D 2012
© 2011 Autodesk
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Data Connect
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Geospatial data is connected through the Data Connect
palette. To access the Data Connect window, click the Data
button in the Map Task Pane, and then select Connect to
Data from the context menu that appears. The Data
Connect window appears where you can select the FDO
provider to which you wish to connect to, and then click the
source file or folder button to navigate to the source data.
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It is important to understand that the actual data that to
which you are connected with FDO is not stored in the DWG
file, rather, the DWG file is really a project file where data is
represented. This concept is similar to referencing.
Available FDO Providers in Civil 3D 2012
© 2011 Autodesk
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Stylizing Data
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In addition to natively accessing geospatial
data, Map 3D enables you to create informative,
visually compelling maps using style
functionality
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To stylize geospatial layers, select the layer you
want to stylize, and then click the Style button in
the Display Manager window. In the Style
Editor window that appears, click the Style pulldown to open the Style Polygon dialog box.
You can then define the different settings for the
polygon. Again, this does not affect the
geospatial data at all, it simply “stylizes” the
data
© 2011 Autodesk
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Data Tables
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One of the benefits of Map 3D when connecting to geospatial data is the ability to navigate
through the data within any geospatial file or database through the Data Table
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To access the data, select it, and then click the Table button on the Task Pan. The Data Table
window appears
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Within the Data Table window you can search for data with the Filter by option. Click the Options
button to zoom into the data or export the data to a geospatial file (Comma Separated View),
which can then be opened in Excel
© 2011 Autodesk
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Importing Geospatial Data
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Map 3D can import data from a variety of sources. This functionality allows you to edit and use
the geometry in Civil 3D, while maintaining the attribute data that may have been created in a
different software application. Without the attribute data, the file will only come into the drawing as
drawing objects without any of the attribute data.
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The following types of data can be imported by Map 3D:
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Autodesk SDF
ESRI ArcInfo Coverage
ESRI ArcInfo Export (E00)
ESRI Shape file (SHP file)
GML (Geography Markup Language)
MapInfo MIF/MID
MapInfo TAB
MicroStation Design (DGN)
OS (GB) MasterMap (GML 2)
Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS)
SQLite Spatial (SQLITE)
Vector Product Format Coverage (VPF)
© 2011 Autodesk
© 2011 Autodesk
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Spatial Data File (SDF)
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In 2007, Autodesk introduced the ability to export Civil 3D objects to the SDF file format. SDF is a file based database that is
used for storing large classified data. The SDF file is the native file format for FDO and leverages all of its strengths including,
performance, and database-like table architecture.
To move Civil 3D design data to a geospatial, you can use the Map 3D tools to populate another data store such as an RDBMS
including Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Myself, as well as, an ESRI ArcSDE managed database. To do this, first export your
Civil 3D alignment, point, parcel, and pipe network data to an SDF file. Once the data is in the SDF format, you can use Map
3D’s Bulk Copy tools to copy the data to the desired data store.
The following lists the Civil 3D objects and corresponding attributes that are stored in the SDF file.
Civil 3D Object Exported Attributes
Alignment
Alignment Name
Length
Design Speed
Starting Station
Ending Station
Point
Point Number
Point Name
Elevation
Description
Raw Description
Latitude
Longitude
Parcel
Parcel Name
Parcel Number
Area
Perimeter
Civil 3D Object Exported Attributes
Pipe
Network Name
Length
Slope
Inside Diameter
Outside Diameter
Shape
Elevation at Start
Elevation at End
Structure Start
Structure End
Structure
Network Name
Rim Elevation
Structure Name
© 2011 Autodesk
© 2011 Autodesk
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Cool Stuff
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Map 3D provides the unique ability to drape geospatial data onto a geospatial surface such as a DEM
file. This includes aerial photographs as well as vector data. This capability is enabled by using FDO
to access both the surface and vector data. Standard drawing objects can be placed on the surface,
however, you must match the elevation of the drawing object with the elevation of the surface. To
visualize the geospatial data, you must use the Map 3D task bar previously mentioned in this session.
Note: The resolution or scale of the surface data, as well as the aerial photography, will have a direct effect on the quality
of the 3D rendering.
© 2011 Autodesk
GS5102:
AutoCAD® Map 3D Functionality in AutoCAD Civil 3D®: How to
Use Geospatial Data in Civil 3D
Thank You!
www.cadmanage.com
Seth Cohen
scohen@cadmanage.com
© 2011 Autodesk