Draping a Bing Map Image over a Civil 3D TIN Surface

At Ideate, we strive to bring you tips and tricks to aid you in your workflows.  One you may find useful is draping an image brought in using the Geolocation function.  After setting an image using the Geomap or Geolocation functionality within Civil 3D, users may want to drape that image over a Civil 3D surface.  While this may seem like a logical next step, it is currently a limitation of the software.  There is no direct way to do this.

There are two main work-arounds, however.  One way is to create a screen capture of the area that you want using a third party software.  You will then need to insert the image into the drawing.  You can then select the Drape Image button on the Surface context tab.  Remember that in order to see the image draped in 3d, you need to have the surface style that shows triangles in model view.

If you do not have a third party software to capture a screen shot, the second way is to plot to a Raster format using one of the following commands: PNGOUT, JPGOUT, TIFOUT.  You can then insert this image and drape the image as described in the previous paragraph.

For information on training and consulting for the various products Ideate services, visit our website at www.ideateinc.com.  Also check our blog for continued solutions as we encounter them.

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Kate Ming, P.E.
Ideate AEC Application Specialist

Kate is a California licensed civil engineer with a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley. Prior to Ideate, she worked at a multinational company for four years doing general civil design on large infrastructure projects. She is versed in roadway, rail, utility design and site development. She also has experience with utility demand analysis and Low Impact Development plans. As a Civil 3D Autodesk Certified Professional Kate provides training and support for Civil 3D, AutoCAD, and InfraWorks.