Create a wall following topography

[MPacheco]

Hello there! I'm trying to create a small wall with 80cm high, along a property house (marked as yellow in the image).

 

Is there any way to create a wall that follows terrain topography?

 

Thanks!

[ericjhberg]

Do you want a stepped wall or one that is just an offset of the topography slopes?

[MPacheco]

I want just an offset of the topography slopes. The bottom of the wall must follow the existing terrain.

[Tamsin Slatter]

Yes, this is possible.

First, draw the wall and set the top elevation to the desired finished elevation for the top of the wall.

Then, with the wall selected, run Landmark > Architectural > Fit Walls to Objects. Choose the option to fit the bottom of the wall to objects on the layer that contains the site model. Also check the box to include site model objects. 

The wall will be extended to fit the surface of the site. 

This will create a lovely visual, but of course you would not build the wall like this in reality.

 

If you want to model the wall more how it would be built, you can use the Landmark > Architectural > Create Stepped Wall command. Your wall needs to start at the correct height, and have the bottom elevation at the required depth below the surface of the site. Then, you can choose the step length to create regular steps, or have them follow the terrain. 

 

These commands are also available in Vectorworks Architect, but will be found under the AEC menu.

[MPacheco]

Hi Tamsin!

 

Thank you for your reply!

 

I've tried the first option you gave but the when a run the Fit Walls to Objects the file crashes. Probably the site model is quite complex to run this option. I will try to do in a 

 

The second option you said I managed to do, but in this particular case I don´t want to draw the steps, just want the top of the wall to be an offset of the existing slopes.

 

Does the first option you gave makes the solution like the video shown below?

 

 

 

 

 

[Monadnoc]

I think this post explains how to do what you are wanting:

 

 

 

[MPacheco]

Hi Monadnoc! Thank's for your reply!

 

I tried to do the process described on the last post of that topic but could not get the result.

 

I followed the steps but only got this result with the Extrude along the patch. 

 

More tips to help me?

 

 

[Monadnoc]

You need both Lock Profile Plane and Fix Profile selected to get proper results. Unfortunately, when I just tried it I got an error message. I am using VW 2017 and I notice that post was from 2016, so all I can think of is VW changed something in the Extrude Along Path code that introduced a bug. Hopefully the bug is fixed in newer versions of VW. If not, I figured out a work around that works consistently, at least with my set up anyway. The fix is to manually position your profile/rectangle at one of the endpoints of your nurbs path, positioned how you want it (I use the bottom midpoint). And the profile/rectangle has to be set to layer or 3D plane. And it has to be manually rotated to be perpendicular to the path. This all sounds complicated but it is actually quite easy and fast once you get the hang of it. After you drop to surface, enter the group it creates, switch to a right ortho view, and draw your profile in place at the endpoint of the nurbs path. Then switch to top view and move it again over to the same endpoint. Then use the rotate tool to rotate in place so it is aligned parallel, and on top of, the path, then just hit command L (control L on Windows) to make it perpendicular to the path. It sounds confusing but really isn't once you wrap your head around it. If it doesn't make sense to you I will whip up a little step by step with pictures to help. Here are a few showing how I rotate the profile/rectangle into place. And the finished product. Here are the steps:

 

Steps to make extrude follow site contours:

 

1.     In Plan/Top view draw path with polygon or polyline tool (unfilled)

 

2.     send to surface

 

3.     enter group

 

4.     switch to right ortho side view

 

5.     draw profile/rectangle at end of nurbs path

 

6.     change profile/rectangle to layer plane/3D

 

7.     move profile into place at nurbs path endpoint (may need to use 3D locus)

 

8.     return to plan view

 

9.     move profile again to end of nurbs path end point

 

10. rotate profile to be perpendicular to path (align parallel, then hit command L once)

 

11. select both

 

12. run Extrude Along Path, with both Lock Profile Plane and Fix Profile selected (note: Lock Profile Plane can be done later if forget via the OIP)

 

13. ungroup, if desired

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 10, 2020 by Monadnoc
Labeled images

[MPacheco]

Thank you Monadnoc! I followed your steps and got it! Problem solved!

 

Nice work and great result! 

 

Hope that in future VW versions the wall option have some option to get this result.

 

 

[Monadnoc]

Glad you were able to get it to work. I agree this is a very useful capability to have, especially for schematic/conceptual designs with hedges, rock walls, some fences, even regular walls, maybe even berms. I'm pretty sure I remember using Extrude Along Path with 3D paths in the past, so it must be a bug that got introduced since v 2016 and somehow broke it. Tamsin, maybe you could report it and get it on the short list to fix? It doesn't seem like that hard of a fix. Thanks.

[LARElias]

Hello All,

 

is there any way to add Terrain to fit to existing elevations.  I have a Barn home built into many layers and I cannot seam to get the site terrain around it, not in it and correct:-( The yard comes up around our sunroom then down, and off the lower gym, off pool, dropped down dramatically from barn-stone wall.

 

 

oh PS

 

i have never used a CAD program of any kind, no drawing training at all, and have teaching myself, for our clients, the last 8 months.