AutoCAD Civil 3D :: Coordinate Transformation With Surface
Jul 9, 2013
I have a created a TIN surface with a DEM file. Drawing coordinates are State Plane NAD 83 feet. DEM file coordinates are UTM NAD27 meters. Surface is shifted approx. 835 miles east.
My group is trying to convert a dwg from one coordinate system to another. The original drawing contains points, blocks, etc. in 1 system and we need it in a different one. We tried attaching the dwg to a new map with the new system using a layer query, but this did not appear to bring in the objects into the new system.
"Structures" is in the original system (OR83-NF), "StructuresHarn" is in the desired system (ORHP-NIF)
P.S. C3D 2011 Civil 3D 2013, HF3.0 Windows 7, 64-bit, SP1
I have some points in a drawing set up in a coordinate system and using a specified point file format, I successfully exported them to another coordinate system for use by our surveyors. I also wanted the pipe route in my destination drawing so I created a shp file from a polyline representing the pipe route in the original drawing using Map 3D Export. When I imported the shp file into my destination drawing there appears to be a slight horizontal difference from the point locations. The shp file doesn't land directly on the points.
To try another comparison, I ran a query on the pipe route to perform a manual coordinate system transformation. The result of this is the exact same as the shp file.
My questions are, which method (exporting points vs. shp files) results in the correct coordinate transformation and why are they different? When exporting points I am not using any specific transformation settings, I am simply selecting the destination coordinate system. When exporting a shp file, Map 3D creates a prj file from the specified coordinate system in the drawing. Are there any other settings I need to adjust to get the same result with both processes? The only thing I can think of is I only have the coordinates out to 4 decimal places in my point file format, do I need to go out farther?
If you have a dwg that is, say, done in west zone but some agencies want you to provide a table of west and east zone coordinates is there a transform function that will do this in a label?
I would still wan everything in the dwg to be in west zone but be able to display coordinate values in other zones.
when I import PNEZD format .csv using import wizard the coordinates get transformed. all points are shifted about 20' in northing and 5 feet in easting. I have to use the import wizard w/ survey database in order to process linework codes.
I have some UTM images that I need to convert to State Plane. If I import them into map with raster design and export them to the state plane coordinate system, they work just fine, but I can't figure out a way to get rid of the black wedge that it makes along the edges of images.
If I query them in using map I can transform the coordinate system, but then every time I open the drawing it takes like 5 minutes just to open.
What has everyone else done to use multiple images in a drawing and transform or convert the coordinate system of the images?
I am giving a drawing containing all the contour objects in a NAD 83 coordination, I need to transfer them to a project coordination system. I am given with the origins of both system. For NAD 83, it is N6360000 E467000, for the project it is N50000 E8000. I tried to do the transformation using Toolspace->Settings->Drawing Settings->Tranformation, and changed the Local Northing/Easting and Grid Northing/Easting, but does not seem to solve the problem.
The transformation settings are changing every time a drawing is reopened. The computation method is switching from "reference point" to "unity" - see attachment. This is causing the software to use a scale factor of 1 instead of the computed scale factor at the defined reference point when scaling our points from state plane to our local ground system. This completely screws up our entire survey workflow that we have been using for almost 2 years. We had no issues like this in the 2012 or 2013 versions.
I have geotif images that I've purchased from Washoe County GIS. They have world files that work great with data connect. That is, as long as I want to work at sea level. We have a Combined Factor mandated by the County for all record maps. it's a simple grid to ground factor. I can set this factor in the drawing settings and import my sea-level coordinate files just fine. The pboblem is that I can't get the Data Connect to work with the transform settings.The problem is the same with Geotif files and SHP files. I've tried using an x-reference drawing to insert the Geotif and then scale up the geotif but the imagery doesn't scale up.
Is it a program bug that keeps Data Connect from recognizing the transformation settings?
I often have to do storm pond surfaces that (for the purposes of planning) are flat on the bottom. These surfaces are created from a combination of survey data and grading groups and the tin of these surfaces is perfectably acceptable. However, when contours are shown, the flat bottom is shown with contours jig-jagging all over the place.
The attached image shows a comparison of the same pond. The top was created with survey data and grading groups; the bottom was created using contour data only. The generated surface on the top shows the bottom contour going in different directions and has parts where the an expected contour is missing.
How to correct/manipulate the surface to show a proper flat surface?
Has instances where you set your tolerance for the maximum triangle lenth to say 50m to reduce the amount of triangles along the edge that run at long distances. When I do this I end up with multiple surface holes and I'm not sure why as there are points in the area.
I thought well maybe it's because i should've reduced my max triangles first then added breaklines. Would this matter? I also thought I could add a line to the surface to fix the holes vs. deleting surface lines along the entire edge of a surface for many many miles.
I am trying to add points into a surface. I have done this before without any problems, but now I am having issues.
When I ID points which makes up the surface it gives me the correct Z level e.g. 24.5m, however when I hover over the surface it shows me the surface name and a different z level e.g. 0.65m. What is the reason for this difference in z levels? I think this may be causing the issue I am having when I add new points.
I select the surface and use the 'edit surface command' in the ribbon, choosing add point.
When I add a point at the level I require(23.89m), it puts it in a lot higher than the surrounding area, so I tried to put the point in to the lower z levels (0.4m) it puts it in a lot lower!
I am issues with DEM files that I am downloading from the USGS website.I download 24k, elevation for the area I need. I then choose staged 1 second, add a surface to a blank drawing, then upload the DEM files to the surface.
The surface imports correcty, but when I try to import points taken by a surveyor on the same drawing, they plot incorrectly.The DEM surface and the points from the surveyor do not correspond. Also, the DEM surface is in meters, not feet. I have tried changing drawing settings, datum types, coordinate types, etc.
I have a project involving 3 programs. I am creating a planned development in 3d to be 3d printed when finished. The project is a 5 acre tract containing 8 buildings. I have built the surface in C3D and each building in Revit. The buildings are not in the same Revit file. For my solid work, I will bring the files over into 3ds Max Design to section into smaller quadrants to build in the 3d printer.
The questions:
Would it be better to import the surface into Revit to merge surface and buildings together?
Would it be better to import the buildings into C3D to merge entities?
Would it be better to bring those entities into 3ds Max and then merge them into one? Will 3ds Max Design allow me to insert entities accurately in the environment?
I need to create a sub-set surface from my main surface. not sure what the vernacular is for a "subset surface" in c3d but i do have a feature line that bouinds the desired area, but that is as far as i can solve.
i did try creating a new surface - pasted the main surface in the edit definition, then deleted triangles until the boundary alighned wiht my featureline. This seemed to work, but when i view the properties of the smaller subset suface, it shows a mimum and maximum elevation that is incorrect.
Im currently using an addon for Civil 3D called Novapoint. It allows me to create 3D models of surfaces made out of 3d faces and easily models cut and fill 3d-models for me.
The only thing i need to create a cut and fill model is one or several ground surfaces (existing ground, earth layers, rock etc. whatever i need) and a closed polyline/3Dpolyline that represents the level I want my cut and/or fill model.
I enter the spcifications I want such as; earth cut angle, rock cut angle, fill angle, select which surfaces i want to include in the model calculation and select the polyline.Novapoint then calculates the cut/fill model from the surfaces to the polyline and models the different cut/fill angles and gives me the results in a 3d-face model and a specification of the volyme of rock cut, earth cut an fill.
1. Novapoint is quite unstable and crashes alot
2. You cant create profiles out of 3d faces
3. Novapoint does not automaticly combine the start surfaces with the modeled cut/fill surface
4. A large surface made out of 3d-faces demands alot of computer power
So I want to how I do the same that Novapoint does for me in Civil 3D? (I have access to Civil 3D 2007-2013 depending on which one you're using)I know I can take the 3Dfaces i created in Novapoint and make a surface in Civil 3D with them but I want to exclude Novapoint completely.
all of a sudden whenever I run audit on my corridor file the surface definition becomes a snapshot. To add to the drama, the corridor surface will not paste into an empty surface. Why?
My problem added with pic ... I want to make volume calculate for sample road project. When I try to compute materials I cant use Corridor surface for DATUM... There is only target surface on option..
I am trying to visualize a road project. The problems is, whenever the corridor surface goes below the EG surface (when the road is in cut) the EG surface is the only visible surface.
I sort of need to subtract the corridor surface from the EG surface, or merge the both surfaces into one.
I'm finding myself on more and more sites that use multiple coordinate systems and height datums.
We have 3 on this job. One is the MGA zone 50 GDA94, another is just an offset of this and the third is a strange local grid with offsets and rotations.
We have Excel spreadsheets that can convert between the systems, but that requires several extra steps per point.
Is it possible to define each coordinate system in one drawing so that I could select which system I wanted to use, input the points and then select the main coordinate system so it converts the coordinates directly? It would mean less steps and I would have greater confidence in this system.
Each time an @ is entered at the command line, C3D is freezing for up to 15 seconds before allowing the comand to continue. It wasn't happening last week and no changes have been made to the instalation. What could be causing this glitch?
If I set up my Civil 3D drawing in some known coordinate system, e.g. State Plane, in the "drawing settings", can I then toggle my drawing into other known systems, e.g. UTM, by changing the coordinate system under "drawing settings"?
I want to have a piece of text added to the drawing notes that uses a field (or similar), to list the coordinate system code assigned to the drawing, i.e. UTM83-12.
Any setvar or something that I can use?
There are load of different coordinate systems to choose from, and I don’t want to have to manually enter it for every drawing.