XYZ file terrain modeling

[jimhami42]

@thomas.engel

A. Somehow the measures (as already indicated by you) do not work. Although in Model Info (under Window) I see everything is set to Decimal / Meters - how can I make that the points are read in Meters and how can I achieve the Z-values are according to the provided values by the original file? (the Z-values in the original .txt file are correct indications of meters above sea level)

The input data is treated as inches since this is the internal unit of choice for SketchUp. You can scale and relocate the existing import, but this is not as easy as it would normally be due to the size of the geometry and the offsets involved. To make this a little more painless, I added a choice of units to the plugin which will scale the data accordingly. You will need to download and install the new version and re-import your data for the point info to display correctly for you.

[added at 15:52 GMT] I left off a parentheses in the previously uploaded files … this has been corrected in the current file. My bad for not testing one last change …

@thomas.engel

B. What is the best way to have a look at the code? I will not be able to understand more than the basic concept and functionality - I did some Java at university and a lot of VBA (excel) for my masters degree (development of a break even analysis tool for SME’s) - but frankly: I do not have programming expertise. Still I would like to understand what the code does (not just in the result) and dive deeper into the possibilities of Sketch Up.

I use Notepad++ although Windows regular Notepad will work just fine. It’s just a text file. The actual code is called “thomas_merge.rb” and the zipped version is “thomas_merge.rbz”. You can download either from my Spirix site (or find them in your AppData folder under SketchUp).

@thomas.engel

C. After that I would achieve that I pull the less exact google earth alti model for the wider area (2700000,1265000 to 2755000,1235000) and embed the existing model to the wider area. At the end, I also would like to learn how to add the data of the built environment (houses etc., which I also purchased - but the parcel (only postal delivery possible) did not yet arrive) - this should also be very accurate data but is definitely a different step.

The ability to import Google Earth terrain is going to change soon. See this thread for more information:

Upcoming Change to Add Location

Hey all you SketchUppers We have a pretty big announcement coming down the pike that we feel you’ll appreciate knowing about sooner than later so you can plan accordingly. Specifically, we’re moving away from the Google provided geographic data. This has important implications for both satellite imagery and terrain features for some versions of SketchUp. We’re sure you’ll have a ton of questions so we’ve already posted our most expected questions in the Help Center here: FAQ for Add Location ch…

Adding buildings to the imported terrain should be fairly straight-forward if the models are to the same scale.