Exporting to CAD and keeping Z coordinate

[PatySaternye]

Good morning,

  I'm relatively new to GIS usage and I'm having an issue with Exporting a GIS Layer of contours to a CAD (DWG) file.

  I am able to do the export, with the Export to CAD tool (ArcGIS 10.3), but all of the contours in the CAD file end up at a ZERO Z Coordinate.

  Why would this happen and how can I avoid it?  The ELEV (elevation) exists as a FIELD in the GIS file.

Thank you,

Paty

[BondHarper]

It sounds like your GIS contours are not actually 3D lines. You will need to convert them to 3D using the ELEV field (Features to 3D by Attribute). Then the Export to CAD tool will bring across the lines as 3D.

Best of luck!

[PatySaternye]

Bond,

  Thank you for your answer and quick response.

  It probably would be the solution I need, but I unfortunately don't have access to 3D Analyst.

  Are there ways to do it without 3D Analyst?

Thanks,

Paty

[Anonymous User]

Hi Paty

Trying changing the name of your elevation field from 'ELEV' to 'Elevation' and rerun the export. You should find each line is given a Z value in the CAD file.

To take this concept further, try the opposite and bring a CAD file into ArcMap. You will notice that Arcmap creates a series of fields such as 'Layer', 'Color' etc. If you examine these and take note of the values in them, you should be able to use them in reverse. E.g. create a field called 'Layer' in your GIS file, give it a value and the export to CAD process should pick up on that field and use them when creating the CAD file.

I use this when exporting contour files - I have a field that identifies which are the minor and major contours, then use that to populate a 'Layer' and 'Color' field so that in the exported CAD file they are on different layers and in different colors.

Hope that helps.

-Paul

[MikeCusi]

running the tool Add CAD Fields before Export To CAD also helps.