CAD data and world file

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09-25-2013 08:55 AM
michaelcollins1
Occasional Contributor III
I don't know much about AutoCAD.

I was asked to translate a CAD drawing from UTM to MTM. Is it possible to do so without the intermediate step of creating shape files and exporting them back to CAD?

I created a world file in ArcGIS (see below), but can the CAD user use that to translate his drawing?

http://support.esri.com/es/knowledgebase/techarticles/detail/29039

thanks
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larryzhang1
New Contributor III
I don't know much about AutoCAD.

I was asked to translate a CAD drawing from UTM to MTM. Is it possible to do so without the intermediate step of creating shape files and exporting them back to CAD?

I created a world file in ArcGIS (see below), but can the CAD user use that to translate his drawing?

http://support.esri.com/es/knowledgebase/techarticles/detail/29039

thanks


Mike,

First of all, on my understanding, this process in ArcGIS makes no permanent change to the spatial location of the CAD file itself. Only the display of the data in ArcMap is changed. For permanent change, the solution to this 2D CAD conversion should have three steps in ArcGIS: import from CAD; project in FGDB; and then export the projected FC into CAD again.


[INDENT]You are right, sometimes, the exported CAD via the mid-steps are not stable. Because of the different Scales between CAD and GIS, sometimes,  details of CAD datasets may be lost, including geometries/ textures/ attributes. In fact, we are working on conversion /projection of 3D DGN CAD in oil & gas into ESRI 3D and facing many challenges ... [/INDENT]


Secondly, if not willing to go through the middle steps, (especially when final products are still CAD), you may use AutoCAD Map /3D, which help directly handle CAD data without intermeidate steps. See http://thecadgeek.com/blog/2008/01/converting-a-drawings-coordinate-system/

Regards,
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