thanks james.
i messed around a bit with it this afternoon. i guess some of the issue is that i am not top notch with coordinate systems and datums. i do alright but not when you get into the fine fine details.
i also might have to dig a bit deeper into what is actually in the laz files(figure a way when they are too big to open in notepad). i assumed that it was lat long wgs84, so i was attempting to create a tbc coordinate file in only wgs84 lat longs, but i do not think this is possible? anyone know, or what values to put in the forced projection to fake it?? pretty sure that some software will accept wgs84 projected to wgs84, ie no projection applied.
i also see that there is no option when importing a point cloud to make them global coordinates, so this leads me to think that the file is likely in wgs84 projected to utm10. unless there is a conversion that happens on import and that is what takes so long when importing??
i did try this but might not have the correct definition yet. will try again.
james. i am a little confused by your comment about keying in a global coordinate as a global wgs84 into a project with a datum nad83 projected to utm. is this possible? maybe we do not have a full grasp of how to run tbc systems, but when keying into our project that is in nad83 utm i thought the globals would be nad 83? did you mean that you could key it in in wgs84 and change the system to nad83?
thanks.
Original Message:
Sent: 7/27/2025 6:45:00 PM
From: James McWha
Subject: RE: Coordinate frame conversion
You can certainly use TBC to transform a point cloud from one coordinate system to another. However I don't think you can convert from ellipsoid to orthometric height.
I have no idea what is involved with processing your lidar data, however there is no reason why you could key in a global WGS84 position into a project with a UTM projection on the NAD83 datum.
However to ensure your point is in the correct position and height, it is probably best to geo-reference it in TBC.
------------------------------
James McWha
Asia Pacific Regional Support Manager, Geospatial
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 07-26-2025 08:48
From: ian bissonnette
Subject: Coordinate frame conversion
james. we are having difficulty transforming from utm9 or 10 nad83 (epsg 3156) ortho to wgs84 lat longs ellipsoidal and back again.
our projects will be in the utm system in the end. but we need first to get wgs84 ellips base psition to process lidar data.
then the laz will come out of that in wgs84 ellips and we need to transform it to utm nad83 ortho. either on the import into tbc or use change coordinate system on tbc to swap it all back and forth.
can tbc handle this? and why can i not use epsg codes correctly in the coordinate system manager? it will not find common codes.
we have created a seven parameter transformation but it always messes with the vertical. any ideas.
------------------------------
ian bissonnette
Original Message:
Sent: 07-19-2022 15:37
From: James McWha
Subject: Coordinate frame conversion
Hi Marian
You can go from one fully defined coordinate system to another. TBC will use the underlaying datum transformations to convert the points into the new coordinate system. The SX10/12 scan data is linked to the station setup point and will transform with the rest of the surveyed points.
However importing SX10/12 data into a Scale only project will not transform the data because the underlaying datum transformation is not set up. If the grid coordinates of your surveyed points are different to the grid coordinates in the Scale Only TBC project, then you can use the Transform Survey Points option to move the surveyed points. If you move the station setup point, then scan data will move with it, just like it would if you changed the coordinate system.
------------------------------
James McWha
Original Message:
Sent: 07-19-2022 14:21
From: Marian Plucinski
Subject: Coordinate frame conversion
@James McWha
Hi James,
If the point cloud was collected using SX10/12, then changing the coordinate system will transform the set up point. But what about the point cloud itself? I know that it will move/rotate. But will the scale factor of the point cloud change as well?
Say: Trimble Access was set up with projection. Scan was done on that projection. But we would like to bring the point cloud to a Scale Only project.
Can it be recalculated? I had problem just like that yesterday, and the only thing I came up with was to export LAS on the projection and reimport to SCALE ONLY project.
------------------------------
Marian
Original Message:
Sent: 07-18-2022 16:13
From: James McWha
Subject: Coordinate frame conversion
What format is the cloud data in? If it's SX10\12 data then if you transform the station setup point then the point cloud will move with it. With other point cloud formats you may need to import as a Georeferenced point cloud and select the coordinate system that the point cloud is in terms of.
If the points cloud is already in the project or if it's not in terms of a coordinate system, then you can Georeference the scan using points in TBC (you need to have the Scanning module in order to do this).
------------------------------
James McWha
Original Message:
Sent: 07-18-2022 00:33
From: Bevan Waller
Subject: Coordinate frame conversion
Thanks James and Marian.
I had tried that Marian but I'm working with a point cloud and it didn't move.
------------------------------
Bevan Waller
Original Message:
Sent: 07-17-2022 22:33
From: Marian Plucinski
Subject: Coordinate frame conversion
Hi Bevan,
It's actually quite simple:
1) Start a new project with your coordinate system "A".
2) Import your points on "A" coordinate system as grid or global
3) Change coordinate system from "A" to "B"
4) Export your points in "B" coordinate system
------------------------------
Marian
Original Message:
Sent: 07-17-2022 20:37
From: Bevan Waller
Subject: Coordinate frame conversion
Hello everyone
Is is possible to transform points in TBC from one known coordinate system to another without having to manually enter transformation parameters.
For example if I want to transform points from New Zealand EDENTM2000 to NZTM2000 which are both pre-defined coordinate systems. Or UTM59s to UTM60s etc.
I had to used Terramodel to do it!
Thanks
Bevan
------------------------------
Bevan Waller
------------------------------