Transformation Tab (Drawing Settings

Dialog Box)
Use this tab to transform the coordinate system specified on the Units And Zone tab to
local specifications.
Zone Description
Displays the description of the zone that is selected on the Units And Zone tab.
Apply Transform Settings
Specifies whether to apply the settings for coordinate system zone
transformation. Selecting this check box enables all the other settings in the
dialog box. You cannot select this check box if a zone is not specified on the
Units and Zone tab.

Apply Sea Level Scale Factor

Specifies whether to apply the settings for curvature correction to survey data so that
measured horizontal distances are reduced to the distances at the mean seal level
(geodetic distances).
Elevation
Specifies the mean elevation value of your project site with respect to the mean
sea level.
Spheroid Radius
Displays the spheroid radius for the spheroid used by the coordinate system.
This value is the radius of a spheroid close to the shape of the Earth at sea level,
approximately 6,370 km. The value shown in this box is derived from the ellipsoid
for the current zone.

Grid Scale Factor

Computation
Specifies the type of scale factor:

Unity: Uses 1.00 for all points within the zone.

User Defined: Allows you to specify your own scale factor. For
example, you can enter the average scale factor of the points in
your survey. This value is used for all points or locations within the
zone and is constant.

Reference Point: Uses the scale factor of the specified reference

point as the grid scale factor for all points within the zone.

Prismoidal Formula: Uses the prismoidal formula to calculate the

grid scale factor. This method is recommended because it accounts
for the fact that every point has a different scale factor. The
following equation is used to calculate prismoidal scale factor.

Where:
o

Keff is the grid scale factor

Kref is the scale factor of the reference point

Kpt is the scale factor of the current point

Kmid is the scale factor of the midpoint between the reference

point and the current point.

A different value is used for each point or locations within the zone.
Scale Factor
Specifies the grid scale factor. Enabled only when you select User Defined for
Computation.

Reference Point
Use this section to specify a reference point for transformation. The reference point
could be a benchmark that was used in a survey. It can be any point for which you know
both the local coordinates and the grid coordinates.
Select Point In Drawing
Click to pick a reference point on the screen.
Point Number, Local Northing, Local Easting, Grid Northing, Grid
Easting

Specifies a reference point by its point number, Local Northing and Easting
values, or Grid Northing and Easting values.

Rotation Point
Use this section to specify a rotation about the reference point in one of two ways:
specify a rotation point, or apply a grid rotation angle.
Select Point In Drawing
Click to pick a rotation point on the screen to set the local Northing and Easting.
Point Number, Local Northing, Local Easting, Grid Northing, Grid
Easting
Specifies a rotation point by its point number, Local Northing and Easting values,
or Grid Northing and Easting values.

Specify Grid Rotation Angle

Click to apply a rotation angle to grid north and azimuth instead of using a rotation point.
To North
Specifies the rotation angle to north. Enter an angle or click
line in the drawing.

and pick a point or

The rotation to grid north is the difference between the local coordinate system's
north meridian and the grid north meridian of the current zone. If you are using
True North, this value may equal the convergence angle. If you are using
Magnetic North, this value is derived from the declination angle and the
convergence angle.
Azimuth
Specifies the direction of the azimuth. Enter an angle or click
or line in the drawing.

and pick a point

Grid azimuth is the angle between the drawing north and the line defined by
reference grid and rotation grid points.

To Specify Transformation Settings

1.

In Toolspace, on the Settings tab, right-click the drawing name

at the
top of the collection, and click Edit Drawing Settings.
2.
In the Drawing Settings dialog box, click the Transformation tab.
Important: You must specify the coordinate system on the Units and
Zone tab before you can specify settings on the Transformation tab.
3.
Select the Apply Transform Settings check box to activate all the
controls in the dialog box. Enter values as specified in steps 4-10. If you
clear this check box, then controls in the dialog box are disabled and the
AutoCAD X and Y coordinates match the coordinates in the specified zone.
4.
Select Apply Sea Level Scale Factor.
Tip: If you know the combined scale factor, then you can clear
the Apply Sea Level Scale Factor check box, select User
Defined as the Grid Scale Factor, and enter a combined scale
factor in the Grid Scale Factor box. The combined scale factor is
the combination of the scale factor for converting local to sea
level and the scale factor for converting sea level to grid.
5.
Enter a default Elevation, such as the average elevation of your project
site from sea level.
6.
Optionally, change the Spheroid Radius, which is the radius of a
mathematical figure close to the shape of the Earth at sea level,
approximately 6,370 km. The value shown in this box is initially derived
from the current zone's ellipsoid and can be changed if local observations
differ. In most cases, the default value shown is the accepted value.
7.
For the Grid Scale Factor, select a method for Computation.
8.
Specify the Reference Point values. The reference point could be a
benchmark that was used in a survey. It can be any point for which you
know both the local coordinates and the grid coordinates. To specify
the Reference Point values, do one of the following:
o
Click the Select Point button and then select a point in the
drawing, or use Transparent commands.
o
Enter a point number.
o

Enter the point's Grid Northing and Grid Easting values.

To define the rotation angle for the transformation, do one of the

following:
o
Click the Select Point button and then select a point in the
drawing.
o
Enter a point number.
o

Enter the point's Grid Northing and Grid Easting values.

Specify the grid rotation angle.

Click OK.

About Transformation Settings

Using the Transformation tab of the Drawing Settings dialog box, you can relate the
local northing and local easting coordinates of your drawing to the grid northing and grid
easting coordinates for the current zone.
The zone transformation settings do the following:

Relate local coordinates to grid coordinates by transforming distances

measured on the Earth (or geoid) to distances on an ellipsoid.

Relate distances on the ellipsoid to the flat plane (projection) of the

current zones grid coordinate system.

These transformations are accomplished through the use of scaling factors. First, a sea
level scale factor is applied to the local values measured on the geoid, and then a grid
scale factor is applied, which relates the ellipsoid values to the grid projection. The
scaling factors can be defined in two ways:

The sea level scale factor relates the distances on the geoid to the
distances on the ellipsoid.

The grid scale factor relates the distances on the ellipsoid to the
distances on the grid projection.

You must also specify reference points in establishing transformation settings.

These reference points are the two points that tie the local and grid coordinates
together. The reference points can be defined in two ways:

By the grid and local coordinates of two known reference points in your
drawing.

By the grid and local coordinates of one known point and a known
rotation to grid north.

About Units and Zone Settings

Using the Units and Zone tab of the Drawing Settings dialog box, you can select linear
and angular units, a coordinate system, and scale for the drawing.

Coordinate Systems
Coordinates in AutoCAD Civil 3D are expressed using northings and eastings.
The AutoCAD Civil 3D coordinate system is always relative to the AutoCAD World
Coordinate System (WCS). Northing is equivalent to AutoCAD Y and easting is
equivalent to AutoCAD X.
AutoCAD Civil 3D object data is always presented in AutoCAD World Coordinate
System coordinates. For example, the alignment data in the Alignment Entities vista in
the Panorama window is listed in world coordinates. In addition, the AutoCAD Civil
3Dtransparent commands are based on the AutoCAD World Coordinate System.
However, when you create an object and have an AutoCAD User Coordinate System
(UCS) defined, the UCS is honored when you specify locations, which means that an
insertion point or a coordinate is interpreted relative to the UCS.
Note: If you share a survey database that references a user-defined coordinate system, you
must make the user-defined coordinate system available to all users of the survey database.

AutoCAD Civil 3D objects are not aligned with the UCS. For example, labels can be
oriented relative either to the current view, the World Coordinate System, or the labeled

object, depending on the Orientation Reference setting, but they cannot be oriented to
the UCS.
Similarly, objects, such as profiles, sections, and tables, cannot be oriented to the
current UCS.