Tamsin Slatter

I spend most of my time training on Landmark as I'm a Landscape Designer by trade. However, a recent client has requirements which have had be "dabbling" in the Architect workspace. Please forgive my ignorance - it is largely to do with not being an architect I guess... but I would love some further explanation on the use and purpose of the space tool. I promise I HAVE read the manual and various workbooks... 1) Clearly I can draw an area and it becomes a space object. However, the dimensions in the OIP do not exactly correspond with the area I have drawn. The length is the same, but the width is not. 2) If I try to change the dimensions in the OIP, it has no effect on the object in the drawing area. Should it? Or am I missing the point? 3) If I draw a space to precise dimensions, or create a space from existing walls, why do I need to tell VW the proposed area? Why can't it work this out? Again, please forgive my ignorance if I am completely missing the point! Many thanks

No - I get very odd results. Sorry - I can't help. Can anyone else?

Hmm - I am having problems with this too - and getting different results each time I render in final quality renderworks. In OpenGL only the top of my wall renders. In final quality, the texture doesn't seem to sit on the vertical surface at all... Will experiment some more and see if I can find an answer...

Hi Did it not do the job? Have I misunderstood? Have a look at the enclosed image - it seems to sort the edges fine but maybe I am not clear on what you want to do. Cheers T

Try the preferences button on the mode bar. it's got a spanner and pencil on it. That will give you a selection of generic plants from which to choose. Then select Edit Definition to add the correct plant details. Email me if you get stuck.

Are you using the Place Plant tool? Or are you dragging the symbols onto the drawing from the resource browser?

I managed to achieve what you want as follows. It's not neat and there are lots of steps, but it does do the job: Create the boundary area with hardscape. Create the shape for the path using the polyline. Use the offset tool to create a copy of this to the correct width. Draw lines at each end to "Close" your path. Select all four of these lines and use Compose from the Modify menu. You will now have a single polyline object. You can then use Add Surface to add the boundary area and the polyline. The resulting object will be the hardscape object you seek which will have a single edge. Hope that helps. Email me for further clarification. tamsin@vectorworks-training.co.uk

Not sure what you are trying to achieve... but would love to help. How did you create these two objects in the first place? Talk me through it and why you created them the way you did so I can see what you are trying to achieve. Thanks

Ensure also that your report is summarising on Latin Name.

The Photorealistic files etc are located under the Xfrog folder. These files can be found under your application program files directory (c:Program File/VectorWorks2008/Libraries/Plants on PC). Have fun.

Hi I am sitting next to a student who is trying to create walls by first drawing a polygon and then converting to a wall using Modify/Convert/Objects from Polyline. We choose Right control mode. The walls are created, but they are not neatly joined at the corners. Preferences are set to Auto Join Walls. We have tried to join using the wall join tool. She has SP2 Build 82613. XP machine, with 2GB RAM. However, when trying this on my older system (SP2 Build 82099)it all works perfectly. (Also XP 2GB Ram). Any ideas? Cheers

Oh and the other thing to check. If your hardscape is on a different layer to the model, ensure that the model settings allow it to be updated by objects on all layers.

Hi Jacqueline Yes - you can indeed use information on the drawing (such as contours) and convert them. It depends on how your surveyor set up the file in the first place as to how VW will cope with it. I ask my surveyor for a separate data file as it's quick and easy and the data needs no further work from me to generate the model. Re Hardscape, when setting up your Hardscape preferences, tick the draw 3d box and choose pad or texture bed as the option. Having created your hardscape, you can then use the Send to Surface command to move the Z height to the level of the model. You can then adjust this Z value to the height you want. Select the site model and click on Update in the OIP. To show changes you must have Proposed model selected in either the 2D or 3D view. Good luck!

Hi Jacqueline The site model can only work from specific types of data - 3D loci or 3D polys (there is a full list in the Help). When you import your file, do you have height points with a Z height (just select them and tell me a) what type of object they are and b) do can you see a Z value in the Object Info Palette)? Your level data could also come from a csv file from your surveyor - containing data in X Y and Z format. If you have contour lines, you should be able to convert them to 3D polys - unless they are broken. You can connect them using the Connect/Combine tool. Often the contour lines will be broken because the height label will be sitting within the line.

Andrew I've had a few crashes! But when defining plants, this message always comes up after a while... The pop up appears about 10 times, to which I have to click OK about 10 times. It then finally dismisses the dialogue, but that's the time to save the file as crash is imminent.

Ooh yes - I've had this too - on XP 2008 with SP2. Usually VW doesn't crash immediately and I get to save the file before restarting and all is well... I thought it was memory problems (my baby laptop has only 1GB RAM) but I see you have 4 - so maybe not!

Thanks Peter - will try to filter the 3D polys - great idea and I'm sure that will help.

Thanks Peter Any thoughts on my other post? The one about smoothing? I have a client with a 16 acre site and we are struggling with the model.

Hi Peter Thanks for that - yes the class is set to be visible. The pad is definitely at the correct Z value. So, although the hardscape tool is a hybrid that can have both 2D and 3D attributes you are suggesting that I create a pad and then sit a separate object on top of that? Thanks

Hi Ian Thanks for your response. I have tried a couple of textures various stone and brick ones)and tried all rendering modes. I see what you are saying about the pad. However, what I am seeing is a slope up to the pad, and then the area that should be rendered is hollow - down to the bottom of the model! So it's not even showing a flat surface in the same texture as the model (Nature Turf). By the way - didn't we speak last year? Did you get your lecturer to accept the watermark in the end? I am on a mission about this so please feel free to email me your experiences...

I have a large site, with survey data of some 4000 points (3D polys)covering 16 acres. The site does model, but is very chunky looking. On a smaller model, I can use smoothing to great effect. However, on this model, when employing smoothing and choosing the relevant 3D display i.e. 3D Triangulated Contours, my machine goes very quiet and VW appears to hang. I have tried leaving it for a while - a few cups of tea etc. I even washed the kitchen floor but when I came back, no joy! Is this simply a case that I am asking too much of my little laptop and VW? Or should I leave it longer and perhaps clean the windows as well?! I realise this could be a "how long is a piece of string?" type question, but I would be grateful for any comments from experienced modellers... (It IS great to have a clean kitchen floor though...) VW 2008 SP2 on XP 2GB RAM

Forgot to add - VW2008 XP 2GB RAM

I'm creating pads using either hardscape tool or site modifier tool (choosing pad from config field). I have a class set up with texture selected. Class is set to Use at Creation. I place the pad in the class. The 2D attributes are set to Solid Fill. My pads DO update the site model, but they don't render. The site model has a render applied and renders beautifully, but the pad is sitting above the surface showing its red outline, but no render. The pad and fence are both on the same layer as the site model. I have the same problem using the Massing Model tool. I can see the object in wireframe, but no render although the rest of the site model renders. What am I doing wrong?

I'd just like to add that I did the same thing. I actually opened my 2D Plant Symbols file in 2008 and exported the symbols to the new Plant Objects file so I have them all in one place. However, just a thought - are you talking about the plant symbols or Plants you created in 12.5? I had problems in early 2008 in that VW didn't seem to be able to convert my existing plant definitions into 2008 - the symbol sizes were all over the place and they were impossible to edit sensibly. However, upgrade to SP2 fixed the problem and I have been able to upgrade all my plants.

Hi Just had a go at reproducing this and my plants seem to work fine. Can you provide a little more detail on how you are creating the plants? (i.e. Are using the menu item on the Landmark menu and choosing one of the default symbols, or are you first drawing your symbol and then creating your plant?) What other settings do you have for the plant? Do you have a cross or dot selected for the centre of the plant? If it's a dot, I've had problems before 2008 where the dot obliterated the whole plant, regardless of the size I set for it... Let me know. Tamsin