Capturing an Area After Coordinate System Change (Civil 3D 2015)

[Anonymous]

When selecting a geolocation from the map, the coordinate system I would like is not available. Therefore, I found that it's possible to change the coordinate system to the one I wanted through the MAPSTATUSBAR. However, once I changed the coordinate system, I was not able to capture the area of the satellite imagery that I wanted since autoCAD said that there was no geographic location defined for the map. How do I set up autoCAD to have the correct coordinate system and be able to capture the area?

[Pointdump]

Amp,

"...the coordinate system I would like is not available."

Having a hard time following you. Can you get specific about exactly what Coordinate System you want and what is in the drawing (Points, Lines, Shapefiles)? Also what version/year/Service pack you have.

Dave

[Anonymous]

My appologies, the coordinate system that I want is LL84 and the drawing consists of points and lines from shapefiles.

AutoCAD Civil 3D 2015 SP2

[Pointdump · Accepted solution]

Amp,

Bing Live Maps doesn't seem to work with geodetic systems. I can't get it to work with LL84 either. Use UTM or a State Plane.

Dave

[Anonymous]

If I use a state plane (KY84-N), the shapefiles' coordinate system do not convert correctly. I re-imported the files and they came in about a state to the left of where they should be. The shapfiles should automatically convert to the drawing's coordinate system, right?

I tried interpreting and applying this post on importing shp files with coordinate issues, but I was unsuccessful in converting the coordinate systems of the shapefiles. How would you recommend I go about fixing this issue?

I made sure that there was an import coordinate system for each shapefile I imported.

[sboon]

Coordinates within ACad are just numbers.  If you change the coordinate system of a drawing what you're actually doing is changing the definition of what those numbers mean outside of the ACad environment.  The coordinate system definitions include the units to be used and the acceptable range of values for that system.

I'm guessing that this drawing was started in a grid coordinate system, using feet or meters with a coordinate range that starts in the thousands.  LL84 uses degrees with a limit of -180 to +180

Steve
Please use the Accept as Solution or Kudo buttons when appropriate

[sboon]

It sounds like your problem is similar to a bug that I've documented here, and here.  Check the transformation tab for your drawing.

Steve
Please use the Accept as Solution or Kudo buttons when appropriate

[Pointdump]

Amp,

"The shapfiles should automatically convert to the drawing's coordinate system, right?"

Yes, they should. Post your Shapefiles. I'll see how they work for me.

Dave

[Anonymous]

Ah, figured it out. In my attempt to change everything to a single coordinate system, I checked Apply transform settings in Drawing Settings>Transformation tab. After unchecking Apply transform settings and then re-importing the files, they converted accordingly.

Thank you Dave and Steve.