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WGS-84 datum & UTM grid support in VW 13?


holsteinson

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most of all new projects are required to be georeferenced to a datum (usually WGS-84) for several reasons:

Surveying

Cadastral

Construction Stakeout

Environmental monitoring

True project Orientation

Geostatistics

GIS

so the list is neverending WHY it should be supported real world coordinates in a professional CAD program (just check the support in Bentley, Microstation and Autocad Landesktop and Civil 3D)

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OK. Environmental moritoring,geostatistics and GIS are not in the "CAD" domain. Surveying is only when we talk about relatively small geographic areas.

Longitude/latitude coordinate systems are extremely rarely used in anything that CAD programs are actually supposed to do and used for. It may well be that some CAD-programs costing many times more than VW handle those, but if I need GIS or cartographic functionality, I get a GIS program. (I say "some" because I know for a fact that many other quite professional ones do not.)

In construction projects I believe the good old Cartesian coordinates still are quite adequate.

Not that I would have anything against long/lat coordinate possibility - nor does NNA: VW imports, I understand, ArcView files in those. Why don't you try to get your source data as "shape"-files and see what happens.

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Petri

I am designing roads with curb & gutter & underground infrasture on a golf course project & all approval agencies including enviromental require georeferenced plans. 15 cm resolution ortho aerial photos are used as background for designing the project. It would save a lot time translating drawings if VW had this capability. Not sure how users in Switzerland handle this lack as it is my understanding that all drawings there have to be georeferenced.

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I would imagine that georeferencing in a national mapping grid would be enough. It is enough at least in Australia and Finland.

Anyhow, I have posted several questions on long/lat coordinates and georeferenced aerial photos, but NNA's replies, if any, have been obscure, even ignorant (in the style of "what is a GeoTIFF?")

The reasons for these questions are shape-file import and the two recent additions to VectorScript: variables for long/lat & georeferenging. It seems they do not know what these do...

(I'd really want to be able to use georeferenced aerials - and would also like to update my MapInfo translator to handle long/lat.)

EDIT

So, it appears that VW can import long/lat data, but that is limited to shape files and NNA refuses to enable independent developers to use the new functionality by (i) not documenting it and (ii) not explaining it even when one asks.

Nevertheless, this is not an issue that would determine whether VW is a "professional CAD".

Edited by Petri
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I agree. This is a necessary addition. Just about every project I complete outside of a small residence, requires survey data that is based on Georeferenced data. Governmental agencies require referenced data on ever environmental feature. Many times I am required to monitor the project for periods up to 15 years. (Sad state of affairs)

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Yes. Indeed.

Thom, if the agency insists in having data where every point has the maximum accuracy of GPS devices, fine. According the the Geodesic Authority of Finland, the actual accuracy of them is at best ? 200 mm when projected to an x/y plane. (The said authority & the mapping agency are undisputed leaders in the field; we have one of the first geodetic base polygons, measured and staked in the 1930s and still the overall measurement of tens of kms in length is accurate to millimeter level.)

Whatever: the permit system of one some American state is something which the LOCAL DISTRIBUTOR has to deal with. I have not seen a single Title where property boundaries would have been defined as degrees, minutes and seconds in a global coordinate system or a transaction where GPS readings would have been (a) required or (b) legally binding.

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