How Do I Export Tree Pins To Civil 3D

Summary

0:00 Overview
A walkthrough of the full path from a tree inventory collected in SiteMarker to labeled COGO points in Civil 3D.

0:09 Filter your pins in the web admin app
Log into the web admin app and go to the Maps tab. Before exporting, filter down to tree pins only. Anything visible on screen at export time ends up in the file, so regular pins and observation pins need to be filtered out. Click Apply.

0:48 Export the pins: datum and export type
Click Export Pins and select the correct datum. You can type it, search it, or scroll to it. Three export types are available: a script file for vanilla AutoCAD, an Excel file, or a direct export to Civil 3D. This video uses the Excel path so the data can be reformatted before import.

1:33 What the finished result looks like in Civil 3D
A preview of the endgame. Every tree comes in as a COGO point carrying the point number, diameter at breast height, and label. Label style will vary depending on how your description key sets are built, since block, layer, and label layers are all governed by your CAD standards.

2:22 How the description key set drives the workflow
In Toolspace, under Settings and then Point, a description key set named "Trees from SiteMarker to Civil 3D" controls how each COGO point behaves: its layer, the block it uses, its point style, and its label style. A sample AutoCAD file with this key set is available for firms that do not already have one, and it will need adjusting to match your standards.

3:12 Descriptor thresholds: Grand, Protected, Significant
Tree ordinances vary by municipality, and so does the verbiage. In this example, Grand is anything 24 inches and larger, Protected runs 16 to 23.99 inches, and Significant runs 8 to 16 inches. Each descriptor maps to its own point style, label style, format, and layer. You can split layers by tree size or put them all on one.

4:33 Scaling the block to the tree protection area
Tree protection area requirements differ by area: one foot, 1.25 feet, or 1.5 feet per inch of DBH. Parameter 3 scales the block so the COGO point visually represents the actual protection area. A 20 inch pine renders noticeably larger than a 12 inch red oak as a result.

5:51 Formatting the export into a Civil 3D ready CSV
Open the export in Excel or Google Sheets. The raw file includes P, N, E, Z, and description plus extra columns such as field comments about lightning strikes or disease. Keep columns A through E and delete the rest. Then delete the header row, which is critical since Civil 3D cannot ingest a file with headers. Save or download as CSV.

7:09 Importing points from file with the PNEZD format
Start from a blank file built off a template that already contains the description key set. Go to Insert, then Points from File, click the plus button, and select your CSV. A check mark and a data preview in the third panel confirm correct formatting. Scroll down and set the file format to PNEZD. If the file is formatted wrong you get an X, no matching format, and no preview.

8:49 Creating a point group and why it saves hours
Creating a point group on import, named something like "Tree Inventory from SiteMarker" with a date, makes the data easy to filter, select, and trace back to its source. This replaces the old process of taking a CSV from the surveyor, cleaning it up, taking another from the arborist, and reconciling arborist tree numbers against surveyor tree numbers. That work has gone from hours or days down to minutes.

9:33 Confirming your datum and checking against aerial
Unlike vanilla AutoCAD, Civil 3D carries a datum. Go to Drawing Utilities, then Drawing Settings, and set the coordinate system under Unit and Zone. SiteMarker works off NAD83. If you do not know your datum, ask the surveyor or a colleague, or look up which NAD83 datum applies to your project location. Select your state and then the coordinate system. Once set, your 0,0 is tied to a place in the world and the Geolocation tab appears, letting you turn on an aerial image to confirm the tree points landed correctly.

11:05 Inside the data: multi-trunk trees and total DBH
A closer look at a single row. Row 18 shows the point number, its location, and a captured elevation. This tree is flagged Significant and has two trunks, a 10 inch and an 11 inch, making it multi-trunk. Historically, breaking that data apart, summing the DBH values, and appending the total to the description was a manual processing chore. SiteMarker handles it in the export.

12:06 How each part of the description maps to Civil 3D
The descriptor at the front, "Significant" in this case, tells the description key set which block style to use in the COGO point. The middle section, driven by the $1 and $2 format values, dictates label contents. Parameter 3 scales the block off the total diameter at breast height.

13:15 Adapting to your jurisdiction's tree ordinance
If your jurisdiction uses different names or thresholds, adjust the descriptor to match. For example, if Grand Trees are called historic at 23 inches and up, use find and replace to swap Grand for historic, then swap Significant for historic across the affected range only, not the whole sheet. If you already maintain a custom description key set, the descriptor in your key set has to match the descriptor in the CSV exactly or nothing will come in. Some municipalities require larger trees to be shown differently from smaller ones, which is why the descriptor and display style need to line up on both sides.