One of the most innovative tools Plex-Earth has to offer is the ability to create a chronological visualization of your imagery, with the use of the Timeviews feature. This way, you can track the changes being made in the area of your interest, or observe the progress of your own project through time.
The Timeviews feature also allows users to directly view very up-to-date satellite imagery, with the help of our premium providers, Airbus and Maxar.
To learn more about this feature's capabilities, just follow the tutorial below.
Step 1: Georeference your drawing
Step 3: Specify the area of interest
Extra Step: Create a Mosaic for your Timeline
Step 1: Georeference your drawing
To begin with, we must make sure that the drawing is georeferenced. If your drawing is already georeferenced, the same settings will apply.
In case you don't know the coordinate system, or you start with a blank drawing, you can quickly georeference a blank drawing simply by copy-pasting your area's Google Earth placemark in Plex-Earth's workspace, as shown in the attached tutorial.
Step 2: Use Timeviews panel
On the Plex-Earth ribbon tab, look for the Timeviews panel, and click Create Timeline in order to access this service.
Step 3: Specify the area of interest
After you do that, you will be prompted to define the area you would like the Timeline to be created for. There will be two ways to specify it. The first one, By Point, lets you specify your project's location by defining a point in the drawing. With the second option, By Rectangle, you will be able to specify your location by defining a rectangle in the drawing.
Following that, another window should pop up with the list of the available datasets to choose from.
An additional feature of the Timeline functionality is the ability to import imagery from various dates, as well as to have access to the imagery's metadata, which will provide you with various information, including its publication date.
To gain metadata access, just click the three lines on the right part of each dataset.
A window containing the above-mentioned should now appear on your screen.
You can find more information about Airbus and Maxar Metadata in this article.
| Note: If the area of interest is of a larger size, a message saying Area too Large, may appear, claiming that the area could not be covered with a single image. Therefore, in order to continue, you should specify another area of a smaller size, or consider creating mosaics instead. In the meantime, an image that covers the already specified area will be imported, in case you need to identify the location better. |
Next, after you choose your preferred dataset, a window of the area's Timeline should appear.
So now, if you would like to, you can add more dates to your Timeline, in order to produce a list of your historical imagery. This way, you will be able to track any possible changes being made in your project's area and access topological information which will surely make life easier for you through the design process.
Extra Step: Create a Mosaic for your Timeline
In the case where the project area is quite big as mentioned above, or when detailed imagery is needed, the Create Mosaic command will be used to produce images that shall act as an underlay on which the design will be based.
Afterward, you will be asked to specify the area for the mosaic creation. You will be able to do this manually by creating a rectangle with your mouse, or by choosing a polyline in your drawing. By choosing the polyline option, the mosaic that will be imported will consist of a number of tiles, inserted inside the borders of the chosen polyline.
Next, a window asking whether you would like to continue with the zoom level you currently selected in Timeline or not should pop up.
Select YES, KEEP IT!" to keep the same zoom level. Otherwise, select NO to select your preferred zoom level.
If you would like to use a different zoom level, you will be prompted to select the image quality matching your needs.
The number of tiles that will cover the specified area will depend on the zoom level you are about to choose.
The bigger the zoom level, the larger the number of tiles imported. Therefore, the better the resolution, that you will be given.
Your tiles are now ready to capture. The only thing remaining is to hit the "Start capturing now!" button. So, what are you waiting for?
And, finally, here you have it! The imagery mosaic on your screen.
option 1: without gridlines
option 2: with gridlines
Conclusion
Plex-Earth's Timeviews functionality provides you with the most recent, as well as historical images, so you can have a wide spectrum of imagery to choose from.
We, the Plex-Earth team, know well that time is a valuable thing, especially regarding the progress monitoring of your project, as well as the amount of time you consume in order to achieve your goals. That's why we have come up with the easiest and quickest solutions.
We hope that you have found this introduction on how to create imagery timelines using Timeviews, helpful. Feel free to contact us at support@plexscape.com for any questions you may still have.
Don't have Plex-Earth yet? Explore all the features and potential benefits of this software; install a fully functional 7-day free trial of Plex-Earth now!
Compatibility includes:
AutoCAD Version: 2024 , 2023 , 2022 , 2021 , 2020 , 2019 , 2018 , 2017 , 2016
Civil 3D® Version: 2024 , 2023 , 2022 , 2021 , 2020 , 2019 , 2018 , 2017 , 2016
AutoCAD Architecture Version: 2024 , 2023 , 2022 , 2021 , 2020 , 2019 , 2018 , 2017 , 2016
BricsCAD Pro: V23 , V22 , V21