Error Importing Orthomosaics in Civil3D

Introduction

We recently received a request from a customer to assist with importing an Tiff image or ortho of a into Civil3D.

Workflow

We downloaded the file sent to us by the customer and I following the step to connect to the ortho file using the steps found on this site: https://www.3dr.com/importing-orthomosaics-tif-in-autocad-civil-3dopen-site-scan-orthos-in-civil-3d/

I tried to import the given Tiff file, but it did not want to import. Civil3D did not respond to connecting to the Tiff file.

Troubleshooting

Trying to open the Tiff image in the standard Windows Viewer it gave an error, saying the file is damaged or too large. Looking at the file I saw that it was larger than 2GB in size. So I assumed that that was the issue.

As a test I opened the file in Photoshop successfully and using the Image tools within Photoshop reduced the file size of the image to about 5MB in size. This reduction was a bit too excessive for use of the image file in the project, but I just wanted to reduce the file as much as I can to do the test.

Back in Civil3D and the Map3D interface I could successfully insert the smaller image file.

Conclusion

What we have learnt is that, in this case Windows did not like large file and therefore Civil3D did not accept the file. It could be related to the PC hard drives being formatted in a FAT32 vs NTFS as with FAT32 standard large files are not permitted. Looking at the Properties of my hard drives, both are NTFS. So, by reducing the file size of the orthomosiac tiff file it solved the importing problem. Just remember not to reduce it too much as you will lose quality.

If you have any questions regarding Civil3D you are welcome to contact us. Or if you need any further information or have any question wrt the topic, please reach out to us at: https://www.mgfx.co.za/contact