6 replies to this topic

[Raizer]

Hello everyone,

I'm currently in the Air Force as an Engineering Assistant. It's been really interesting so far as to what we do and the job knowledge I recieved from the Air Force and what they have been teaching me in technical school. We recieved education in AutoCad/GIS for about 4 months. Now I'm really interested in Geology, Archeology, Cartography. As I work daily I learn more and more but find myself to learn about the program very slowly to the tricks and tools of ArcMap/AutoCad. I also found out that the SDSFIE plays a huge part in Cartography but how does it work exactly. Does everyone around the world have a specific geodatabase that they use for the world or how does that work? I've seen postings for GIS/Survey Technicians and I have to say the contractors I work with don't seem to deserve the 100k paycheck they've been recieving for the amount of work they do compared to me. I plan on furthering my knowledge in GIS and would like to hear everyone's advice/life experiences in this career field. Thanks again for the help.

Very Respectfully,

Dan

[P.Raposo]

Hi Raizer,

Neat interest set - I've got a bachelor's degree in archaeology and GIS, and I'm a cartographer now

Not sure quite how new you are to GIS and cartography, but I'll assume your 4 months training have been your first exposure. I've been using GIS and making maps for years, but I've never encoutered SDSFIE... is that something German?

You asked about databases. There are many, many sources of data out there, some free, some not, some proprietary, some open source, some licensed, some restricted... I don't think its accurate to say that everyone uses a specific database on the world from which they work, though obviously some folks have access to things that they use regularly. If you haven't heard of it yet, I suggest looking at Natural Earth data, which is very nice, freely available data for the world.

I hope that's a good start!
Cheers,
P

[Raizer]

I've been working with GIS officially since June now. Thanks for the info P.Raposo , great source. SDSFIE is the Spatial Data Standards for Facilities Infrastructues & Environment. It basically tells you the standards / attributes of your geodatabase.

[frax]

Raizer - I wouldn't get too hung up on geodatabases and SDSFIE (which I have never heard of). How the data is stored and in which format does not necessarily dictate how it is represented (e.g. the step from data to map, which is also a step in data to information/knowledge).

We are many here that move to e.g. Adobe Illustrator for the final polish.

[Raizer]

Thanks for the info frax. I'm not hung up on geodatabase/SDSFIE per se but curious about it. When you say Illustrator for the final polish , what do you with the exported info. ?

[frax]

My workflow is to assemble all the data I need in ArcGIS, then export is as an .ai file. Then I touch it up, select colors and symbols in Adobe Illustrator. The resulting files are pdf's for print, or jpg/png for web use. A lot of other people on this forum use an Illustrator plugin called MaPublisher that gives direct access to displaying GIS data in Illy (but very limited analysis/geoprocessing facilities - it is not a replacement for 'real' GIS software).

[Raizer]

Ah , okay I understand now. So it would be best to use Illustrator for touch ups. Hm thanks for information ! I appreciate everyone's feedback.