Cordniate Transformation Decimal Degree to Grid

[blahdc]

Hi,

I'm new to the GIS world. I have managed to find some Shapfiles from the National Atlas that I would like to use, when I import them they come in as Lat/Lon Decimal Degrees. I would like to import them or transform them to a grid system where I can take measurements in ft or meters. My area of intrest are the 48 US States. Can anyone point me in the correct direction?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

You need to assign a coordinate system to your dwg that is in feet units
before you import the shp file. As long as you have the prj file that goes
with the shape files Map3D will reproject for you. (unless you're using an
older version)
Look at the assign coordinate systems in the help files and tutorials to
learn how they work.

--
Murph
map3d.wordpress.com
(on the road)

"blahdc" wrote in message news:6361089@discussion.autodesk.com...
> Hi,
>
> I'm new to the GIS world. I have managed to find some Shapfiles from the
> National Atlas that I would like to use, when I import them they come in
> as Lat/Lon Decimal Degrees. I would like to import them or transform them
> to a grid system where I can take measurements in ft or meters. My area of
> intrest are the 48 US States. Can anyone point me in the correct
> direction?
>
> Thanks!

[blahdc]

Murph,

Thanks for the reply. I have been reading through the tutorials but I must be missing something.

First, I assign a coordniate system for my drawing under:

Map>Tools>Assign Global Corodniate System
Code:US48


My shapefile can be found here http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_atlas_database/2009/zip/State3.zip)
It is the state borders for DC, DE, MD, PA, VA, and WV.

I go to import the shapefile:

Map>Tools>Import

Then select the .shp file and hit ok. For some reason when I import it, the distances are still showing up in decimal degrees though.

I'm using Map 3D 2005.

[Anonymous]

Did you look at the description for the US48
coordinate system?

It is in 1:2,000,000 meters, which I take is at a
scale of 2,000,000 and in meters.

Try using a UTM WGS coordinate system for your
zone.

--
Murph
map3d.wordpress.com
(on the road)

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"blahdc" wrote in message
title="news:6361436@discussion.autodesk.com CTRL + Click to follow link"
href="news:6361436@di......

Murph,

Thanks
for the reply. I have been reading through the tutorials but I must be missing
something.

First, I assign a coordniate system for my drawing
under:

Map>Tools>Assign Global Corodniate
System
Code:US48


My shapefile can be found here
class=jive-link-external
href="http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_atlas_d...
)
It
is the state borders for DC, DE, MD, PA, VA, and WV.

I go to import the
shapefile:

Map>Tools>Import

Then select the .shp file and
hit ok. For some reason when I import it, the distances are still showing up
in decimal degrees though.

I'm using Map 3D
2005.

[blahdc]

Okay you made me think about that a little more. I kep the US48 coodrniate system, because that is what I need the drawing to eventually be in. My probelm was that when I go to import the .shp file I needed to assign the "Input Coordinates", when I changed that to WGS84 (LL84) it seems to be working.

I have one other question to bug you with though if you don't mind.

I have a list of points in a csv file that have a Point Number, Description, Lat , Long. I can Import those without a problem through the points menu but I need to convert them to the US48 system. Do you know a good way to do this without loosing data, I need to keep the description and or point number?

[Anonymous]

you an import the points to a lank dwg that has a coordinate system assigned
to that matches what the points use. Save and close that dwg, then in your
project dwg use the Map attach drawing (not the xref attach) and query in
the points from the query. Then detach the point dwg and it will be
reprojected to the match your project map.

--
Murph
map3d.wordpress.com
(on the road)

"blahdc" wrote in message news:6361442@discussion.autodesk.com...
> Okay you made me think about that a little more. I kep the US48 coodrniate
> system, because that is what I need the drawing to eventually be in. My
> probelm was that when I go to import the .shp file I needed to assign the
> "Input Coordinates", when I changed that to WGS84 (LL84) it seems to be
> working.
>
> I have one other question to bug you with though if you don't mind.
>
> I have a list of points in a csv file that have a Point Number,
> Description, Lat , Long. I can Import those without a problem through the
> points menu but I need to convert them to the US48 system. Do you know a
> good way to do this without loosing data, I need to keep the description
> and or point number?

[Anonymous]

I am also new to GIS. I have access to a few landbased shape files which use an NAD83 coordinate sytem. I am trying to use them in conjunction with a shape file that appears to use a WGS 1984 Web Mercator coordinate system which displays as unknown when I try to connect it. I have tried changing the coordinate sytem to a few different Mercator coordinate sytems available in Autocad Map 3D with little success. Is it posible for me to download the coordinate sytem that I need or is there some other method which we allow me to accomplish it?

Thanks,

[AllenJessup]

I don't know which one would be apropriat for Map but there are a bunch of definitions here: http://spatialreference.org/ref/sr-org/45/
Allen