Importing lot geometry

[GordonC]

My house is built on a sloping lot with lots of changes in elevation and slopes.  I modeled the gardens in Inventor fairly well then used that to make a csv file which I imported as Terrain data.  Unfortunately chief architect smoothes terrains far more than I want and the result is unusable.  Without making a holacious # of contours I can’t see a way around this.  If chief architect could import OBJ or other 3d files as CAD objects the program would be so much better.  Has anyone got any bright ideas for this problem.

[DavidJPotter]

I am not sure if this will be useful to you but what I do to develop terrain is, to gradient-ly, one contour or other terrain object at a time, manually usually from the front of the lot to the rear, checking each change with camera views to see what effect that change had, positive or negative until I obtain a useful result. In my experience, importing topographical information en mass just creates construct too complicated for most personal computers and their hardware to display visually and correcting  that result offers way too many variables to easily sort out. I DO use topographical data as a .dwg file, PDF or image format to use as a guide to manually create the terrain. The point is that doing it manually maintains your ability to actually control the outcome where as gross imports of data generally do not. It does depend upon the accuracy and mass of data imported created by others. Others can be incompetent, each of us can be incompetent but i favor my own ability over those I do not know. It is for you to decide what path you will take.

 

DJP

[GordonC]

Thanks for you help David.  I have spend a few more fruitless hours wrestling with Home Architect and have decided it is not up to doing landscaping.  Pictures show what I am trying to do - I have a parking area about 9' above the house with a sloping driveway down to where I am going to put in a garage.  When I model in the parking area at the top in Home Architect it works OK if built on a flat terrain but as soon as I import even a simple sloping terrain, it has a mind of its own - it totally reshapes itself and the parking area and even if I try and rotate it through 90 degrees - it only rotates the perimeter not the contours.  I have decided I will use Home Arch for my house plans and do separate landscaping dwgs in Inventor - so I can get planning permission and quotes from build ers. 

[Jo_Ann]

You just need to practice.

 

[GordonC]

Whoa - did you just do that - obviously it it possible?  Do you do that by trial an error or by importing csv data?  I have HD Architect 2020 - so obviously should be able to do it.  Any tips on how you did that would be gratefully recieved.

[Jo_Ann]

Don't import stuff!

 

There is more than one way to set up a terrain (per DJP),

but this is how I like to do it. Orange areas are the terrain regions.

 

#1: Open the terrain dbx and set subfloor height to 26".

Uncheck automatic and flatten pad.

 

#2: Place a terrain flat region by the garage / house

front, and set it to "0" (ground zero).

 

#3: Place a terrain flat region at the back of the terrain.

Set it's elevation to -66" (5' 6" BELOW flat region "0").

 

#4: Place a terrain flat region at the front of the terrain.

Set it's elevation to +110" (9' 2" HIGHER than flat region "0").

 

#5: Draw terrain retaining walls.

 

 

[GordonC]

Jo_Ann:  I hate to be dimwitted but for the life of me I cannot see how you can create more than one terrain area in any plan.  As soon as you add one the option to add another is grayed out.  I thought I had found it under terrain-feature-rectangular feature but that is not a new terrain object.  I feel as if I am so close to breaking through here but no searching or watching training videos seems to indicate a way to have multiple terrain regions.

 

thanks again!

[Jo_Ann]

??? I don't know what you are doing?

 

 

 

[GordonC]

I am starting to get the hang of this.  Appears a bit more of a black art than the CAD programs I am used to.  But maybe that is just because I am more used to those programs' foibles!  Anyway, thanks for all your help - I truly appreciate your patience.  Now I gotta concentrate on the actual house plan remodeling.

 

[Jo_Ann]

If you want to try DJP's method (I think)...

Set the elevation regions as shown, based on your pic.

For the garage level to be correct on the terrain, open the terrain perimeter (dbx) and set the "subfloor height above terrain" to -84" (garage foundation needs to be slightly higher than -110").

You have terrain climbing up the foundation wall at the rear of the house.  Uncheck the box for "flatten terrain" (in the terrain perimeter dbx) to get rid of that.

As you can see, there is usually more than one way to get the same result.