Im trying to decide which one we want to buy. Ive never used either but have used ArcGIS in the past, but I only have a basic understanding of it. We want to be able to do the following within less than a year after the learning curve of course.
Create a geographic database of all projects to be able find which old jobs were in areas of new jobs.This will need to be intuitive enough to show job # but not necessary to show all points etc.
Geographic location of Control points from static surveys. Not a necessity but might be handy years down the road. We anticipate our workload increasingly significantly within a 10 mile radius of our office over the next 5 years.
Ability to bring aerial image into Carlson Survey to underlay under a project for printing under a plat or alignment sheet.
Ability to create shp files or kmz files to send to clients as a deliverable when needed.
Import various public files, flood zone lines, wetland shp files, cultural resource files etc to overlay on aerial images for plotting maps for informational purposes.
Down the road we would like to offer GIS database services for clients that don't have this in house.
I noticed that global mapper offers some sort of UAS add on. We have a certified drone pilot. Haven't purchased the drone yet as we haven't decided which direction we are heading with that service.
As far as the database goes. We have been in business for 3 months and 70 projects completed so we don't want to put this off much longer. We were initially going to use google earth but feel we might outgrow it.
Thanks in advance
I am in the process of evaluating Carlson GIS for the office, and I just today bought myself a license for my personal laptops. I have not used all of the functionality of the program yet, but I can see where it will swap back and forth with Carlson Survey fairly easily. I believe that Carlson GIS would probably do what you need. I would suggest giving Jennifer DiBona (That CAD Girl) a call and speak with her.
The one thing I am a little disappointed in is that the Carlson GIS does not come in the OEM version, like Survey does. It runs on either AutoCAD Map, or Intellicad. I wish there was an option to have the full GIS suite of commands as an add on for the OEM version of the Survey module.
Another thing I have found is that there is little documentation available on the GIS package. I purchased my last upgrade for Survey thru That CAD Girl, and I watched as many of her webinars for the 12 months that come free with the purchase. She has a pretty good webinar on the GIS software.
The only thing I am waiting on to pull the trigger for the office is to make sure our deliverables on the project we are working on meets the needs of our client. I see enough functionality for our general needs and my personal needs and education that it will work for me.
I have been creating an external database (Acess 2000 format) for the data link. You can also use the MSC format, but I am not familiar with that yet.
TXSurveyor, post: 399960, member: 6719 wrote: Im trying to decide which one we want to buy. Ive never used either but have used ArcGIS in the past, but I only have a basic understanding of it. We want to be able to do the following within less than a year after the learning curve of course.
Create a geographic database of all projects to be able find which old jobs were in areas of new jobs.This will need to be intuitive enough to show job # but not necessary to show all points etc.
Geographic location of Control points from static surveys. Not a necessity but might be handy years down the road. We anticipate our workload increasingly significantly within a 10 mile radius of our office over the next 5 years.
Ability to bring aerial image into Carlson Survey to underlay under a project for printing under a plat or alignment sheet.
Ability to create shp files or kmz files to send to clients as a deliverable when needed.
Import various public files, flood zone lines, wetland shp files, cultural resource files etc to overlay on aerial images for plotting maps for informational purposes.
Down the road we would like to offer GIS database services for clients that don't have this in house.
I noticed that global mapper offers some sort of UAS add on. We have a certified drone pilot. Haven't purchased the drone yet as we haven't decided which direction we are heading with that service.
As far as the database goes. We have been in business for 3 months and 70 projects completed so we don't want to put this off much longer. We were initially going to use google earth but feel we might outgrow it.
Thanks in advance
I've never used Carlson but I have Global Mapper and it can do all the things you mention plus they have training webinars fairly often. I don't know what Carlson costs but GM is very affordable.
If you are looking to eventually provide GIS services then you need a true GIS software, not a software that has GIS capabilities. Esri ArcGIS Desktop, Hexagon Geospatial GeoMedia, QGIS are all packages to consider. At the end of the day, the Esri portfolio would likely be a solution your customer base would be using and easily provide the deliverables in a format they need.
The price of QGIS is pretty hard to beat.
Global Mapper is an invaluable tool for exchanging, accumulating and exporting data. It is the Swiss Army Knife of "Data". And not just raster data, but DEM and vector too. It does a great job of reprojecting data sets and I can't say enough good about it.
You really need to get a copy of ESRI ARC Desktop and use it as your go to GIS tool. It is the standard and nothing can completely replace it. Having said that 'Manafold' is an amazing tool for a fraction of the price. But I think if you are going to exchange data sets with your customers in GIS form, you are eventually going to have to get a license for ArcMap. And the reality of ESRI is that the price of the product is a small fraction of the price learning to use it. Start off with a copy of ArcMap, when you need extensions you will know it. One of my New Year resolutions for next year is to spend the Holiday making an external drive with data sets for Utah and the surrounding states. When I get it organized, I am going to copy the entire thing to my Google Drive. I am kicking myself because some of the pipeline data sets that I used to be able to get online have been pulled (national security concerns) and I did not keep copies.
Carlson GIS is a great tool for importing GIS data sets into the Carlson desktop. Most people pickup a copy of GIS with the Civil Suite. As you have probably figured out, at the end of each year (like right now) there are some amazing deals on Carlson Civil Suite.
My point here is that these are three different tools and while they do similar things, in my toolbox I need all three. They don't really overlap much.
TXSurveyor, post: 399960, member: 6719 wrote: Im trying to decide which one we want to buy. Ive never used either but have used ArcGIS in the past, but I only have a basic understanding of it. We want to be able to do the following within less than a year after the learning curve of course.
Create a geographic database of all projects to be able find which old jobs were in areas of new jobs.This will need to be intuitive enough to show job # but not necessary to show all points etc.
Geographic location of Control points from static surveys. Not a necessity but might be handy years down the road. We anticipate our workload increasingly significantly within a 10 mile radius of our office over the next 5 years.
Ability to bring aerial image into Carlson Survey to underlay under a project for printing under a plat or alignment sheet.
Ability to create shp files or kmz files to send to clients as a deliverable when needed.
Import various public files, flood zone lines, wetland shp files, cultural resource files etc to overlay on aerial images for plotting maps for informational purposes.
Down the road we would like to offer GIS database services for clients that don't have this in house.
I noticed that global mapper offers some sort of UAS add on. We have a certified drone pilot. Haven't purchased the drone yet as we haven't decided which direction we are heading with that service.
As far as the database goes. We have been in business for 3 months and 70 projects completed so we don't want to put this off much longer. We were initially going to use google earth but feel we might outgrow it.
Thanks in advance
I have used ArcGIS, Global Mapper, Manifold, Mapinfo, QGIS, Safe/FME, SAGA and a host of other GIS/Mapping programs for years.
QGIS is free, very similar in operation and interface to ArcGIS, available in 32, and 64 bit, in multiple operating systems, has an active development roadmap, and excellent help from people on GIS Stackexchange. It works well Shape files, as well as other GIS data file formats. I use it nearly daily.
ArcGIS is what I would call the Big Business/Bureaucratic standard. If you are going to be exchanging data with agencies, and large corporations, that is the way to go. It does cost a bit of money, especially if you get spatial extensions, or analysis packages to add on to the basic package.
Manifold was the first true GIS package that was available in 64 bit, and it does things that no other package can do without a great deal of trouble.
They are about release Version 9 (it is in beta testing) and when they do, it will change the way you look at GIS. For a fully developed, commercial GIS Package, the price is extremely reasonable.
Mapinfo is something I have used for over 20 years, and I still think it has features that the other packages should emulate. It made great maps, and Mapbasic made it very easy to write very productive scripts. I still use it very often.
Global Mapper is always going to be in my tool box. When it comes to converting/re-projecting/transforming data, it has no equal. The price is very reasonable even when you add on the Lidar module. It pays for itself very quickly.
Safe Software FME has several different modules available, and it is one of the best dedicated file conversion packages I have ever used.
QGIS is a very good place to start though.
In my opinion, the Carlson GIS module should be included in the Survey module.
It's not really a stand alone GIS software program at this point in time. I suspect it will mature as time goes on.
It is useful for import/export shape files.
QGIS is definitely worth the time to look at. Many people prefer it over Arcmap for reasons other than price.
imaudigger, post: 400059, member: 7286 wrote: In my opinion, the Carlson GIS module should be included in the Survey module.
It's not really a stand alone GIS software program at this point in time. I suspect it will mature as time goes on.
It is useful for import/export shape files.QGIS is definitely worth the time to look at. Many people prefer it over Arcmap for reasons other than price.
Although I have an older license of Global Mapper I decided to take a look at QGis. It was a free download. I was surprised that where it ran it was actually called Grass GIS. It appears to be very powerful but would take a considerable time to learn to use it efficiently. In comparison, Global Mapper is very user friendly.
Jon B. Gramm, post: 400055, member: 10309 wrote: I have used ArcGIS, Global Mapper, Manifold, Mapinfo, QGIS, Safe/FME, SAGA and a host of other GIS/Mapping programs for years.
QGIS is free, very similar in operation and interface to ArcGIS, available in 32, and 64 bit, in multiple operating systems, has an active development roadmap, and excellent help from people on GIS Stackexchange. It works well Shape files, as well as other GIS data file formats. I use it nearly daily.
ArcGIS is what I would call the Big Business/Bureaucratic standard. If you are going to be exchanging data with agencies, and large corporations, that is the way to go. It does cost a bit of money, especially if you get spatial extensions, or analysis packages to add on to the basic package.
Manifold was the first true GIS package that was available in 64 bit, and it does things that no other package can do without a great deal of trouble.
They are about release Version 9 (it is in beta testing) and when they do, it will change the way you look at GIS. For a fully developed, commercial GIS Package, the price is extremely reasonable.Mapinfo is something I have used for over 20 years, and I still think it has features that the other packages should emulate. It made great maps, and Mapbasic made it very easy to write very productive scripts. I still use it very often.
Global Mapper is always going to be in my tool box. When it comes to converting/re-projecting/transforming data, it has no equal. The price is very reasonable even when you add on the Lidar module. It pays for itself very quickly.
Safe Software FME has several different modules available, and it is one of the best dedicated file conversion packages I have ever used.
QGIS is a very good place to start though.
I agree with most of this post. QGIS is a great open source software and does most of what the original poster is looking for. Manifold GIS version 9 has been coming a long time and many enthusiastic and dedicated users of Manifold 8 have long since left after years of waiting. Never did like the companies general attitude to it's users. Definitely download QGIS and have a look.
Thanks folks!
If you really want to get into GIS, the Esri platform is the way to go. Yes, the software isn't cheap. But you get a powerful, industry standard platform that will never become obsolete. With the Esri platform, you can setup your geodatabase, then upload it to their cloud platform ArcGIS Online. From there you can create web and mobile applications that really make your GIS data useful. If you have a license for ArcGIS Desktop, you automatically get a license for ArcGIS Online.
As a Fed, I have been fortunate to be immersed in the ESRI mode for many years with enterprise level software support. I can't speak for the Carlson suite, QGIS, but sitting alongside AutoDesk products, the CAD/ESRI GIS is a pair to reckon with. Looking at the question, your doing exactly what GIS is made for - compiling disparate data and combining them, and making a GIS product for a client including survey data. Bring in survey quality data into the mix, I can speak for the projection engine that sits behind ArcGIS is top notch. That team is tightly intertwined with EPSG and you won't likely find a coordinate system that the product does not know about. It's wild west out there when pulling in data from silos, and likely, those data have been touched by an ESRI product in its development, making sticking with ArcGIS a logical software.
On Mr. Silvers thread (see above) to get "organized", I think you should look into Theme Manager. Get a harddrive, start storing data by "project" or DATA TYPE, and then install Theme Manager. Its Free, lightweight, easy to develop and maintain tool that keeps your data (layer files) accessible thru one portal. http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/gis/thememanager.cfm . I might be biased, because this product was developed by my GIS team at NPS. Any data melding and your talking dozens of file formats. TM can handle almost all of them....CAD,Tiffs, Web services, Georeferenced JPEGS, Geodatabases, shapefiles even PDF's used for documentation and Map Documents (MXD)s.
Good luck in your quest though.
In my opinion Global Mapper was great until the ownership changed. Now I can't even activate my license reliably. It is not nearly as stable as it used to be.
