In this session, we covered many of the commands in the Landmark menu and reviewed how to create a pool and a pool site modifier.

Topics Covered:

• 00:16    We began by going through the commands in the Landmark menu to clarify any that people were unsure about. Vectorworks keeps a FileMaker Pro document on your computer where it keeps all your plants and plant information. Clicking on the Update Plant Database command will ensure that any new plants that you’ve used on your project are included in the database. You can also have Vectorworks do functions like finding any duplicate plants in the database. The Update Vectorworks Document command helps you go the other way—updating the plants in your document from the information in your plants database. The Change Plant Grouping command allows you to convert the plants that you’ve selected into one plant group or into individual plants. If your Polygon Display is not moving logically from plant to plant in your grouping, you can try using the Send to Back command to remedy it. The Plant Line and Vegetation Line commands give a foliage-like feel to the border of a polygon—but you could also just create a Landscape Area and change the Border Style setting to the Plant Line or Plant Cloud option. Having a Landscape Area might be more useful when you move out of the concept design stage. The Survey Input and Create Site Model commands are ones that we’ve talked about recently. The Simplify 3D Polygons command is helpful when you import, for example, contours with lots of data points—really speeding up how you create site models!
• 16:46    We took a break in the session to demonstrate how to make a site modifier for a swimming pool. There’s a cool trick where you can use the Extract Tool to make polygons that match the bottom of your pool. You can easily convert them into 3D polys and put them in your site modifier folder so that they act as modifiers on your site model. Remember to separate the individual pieces so that you don’t get error messages! You can use Stake objects, Hardscapes, and objects created with the Site Modifier tool as site modifiers—you can also add any 3D polygon to the “DTM-Modifier” class folder to have them act as site modifiers. This method can also be used to have the surface of your site model follow the underside of a Custom Stair object. Use the Shell Solid tool to hollow out your pool shape and the Fillet tool to round the edges. We could use another site modifier to create the space for a deck or pool house!
• 27:17    We returned to discussing our Landmark commands. The Create Grade Limit from Pad command calculates the Grade Limits for you, instead of you using, for example, the Offset tool to create one. The Create Pad from Grade Limits command works the opposite way—it starts with the Grade Limit and you can calculate the Pad that you need. With the Zone of Visual Influence command, you select the site model and click on it somewhere and Vectorworks puts a light there—then you can tell what objects on your site model can see your light object (I have a manual on my website that explains this command: SST_0804 – Zone of Visual Influence). If you include the results in a Viewport, you can keep them to show to a client. The Site Model Section command allows you to create a section of your site model by simply drawing a 2D shape over your site model in Top/Plan view. Using Elevation Benchmarks lets you quickly label the site’s elevations!

Landscape February 2018 pm
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