Vectorworks 2017 introduced a change to the plant spacing. in the past your plant spacing was a specific number and that was it. Now, plant spacing can be a specific number or it can be “Best Fit.” The idea of best fit is that Vectorworks will try to put as many plants as it can using the spacing that you have specified, but it will always place plant start click and at the end click. As well as that, Vectorworks added the option to have the row spacing different from the plant spacing.
In the session we looked at what’s new in Vectorworks 2017, concentrating on the plant definition and spacing. We also looked at using subdivision modelling to create a shade sail.
Main topics:
Planting – A plant in Vectorworks is a special object that has a plan representation, a model (or 3D) representation, and plant data. All these parts are bound together inside the object called a plant. When you place a plant, Vectorworks places all of these parts together in the drawing. This allows you to see the plan view, see the 3D, or create a report that shows the data.
Use this mode when you want to place multiple plants in a triangular array Vectorworks will use the plant size and spacing from the plant definition, and the plants will be placed orthogonally on the screen. Use the rotate plan tool to rotate the plan to suit the site boundary if you need to.
Use this mode when you want to place multiple plants in a rectangular array. Vectorworks will use the plant size and spacing from the plant definition, and the plants will be placed orthogonally on the screen. Rotate the plan to suit the site boundary if you need to.
There is a lot of talk about Building Information Modelling (BIM) in relation to architecture, but not a lot of talk about Building Information Modeling in relation to landscape. The principles behind BIM can be used to speed up the production of your landscape projects and drawings.
One of the important aspects of BIM is that you can attach information to objects that may not be printed (non-graphic information). For example, a plant object will have not just its plan representation, it will also have a 3D representation. It can also have plant data attached to it, and you could create your own data and attach that to the plant as well. One of the discussions I have had with landscapers is the ability to attach to each plant the amount of water that it needs for irrigation or being able to attach the embedded energy for each square meter of concrete.
Use this mode to place multiple plants. This mode uses the plant spacing from the plant definition, rather than the click, and it places the plants along the path between the clicks. You can draw a line or a polygon and Vectorworks will place the plants along it for you.
Use this mode to place several plants. Each click places one plant (one of the group). Double-click to finish. This mode allows you to adjust the spacing between the plants but still have all the plants in one group.
Use this mode to place a single plant. Click once to place a plant.
There are two ways to add plants to your plans. The first (and easiest) way to do this is to use the Plant tool. This tool is specifically designed to place plants and it offers 5 different ways to place plants. These different modes should suit most situations.
A plant in Vectorworks is a special object that has a plan representation, a model (or 3D) representation, and plant data. All these parts are bound together inside the object called a plant. When you place a plant, Vectorworks places all of these parts together in the drawing. This allows you to see the plan view, see the 3D, or create a report that shows the data.
When you use the standard Vectorworks Plant counting schedule, it does not always count the spacing, height and spread accurately. The problem is that Vectorworks multiplies the values of these by the number of plants or the number of plant groups that you have in the file. The solution that I use is to create my own record format that uses text rather than numeric values for reporting these. In this movie I show you the difference between the standard Vectorworks report and my edited report that shows the accurate spread, height and spacing. This movie will not show you how to create the record format.
When you’re creating landscape areas, Vectorworks tends to draw these as if they were projected down onto a flat plane. In reality, the site may be sloping, so the area of the site is actually greater than the plan area shown on the drawings. The difference between the plan area and the actual area can be calculated using basic trigonometry.