AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks: Survey Database Units and Zone Settings

This is the second of five AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks expanding upon a previous article I wrote outlining the 5 AutoCAD Civil 3D Settings Professional Land Surveyors Need To Know.

The second of the five AutoCAD Civil 3D settings Professional Land Surveyors need to know was, “Survey Database Units and Zone Settings“, which is explained in today’s AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks.

Please note that the images in this AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks represent the Units and Zone appropriate for my work area and project requirements. You will, of course, select the appropriate Units and Zone for your circumstances.

Also, if you are not using and/or selecting a Zone for your Survey Database, then you should at least select the correct distance format for proper Imperial to Metric conversion.

Now on to the AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks for Survey Database Units and Zone Settings:

1. Edit Survey Database Settings. Right click on your AutoCAD Civil 3D Survey Database. This will bring up a drop-down list of menu items. Select the second option, “Edit survey database settings …“.



2. With the Survey Database Settings screen now open, select the correct “Coordinate Zone” and/or “Distance” format: International Foot, US Foot, or Meter.



3. If you’ve selected Coordinate Zone, the Select Coordinate Zone dialog opens, where you first choose your area from the available “Categories”. Then select from one of the “Available Coordinate Systems“. In my case, I chose “NAD83 Rhode island State Plane, US Foot“. It is important to select the appropriate coordinate system, datum, and distance format (foot vs. meter) for the Zone you have selected.

You can also watch this AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010 Video for Land Surveyors: Coordinate Systems, which also shows you how to set the Survey Database Units and Zone In AutoCAD Civil 3D Drawings, and more!

This AutoCAD Civil 3D Surveying Quick Tips and Tricks is brought to you by the Professional Land Surveyor Source, showing you how to use the Survey Database Units and Zone Settings in your AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010 Survey Database.