In this session, we looked at unwrapping a box with a lid, applying textures to hardscapes, constructing stairs with stair tools other than the standard Vectorworks stair, and adding custom colors.

Topics Covered:

• 00:59    We started the session by constructing a 3D box and adding a top. Cutting the bottom, we had an unusual shape that we wanted to unwrap. Converting it to a NURBS object, we then used the Unfold Surfaces command in the 3D Power Pack to unwrap the shape. Using the Multiple View Panes in VW 2018 really facilitated the process—we could work with the unfolded pieces in one window while referencing the 3D shape in another window. It was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle to arrange the unwrapped pieces in the correct order, but we did it!
• 10:31    Next, we looked at getting hardscapes to have the look that we wanted. The thing to watch out for is that the color of the border can only be changed in the Hardscape Object Settings dialog box while the color of the center part can be changed using the Attributes palette. The hardscape’s appearance in 2D and 3D match until you make the hardscape a Slab and give it a thickness—that’s the problem! The challenge is that you have two textures to worry about, one for the border and one for the center. We were using a ceiling tile texture to give our hardscape a tiled look. Because the texture was controlled by an image, we couldn’t change its color. However, we could add a Filter Color. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a big improvement!
• 19:00    We then experimented with using various stair tools. We started with the Simple Stair. It’s very quick and effective! The Configuration setting allows you to easily add a flight to the left or right and to add a landing. Turning the Simple Stair into an Auto Hybrid makes it solid in the top/plan view and in 3D. Using Automatic Working Planes, you can add a simple railing: Draw a line, convert it to a NURBS object and use the Extrude Along Path command. Our railing was pretty ugly, but we edited its profile and made it look quite a bit better. There’s another stair tool, some call it the German stair tool. It has handrails—but it can’t be split or modified like the Simple Stair. There are also the Custom Stair and the Circular Stair. The Custom Stair is a kit of parts, so it allows you to add different types of stair together—it’s very flexible! For landscape stairs, it’s very helpful to extract the underside of the stair, and turn the extracted polygons into site modifiers. You can build a triangular stair with the Custom Stair but not with the standard Vectorworks stair.
• 46:14    The last challenge we looked at in this session was using exact colors in a project. We couldn’t copy and paste the colors from the manufacturer’s website, but they did provide the RGB values for the colors. Back in Vectorworks, we found that we could go into the Color Palette Manager and create custom colors. Before you make your own custom colors, check if the colors already exist in Vectorworks, because the software already has colors from Benjamin Moore, Resene, Pantone, Dulux, and other manufacturers. You can always add these colors to a custom palette so that they are easier to find. Often, we overlook some of these Vectorworks tools that can make our tasks easier!

Landscape October 2017 pm
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