topic Re: Just tried to merge a skp and kmz for some topography? in Collaboration with other software

Just tried to merge a skp and kmz for some topography?

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 22:01:38 GMT

Found a you tube video by a guy named Muaz Alnajjar and tried to follow along to bring in a google earth kmz file and a google sketchup skp file into archicad.
My results are less than spectacular. The site came into archicad with only a very slight slant which is nothing like the actual topography.

Does anyone know if there is a way to bring the site in from google earth with better results?

Obviously, the lake should be flat (and about 10 feet higher) and the right side of the house should have a
slope starting about even with the patio and sidewalk slab and then sloping down to the street - see screen shots below.

If there isn't a way to get decent results quickly, I will have to try to eyeball in with the mesh tool later.

Muaz's results were much better and quite intriguing. The site that he was able to merge or add to archicad was much more convincing.

Vidio link :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcVtRPnv0QI

Thanks for any insight or help on this in advance...Jon

Re: Just tried to merge a skp and kmz for some topography?

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 22:02:29 GMT

another screen shot

Re: Just tried to merge a skp and kmz for some topography?

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 22:03:01 GMT

and another

Re: Just tried to merge a skp and kmz for some topography?

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 22:03:57 GMT

and another

Re: Just tried to merge a skp and kmz for some topography?

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 22:07:19 GMT

The real thing

Re: Just tried to merge a skp and kmz for some topography?

Karl Ottenstein — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 00:47:06 GMT

Google Earth has extremely limited topography resolution. If your site is uneven, GE will almost never give you anything useful for the site itself.

I always get a site survey from an engineer and create a custom site mesh... and then use Google Earth to generate the environment around the site.

Even there, when I overlay the real site mesh with the GE surface, I'll have places there the GE surface is either above or below my site mesh. When it's above the mesh, I have to cut the GE surface away.

Re: Just tried to merge a skp and kmz for some topography?

Karl Ottenstein — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 00:50:00 GMT

Your GE surface looks flat? Is there any elevation change? If you brought this in via SketchUp, there is a button in SU that displays the terrain as either flat or elevated. Be sure you're viewing the 3D/elevated version before exporting.

Re: Just tried to merge a skp and kmz for some topography?

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 04:00:53 GMT

Thanks Karl,

I'll have a look in sketchup for that setting.

The video tutorial didn't have that in there and his terrain once imported was much closer to his example site on google earth (much more undulation) than mine. I do think when I tried it again that I did make sure the elevated setting was selected.

I wonder if it could be that there are no street views to supplement the data in google earth inside the country clubs. The google cars can't go in there. I do a lot of work in the CC's here in Palm Desert and have never seen the street views available inside. Only on the public streets.??

Karl wrote:
Your GE surface looks flat? Is there any elevation change? If you brought this in via SketchUp, there is a button in SU that displays the terrain as either flat or elevated. Be sure you're viewing the 3D/elevated version before exporting.