Map 3D

Boundary Trim in AutoCAD

At one point or another, we are all faced with the tedious prospect of breaking or trimming a large [...]

Offsets or True Buffers in AutoCAD

You are most likely familiar with the OFFSET command in AutoCAD and have probably used it thousands [...]

Import a PDF into AutoCAD

PDF files are commonly used to share information. If a PDF file was created with vector data and y [...]

Select Similar in Civil 3D

You can right-click on an object in Civil 3D and pick Select Similar to select all the objects in a [...]

Select Similar in AutoCAD

You can right-click on an object in AutoCAD and pick Select Similar to select all the objects in a d [...]

“Add Selected” to Create New Objects

“Add Selected” is an often overlooked tool that can save you time in AutoCAD. How ofte [...]

Which Mapping Products Are “Better”, ESRI’s Or Autodesk’s?

I’ve heard the question many times, and I’ve heard a lot of answers. “ESRI’s products make i [...]

Converting & Tracking Map Coordinates

If you are using Civil 3D or Land Desktop, it includes a version of Autodesk MAP, which provides a [...]

Inserting Georeferenced Raster Images

Autodesk MAP includes the ability to properly insert a georeferenced image into a drawing. A geore [...]

Thematic Mapping

With the introduction of the Display Manager in Autodesk MAP 3D 2005, you now have a better way to c [...]

An Important Step When Moving Annotation Labels

Most maps need to convey a lot of information graphically. Even though many concepts such as locati [...]

Need to Find Objects in your Drawings? Just Ask!

AutoCAD Map 3D, which is sold as a stand-alone application, but is also included with Land Desktop a [...]

Transform – Scale, Rotate and Move in One Step

TRANSFORM is a command in Map 3D (which is also a component of Land Desktop and Civil 3D), that has [...]

Save the Current Map as a New Drawing

One of the many powerful features of AutoCAD Map 3D is Thematic Mapping, which allows you to quic [...]

Vexed by 3D Polylines?

3D Polylines can be quite useful, but sometimes you might find them in a map and struggle to use th [...]

Sources of Free Geospatial Data

Here are a few sources of geospatial data that I have used. If there are any sources not listed that [...]

Defining Scale Ranges in the FDO Style Editor

When stylizing Feature Data Objects in Map 3D, there is a powerful setting that many users overloo [...]

A Better Way to Join Polylines

We’ve all been there. It’s crunch time and you encounter hundreds or maybe thousands of indivi [...]

Exporting Object Data to a DBF

In our book “Digging Into AutoCAD Map 3D 2011 – Level 1 Training” we cover the basics of Obje [...]

Accessing Geodatabase Files from ESRI

Autodesk has added the capability to access Geodatabases that were created with ESRI ArcGIS 9 produc [...]

Using Range Tables in Property Alteration Queries

Here is a relatively easy way to create a quick thematic map, based on Object Data. In addition t [...]

Interface Changes in AutoCAD Map 3D 2012

Among the many enhancements and changes to AutoCAD Map 3D for 2012 are new workspace ribbons, as w [...]

Viewing and Editing Linked Data

In AuotCAD Map 3D, when an external database is attached to a drawing, the data is not brought into [...]

Calculating Geodetic Distance

There are many tools in AutoCAD for measuring distances. With features like Object Snap, it is [...]

Selecting and Managing Raster Images

One of the many useful features of AutoCAD Map 3D is placing a rectified raster image in the proper [...]