In this topic, we discuss best practices on how to export your TPC data and drawings to CAD.
We'll list common workflows here, with links to the help topic for that workflow.
Use the major and minor headings below to narrow down the option you're looking for.
Questions to Ask
For this project,
1....am I just exporting a one-off CAD drawing?
2....am I required or requested to update an existing CAD file?
3....is Civil3D being use and do I need to use LandXML?
4....do my survey grid and the CAD project grid match?
5....do need to provide a certain version of a CAD file?
6....what CAD file types do I need to use - DWG, DXF, DFB, DGN?
We'll answer these questions below as we review some of the more common workflows.
Choosing a Workflow
Based on your answers to the questions above, you will choose to
1.Export a TPC Drawing to a one-off (new) CAD file
2.Export specific layers and objects from a TPC Drawing to a one-off (new) CAD file
3.Export specific layers and objects from a TPC Drawing to an existing CAD file
4.Export via LandXML for Civil3D
5.Export to a CAD file specific to my data collector \ controller
1. Exporting a TPC Drawing to a one-off CAD File
For many projects, you deliver a single CAD file. We call this a one-off CAD file.
Common Workflow
This is typical of a site survey you might do for a client and send a CAD file to their architect, engineer or some local planning department as part of a permit process.
The CRS (Coordinate Reference System) may or may not have been specified for the project. Often times is is not.
Sometimes the most critical component in this workflow is exporting a version of the CAD file the client's architect can open. Many still use older copies of AutoCAD. You will want to ask which version they use and send them that version.
2. Exporting Specific Layers and Objects to a one-off CAD File
For many projects, you deliver a single CAD file. We call this a one-off CAD file.
But you don't want to include the entire drawing, just selected layers or objects.
Common Workflow
The planning process for a project often times requires that a number of drawings be submitted for different aspects of the project. For example, a site plan, a grading plan, a vegetation plan, some profiles or cross-sections, easements and so on.
Because a TPC survey can have any number of drawings, this workflow is easily accomplished.
LandXML is a data exchange language created for Civil3D, allowing other programs to share data with Civil3D.
LandXML files exchange data with Civil3D similarly to the way DXF files exchange data with DWG files. They use html code (XML) to represent Civil3Ds data for Points, Parcels, Alignments and Surfaces.
Common Workflows
If you are doing contract work for a firm or agency that has adopted Civil3D, you may want to submit both a CAD file and a LandXML file, allowing them to choose the one they want to work with.
In addition to exporting ASCII coordinates and geodetic positions to data collectors, many data collectors work directly with CAD files.
Common Workflows
Depending on the screen size and processor speed of your data collector, you may want to limit the amount of information you export to the data collector.
•reduce the file size to reduce transfer and load times.
•reduce the layers, making it easier to select the needed layers in the field.
•reduce the area being sent so it is easier to find the data for that day's work.
Or you may need to do a simple grid to ground calibration. TPC can do that for the CAD files is creates for your data collector.
