Site Modifier / Surfaces / 3D Polygon

[Paul N]

Hi all, a few questions.

 

1. When I try to convert a 3D polygon back into a polygons, the linework / object disappears completely and I cannot seem to find it. 

       

2. When I converted a polygon (the driveway) into a site modifier, I do not see the "fill" texture I assigned to it. All my classes and layers are turned on. Note I sent the "driveway" "site modifier" to the surface of the site model. I believe it worked but cannot see the texture. See screenshot and VW file. 

VW_ChangShapiro Baseplan.vwx

[Benson Shaw]

I see a couple things that are messing with driveway visibility.

1.  The driveway modifier is assigned to the Driveway Surface class. The The class Driveway Surface has Texture assigned, but no fill and no pen.

2.  Texture will not display if no fill is assigned.  Suggest edit the class to have a solid fill (eg white).

3.  The driveway might disappear when changes are made to visibility because of no Pen assigned to the class.

4. In DTM settings>General tab>Use Site Modifiers on>Custom Set of Layers ...  The layers are all listed, but none are selected with a checkmark.  Suggest pick relevant layers in this list. Or instead of Custom List, choose All visible, or other as appropriate.

5. Update the DTM after changes even if the Update button is not red.

 

I made the driveway display.

Post back as needed.

 

-B

[Paul N]

Where can I find the DMT setting? What does DMT stand for?

Edited April 19, 2022 by Paul N

[Pat Stanford]

DTM (not DMT) stands for Digital Terrain Model (or Modeler).

 

Select the Site Model and the settings are available from the OIP (Object Info Palette)

[Paul N]

Okay, but before I even send the driveway to surface, I still cannot see the driveway texture. As seen the very first screen shot. 

Also when I right click on the DTM layer  it shows "edits" and not "general tabs" . Unless there's a DTM in the tools setting? I guess what I am trying to ask is where can I find the DTM setting, it in modify? 

Edited April 19, 2022 by Paul N

[Jeff Prince]

2 hours ago, Paul N said:

Okay, but before I even send the driveway to surface, I still cannot see the driveway texture. As seen the very first screen shot. 

Also when I right click on the DTM layer  it shows "edits" and not "general tabs" . Unless there's a DTM in the tools setting? I guess what I am trying to ask is where can I find the DTM setting, it in modify? 

 

Best to start with a solid foundation, take a few free training sessions on Vectorworks University....

 

[Benson Shaw]

@Paul N Do look at those tutorials as suggested by @jeff prince. 

Some of your new questions require a bit of 'splainin.

 

1. DTM.

Your confusion is encountered by many - As noted above, DTM is acronym for Digital Terrain Model.  In Vectorworks, this object type has been called by different names over various versions of the software:  DTM, Terrain, Site Model, and possibly others. These terms interchangeably on the forum along with abbreviations. Vestiges of the old names remain in the software, eg in the AEC menu, there is a Terrain option leading to commands for forming and modifying the Site Model. Also, if Site Modifiers are applied to a Terrain (DTM,Site Model,SM), Vectorworks automatically creates a new nested class named Site>DTM>Modifier.

 

2. Site Model Settings

As noted by @Pat Stanford this is a button in the Object Info Palette (OIP) when a DTM is selected. It accesses a dialog with tabs and options  to control behavior and display of the DTM. The Settings Dialog can also be accessed via dbl click the DTM and choose Settings, or Right Click and choose Edit>Settings. The Site Model Settings>General Tab includes a menu (bottom center) to assign layers on which Site Modifiers will modify the DTM.

 

3. Why you cannot see the textured Poly prior to Send to Surface.

A. The driveway object in your drawing is a Site Modifier>Texture Bed which normally resides on the DTM surface.  It is a special type of 3d object and will only show texture on the site model surface. In certain view and layer visibility changes which make the DTM invisible/not present (see below), it may revert to the ground plane, but will display only as an outline with no texture.  To see a textured version of this shape on the ground plane either recreate your 2d source object and assign layer/class/fill (sorry, no texture on 2d objects) as appropriate, or . . . Duplicate the driveway shape in Place, Ungroup (makes a 3d poly in the Site>DTM>Modifier class), reassign the class, eg to Driveway Surface, and layer as appropriate for your visibility needs.  Just don't leave it in that special Modifier class!

 

B. No need to Send to Surface.  Texture Beds automatically move to the assigned (Existing/Proposed) DTM surface when the DTM is present. A DTM is not considered present if it is on an invisible layer AND not on the Active Layer.  Might need to update to the Site Model to make this automatice Send to Surface.  If the Texture Bed is on the Active Layer, and the DTM is not present the object may revert to the ground plane, eg if apply the Make all Attributes By Class in the Attributes Palette or other redraw actions.  But it will not show texture. It will move to the DTM surface again if the DTM becomes present.

 

Whew!  Good luck with all this!

Post back as needed.

 

-B

 

 

[Jeff Prince]

 

After looking at your file, the real questions are....

• Why are you 1 million feet from the origin?
• Why do you have a hardscape depicting the driveway near the origin, but 1 million feet from your model?
• Why did you use a site modifier to depict the driveway when you could use a hardscape object in the Texture Bed mode?  If you build it correctly, you can avoid following @Benson Shaw recommendation (not that there is anything wrong with that recommendation, it's just a lot of work for no purpose.)
• Why did you use a retaining wall modifiers in a situation that is not a retaining wall (walls between street and driveway)?

This is why I recommend taking some training.  Site modeling well is probably the most difficult thing to do right in Vectorworks.  Even with an advanced knowledge of 3D in other programs and understanding how this stuff gets built in the real world, there is a substantial learning curve.  You must know why you are using particular tools and their intended/expected outcomes, otherwise frustration will grind you to halt.  The images below were created by:

• 1. moving your hardscape from the origin to the correct location on the site
• 2. placing it on a new design layer I created (so I knew it was set up correctly)
• 3. telling the site model to listen to only that new design layer I made, deleted everything from your file except the site model and the sole hardscape object depicting the driveway. (I think there were 3 or four of them stacked onto of one anther in addition to the unneeded site modifier previously mentioned.)
• 4. Setting your hardscape object to a Texture Bed mode and then picking an appropriate hardscape style and setting the Materials (not textures) for the main area and border.
• *Changed the 3d display to a surface instead of extruded contours, just for my preference.

Stick with it.

Take some training like your job depends on it.

Things will get easier with a focused and disciplined approach to learning this stuff.

 

It's always good to ask questions on the forum, but there is a high level of skill and knowledge needed to even know what questions to ask in order to tackle a project such as the one you shared.  Typically, most of us don't have an hour to burn to give you a detailed explanation, so then you end up getting advice that only gets you part of the way across the finish line.  If you train and get a handle on things, the advice you receive will become more useful and more people will be more likely to help you.  I have watched many people give up on site modeling due to frustration.  If you stay positive and do not expect results overnight, you will succeed.

 

The new (2022) hardscape workflow does pretty good. In answering your question, this is the first time I have tested it.  I'm still using 2021 for my day to day (which is a slightly less refined workflow I'm now realizing).  Keep this in mind when training, note the Vectorworks version featured in the training videos as they could be different.  The basic logic is similar, but the interface and the utilization of Materials is different than past versions in regards to Hardscapes.

 

Pro tip - You can omit the street side boarder by using the Reshape tool and simply clicking on the edges you don't want a border on (been a feature for awhile).  Though there seems to be a bug and the 3D view does not behave the same as the 2D.

 

 

The 2D appearance works as expected, though the hatch for the main area I selected is a bit dense and reads as grey in the image below for the given zoom factor.  Up close it looks decent enough.

 

 

Here's a close up with the border removed at the street connection using the method previously described.

 

 

 

In case I didn't mention it, take some training 🙂

The great content on Vectorworks University will get you started, practice will lead to mastery.