I do my best to keep up with all the Civil 3D stuff going on. Sometimes, I see it and say to myself,
"Hey! That's important to people! I gotta do a post about THAT."
Then the phone rings, someone asks me another question, and just like you I forgeta 'bout it. But I'm keep trying. What goes around comes around.
One of my Survey Template and CAD Standards customers needed to access an see a MapInfo .ECW raster file in Civil 3D 2011. Now! Yikes.
FDO to the Rescue
OMG....How do I explain Map 3D FDO connections (which are indeed awesome)? My goodness simply asking someone to change to one of the TWO different Map 3D workspaces for the first time is bad enough.
I might have to also explain the LANGUAGE difference between Map Features (which are Styles) and Civil 3D Features (that aren't) to someone who shouldn't really have to care about all this stuff at all.
I wrote and sent him an email and prayed for him.
Right...Are You Out of Your Mind?
He's smarter than me. He took one look at my techno drivel and said to himself,
"There has to be a better way."
In two shakes he found the AutoCAD Raster Design Object Enabler for 2011 that was released back on April 1, 2011.
Gee I saw that. Dang me.
See what I mean about stuff sneaking by our desks. He pinged me back to tell me too.
Isn't life great?
The blind lead the blind all the time.
The sneaky RE OE tool is NOT an April Fools joke.
In fact all the stuff that the Raster Design OE for 2011 does already got wrapped into AutoCAD 2012 and therefore AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012 too.
If you've upgraded already, you can forgeta 'bout it after you note the supported raster details in the following list:
|
Image Format |
Image Insertable into DWG |
|
DEM |
No |
|
DOQ |
Yes |
|
DTED |
No |
|
Embedded Bitonal |
No |
|
ECW |
Yes |
|
ESRI GRID A |
No |
|
ESRI GRID B |
No |
|
JPEG2000 |
Yes |
|
Landsat FAST |
No |
|
NITF |
No |
|
QuickBird TIFF |
No |
|
SID |
Yes |
I also want to point out that the RD OE 2011 readme has one of the better short Proxygraphics and Object Enabler Q&A explanation sections I've seen in a while.
Since I talked about these issues in my Dumb it Down to CAD piece last month, I wanted to take the liberty of publishing a reprint of that to encourage you to read this Q&A CAREFULLY.
What is the AutoCAD Raster Design Object Enabler?
The AutoCAD Raster Design 2011 Object Enabler is a utility that gives customers of AutoCAD 2011–based products the ability to view and perform limited editing on AutoCAD Raster Design 2011 objects. With the AutoCAD Raster Design Object Enabler, any user with these AutoCAD 2011–based products can have full compatibility with AutoCAD Raster Design 2011 objects.
Can the AutoCAD Raster Design Object Enabler be installed on a version of AutoCAD prior to 2011?
No. The AutoCAD Raster Design Object Enabler 2011 can only be installed on AutoCAD 2011–based products.
Do I have to install the AutoCAD Raster Design Object Enabler in order to view AutoCAD Raster Design drawings in AutoCAD-based applications?
No. The AutoCAD proxy graphic mechanism (starting with AutoCAD R13) allows viewing of AutoCAD Raster Design objects in AutoCAD or other Autodesk products that can read drawing files. Be sure you turn on proxy graphics before you save your drawings in AutoCAD Raster Design.
How is the AutoCAD Raster Design Object Enabler different from proxy graphics?
The AutoCAD Raster Design Object Enabler does not replace the proxy graphics mechanism of interoperability. Proxy graphics remain a valuable "common denominator" of interoperability across the Autodesk product line. The AutoCAD Raster Design Object Enabler provides a more robust level of compatibility for AutoCAD users.
How do I use the AutoCAD Raster Design Object Enabler?
Once installed, the AutoCAD Raster Design Object Enabler works automatically with your existing AutoCAD configuration. If you open a drawing file containing AutoCAD Raster Design objects, they are "live" and you can edit them directly using AutoCAD commands. There are no menus, toolbars, or command-line features. The power of the AutoCAD Raster Design Object Enabler is the ability to use existing and familiar AutoCAD commands on AutoCAD Raster Design objects without the need to learn new functionality.