Land Planning And Site Builder Tools

Note: The following catalog of content covered in this webinar is time stamped to allow you to follow along or skip to sections of the video that are relevant to your questions. You can also search for content on this page using the FIND command in your browser (CTRL + F in Windows, Command + F in Mac OS.)

• Intro/TOC

• Zoning Tools

  • Zoning

  • Nodes

  • Lines

  • Other Tools for Editing

  • Placing a Zoning Schedule

• Estimator (AKA Site Development)

• Concept Manager

• SketchUp Concept Lines

0:00 – 4:15: Intro/TOC

4:46 – 42:44: Zoning Tools

Overview of Zoning Tools (4:20)

 

Zoning, Nodes, and Lines (7:20)

Zoning (used for identifying specific areas, as well as calculating area, density, and quantities within those areas (8:44)

 

Editing a zone, including adding a title, typing a note, marking the density or floor area ratio of the zone, adding user fields, and selecting a color (8:55)

 

Adding a new zone (10:20)

 

Overview of available zoning colors, and selecting a color for the new zone (10:30)

 

Adding information and data to the new zone (10:50)

 

Opting to use a gradient or flat color for the zone (12:47)

 

Selecting a linetype for the zone (13:05)

 

Placing the new zone (13:35)

 

Using the NCOPY command to pull in a bounding line from an Xref (14:45)

 

Adding user fields to a zone (15:45)

 

Deleting a zone (18:55)

 

Importing zones from another project (19:15)

 

 

Nodes (used to identify building types, locations such as art or helipads, signs, mailboxes, types of sports fields, intersection upgrades, etc. etc.) (20:00)

 

Overview of the available Node symbols (20:35)

 

Adding a Node and selecting a symbol and color (21:10)

 

Placing and scaling a Node (22:00)

 

Editing a Node (example: adding text) using the Block Editor (these changes will apply to each instance of the Node you place in the future) (23:30)

 

 

Lines (identifying and quantifying linear items such as corridors, roads, paths, crosswalks, fence types, creeks, etc.)(25:40)

 

Adding a Line (25:50)

 

Placing and scaling a Line (27:00)

 

Selecting an arrow to end the line (or not) (28:00)

 

Editing a Line (29:10)

 

Question: Can customized symbols be added to Zoning? (29:50)

Answer: Yes, this is a possibility – although it might be easier for us to add the symbols than it would be to engineer the ability to add your own. Please send us any custom symbols you’d like added, and we can see whether it’s possible to add them.

 

 

Other Editing Tools (30:55)

Other tools from the Tool Kit panel (on the F/X Site ribbon) that work well with Zoning: Area and Length calculation tools, Match Properties tool, Block Data (30:55)

 

 

Placing a Zoning Schedule (33:40)

Sending a Zoning Schedule to a drawing (33:40)

Sending a Zoning Schedule to a table in a drawing (37:09)

Regenerating a schedule (38:10)

Sending a Zoning Schedule to a spreadsheet (38:35)

 

Question: Is it possible to emphasize or de-emphasize certain areas? (39:40)

Answer: Yes. We recommend do this by setting certain areas or even layers to transparency.

 

 

Saving a project as a template and importing items such as Zoning data from that template (40:28)

 

How to set up a template (41:35)

42:45 – 46:07: Estimator (AKA Site Development)

Note: The Estimator tool works similarly to Zoning, except Estimator focuses on calculating initial costs while Zoning focuses on calculation of area, density, etc.

 

Editing a Site area with the Estimator. Note that Estimator includes a Cost field, where you can calculate cost per square foot or meter. (44:10)

46:08 – 48:49: Concept Manager

Note: The Concept Manager includes Viewpoints, Nodes, and Lines. We recommend using Concept Graphics for an analysis of an existing site.

 

 

Adding, editing, and placing a concept item (example: Viewpoint) (46:20)

 

Note: Concept items act more like lists with legends than like calculating tools.

 

Placing a photo associated with a Concept item (47:25)

 

 

Concept Nodes (47:50)

Note: We recommend using Concept Nodes to show existing features, such as the location of an existing playground, a patch of asphalt, etc.

 

 

Concept Lines (48:07)

Note: You can use Concept Lines to show existing linear objects such as bike paths, creeks, bridges, roads, etc.

 

 

Placing a Concept Schedule (48:30)

48:50 – end: SketchUp Concept Lines

Placing a Concept Line in SketchUp (50:00)

Our SketchUp Concept Lines are a great way to communicate difficult concepts to clients in a 3D environment – especially for existing or historical site objects.