Bentley has given its users an important new way to work with project models by connecting MicroStation to Google Earth. Bentley users can now view and navigate 2D/3D models of infrastructure projects in the context of the Google Earth environment.
This is welcome news on more than one level. This connection validates Google Earth as an important data publishing platform for AEC, right up there with Adobe PDF and Autodesk DWF. Bentley was the first AEC CAD software provider to create a direct connection to Adobe PDF, and again the company is on task, providing its users a way to take advantage of excellent technology not carrying the Bentley brand. Bentley users and their wider project teams now have a great new resource for reviewing projects in their environmental context.
Bentley claims MicroStation is the world's most widely used tool for creating base maps, as well as the leading design software among firms creating the world's largest infrastructure projects. As project lead developer and Executive Vice President Ray Bentley says, “The Google Earth connection is fantastic for our users, who work on major assets placed on or in the earth. The feedback regarding the connection has been great—beta users around the world are inspired by their new ability to view this work inside the Google Earth environment.”
Adds Joe Croser, global marketing director, Bentley platform products, “The most exciting thing about the Google Earth connection is that it facilitates richer visualization for everyone involved in a project—from designers on through to the public. I like to think of it as ‘grounding design’ by placing the project in situ.”
The connection was created by Bentley programmers using Google Earth's previously published, freely available import/export technology; there was no special “alliance” or other business relationship with Google. Google Earth publishes the specifications for creating a KML file, which Google Earth can import and add to the visual display. The connection allows MicroStation users to publish DGN and DWG models of infrastructure assets to Google Earth at any stage of the design process. Models can be viewed and navigated in the context of the existing rich geographic, infrastructure, and geopolitical imagery already available on Google Earth.
The basic version of Google Earth is a free download, making it easy for Bentley users to integrate the technology into their work flow. MicroStation files placed in the Google Earth environment can contain links to more detailed data in a variety of formats, including, for example, Excel spreadsheets, Word and Adobe PDF documents, additional DGN and DWG files, and URL's—enabling diverse project information to be shared through the Google Earth interface.
Features of the new MicroStation/Google Earth connection include:
- All included levels available to the MicroStation user are persisted in the KML file, so the Google Earth user can easily switch parts of the model on and off as desired.
- MicroStation levels persist in the Google Earth KML file, and can be switched on or off.
- Saved views in MicroStation are transferred to the KML file, so the Google Earth user can easily move through pre-configured perspectives in the model.
- Embedded links within a MicroStation file will be automatically published as Google Earth Placemarks, allowing the Google Earth viewer to navigate to supporting project data.
- MicroStation GeoGraphics users who have defined the coordinate system for their designs will be automatically have their data exported to the correct locations in Google Earth.
- MicroStation raster imagery can be published to Google Earth to replace or augment the Google Earth imagery.
The new MicroStation connection to Google Earth requires MicroStation V8 2004 Edition, and is available for download by Bentley SELECT subscribers. The capability will also be delivered within MicroStation V8 XM Edition, which is tentatively set to ship later this year.
Related AECnews article on Google Earth:
Location-Based Simulation: Google Earth is the Foundation for the Next Advance in AEC Visualization
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