Modifying sites is a fundamental part of landscaping and architectural design. It is one of the most common questions that I get asked about site modeling.

Contents

• Beginner Topics 
  • Site Modifying Concepts
  • Site Modifier Tool 
  • Creating a Pad
  • Creating a Grade Limit
  • Creating a Contour
• Intermediate Topics
  • Pad with Retaining Edge
  • Texture Bed
  • Editing Site Modifiers
  • Massing Models
  • Hardscapes (Landmark and Designer only) 
  • Roads 
• Advanced Topics
  • Recreate from Source Data
  • Edit Existing Site Model Contours
  • Edit Proposed Site Model Contours

Beginner Topics

Site Modifying Concepts

Before we look at the details of site modifying, we need to look at the basic concept of site modifying. There are two main concepts in site modifying:

• Site modifier (Pad)
• Grade Limits, which totally encloses a pad or pads

The site modifier (Pad) is used to control the 3D changes to the site.
The Grade Limits is used to limit the area that the Pad effects.

This concept is the basis of all site modifiers. There are several tools that can create site modifiers:

• Site Modifier tool (with several options)
• Roads (there are several road tools)
• Hardscapes
• 3D polygons (when assigned to the correct class)

Pads:

• Must be enclosed by a Grade Limits (if you use one)
• Cannot touch each other
• Cannot overlap each other

Grade Limits:

• Must totally enclose the Pad or Pads
• Cannot touch another Grade Limits
• Cannot overlap another Grade Limits

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Site modifiers do not have any restrictions regarding layers. You can place your site modifiers on various layers and the site model can still work with them, depending on the Site Model Settings.
Site modifiers do have a class restriction. By default, they are assigned to a specific site modifier class. This is often coded into the tool, meaning that you cannot change it. To hide your site modifiers, turn this class off; to see them, turn the class on.
Let’s look at an actual example of a site modifier. We’ll look at a simple Pad modifier and how it works with the Grade Limits.
In this image, I have created a site modifier (Pad) and set the pad elevation.

When the site model is updated, you can see the effect of the site modifier on the contours. Without a Grade Limits, you can’t control the extent of the Pad’s effect. Notice the updated contours.

When you add the Grade Limits, you are controlling the effects of the Pad on the site. There are no effects outside the Grade Limits.

This is the basic concept for all site modifiers. You need the modifier and you need the Grade Limits.

Site Modifier Tool

There is one tool on the Site Planning tool set that will create site modifiers. The icon for this tool is a bulldozer.

When you select this tool, the Tool bar changes to show you several modes.

The first mode is the Grade Limits mode and it is used to create the Grade Limits. As shown above, this mode is used to control the extent of the changes to the site. We will come back to this.
The third mode is the Pad mode. It is used to create the 3D part of the site modifier.

• To use this mode, click once on the icon on the Toolbar.
• Move into the drawing area, to the area where you want to place the pad.
• Click once to start the pad.

• Click once at each corner to define the pad.
• To finish, click once more at the start point.

If you have not set the preferences for site modifiers, the Preferences dialog box will open. Fill in the preferences to suit your design. You can change these settings later on the Object Info palette. You can change the default preferences by clicking on the Preferences button on the Tool bar.

• Right-click on the site model.
• Choose Update.
• The site model will update to reflect the changes to the site caused by the site modifier.

• Notice that the changes to the site go well beyond the site modifier. In some cases, the changes to the site will go outside the site boundary. This is where the Grade Limits comes in.
• Click once on the first mode on the Tool bar.

• Move into the drawing area. Start outside the pad.
• Click once to start the Grade Limits.

• Click once at each corner to define the Pad. If you place the Grade Limits near your Pad, then the changes to the site model will form a steep slope between the Pad and the Grade Limits. If you place the Grade Limits far away from the Pad, then the changes to the site model will form a shallow slope between the edge of the Pad and the edge of the Grade Limits.
• To finish, double-click on the last point. You could go back to your start point and click once more, but it is quicker to double click on your last point.
• Right-click on your site model and update it.
• You will now see the changes to your site model contours. Notice how the changing contours stop at the edge of the Grade Limits.

Creating a Pad

I showed above how to create a simple Pad. But I often find it is easier to draw a rectangular or polygon shape and use that to create the Pad. One of the challenges with drawing the Pad object using the Site Modifier tool is keeping the shape rectangular or perpendicular to other objects. This is a lot easier if you just use the Rectangle or Polygon tools.

• Start by drawing the rectangle or polygon shape required.
• Right-click on the object.
• Choose Create Objects from Shapes…

• This will open a dialogue box where you can choose the appropriate object that you want to create.
• Choose site modifier.
• Choose the option Show Properties Dialog. This will give you the option of choosing the type of site modifier you want to create and the elevation of it.
• Choose the option Delete Source Shapes. This will delete your original rectangle. If you do not choose this, you can end up with lots of leftover objects on the screen.

• Click on the OK button.
• This opens another dialogue box for you to input the details of the site modifier.
• Choose the configuration: Pad.
• Type in the Elevation.
• Set the Slope Definition: None. Pads can be sloped and this option allows you to create a sloping or flat Pad. For this example, we want to use a flat Pad
• Set the Apply To: Proposed. Site modifiers can be applied to the existing site model or to the proposed site model. The difference is whether the changes that you want to make will be on the site before the contractor starts work or after he starts work. If you need to edit a site model to make it more realistic for the existing situation, then choose Existing. Later on, we will be looking at cut and fill calculations. These calculations are based on the difference between the existing terrain and the proposed terrain. If you assign your site modifiers to the existing terrain, they will not be included in the cut and fill calculations.

• Click on the OK button.
• Your object will now be converted into a site modifier. You will notice that instead of having a solid fill (as in the previous images) the object now has no fill and a red outline. The red outline is used for site modifiers that are not a Grade Limits.

Creating a Grade Limits

As we have seen, we need to include a Grade Limits with our Pad. The easiest way to create a Grade Limits is to use the Offset tool to offset a copy of your Pad and then to change it into a Grade Limits.

• Select the Pad site modifier.
• Go to the Basic tool set.
• Click on the Offset tool
• Offset the Pad the required amount. In this example I’m offsetting the Pad by 2 meters (6 feet).
• Click outside the Pad to create the offset.
• Go to the Object Info palette.
• Click on the configuration pop-up menu.
• Choose Grade Limits.

• Update the site model to see the results.

 

Creating a Contour

There are times where you do not want to create a flat Pad, but want to modify the site contours. There is more than one way to do this. The simple way is to use the Contour site modifier. The Contour site modifier follows the same strategy as other site modifiers; you need a Contour modifier and a Grade Limits.

• Select the Site Modifier tool.
• Go to the Tool bar.
• Click on the Contour mode.

• Click on the seventh button on the Toolbar. This mode will allow you to snap to existing contours. If using this mode, you do not need to enter an elevation on the Tool bar. Vectorworks will detect the elevation of the contour line that you snap to.

• Start drawing the required Contour by snapping onto an existing contour. Notice in this image that I have started on an existing contour (47 meters) and Vectorworks has detected it (notice that the contour line has turned red).
• The Contour mode creates a polyline-based object. This means that you can either click once to create a corner vertex, choose from the various modes for creating a bezier or cubic spline, or you can use the click-drag technique to create bezier vertices.

• Draw the required Contour.
• Double-click to finish.

• Remember that you still need to create a Grade Limits to control the extent of the changes.
• Update the site model.

 

Intermediate Topics

Pad with Retaining Edge

• This Pad does not need a Grade Limits. It creates two Pads; one at the specified elevation and one at the surface of the site model. If you want a Pad with vertical edges, then use this one.

• Select the Site Modifier tool.
• Go to the Tool bar.
• Click on the Pad With Retaining Edge.

• Click once at each corner to define the Pad.
• To finish, click once more at the start point.
• Go to the Menu bar.
• If you are using Landmark, go to the Landmark menu and choose Send to Surface…
• If you are using Architect, go to the AEC menu and choose Terrain > Send to Surface…

• This opens a dialog box where you can choose the options for sending part of the site modifier to the surface of the site model.
• Choose the option Elevate the Retaining Edge.
• Click on the OK button.

• Update the site model to see the changes.

• In 3D, you can see how steep the edges of this site modifier are.

• There are limits to the site modifier. It is ideally suited to a single site modifier, but is not connected to any other Pads. Since it works so well for a single Pad, clients tend to use these together thinking that the results will be perfect.
• In this image, you can see a classic situation of two Pads that are close together. In plan view, the results look acceptable.

When we change to a 3D view, it is clear that the results are not perfect.

• This can be confusing. It might not be clear to you why the site modifiers have the small part that follows the top of the existing site model. Remember that the Pad With Retaining Edge has been created with one part following the original site model surface. The result is that the single Pad has a component that follows the surface of the site model. When you combine that with the next one, which also has a retaining edge that follows the surface of the site, you end up with a joint between the two Pads that follows the surface of the site model.
• The answer is to use two Pads and create a single Grade Limits that encloses both Pads.

Texture Bed

This site modifier is used to change the texture in an area of the site model. You will not see this object in Top/Plan view. It creates a textured area, so you can only see it in a rendered view. This object uses a class to control the texture (the color of the area). You need to have a class for this. If you haven’t got one, you will need to create one.

• Select the Site Modifier tool.
• Go to the Tool bar.
• Click on the Texture Bed mode.

• Click once at each corner to define the Pad.
• To finish, click once more at the start point.
• Go to the Object Info palette.
• Click on the Texture from Class pop-up menu and choose the class that you have created for this. The class must have a texture assigned to it.

• Update the site model.
• When you change to a 3D rendered view, you will see the area with the new texture.

 

Editing Site Modifiers

Massing Models

Massing models can be used as site modifiers, but beware. When you use a Massing Model and activate the option to use it as site modifier, you do not get the option to choose whether it is applied to the existing or the proposed site model. The Massing Model will be applied to the proposed site model. This will affect your cut and fill calculations.
This image shows a Massing Model on a site. Notice how the Massing Model is floating above the site.

• To use the Massing Model as a site modifier, go to the Object Info palette.
• There is an option for you to choose Use Site Modifiers.
• Check that option to make the Massing Model into a site modifier.

• When you update the site model, the Massing Model now appears to be sitting on the ground.
• Remember, that this is using it as a site modifier and will affect the cut and fill calculations.

 

Hardscapes (Landmark and Designer only)

A Hardscape object can be used as a site modifier. It follows the same rules as the other site modifier objects. The Hardscape is the Pad and you still need to create a Grade Limits. You can choose whether the pad modifier component is at the top or bottom of the Hardscape.

• Go to the Site Planning toolset.
• Choose the Hardscape tool.
• Go to the Tool bar.
• Click on the Preferences button.
• Set the preferences to use the 3D Type: Pad Modifier.

• Draw the required Hardscape.

• Create the Grade Limits around the Hardscape.
• Update the site model.

Roads

Roads are 3D objects and can be used as site modifiers. The Road will create its own Pad modifier and you have the option to have a Grade Limits connected to the Road.
If you have two Roads with Grade Limits, they will overlap and cause an error.

The solution is to turn off the Grade Limits on the Roads that overlap and draw a separate Grade Limits around the Roads.

 

Advanced Topics

Edit Site Model Contours

As well as using site modifiers, you can also directly edit the existing and proposed site model contours. When you right-click on a site model, you get a contextual menu. Near the bottom of the contextual menu is the option to edit the existing site model contours. This will take you into an editing area where you can manually relocate the contours. Instead of creating site modifiers, you can just drag the contours to suit your design.
You can choose to edit the existing or the proposed site model contours. Remember what I said earlier about the cut and fill calculations. If you edit the existing contours, it will not be considered cut and fill. If you edit the proposed site contours, then it will be considered for the cut and fill calculations.

• Go to your site model.
• Right-click on the site model.
• Choose Edit Existing Site Model Contours.

• This will take you to a site modifying area.
• Notice how a new palette has appeared on the screen and an orange border is shown around your drawing area.

 

• The new palette contains the tools that you will need to modify the site contours. You are not allowed to use the tools in the main tool palettes, you must use the Contour Edit tools.
• Also, notice how many contours you have to edit. I find that with my contours set so close together, it is too difficult to edit all the required contours.
• An alternative is to change the site model settings before you edit your contours by reducing the number of contours available for editing.
• Click on the Exit Existing Site Model Contours button at the top right of the drawing area to return to the site model.
• Go to the Object Info palette.
• Click on the Site Model Settings.
• This will open your settings dialogue box where you can change the contour interval.

• Notice how I have changed my contour interval to be 1 meter apart. This will substantially reduce the number of contours that I have to move in order to change the site model to my requirements.
• Now when I edit the existing site model contours, I have one-fourth of the contours that I previously had to modify.
• You can now use the site model Contour tools to edit your contours. You can use the Reshape tool to move contours, and you can use any of the tools that are currently in the Contour Edit toolset to change the contours.

• In this image, I have to used the Reshape tool to move some of the contour vertices, delete some vertices that were not required, and change the vertex type on some to make them into bezier curves.
• When you exit the site modeling contours area, the site model will be updated to reflect the new contours. This will only affect the existing contours.

• Here is the updated site model.
• Notice how the edited contour has been updated.

• Go to your site model.
• Right-click on the site model.
• Choose Edit Proposed Site Model Contours.

• This will take you to a site modifying area.
• Notice how a new palette has appeared on the screen and an orange border is shown around your drawing area.
• You can now use the site model Contour tools to edit your contours. You can use the Reshape tool to move contours, and you can use any of the tools that are currently in the Contour Edit toolset to change the contours.
• In this image, I have changed an existing contour using the Reshape tool. I have deleted vertices and changed some vertices to bezier curves.

• When you exit the site modeling contours area, the site model will be updated to reflect the new contours.
• In this image, you will notice that my new contour is there and the adjacent contour has been edited so that it does not overlap my edited contour.

 

Recreate from Source Data

If you have used site modeling in previous versions of Vectorworks, you might be used to the idea of being able to go back to your source data. The current versions of Vectorworks do not have instant access to the original source data.

• You can recreate the source data if you choose that option from the contextual menu.

• When you choose this option, any edited contours (existing and proposed) will be replaced with the original source data. To highlight this, Vectorworks will display this warning dialogue box reminding you of the change. If you do not want to lose your edited contours, you have to cancel.

• You are now in the source data editing area.
• You can add to the 3D loci, stake objects, or 3D polygons that are the original source data.

• When you exit the editing area your site model will be recreated.

 
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