LAS to MultiPoint problem

[RobinZhang]

I ran LAS to MultiPoint a dozen times and got the same unspecific message each time:
Error 999999: Error executing function.
The table was not found. [Lidar_pts]
Failed to execute (LASToMultipoint)
......

[Lidar_pts] was the name I gave to the output feature class in a file geodatabase. It looks to me like sometype of file management issue, but I couldn't figure out what's wrong. It is kind of frustration for something that simple.

For information: the function was running fine with ArcGIS 10.0, before I upgraded to ArcGIS 10.1 a week ago. I had no clue what happened.

I would appreciate any advice. Thank you.

[JeffreySwain]

When you are running the tool, are you running it from ArcMap, ArcCatalog, or python?

I would think that if you can see the file in ArcMap and select it from the dropdown then it would work.  Also if you can path to it, then it should work as well.  The confusing part in your statement was that you said lidar points was the name you gave it to output to, it looks as if it is looking for that as the las file, since it says table.  Have you tried to run it with a different name?  What version is your geodatabase?  Have you tried a shapefile output? Since you are using multipoint, you may decide to put it in a new feature dataset if you are looking to create a terrain.  The only other way I have seen a similar error is when the information in the las file will not fit in the coordinate system chosen.

[RobinZhang]

Thanks for your reply. I was running it from ArcMap, the tool in ArcToolbox under 3D Analyst Tools, then Conversion, then from File, LAS to Multipoint. I created a new file geodatabase before I ran this function so that the new feature class can be put into the geodatabase. The Lidar_pts was the name I gave to the output feature class. I have tried "lidarpts", "LidarPoints", "Points", ... It didn't make a difference. The input are 20 .las files that have different names. I have attached two screen shots: the user interface with the inputs and output, the other the results window showing the error. I never failed to recreate the problem, regardless of what name I gave to the output feature class. The tool requires a new output feature class. It doesn't accept a feature class that already exist. I have tried to produce a shape file too, it didn't work either.

I don't know what version the geodatabase is. I am running ArcGIS 10.1. Just upgraded from ArcGIS 10.0 about two weeks ago. I did not encounter this problem with ArcGIS 10.0. As for the las file, they chose a strange coordinate system: NAD_1983_BLM_Zone_16N_ftUS. ArcGIS 10.1 didn't recognize that. I had to set it up manually when creating the LAS dataset. For that matter, I tried Point File Information. It reported no error, but didn't generate the file correctly. There was nothing in the file, no record in the attribute table. How could I fix this?

Thank you.