Summary of Feedback Requests on the Google Earth Extension for AutoCAD-based Products

The Google Earth Extension is one of the oldest active technology previews available on Autodesk Labs. Month in, month out, the technology preview is one of Labs most popular downloads.

If you have not downloaded it for yourself, you can get it at:

Download Google Earth Extension for AutoCAD-based products via Autodesk Labs

For those mot already familiar with it, you can publish your 3D models from AutoCAD-based products directly into the Google Earth application, import a Google Earth image into AutoCAD, drape a Google Earth image onto a 3D mesh in AutoCAD, and attach time span information to your model. When I say AutoCAD-based products, I specifically mean:

AutoCAD 2011 Family

• AutoCAD 2011 (32-bit and 64-bit)
• AutoCAD Architecture 2011 (32-bit and 64-bit)
• AutoCAD Map 3D 2011 (32-bit and 64-bit)

AutoCAD 2007-2010 Family

• AutoCAD 2007-2010 (32-bit only)
• AutoCAD Architecture 2007-2010 (32-bit only)
• AutoCAD Map 3D 2008-2010 (32-bit only)

One of the key points here is that the 2011 family is the first one where 64-bit is supported.

Recently I posted a blog article where I requested feedback on what enhancements you would like to see in the Google Earth Extension. Here is what you told us.

This feedback has been shared with the development team. There are no definite plans for a technology preview update, but in the event that there is one, we certainly know what to work on. Thanks to everyone who responded. In addition to considering your responses, we would also want to consider adding support for Google Earth 6.

The Google Earth Extension currently supports Google Earth 5.x. The extension creates a link between the AutoCAD and Google Earth using the Microsoft Component Object Model (COM) application program interface (API). With the recent release of Google Earth 6, Google Earth no longer supports the COM interface. The team is formulating a plan for supporting the new API, but there is no exact date as to when that will be ready.

Collecting feedback is alive in the lab.