Why Buy Land F/X

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
• Brief History of Land F/X
• Reasons to Buy Land F/X
• Common Misconceptions and Hang-Ups
• How Land F/X Works
• Questions

0:00 – 2:59: Intro/TOC

3:00 – 24:29: Brief History of Land F/X

Evolution of the Land F/X dialog box (11:30)

Oldest known plan made with a prototype of Land F/X (12:22)

Chart: Lines of Code of Land F/X (14:50)

Example of a Land F/X tool coded (16:50)

Land F/X today (18:50)

• 22 employers as of webinar date (and hiring)
• Tens of thousands of blocks
• Content libraries
• University outreach
• Hundreds of free videos, more each week
• Predominant landscape architecture software in U.S.
• Unlimited tech support, including phone-based

21:00 – 24:29: Reasons to Buy Land F/X

Basic program architecture (21:00)

• Multi-user database and licensing
• Project-based
• Fully user-customizable content
• Program updates sent out weekly

Basic philosophy (22:55)

• Software should be easy to use.
• You should be able to call someone for help.
• You should be able to send a problem file to tech support.
• All tech support tickets are reviewed by Jeremiah.
• Bugs should be fixed immediately.
• Content goal: Every plant, every product, every symbol, all one click away.
• Overall goal: Help make the world a better place by empowering designers with the best possible software.

24:30 – 37:59: Common Misconceptions and Hang-Ups

Question: Is Land F/X advancing toward eliminating AutoCAD as a software? (24:55)

Answer: Yes, we are definitely preparing for a cloud-based future. However, that future might just entail AutoCAD living on the cloud, in which case we’d still be connected to AutoCAD.

• I don’t want to be locked into another pricey subscription.
• It doesn’t look the way my plans do.
• I don’t have the time to learn something new.
• It doesn’t use some AutoCAD feature I really like.
• Our current system works fine.

I don’t want to be locked into another pricey subscription. (26:45)

Our response:

• We would never avoid productivity software just because it happens to cost money. By definition, productivity software should in all cases pay for itself.
• We see this objection as one based on the objector not seeing the value add.

It doesn’t look the way my plans do. (28:35)

Our response:

• You can use your exact same blocks , layers, hatches, etc. if desired.
• It will take some configuration time to match every minute detail.
• You would be wise to accept that sometimes new technology takes some minor aesthetic trade-offs.
• Every increase in technology should be seen as a chance to improve on your standards. Symbols can become more illustrious than when they were hand-drawn, callouts can be visually striking, and so on.
• In the time you have spent avoiding Land F/X, you could have customized it in every way.*

I don’t have the time to learn something new. (30:43)

Our response:

• The common feedback is that using Land F/X on a first project sees it completed in half the time.
• Hence, even including learning curve time still results in a net gain of time.
• Further, all training resources are free, and we offer unlimited tech support, including phone-based.
• Do you really want to prohibit yourself from ever using any new software in the future.
• What, hypothetically, would be design software you would be willing to devote some time to learning?
• It feels as if it’s a brand-new thing, but in reality you’re still in CAD and doing the same work – you’re just automating the tedious and time-consuming tasks.

It doesn’t use some AutoCAD feature I really like. (33:55)

• Annotative Scaling tends to top this list.
• STB plot styles.
• Schedules are not exactly the same.

Our response:

• You are welcome to do any and all of these – in some cases, slightly manually.
• Time savings minus additional manual efforts is still a net gain.
• Remember: It’s still just AutoCAD, so you can still have everything exactly the same as you do now – just saving time.
• Land F/X is really a continuous, ever-growing addition to CAD.

Our current system works fine. (36:12)

Our response:

• Do you have documentation and training videos?
• How much does it cost to train a new person?
• How much does it cost when a new version of CAD breaks things?
• We KNOW you don’t have all the capability of Land F/X.
• Instant schedule, including quantities of ground covers placed as hatches.
• Verify Labels.
• Integration of manufacturer products and details.
• Toggle between CAD, SketchUp, Rhino, Revit.

38:00 – 54:02: How Land F/X Works

Question: What is the best way to jump in and learn the software in 5 days, and what is the suggestion for learning the whole system? (38:07)

Answer: We recommend redoing an old project using Land F/X. As far as training materials, we offer several possible methods for learning the software. It depends on the way you like to learn. You can type LANDFX in the Command line to do our 30-day Learn Land F/X Challenge. You can watch Power Tip videos or webinars, or read our documentation. We also have Tool Tips that appear when you hover on each tool button, which tell you exactly what that tool does. Above all, get in there and use it.

Overview of F/X CAD, our Autodesk-authorized version of AutoCAD for Land F/X users (41:20)

Question: Do you offer a discount to ASLA members? Does the software run on Mac and Windows? (42:10)

Answer: Yes, we do offer an ASLA discount – just provide us with your member number to get the discount. The software will work on a Mac, but you’ll need to be running Windows on Parallels with a Windows version of AutoCAD.

Overview of the Land F/X ribbons and tools (43:49)

Demonstration of our SuperJoin tool, which converts all linework in a drawing or Xref to polylines and joins linework where applicable (44:00)

Demonstration of our planting tools (46:30)

Plant symbols (46:30)

Placing and copying Generic Plants (47:20)

Using Highlight Plant to locate all instances of a plant (48:30)

Creating a project and adding data to plants (48:50)

Assigning a color symbol to a plant (50:40)

Labeling plants (51:20)

Using our Verify Labels tool to error check a plan (51:50)

Colorizing a plan and placing a schedule (53:25)

54:03 – end: Questions

Question: Can I import plant schedules from MS Excel? How about text from MS Word? (54:03)

Answer: Not into Land F/X, but you can import text into AutoCAD, if necessary. Keep in mind, however, that we eliminate Excel from the process. You can generate your schedules automatically from CAD without having to create them (although we do provide the ability to export your schedule to Excel).

Question: Can I get Land F/X As a standalone program that can be used anywhere, even if I don’t have Web access?(56:00)

Answer: Yes. You can choose to have a local database. Just make sure to back up your data regularly.

Question: Is Land F/X compatible with Draftsight software? (57:45)

Answer: As of webinar time, no. We would love to be compatible with Draftsight, but we need to wait until they have a more capable API.

Question: Where is SuperJoin in the AutoCAD version? There is no “General” tab in the ribbon, but I notice that it’s a command if I type it in. (58:30)

Answer: Follow our steps to download the latest Land F/X menus to get the latest version of our ribbons.

The Drive tool (1:00:00)

You can use our Drive tool to learn the keyboard commands you’ll use for placing objects, copying them, etc.

Question: Does the irrigation side of the software work similarly to the plant schedule? (1:01:20)

Answer: Absolutely. (See demonstration below.)

Brief demonstration of the irrigation module, including placing an Irrigation Schedule (1:01:40)

Question: Draftsight had a pro version for much cheaper than AutoCAD, so I’m assuming the paid version is not compatible. Also, forgive my ignorance, but what is an API? (1:03:00)

Answer: An API is an application programming interface – it’s the medium that allows up to customize a program. And yes, we are incompatible with the pro version of Draftsight. It’s one of the reasons we’ve developed F/X CAD, which is a cheaper version of AutoCAD supported by us.

Question: The Drive game raises a question: Does Land F/X have a feature like Auto Turn for checking vehicular turning radii? (1:04:40)

Answer: We don’t compete with Auto Turn or Carlson Survey. If you need those programs’ capabilities, by all means purchase them. However, our Plan Graphics library includes several vehicle access blocks that show turning radii.

Question: How does Land F/X handle contours? (1:06:00)

Answer: If you’re doing a lot of topo work, we recommend adding Land F/X to Civil 3D. We will continue to add tools and capabilities to deal with contours. We don’t have the tools to chase and create contours. However, our Spot Elevation tool allows you to account for contour elevations in existing drawings.

Demonstration of using Spot Elevation callouts to work with contours (1:06:28)

Land F/X pricing (1:07:40)

Differences between Design F/X, Planting F/X, and Irrigation F/X (1:08:40)

Demonstration of our Detail Enlargement tool (1:11:05)

Question: How do I make Multileader plant labels all caps? (1:14:15)

Answer: Use the caret symbol (SHIFT + 6) when customizing the plant label styles.

Reminder: F/X CAD is a CAD platform. You can choose to purchase F/X CAD and add a Land F/X license to it. If you do so, all your support for CAD goes through us. (1:16:40)

Question: Does F/X CAD licensing work the same way as Irrigation F/X – check in and check out? (1:20:06)

Answer: Essentially, yes. You can install one license of F/X CAD on multiple computers, but that license can only be used by one person at a time.