Fence to follow sloping site

[line-weight]

Is there any reason not to just add it?

 

"How can I get a fence to follow a sloped site" is a pretty frequent question. I'm not sure if it's really necessary to take a poll of how many people would be interested in a tool that addresses several of the shortcomings of the current one.

[Tom W.]

6 minutes ago, JuanP said:

@Tom W.Currently, I don't see any plans for the other tools, but plans can be adjusted. It will be better to submit this request as a Wish in the forum and then we can see the level of interest in the community. Thank you for your interest.

 

Thanks Juan I don't feel I can submit a wish for the Draw Handrails Tool because I've had no experience of it: I like the sound of the send to surface feature, because drawing fences over undulating terrain using the VW Railing/Fence Tool is a bit of a labour of love, but there could well be other aspects of the tool that would prevent me from using it (a bit like WinDoor). But I'd be interested to know the outcome of the evaluation process + why in the end you decided not to include it? I respect your judgement on the matter!

 

Or perhaps someone (like @AlanW?) who has used both tools could advise on the other differences between the two tools...?

[AlanW]

All Yes this is a AUS/NZ tool that has been in the program for as long as i can remember and works a treat. Follows all the site model contour all over.

Seems ludicrous that it hasn't been added to the main program by now.

What's the point of drawing a 3d site model then not being able to add a simple fence to follow the site model.

 

Add the AUS /NZ site fencing to the main program please for everyone's sake.

 

[Tom W.]

26 minutes ago, AlanW said:

All Yes this is a AUS/NZ tool that has been in the program for as long as i can remember and works a treat. Follows all the site model contour all over.

Seems ludicrous that it hasn't been added to the main program by now.

What's the point of drawing a 3d site model then not being able to add a simple fence to follow the site model.

 

Add the AUS /NZ site fencing to the main program please for everyone's sake.

 

 

Thank you @AlanW well that's fairly conclusive then! I wonder why then @JuanP the decision was taken, after evaluating it, not to include it? I will place a wish for it anyway.

[Tom W.]

On 10/3/2022 at 5:47 PM, JuanP said:

@Tom W.Currently, I don't see any plans for the other tools, but plans can be adjusted. It will be better to submit this request as a Wish in the forum and then we can see the level of interest in the community. Thank you for your interest.

 

Ok I did it

 

 

[hollister design Studio]

The fence tool has a LOT of issues and is often more frustrating than useful...

 

...but the inability to follow the grade of the site model is definitely the most confounding.

 

Especially as our friends in NZ seem to have it good!

[Laura Stone]

Just installed VW2023 and really disappointed with the updated railing/fence tool.  Don't see the point of having detailed BIM material scheduling when I can't even draw 70% of the fences that I need in real life.

[Nico_be]

 

 

Hello,
I'm continuing the subject that has already been talked about a lot, it would be a great tool but it's been years that we wait or that we manage otherwise.

To make fence posts, I use the "plant" tool and I draw a post in 2D and 3D that I save as a plant.  I can then place it easily in polygon mode and it adapts itself to the terrain, I can also rotate it randomly for a more real effect depending on the type of fence.

 

[bob cleaver]

Using the plant tool is a great work-around for posts (and rails?) 

 

Juan @ VW  - any updates to share with adding the OZCAD fence tool ?   

[Nico_be]

15 hours ago, bob cleaver said:

Using the plant tool is a great work-around for posts (and rails?) 

 

Juan @ VW  - any updates to share with adding the OZCAD fence tool ?   

For the wires, it can work by drawing it in the 3D symbol but you should not choose the random rotation.
Another solution is to copy and paste the fence polygon and transform it into a 3D polygon, then duplicate it several times and adjust the height to create the wires.

[line-weight]

Can the "hedgerow" tool in VW2023 be used/abused in a similar way to create something fence-like?

 

 

[Nico_be]

On 10/24/2022 at 5:56 PM, bob cleaver said:

Using the plant tool is a great work-around for posts (and rails?) 

 

Juan @ VW  - any updates to share with adding the OZCAD fence tool ?   

 

I just found a solution for horizontal wires or bars!
Just convert the perimeter of the fence drawn as a polyline into a Route (Roadway version Poly) that has the desired width and thickness.  
Adjust the road to the terrain model.
And then duplicate it and move it on the Z axis to create the different horizontal lines.

 

Edited October 26, 2022 by Nico_be

[Tom W.]

Very cool. I assume when you say Route you mean Roadway (Poly) object? Thanks for sharing.

[Nico_be]

24 minutes ago, Tom W. said:

Very cool. I assume when you say Route you mean Roadway (Poly) object? Thanks for sharing.

Yes in French it is 'Route' In english Roadway (Poly) 🙂

[line-weight]

3 hours ago, Nico_be said:

 

I just found a solution for horizontal wires or bars!
Just convert the perimeter of the fence drawn as a polyline into a Route (Roadway version Poly) that has the desired width and thickness.  
Adjust the road to the terrain model.
And then duplicate it and move it on the Z axis to create the different horizontal lines.

 

 

Limitations there are presumably that if you want to edit the path of your fence you have to individually edit several objects - and that it will give you curved wires/bars rather than in straight segments between posts.

[Nico_be]

33 minutes ago, line-weight said:

 

Limitations there are presumably that if you want to edit the path of your fence you have to individually edit several objects - and that it will give you curved wires/bars rather than in straight segments between posts.

Yes, this is the problem. The solution I give allows you to put this barrier in 3D and follow the terrain, but it's just a roundabout way of doing what this tool should have been doing all by itself for years!!!
If you put a control point at every change of direction/every post, then you get something very realistic.

[bob cleaver]

Thank you very much for this, this is a terrific example of thinking like vectorworks - 

 

Perhaps VW can offer additional insight: Eric Gilbey @Tamsin Slatter @Katarina Ollikainen @JuanP - it would be great to have your comments  

 

The OZCAD fence tool would be the best solution but this adaptation is inspiring - 

[Katarina Ollikainen]

I'm very glad to see all this interest in a fence tool that can interact with the site model. I'm happy to say that we're actively working on this right now and all your suggestions are noted and will be taken into consideration.

[aage.langedrag]

When you are going to create a solution for Vectorworks, it is important that programmers look at the solution that is in Autodesk Revit. This has worked for a long time. Can easily make the fence follow various objects that I decide for myself. The top of a wall or structure, hardscape or Site Model. I can also manually set the height of the alignment for the fence. Get in touch @Katarina Ollikainenand I will explain what I have been working on for many years:)

[line-weight]

In an ideal world, if a new fence tool arrives, we would be able to convert "old" fences into the new one.

 

I have one model in particular where I have quite a large number of fences that follow long non-straight paths that follow the terrain of a site model. Because of the limitations of the current tool these are built up from multiple straight-line segments, where I have adjusted the start and finish Z values.

 

That's an ultra-tedious way to draw fences (and it's also very tedious each time I want to adjust them). If a new fence tool appears, I would probably be keen to convert all the old objects into the new type, which would then be easier to edit and update.

 

Probably asking too much, but if I could select all the segments of each of those fences and simply say "convert to new fence" that would save much time and tedium.

[joestewart4669]

On 2/20/2018 at 9:16 PM, AlanW said:

Hi, Its a shame that the AUS/NZ fence tool hasn't been incorporated into the full VW rollout, it allows send to surface.

Also is attached a Marionette file that sends a fence to a terrain may assist in the interim.

Send_to_surface_004Cv2018.vwx

Hi Alan, Thanks for sharing the file. How do I use this with the railing/fence tool please? 

[AlanW]

As far as i know the fence/railing tool does not send to surface and the Marionette is a stand alone item. 

[Peter W Flint]

I’m not at my workstation so can’t verify, but my recollection is that fence tool will send to surface but will not read terrain, it will pick a z-value (lowest?, highest?, avg?) and set the entire fence at that elevation. One work-around I’ve seen is to create one panel, create duplicates with move-by-points, and send each individual panel to the surface. This gets things done okay graphically but doesn’t give you good BIM data. 
 

PWF

[line-weight]

Yes you always have to choose between a multi-panel object that can't follow undulations, or a series of individual panels.

[bob cleaver]

There are workflows for using the VW fence tool (with horizontal panels stepping on slopes) - a YouTube search for SU KNU will provide a terrific series of videos, one of them with a solution for fences on slopes that works - the vectorworks team still need to upgrade the fence tool (offset posts and panels for one) to allow for real life fence details (not every fence has all elements centered)