kawchman Posted December 16, 2021 Share Posted December 16, 2021 I've been using Vectorworks Landmark for a long time but really only for 2D purposes and I'm now really trying to get a grasp on the 3D capabilities and some of the features that I feel like Vectorworks is really pushing. I work in high end residential landscape architecture and many of our sites are sloping and complex. We use a lot of irregular materials and custom items so I often get frustrated with some of the tutorials that over simplify the process by using a completely flat site and pretty standard materials. At the risk of being too long winded, I'm wondering if there are any definitive training guides on the 3D modeling and a good workflow process to get started with this. I've played around and made a few site models but I'm having a hard time understanding when I should be using hardscapes or site modifiers etc... etc... I feel like I could post a million questions on here and maybe they've already been answered so I'll snoop around but I feel like it's all very overwhelming. Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment
E|FA Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 I was in a similar position on the architecture side a few years ago. In addition to the forum, try: https://university.vectorworks.net/course/index.php#coursestab @Jonathan Pickup's Archoncad website and courses were especially helpful: https://archoncad.com https://store.archoncad.com/courses/landscape/ You might ask Jonathan if the Landscape courses are being updated and/or the content is still relevant. 2 Quote Link to comment
Popular Post Jeff Prince Posted December 17, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted December 17, 2021 Agree with @E|FA. I learned everything I needed from VWX Uni, Jonathan, and practice. The investment in learning is well worth the effort in my opinion. Payback is probably within 5-10 projects in terms of recouping your time. The initial learning curve can be a bit daunting, but it gets easier. A couple of hints…. If you can get the points file from your surveyor, it will usually make a much better model than basing it off contours. If you are stuck with contours, learn how to validate and simplify them prior to making your site model. These are built in tools that work well. Contours originally made from splines or arcs can slow you to a crawl in some cases. Existing features identified in your survey data like roads or paved area to remain are best done with hardscape as texturebed type. This maps their shape to your model based off the survey data, saves time. figuring out the nuances of retaining walls and retaining pads is best learned on the VWX uni lesson… I think it was called advanced site grading. If you search the forum for some of my posts where site modeling is mentioned, you’ll likely find the appropriate links. Stepped walls and curved stepped walls are usually easiest to achieve using extrudes and subtractions instead of VWX wall tools IMHO. You can add an appropriate grade modifier after the fact. Turning them into auto hybrids gets you your 2d look within 3D geo instead of drafting them separately. Hardscapes as pads are simple, sloping slabs can be a little tricky until you get the hang of it. Extrude Along Path is probably your best bet for pools, railings, and battered walls. Autohybrid again for your 2d needs. I’ve posted many example of such things here. On complicated sites and designs, I typically start with my site model of the existing conditions as a reference for elevation. I then model my stuff and move it to the correct elevations. Afterwards, I add my site modifiers by turning off the site model and snapping to my correctly placed geometry, grouping the modifier and object afterwards to make moving them easier in the future. This seems to be faster than messing with objects that have site modifiers built in, in most cases. I’m always hoping that the relationship between objects and modifiers is improved in the future, but in the mean time… just knowing what they are doing and how they talk to the site model in 99% of the battle. I was kicking this one off the other day…. Site model from lidar based survey data (contours, yuck) in a few minutes, graded by importing my drafted contour lines and converting them to modifiers was pretty quick too, would have been faster to use stakes to set grade. Maybe 30 minutes total, including mocking up building shells from the architect’s PDF elevations. Stick with it and you’ll wonder how you ever got along without doing in 3D…it’s blazing fast when done correctly. After the holidays, I’ll add a pool and site modifiers to excavate the hole where the pool goes. Retaining walls to the far left of the image where that empty pad is. Develop the driveway as a texture bed, maybe add some grade modifiers and stakes to level out the problem areas. Walking trails will be done with texture beds, exterior landscape stairs with extrudes, patios with hardscape slabs. With some practice, you’ll be a master before you know it. 8 Quote Link to comment
JonKoch Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 @jeff prince Wow, this is amazing help thank you so much. This is my other account for work but there's a ton of good information in here. I realized the issue with creating the model from the contours sent by the surveyor (they had like 1,000 verticies!) I ended up tracing my own simpler 3D poly's and putting loci along it and it ended up a much smoother model. Definitely not a fast process but it seemed to work. Still having some issues with getting my driveway to work out since it has parking areas associated with it and the site model wants to regrade every time and it ends up wonky. Anyway, I'm getting there. Hopefully It'll smooth out. I'm definitely saving your post though! Thank you! 2 Quote Link to comment
Jeff Prince Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 1 hour ago, JonKoch said: Still having some issues with getting my driveway to work out since it has parking areas associated with it and the site model wants to regrade every time and it ends up wonky. Anyway, I'm getting there. Hopefully It'll smooth out. I'm definitely saving your post though! Thank you! Glad it was helpful. Don’t forget to create some grade limits before you get to far along. Quote Link to comment
JonKoch Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 @jeff prince Funny you mention that, I'm literally watching some videos on that now. Quote Link to comment
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