Overtime, integration betwixt GPS Map technology and CAD Software has go increasingly advanced.  People use these integrations for a wide diversity of reasons.

Sometimes they wish to have their location on their Title Cake. In other instances, specifying a location can be helpful when information technology comes to automated lighting and summit.

Whatsoever the case, the heaven (literally) is the limit when it comes to bringing these maps onto AutoCAD. In this tutorial, we will larn to integrate maps in AutoCAD and work with it.

Things you'll demand for this tutorial:

  • AutoCAD 2022 or college
  • Internet Connection
  • An Autodesk 360 account

The current AutoCAD has two main forms of location setting. The first 1 is called "From Map", and the second 1 is called "From File".

"From File" used to exist more applied (and still is if using Google Earth) but for our purposes, "From Map" is better suited to our needs. Google Maps and Bing Maps are often changing their UI, removing or calculation features, and currently, there is no easy method to practice the conversion to KML or KMZ from either of these web apps.

Note: It was once possible to do a Google Maps conversion to KML simply it has go more than complicated and involves the use of Google My Maps, a service which allows yous to create custom location-based maps. This process in itself would require a whole tutorial.

For simplicity, throughout the tutorial we are going to be working with one area, the eye edifice (Student Union) of the University of Primal Florida, and its surrounding features.

Using Bing Maps

Because of the removal of the Bing Maps integration into Windows (details hither), this feature won't even work properly without the hotfix that is available for download hither.

Before installing the hotfix, make sure that AutoCAD isn't open up, then download and install the hotfix. After the installation is complete, open up AutoCAD.

Click on the Insert Tab in the Ribbon and then in the "Ready Location" Console, click the icon that looks similar a globe. A drop-downwards will open.

Click From Map. (In the future, a quicker style to accomplish this same chore is to type GEO into the command line and hitting ENTER twice.)

Fig ii. From Map option on the insert tab

A Window will open. Unless yous are already signed in to Autodesk 360, you will have to go alee and do that. After, this is what the window should look like:

Fig three. Geographical location window with Bing map

Blazon in the accost bar "University ofCentrall Florida student union" and hit ENTER. And then, click the selection circled in Figure 4.

Fig 4. Drib marker on the map

You tin run across the campus has a circular layout, with a edifice in the innermost circumvolve. Zoom in on it, and then click "Drib Marker Hither." Afterward that, you tin hit the "Next" button, which is at the bottom of the Geographic Location window.

The window will now show a list of "Coordinate Systems" you lot can choose from. Select FL-E, and keep going. The window will close and a dialogue will follow your cursor. Click anywhere.

Fig 5. Marker location in drawing and north direction

Another dialogue will appear in reference to compass directions. Click again to specify due north direction.

Your entire AutoCAD window should now be a map. You can zoom and pan on this map as if you lot were on any ordinary spider web map service.

Fig 6. Map inserted in AutoCAD drawing area

You lot will also notice the improver of a temporary tab in the Ribbon, the Geolocation Tab.

Feel free to play around with it. A feature that's terrific is the power to plow on the road map, satellite, hybrid, or to turn the unabridged map off.

Fig vii. Map type drop-down carte

The beauty of the Bing Maps integration is anything you add together to the drawing will be scalable to the map, and different adding a still-image, the map zooms, pans, and in some cases even orbits with your drawing.

On our Map, backside the Student Matrimony, circled in Effigy 8, there is a plot of grass. Permit'southward say the Academy was considering adding a classroom building in that location. What would that look like? Well now, we tin can go a good idea of exactly how.

Fig 8. The empty plot in the map

Create a rectangle that is 125' ten 150' and then rotate that rectangle and then it is parallel to the sidewalks on either side of the grass. It doesn't have to be perfect! This is simply so we tin accept an thought.

Fig 9. Buiding surface area on the empty plot

From hither you would be able to figure out how further logistics, like building heights, sidewalk admission, etc expect. Y'all can even make a 3D building if you want. If you did brand a 3D building, you lot'd even be able to import information technology into the Google Earth of the University and see what the building would await like adjacent to the others.

For now, though, we'll stay in the realms of 2d AutoCAD. I'm going to add a simple hatch to the rectangle and then create potential sidewalks that could be used in the futurity. These are pretty big sidewalks too, 18 feet in width.

These are the hatch settings I used for the edifice:

Fig 10. Hatch setting for the building

And these are the hatch settings I used for the sidewalk:

Fig 11. Hatch setting for the sidewalk

And this is how it turned out.

Fig 12. Final drawing after adding hatches

Of course, information technology is upwards to you to determine where you lot think the sidewalks should be placed, or what kinds of hatches to utilise.

Lighting and Shadows

You tin change how low-cal reflects off a 3D building in AutoCAD based on customizable fourth dimension, date, and location properties. Continuing off the building we created previously, let's make it 3D. Extrude it, giving it 48 feet of peak (virtually 4 floors).

Fig xiii. 3D building in the map

Change view style to Realistic then give the walls a Brick material and the roof any  Cloth y'all like.

Fig 14. Calculation materials to the sidewalk and edifice

In the Render tab of the Ribbon, there is a Console called "Sunday & Location". Click on the "Sun Status" Icon, and so in the following window, select the option circled in Figure 15.

Fig 15. Lighting settings

Click once again the first option in the window that follows.

Later on that, yous volition have access to the window shown in Figure sixteen. Turn the Surround Switch on.

Fig 16. Render environment and exposure window

By altering the Date and Fourth dimension in the Dominicus & Location Panel, you will see the lighting on the edifice change.

Fig 17. Location and date time settings

There'south a lot more that can be done with Google Maps and Bing Maps in AutoCAD but this tutorial should lay the foundation for it all. This tutorial is also available in video form here.

Other Alternatives

Apart from Bing maps, there are a few other alternatives besides which tin be used to import the maps in AutoCAD.

Google Maps

Google maps integration was removed from AutoCAD in favor of Bing Maps. In the futurity, this may change. However, for now, as a workaround, we can highlight coordinates from a Google Maps URL and bring it over to the From Maps in AutoCAD.

This is pretty unproblematic. On Google Maps (maps.google.com), blazon in Educatee Wedlock Ucf, striking ENTER, then re-create-paste the text from the accost bar every bit selected in Effigy 13. (Effigy xiii)

Back in AutoCAD, blazon GEO into the command line and and then hit ENTER twice to bring up the Geographic Location window. Paste the coordinates into the address bar, and repeat the steps nosotros initially did to integrate a map.

Fig 18. Pulling info from google maps

Map Info

For even more than customization and specificity, you should consider getting Desktop Program "Map Info" as well as the AutoCAD Map 3D toolset. Additionally, information technology should be noted that AutoCAD Ceremonious 3D is better equipped for dealing with things such as bridges, roads, and other location-specific entities.

So, these are the basics of using the map in AutoCAD. If y'all have questions related to this article allow me know in the comments below.