16th April 2009, 11:58 AM
I think Kevin's idea of doing it in GIS is probably the most elegant method. I think the calibrate-digitise-polygonise/clean-export to GIS approach is a relic of pre-gis days, but I'd have to check with ex-colleagues about the history of the process and what they do now. Its a case of following the process you are happy with, instead of thinking afresh. As long as I can create the real/unreal parts plus the overall polygon quickly in GIS then that will be fine (I need the 'real' for the illustrations). I think I would still get a puck for the tracing.
I've got ArcView 3.3 and am happy using that, so should be fine. And the less CAD use the better, and I can then go straight from ArcView to Corel. Unless anyone tells me otherwise....
I wouldn't trust a digital photo to be accurate and not warp inconsistently, and to ensure it was 100% would be way too much faff, I'm looking at potentially several thousand plans....
I'm not sure where that leaves me looking for a A3 scanner...they are rather pricey too....but versatile for illustrations, and my A4 one is rather ancient. Any advice on choosing a good scanner!!
thanks for all the advice, it seems that from trying to get info about a redundant process, I should be actually stepping back, looking at what I want to do, and then re-thinking the process. So has been very useful indeed
I've got ArcView 3.3 and am happy using that, so should be fine. And the less CAD use the better, and I can then go straight from ArcView to Corel. Unless anyone tells me otherwise....
I wouldn't trust a digital photo to be accurate and not warp inconsistently, and to ensure it was 100% would be way too much faff, I'm looking at potentially several thousand plans....
I'm not sure where that leaves me looking for a A3 scanner...they are rather pricey too....but versatile for illustrations, and my A4 one is rather ancient. Any advice on choosing a good scanner!!
thanks for all the advice, it seems that from trying to get info about a redundant process, I should be actually stepping back, looking at what I want to do, and then re-thinking the process. So has been very useful indeed