Site Model and Site Modifiers

[_James]

I'm an architect wrestling with a bit of hard landscaping design for a project and trying to get the site model and hardscapes to play nicely with one another.

 

In the scheme there are some steps that go down to the garden, but in the corner the land is a little higher, as can be seen in the image below. There is also a little fillet of land higher than the upper level at the back but i'm not too bothered by that.

 

 

I've tried a pad site modifier, but then i'm left with a hard edge which looks a bit silly -

 

 

How can a gently grade the model so that the peak is removed without creating a hard edge at the boundary of the modifer? Site models are so complex!

 

 

[Tom W.]

Have you placed a Grade Limits Modifier around the pad or site...? Anywhere outside of the grade limits will be unaffected by the pad.

[_James]

I haven't, but i don't think anywhere else is being affected? In the second image there is a vertical section where the two different levels meet despite the modifier being being a planar pad (not retaining edge) with "vertical sides for inner modifiers" unchecked.

 

Where should I place a grade limits? Around the same area circled in red below?

 

[Tom W.]

You always need a Grade Limits, otherwise there will be no grading between the pad + the terrain. The grade limits determines how far you want the transition between the modified terrain + the existing terrain to extend. So either draw it around the whole property boundary or limit it to the area of the pad but make it 2-3 foot bigger, depending on the effect you want. Try it out, making it bigger + smaller, + see the effect it has when you update the site model.

 

Think about if the patio was being put in in reality + how much of the surrounding ground would be disturbed/regraded in the process: this wider area is what the Grade Limits represents.

[_James]

I am pretty confused about how to use Grade Limits, from what I see area within the grade limits isn't affected by the modifier, but I still get vertical drops at transitions, there is no grading. Is this the expected behaviour? I feel like I have the wrong settings or something.

 

Thanks for your help with this

 

[Tom W.]

Put the grade limits around the whole pad modifier i.e. a big blue polygon with a smaller red triangle inside it.

 

Also, your pad modifier would normally be the size/shape of the hardscape. Might be easier if you posted a file

[_James]

Ok, I think this is progress, but now there is basically just a step down from the pad modifier. Weird. You can just about see the outline of the grade limits as a white line extending far out to the right (can't seem to upload a plan image).

 

Everything just seems to be a hard step rather than grading. It's difficult to say to the contractor "gently grade the ground around the bottom step" and then show them the below image of a perfectly flat pad and then another step down.

 

I can PM you a file if you'd be kind enough to take a look.

 

[Tom W.]

Yes happy to look at the file send it along. Interested to see what objects the patio + steps are + what other modifiers are at play

[_James]

Thanks Tom, file sent.

[_James]

Strange - I copied the site model data over to a new file to start fresh. When I show the Site Model in "Existing Only" view and place a pad modifier, I get the grading I expect. When I put the view to "proposed only" (as I had been doing previously) there is no grading and the pad modifier just creates a vertical step.

 

Is there a setting for this or am I using it wrong?

 

Existing (Green) shows grading around slab

 

Proposed (Blue) does not show grading

 

[Cody Worthman]

14 hours ago, _James said:

Strange - I copied the site model data over to a new file to start fresh. When I show the Site Model in "Existing Only" view and place a pad modifier, I get the grading I expect. When I put the view to "proposed only" (as I had been doing previously) there is no grading and the pad modifier just creates a vertical step.

 

Is there a setting for this or am I using it wrong?

 

Existing (Green) shows grading around slab

 

Proposed (Blue) does not show grading

 

Check that your modifier has apply to proposed rather than existing. Also, check your site model settings to verify that it can communicate with the layers that your hardscape and site modifiers are on to help with predictability.  
 

 

You may need to use an open edge mode site modifier with snap to contours on in order to adjust the grade to get what you want inside the bounds of the grade limit.

 

If this doesn’t work, feel free PM a copy of the file and I can take a look at it tomorrow night.

Edited April 23 by Cody Worthman

[_James]

Hi Cody,

 

Thanks for your input - I've been remaking the model whilst watching this webinar, i'm getting much closer to what I would like and learning about some of the best practices VW recommend.

In true VW fashion there are some baffling things that make things much harder. I didin't know that new Site Modifiers brought in in 2023 only work on the "Proposed" site model view. VW doesn't tell you this if you use them though!