topic Re: Importing Lat/Long/elevation points into AutoCAD in AutoCAD Forum

Importing Lat/Long/elevation points into AutoCAD

BECKETTBOYD1983 — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 21:56:36 GMT

I am trying to import 10K Lat/Long points with elevation into Autocad. No success. The spread sheet is 3 columns with elevation as the 3rd column

1. I have tried every format file with Lat/Long in it.

2.. My Lat/Long are in Decdegree. I have made the precision to 10

3. I have tried assigning and not assigning a coordinate system.

4. Using the Lat/LOng format choice, I am able to import the points but they are all in one spot. I thought my precision might have caused that, but no.

Any help out there?

Thanks

Re: Importing Lat/Long/elevation points into AutoCAD

Alfred.NESWADBA — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 06:08:32 GMT

Hi,

to be continued >>>there<<<.

- alfred -

Re: Importing Lat/Long/elevation points into AutoCAD

wispoxy — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 15:26:17 GMT

Do you have units set in drawing utilities? Is your insert field settings set?

BTW (by-the-way), units need to be set to meters for map location points to work.

Here's one in AutoCAD 2015 for sure, but not sure about 2010/2011/2012

Have you tried the live map aerial pin-point system?

Try the following I listed and if it still doesn't work, explain your trial errors and I'll jump in to assist you further.

Re: Importing Lat/Long/elevation points into AutoCAD

Pothman — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 18:05:20 GMT

How are you trying to import the points into AutoCAD? What type of command are you using or are you using a custom utility? What file format are you using to import them? Are you using AutoCAD or a vertical such as AutoCAD Civil 3D?

Re: Importing Lat/Long/elevation points into AutoCAD

Pothman — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 18:00:50 GMT

Are you still having a problem with importing your points? If so, can you respond with more details?

Re: Importing Lat/Long/elevation points into AutoCAD

BECKETTBOYD1983 — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 18:26:36 GMT

I have given up. I am using Autocad Civil 3d 2012 and 2015. I understand Autocad assumes the world is flat. I can transpose the LL to another coordinate system and they wil import as points. I would ideally like to plot LL points, through inserting points using a format file. But that is not working.

Re: Importing Lat/Long/elevation points into AutoCAD

Alfred.NESWADBA — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 18:59:09 GMT

Hi,

>> I understand Autocad assumes the world is flat.

No, AutoCAD can work 3D, but it's usual to use a local projection system and using coordinates like miles or meter instead of degree west/north.

And it's your file which does not have elevation information, so why do you think you get anything three-dimensional. From that LL coords it's unknown if it's measured by a plane and it's fligth-elevation or a quad-copter or the ceiling of a building or from a street-surface or something under-ground, so what should AutoCAD know about a Z-value if it's not defined by your file?

>> I would ideally like to plot LL points,

So when you don't want AutoCAD to use the points in a 2D projection ... do you assume the LL-points (if there would be a elevation defined) are plotted 3D (on a 3D printer showing the points on the surface of the earth?

>> I have given up

Sorry to see that, AFAIK you have opened 2 threads, getting different answers/suggestions, one of them you have marked as solution. So it's not understandable now to get the info: "you have given up" which sounds like not solved.

- alfred -

Re: Importing Lat/Long/elevation points into AutoCAD

BECKETTBOYD1983 — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 20:31:28 GMT

Actually my file does have the points with elevation. Importing Lat/Long points with elevation did not work so I tried importing LL long points without elevation using a spread sheet with just Lat/Long. I am not sure how to end the Autocad forum disscussion. It does not give me an option, I give up please end this session. Everyone is telling me I can not import without coordinate transformation. I do not want to transform. Attached is my file without elevation. Please feel free to try to import them as Lat Long points

Re: Importing Lat/Long/elevation points into AutoCAD

Pothman — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 20:50:26 GMT

Sorry - just one more post - since you are using AutoCAD Civil 3D, you really should post this question there since Civil 3D has tools that AutoCAD does not.

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-civil-3d-general/bd-p/66

Re: Importing Lat/Long/elevation points into AutoCAD

Alfred.NESWADBA — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 20:54:54 GMT

Hi,

>> Everyone is telling me I can not import without coordinate transformation

Well, the basic reason for that is because you can't make a plane from a spherical object without stretching material, but LL-coordinates only used are for our earth as (close to) spherical object. That's a fact and nothing specific to AutoCAD or any other CAD-system. But you like to convert points placed a sphere (close to sphere) to a 2D-plane ... and that does not work without coordinate systems/geographic projections.

If you can take a ball and without cutting/stretching/destroying it's material you are able to create a 2D-plane of that surface materian ... then you have found something noone else found out yet. But all (as far as I saw) tried to describe some ways, the problem with the ball surface to plane stays as one necessary step.

>> Please feel free to try to import them as Lat Long points

Before I will do the work, what does it help if I import these points onto a 3D-surface of a sphere, what will you do then with that points?

- alfred -

Re: Importing Lat/Long/elevation points into AutoCAD

BECKETTBOYD1983 — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 21:16:34 GMT

I understand. Thank you for your help. My question has been resolved.

Re: Importing Lat/Long/elevation points into AutoCAD

wispoxy — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 15:54:52 GMT

Well answered, this will help me too.

Re: Importing Lat/Long/elevation points into AutoCAD

Anonymous — Wed, 17 May 2017 14:30:28 GMT

Please tell us the correct method to import the Lat long

Re: Importing Lat/Long/elevation points into AutoCAD

Alfred.NESWADBA — Wed, 17 May 2017 18:25:22 GMT

Hi,

>> Please tell us the correct method to import the Lat long

Take AutoCAD Map3D or AutoCAD Civil3D, define your local geographic coordinate system and import your points.

You can't do that with plain/Vanilla AutoCAD (without 3rd party tools)

- alfred -

Re: Importing Lat/Long/elevation points into AutoCAD

Anonymous — Wed, 17 May 2017 21:44:08 GMT

Corpscon

Re: Importing Lat/Long/elevation points into AutoCAD

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 14:30:09 GMT

Hi,

There may be a way using coordinate transformations.

If you have WGS-84 Lat/Lon/Alt there i a close formula to transform thes coordinates to cartesian ECEF coordinates. You end with cartesian X, Y, Z coordinates that you can import using the method described in https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-to-import-a-list-of-coordinates-into-AutoCAD.html.