Site model

[Marco Sirone]

Hi, just wondering if anyone could create a site model using this dwg file, I've tried many time and watched/ followed a few YouTube videos but it doesn't seem to work out for me. The only thing I can think of is that the file I have doesn't have enough or the correct information needed. Any help would be great, Thanks

21794-22 DET ID.dwg

[Jeff Prince]

2 hours ago, Marco Sirone said:

Hi, just wondering if anyone could create a site model using this dwg file, I've tried many time and watched/ followed a few YouTube videos but it doesn't seem to work out for me. The only thing I can think of is that the file I have doesn't have enough or the correct information needed. Any help would be great, Thanks

 

The provided survey will produce a site model.  You just have to grab the loci to use as source date.  If you also want to use the line features, convert them to 3d polys first, then use as site model data.  There are several points that look to define the top of fence, you probably don't want to use those in your site model, but you could use them to develop a 3D fence.  Many of the points outside the parcel of interest do not have any 3d value, but could be used to develop neighboring structures manually.

Hope it helps,

[Marco Sirone]

1 hour ago, jeff prince said:

 

The provided survey will produce a site model.  You just have to grab the loci to use as source date.  If you also want to use the line features, convert them to 3d polys first, then use as site model data.  There are several points that look to define the top of fence, you probably don't want to use those in your site model, but you could use them to develop a 3D fence.  Many of the points outside the parcel of interest do not have any 3d value, but could be used to develop neighboring structures manually.

Hope it helps,

Thanks for the reply! How do I use the loci as source data and use the 3d polys as site model data? Ive never created a site model before so all these are new terms to me. In the attached document Ive cleaned up the site to where it only shows the boundary lines, contour lines and the natural surface RL points, It makes it easier to read although it doesn't look like its enough information to me but I'm not too sure as I haven't created a site model. 

Site Model.vwx

[Jeff Prince]

7 minutes ago, Marco Sirone said:

Thanks for the reply! How do I use the loci as source data and use the 3d polys as site model data? Ive never created a site model before so all these are new terms to me. In the attached document Ive cleaned up the site to where it only shows the boundary lines, contour lines and the natural surface RL points, It makes it easier to read although it doesn't look like its enough information to me but I'm not too sure as I haven't created a site model. 

Site Model.vwx 77.65 kB · 0 downloads

 

I'm away from my workstation now so I can't look at your file till tomorrow.  1st thing I do with a survey is rotate it around in 3D so I can determine what data will be useful.  Then, I grab it and put it on a separate design layer to segregate it from the less useful info.  Sometimes, and in the case of the file you posted earlier, you will find 2D data such as points that have text describing their elevation.  The stake tool can quickly recreate these 2D points as 3D data.  From there, you can select your loci, stakes, and 3d polys and use the create site model command.

 

I would advise taking a few classes on Vectorworks University to learn this before playing around too much and developing bad habits.  The required workflow can be confusing to new people, but with a little practice it gets easier.  Small errors can cause big problems with site models.  3D loci or stakes make superior models compared to contour lines.  Basically, contour lines are interpretations of points your surveyor collected.  These guesstimate contour lines typically have a bunch of vertices which do not add accuracy to your model and only serve to slow your computer down, though your site and data are pretty simple...so that is just general advice to keep in mind for the future.

[line-weight]

You're more likely to get help if you do as much work as you can yourself. So, provide a vectorworks file for us to look at, with the DWG already imported.

 

Anyway, I imported the DWG into a VWX file.

 

Looks to me like the spot heights for the general groud level are labelled "NS" in pink along with a height value (eg 13.15). There is a crosshair symbol superimposed on a 3d locus for each. Examining the 3d locus suggests its X, Y and Z values are correct (but you will need to tweak import settings to make sure the units match what you want). So it looks like it's these 3d loci you want to extract to make your site model.

 

 

 

 

Your surveyor seems to have provided a reasonably well organised drawing (not always the case!) and those 3d loci seem to be in the class "NS". So it's quite easy to extract them all using the "custom selection" tool using these criteria:

 

 

Use this to select those 33 3d loci, and follow the good advice from @jeff princeabove - get them into a new layer. And ignore the contour lines drawn on the survey.

 

Then you can use them to create the basis of your site model.

 

It'll be up to you to interpret the other height data on the survey, some of which relate to building heights. Some of it might be useful measurements of local ground level adjacent to buildings ... quite how you integrate building models with a site model is less straightforward (and in my opinion not well catered for in Vectorworks). You'll need to do a fair bit of homework to understand what the best approach is for you. It'll depend what you need to use the models/drawings for.

 

Edited June 30, 2022 by line-weight

[Jeff Prince]

22 hours ago, jeff prince said:

 

I'm away from my workstation now so I can't look at your file till tomorrow.

 

Just a quick follow up, I can't look at the file because it was saved in 2022 and I just uninstalled it from my workstation for safety and sanity's sake.

[Marco Sirone]

So I created the site but when I go to view it in 3D it appears upside down. Does anyone know what could cause this issue? thanks heaps!

[Tom W.]

Is there something up with the 'Minimum Elevation' + 'Maximum Elevation' values in the Site Model Settings ('General' tab)?

[Marco Sirone]

16 hours ago, Tom W. said:

Is there something up with the 'Minimum Elevation' + 'Maximum Elevation' values in the Site Model Settings ('General' tab)?

Yes that helped, Thanks heaps!