Gordon W. Perkins

Sorry missed the previous post with Lynda.

I think it really pays to have a robust understanding of the program and its tools before trying to specifically learn its application in the profession.  You need the full toolbox so that you are not limited to just set tasks or processes.  I hear that Lynda.com is a great place to start.  I have not tried their tutorials, but colleagues have gi…[Read more]

Good to know. I don’t need any more spam.   Thanks!

I have done 2D and 3D design on the side for years now.  I really fell into it while helping a co-worker with some photoshop questions.  It then turned into brochure design for her friend, then some odd photography, and 3-D modeling jobs.  It is slow business, but I have never actively pursued any jobs before.  While I don’t pretend to be a gra…[Read more]

Yes, and yes you can do it with regular CAD.  The main thing Civil 3D offers (used to be available in AutoCAD map until they dissolved that!!!) is the ability to define projections in the project and it automatically places georeferenced images  with the Mapiimport command (which I believe is exclusive to Civil now).  This way, for mu…[Read more]

Not really sure GIS Tools was an appropriate term.   More than anything we use it for larger digitizing jobs because as a drafting app., it is much faster that ArcGIS.  We will generally take that digitizing product seemlessly back to ArcGIS once complete.  We also use it to overlay data, and create some very particular types of maps, and for doi…[Read more]

But you get my point. The employee seat is becoming incredibly expensive and we should always question, “Is is all of this hardware and software worth it?” Sometimes the answer is yes, but we need to always be sure it is in capable hands with a strict policy governing the use of digital processes. I completely agree with your reasoning on software…[Read more]

Computers are another set of tools in the Landscape Architects tool kit. The importance of drawing will never fade. Computers, however, have helped the profession adapt slightly to include those grey areas that we never really considered the core of the profession, but have become mainstream for many professionals. For example, I am often involved…[Read more]

A human can not (i repeat “can not”) efficiently analyze 45 million cells of topographic data to determine how best to situate a 200 acre resort so as to minimize light pollution, visual impact, noise impact, as well as ecological disturbance in a 10 mile study area in a matter of hours. I don’t care how skilled your hand is. You will be drawing…[Read more]

In Syracuse, we have a few nesting falcons twelve stories above my desk and their main diet consists of the winged rat. It is brilliant to watch. They dive and full speed (the fastest animal in the air, by the way) and slam into pigeons sending a carcass followed by a wash of feathers falling peacefully by my window. The carnage that follows is…[Read more]

Great example and creative use of the application. I also do extensive visual impact work and GIS is one of the best desktop study applications we use. ArcGIS, being the primary platform.

Respectfully, I don’t see how people do not see that GIS has a great potential in LA work. It is an invaluable analysis tool. Maybe not so much for the Jone’s pool and patio, but I assumed we were thinking beyond that. However, it’s uses there are not overlooked. I am not a blind advocate of GIS. I can assure you, we use it on a daily basis for…[Read more]

In my work GIS is an invaluable tool and I wish I had taken it in university. Unfortunately, there was a lack of emphasis on the application of GIS when I was in school. GIS can give you is a very useful tool kit in understanding complex environmental, social, and even economic relationships on any scale site. With the availability of more and…[Read more]