Georeferencing a DWG in ArcGIS Pro

[@gxtzqvtunes]

This is awesome, you blew my mind a little bit

[@vicBanga]

Thank you for sharing knowledge! great video and well explained.

[@kyrstincote637]

This is a great video! Do you have any content/resources that would advise on layering this way with Floor Plans? I have a basement and a first floor building that I am trying to add to my map before I will start adding buildings with more floors. But when I am viewing the CAD Layer, it has imported the basement and the first floor side by side rather than layered. Maybe it is as simple as importing them one at a time, so having a basement CAD file and a First Floor CAD file, and then layering them that way? Then I would assume I would just have to use the ceiling height to adjust it from there?

[@eGISAssociates]

So glad you liked the video and found it helpful. To be honest, I have never tried to model building floors in ArcGIS before. Your process seems to make sense. You might also look into using Ranges - pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/mapping/range/set-the-range-properties-on-a-layer.htm.

[@shalps9681]

Bummer. Is it really only limited to 2 control points when georef CAD files?? I could use a few more control points for the drawing I'm looking to georef.

[@67Stang]

Yes sadly Esri limits georeferencing of CAD files to only 2 control points. The reason they have given in the past is that CAD files are typically more accurate than GIS data so they do not want negatively impact that accuracy if at all possible. Having created many CAD files myself and worked with many surveyors and engineers, I know that assumption is just not true. But it is what it is. ArcMap, Esri's older desktop GIS app, is the same way. BTW I am the one that created this video but no longer work for the company that owns the channel.

[@edwintmarsel8029]

You showed how to georeference a parcel; can you show/explain how you georeferenced the "project" layers that were there in the beginning of the video? Thank you.

[@eGISAssociates]

The project layers you see were georeferenced using various methods. Some were collected using a GPS unit which collects data by default in a real world coordinate system and are thus automatically georeferenced. Other layers were digitized from orthorectified aerial photos which were pulled from online resources such as ArcGIS Online or from a professional aerial photography company. These too came georeferenced. Thanks to sources such as ArcGIS Online and Google maps, it is pretty easy to find source data that is already georeferenced to get you started. I hope this helps.

[@edwintmarsel8029]

@@eGISAssociates, Thank you.

[@jacksmith5133]

Great video! I followed all the steps you did but my cad file is rotated differently compared to my gis layers. Is there a good way to rotate the cad drawing so that it matches the rotation of the gis data? Hopefully that makes sense and thanks for the help.

[@jacksmith5133]

To give more details. Everytime I add the control points and hit apply, the CAD data rotates itself and doesn’t fit within my gis data

[@67Stang]

Hello, There is a rotate tool on the georeferencing toolbar that might help. Also check your control points and make sure you are correctly matching them up. You should first click on the location in your CAD file and next click on the matching location in your GIS data. Remember to select two locations that are diganal from one another if possble. Hope this helps. BTW I am the one that created this video. I just do not work at this company any more. @@jacksmith5133

[@berstongeorge]

Fantastic workflow. Can you do one with Cogo feature line in pro Or with parcel fabric editing?

[@eGISAssociates]

I will see what I can do in the future. The Parcel Fabric was only recently added to ArcGIS Pro and it is different from the Parcel Fabric used with ArcMap. Frank Conklin with Panda Consulting is the go to guy I know for all things Parcel Fabric.

[@kitbarton7700]

Great video, how come you did not define the project for the CAD data first? Obviously you chose a good example for your video, but it very often seems impossible to correctly line up a CAD file that was created in a local coordinate system, with only the move, rotate, scale, and two control points. I often can only get part of the dataset to line up correctly, if one corner is good it means another corner is off. I can only split the difference and roughly align the CAD data to my reference data, but never line it up as perfectly as in this video.

[@eGISAssociates]

Glad you like the video. You are right, you will often not get CAD files to line up perfectly with GIS. This video was really there to show the basic workflow on how to georeference a CAD file. Often what I do is get it as close as I can and then convert the CAD data into a GIS format and edit the converted data so that it aligns with my GIS. To be honest, I think Esri did a disservice by limiting CAD files to only two points. They assume CAD data is more accurate than GIS data and thus did not want to allow users to completely destroy that perceived relative accuracy. As someone that has created many CAD files during my career, I can say yes some were extremely accurate but others were not. So I think Esri should allow users to make the call on what they think is best for their needs and situation.

[@67Stang]

One good thing about the most recent version of ArcGIS Pro (3.x) is it appears to beable to read a projection assigned to a CAD file in the DWG itself if done in Civil 3D or Map 3D. This has not be true of older versions of ArcGIS Pro. I found this out while working on a new book on ArcGIS Pro 3.x. It also looks like if the DWG is assigned a projection/coordinate system from Civil 3D or Map 3D, that ArcGIS Pro will also project on the fly. This all does assume the DWG file was correctly created in a real world coordinate system and properly assigned from the start.

[@jalwgis]

The CAD Layer Mange ribbon tab is not showing up when I highlight the CAD drawing. How do I add that to ArcGIS Pro?

[@eGISAssociates]

It is not something you should have to add. It is part of the core product. What version are you running? If you added the entire CAD drawing to your map, try just selecting one of the layers under the group layer. Also make sure you are looking at it in a 2D map and not a 3D scene.

[@jalwgis]

I am running version 2.1. I did add the entire CAD drawing and am in 2D.

[@eGISAssociates]

@@jalwgis First try upgrading to ArcGIS Pro 2.3.2. Your version is an old one and does have some bugs. Then try adding only one feature class from the drawing file instead of the entire drawing. Georeferencing a single feature class with result in georeferencing the entire drawing.

[@jalwgis]

ok

[@DavidReeves07]

@@jalwgis You probably need expand the CAD file from the Contents Pane and click on one of the individual layers. If you don't drill down then the CAD tabs won't show up.

[@MrGtownjake]

I work with engineers and the .dgn data I get from them is never in the correct location. They have to use a surface correction supplied by the state. There is nothing to reference between the two (aerial imagery and the ,dgn) I can't assume I have the correct location and scale when georeferencing. So in ArcGIS I use the Rotate, Scale, Translate tool by populating the From and To XY fields with 0 as well as the angle. I populate the Scale box with the inverse of the Surface Correction number supplied by the state for each county. This moves the .dgn to the correct location as well as maintaining the correct scale. How is this accomplished in ArcPRO?

[@eGISAssociates]

Not sure I follow your workflow exactly but in ArcGIS Pro, once you add the DGN file to the map the Manage tab should appear in the ribbon. From that tab, there should be a Georeferencing button. That will add the Georeferencing Tab to the ribbon. On that tab, you will find tools for Rotate, Move and Scale. From here you can also add control points using the Add Control points tools and editing the Source X, Y, and Map X, Y in the table. With a CAD file (DWG, DXF, or DGN), you can only specify two control points. Once you get the Control point data entered, you click the Apply button to apply the transformation. If you select Scale, then press A, the scale factor window will open. Pressing A for Move will open the Move window to enter the new X and Y. Pressing A while rotate is active will open the Angle window. I hope this helps.

[@MrGtownjake]

@@eGISAssociates If I'm understanding you correctly, you are describing a manual move, scale and rotate. What I am doing in ArcGIS is transforming the .dgn using the Move, Rotate, Translate option under the Transformation tab for the layer by populating the X & Y "From" and "Move" with a zero as well as the "Angle". The translate field is populated with simple number like .99987 (inverse of the Surface Correction Factor of 1.00013). THe .dgn comes in (on a cartesian map) +,+ (right and up), I apply the inverse to move it -,- (down and left) to get it back to 0,0). I do this with numbers only, not dropping points or calculating the distance of X & Y between where it is and where I want it to be. Does ArcPRO have this capacity?

[@eGISAssociates]

@@MrGtownjake If you manually input the information for the two control points in ArcGIS Pro into that table it will automatically transform the DGN based on those two control points.

[@MrGtownjake]

@@eGISAssociates I use engineering that has no matching points between base data and the .dgn. For example, I have a .dgn of a new bridge to be built. It comes in 'lala' land but it does have a projection. I know where the bridge needs to be (over the creek) but I don't have the exact location. There is nothing in the engineer file that is the same location as the base data. The engineer creates their files with a 'surface correction adjustment' usually looking something like this, 1.00013. In arcMAP, I can use the Rotate, Scale, Translate feature by zeroing out the X and Y fields for both the 'From' and 'To' fields as well as the 'Angle' field. In the 'Scale' field, I use the inverse of the Surface Correction Adjustment' the engineer used but typing into the box, .99987. This results in the engineering file being moved, rotated, and scaled automatically to where it needs to be. There is no manual placing of control points. Maybe another way of explaining is do the same thing in your video but don't use your parcel data as a reference point. How would you move the subdivision to the correct spot with the same accuracy as using control points when all you have is the aerial imagery? This is my dilemma with ArcPRO, I cannot find a way to transform the .dgn to the correct spot without using control points. Is there another way in PRO?

[@eGISAssociates]

@@MrGtownjake Not sure of any other way i the current version. I am working with Beta for Version 3. I will check it to see if I can find other ways.

[@Dovahkiin.X]

I am following the steps but when i click "move to display" it does not move the cad layer to where I want. Instead it just zooms me back to the cad layer. Thoughts?

[@eGISAssociates]

Humm..... Good question. Could be a few things. First is the CAD file located on a network drive or external drive (or flash drive)? Those can have long data lag times which ArcGIS Pro does not like. You could move the CAD file to a local drive and try it again. Second could be read write permissions issues. Make sure you have the right to read and write data to the folder and file. Another potential cause could be if the file is on the root of a drive and not in a folder. ArcGIS Pro does not like accessing files or data that is at the root of a drive. Lastly it could be that the drawing file already has a world file (WLD) and projection file (PRJ) associated with it that might be confusing ArcGIS Pro. Those are just a few things from the top of my head.

[@kaimee_]

What if they CAD data is too big? For example, when I tried to bring in the lines into the display while georeferencing it didn’t work because the CAD lines are huge. When displayed in Arc it’s at 1:26 billion 😭 whereas it should be fitting into an area at about 1:200,000.

[@eGISAssociates]

In that case I would most likely start by using the Scale tool on the Georeference tab, to scale the drawing down to a closer size and use the Move tool to move it into the general location. Once you have done that, you can add the control points to get a more refined solution. Sadly ArcGIS Pro does not have a Fit to Display option like ArcMap does. The Move to Display tool requires you to have control points which in your situation is almost impossible to do.

[@augustnastasi4574]

Hello, when I import my polyline from my .GDB / catalog the CAD Layer Tab does not appear. For this reason I am unable to georeference the vector layer and assign it the correct position... why could this be happening?

[@eGISAssociates]

The CAD Layer tab only appears when you are working with CAD Data (DWG, DXF or DGN files). It does not appear when you are working with data from a Geodatabase. That would appear to be the cause of your issue unless I am misunderstanding your question. If your data is in a Geodatabase, then you would need to use traditional editing tools such as move, scale and rotate to georeference it.

[@ziaurrahman4369]

Sir we are facing the problem when we want to do this process a message is displayed to send e mail to ESRI. Sir what could be the possible solution to this problem. Sir our project is sticked and we are looking towards you for the solution.

[@eGISAssociates]

I assume this message appears as ArcGIS Pro is crashing and wants to send the crash report to Esri. This could be a bug in the version of ArcGIS Pro you are using. So you might want to try and revert to an older or newer version if possible. If ArcGIS Pro is crashing and it is not a bug, it could be running out of computer resources. This could mean your computer spec in terms of memory, CPU, hard disk space or video capability is not enough to complete the task. Do you have at least 16GB of RAM? (32 GB is even better) Do you have a dedicated video card with at least 6 GB of memory? Do you have at least a quad-core CPU? I would recommend an 8-core CPU if possible. How much free space do you have on your hard drive? 500 GB or so is the minimum I would recommend. If your computer is on the lower end of the hardware spectrum, I would suggest before you try and georeference the CAD file, that you save your project, and clear out your cache (under the ArcGIS Pro Options in the Project tab). Then close and restart ArcGIS Pro. This will help flush out your computer's resources before you start the georeferencing process. Hope this helps

[@ziaurrahman4369]

@@eGISAssociates lots of thanks sir for your kind response