Landscape Special Interest Group May 2017 pm

In this session, we looked at creating a small, outdoor pergola seating area and its drawing details. This means that we had to look at how the footings were created, how the posts would be connected to the footings in detail, and how we would construct the posts, beams, and trusses in detail.

• 00:38    We started out by building our slab. Because this was a landscape project, we decided to use a hardscape for the slab. One of the reasons to use a hardscape object instead of a slab is that it allows you to control the border and the main part of the texture separately.
• 01:56    The next part was to create the posts and supports. Posts are relatively easy to create as a simple extrusion. A post support is not so easy to make. To create this in detail, we needed to create a 3D model that matched the real-world environment. The post support needed to have a bent metal bracket with a fishtail that went into the slab. This required modelling the pieces and using Add Solid to join them altogether. When we had the post and supports, we could either create a symbol (which would be preferable because we would only have to update the symbol to update all the posts) or we could create all four posts by just mirroring the 3D models that we had created.
• 13:39    With all of the posts in place, the beams could now be created. The requirement was to have the beams half cut into the posts. Using the Automatic Working Plane makes this reasonably easy to create. In this project, we used simple extrusions to create all of our objects; however, if you want to count the timber pieces, it would be better to use framing members for the beams, trusses, and purlins and to use columns for the posts. In this project, we did not need to count the information, so simple extrusions were sufficient.
• 16:56    We wanted to create this project in detail, which also meant showing the nuts and bolts that connect the pieces together. There are different types of fasteners in the Detailing tool set of Vectorworks; you can create nuts and bolts of the correct size, length, and detail. We added the nuts and bolts to the beams and the support brackets. This is where we realized that we should have made the posts into a symbol. If we had done that, all four posts would have updated as we added the nuts and bolts to the posts and brackets. Because we didn’t do this, we had to then recopy all of our posts and supports.
• 26:56    The trusses needed to be a specific design. The easiest way to draw these was to use a front elevation with Screen Plane objects. This allowed us to draw the elevation of the truss and then to extrude it. We also created metal brackets to bolt the components of the truss together. We were creating this project in detail, which meant that each bracket needed to be created accurately. When the truss was completed, we turned it into a symbol. Using a symbol allowed us to quickly create several truss objects, and, when they needed updating, we only had to update the symbol. This saved us a huge amount of time. After all the trusses were placed, we then created the purlins. Using the Move by Points tool made it easy to create several purlins that were equally spaced on the upper cord of the truss.
• 39:18    The project was almost complete, but it would look better if we added a light to it and adjusted the render settings. Adding a Heliodon to the scene and changing our OpenGL options to improve the quality, add shadows, and add lines made a huge improvement to the scene.
• 43:40    Because of the location of this project (Germany), we were required to calculate the volume of this space from the ground to the underside of the purlins. For this, I used an extrusion. When you create an extrusion, the Object Info palette does not give you the volume, but it can be calculated using a worksheet.
• 46:47    To finish the session, we looked at creating a detailed drawing for the bracket object. Again, this bracket object should be a symbol so that any changes would be reflected through the drawings. To create a detailed drawing, we placed a copy of the bracket on a separate design layer. Then, we used the command to create multiple viewports of the object on the design layer. This made it quick to create a third angle projection drawing, which is all that is required for someone to build this object.

Landscape May 2017 pm
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