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An Alternate Method to Assign a Coordinate System in Civil 3D

Jeff Morris

Civil 3D (as well as Map 3D) works best when coordinate systems are assigned to the data and drawings. Even if the drawings have different coordinate systems, Civil 3D does a great job translating and transforming data and drawings when coordinate systems are assigned. 

Traditionally, coordinate systems were assigned in Civil 3D through the Settings tab of the Toolspace by right-clicking on the drawing name. For Map 3D (or the Planning and Analysis workspace of Civil 3D), there was the Assign tool in the Coordinate System panel of the Map Setup tab. 

Recently, an alternative command has been introduced for assigning coordinate systems. Since it is relatively new, the only way to access it is by typing the command. The command is GEOCSASSIGN, which opens the Assign Coordinate System dialog box. The Northing-Easting panel of the dialog box is shown below. 

 

To find an appropriate coordinate system for Northing-Easting in the Assign Coordinate System dialog box, do the following: 

  1. Select the Northing-Easting box. This displays the North-Easting Coordinate Systems Available tree on the left. 

  1. Narrow down the available coordinate systems using the filters and search tool, as follows: 

  • Search: As you begin typing in the name of the coordinate system, the list is narrowed to the typed characters in the search field. 

  • Status: Limits the list to Up To Date, Out Of Date, or User Defined. 

  • Code type: Limits the list to Autodesk or EPSG code databases. 

  • Unit: Limits the list to systems available using a specific unit of measurement. 

  • Within the tree nodes’ listing, you can expand or contract the nodes using the arrows. 

  1. When you select a desired coordinate system, its details are shown in the upper-right corner and a preview of the coverage of the coordinate system is displayed on a map in the lower-right corner. 

  1. Click Assign to assign the selected coordinate system to your drawing. 

  1. To assign or change the elevation, select the Elevation box in the upper-left corner, which switches to the Elevation panel, as shown below. 

 

  • The same search tool and filters are available to narrow the coordinate systems. 

  1. Select the appropriate elevation system. 

  1. Click OK to accept the changes and close the Assign Coordinate System dialog box or click Cancel to close the dialog box without applying the changes. 

Map Status Bar 

There is a Mapping supplement available for the Civil 3D Status Bar that has a variety of additional useful tools, as shown below. 

 

To enable this, type MAPSTATUSBAR at the command line and press <Enter>. You have the option of showing or hiding the Map Status Bar. Type S or pick S from the command line to show it. 

Even though only one coordinate system can be assigned to a drawing at a time, if you have changed the coordinate system for a drawing, the drop-down menu within the Coordinate System display within the Map Status Bar lists all the coordinate systems that have been previously assigned for the drawing, as shown below. You can also click Library... to go to the coordinate system library.  

 


Conclusion 

Coordinate systems are an essential part of Civil 3D and Map 3D drawings and maps and all the associated data. The new GEOCSASSIGN command and the Map Status Bar are valuable tools for assigning and managing these coordinate systems. 

 

 

About the Author

Jeff Morris

Learning Content Developer<br><br>Jeff specializes in infrastructure tools such as Civil 3D and Infraworks, delivering training classes and contributing to the learning guides for these Autodesk software applications. Jeff has worked for several Autodesk resellers and has had roles of both CAD and BIM Manager with Civil and Architectural firms.

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