102: A Land F/X Tour

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
• Key AutoCAD Terms
• Tour of the Main Managers/Finding and Placing Items from the Content Library
• Behind-the-Scenes Look at Land F/X Project Data and Content
• Tour of Some Basic but Important Tools

0:00 – 4:25: Intro/TOC

Recap of our 101: First Steps with Land F/X webinar (2:30)

4:26 – 15:07: Key AutoCAD Terms

The ribbon (4:30)

A ribbon is a horizontal array of panels containing buttons that allow you to access tools in AutoCAD.

 

Each ribbon is organized by tabs made of tool buttons. Many of the buttons have a small arrow that indicates a flyout menu.

 

The ribbon is organized so the tools can be found in a logical location. It has become the main interface for Land F/X tools.

 

Land F/X content basics (5:57)

Blocks (5:57)

Blocks are groups of AutoCAD object (lines, arcs, hatches, etc.) that act as a single object.

 

Blocks are copied around in a drawing but reference a single definition. This setup optimizes your drawing because your computer only needs to process the one definition for repeating objects. (Example: 6 blocks vs. 276 individual geometries.)

 

Land F/X uses blocks for the majority of its content, allowing your drawings to be as streamlined as possible.

 

Hatches (8:00)

Hatches are solid colors, gradients, or patterns used to fill areas within AutoCAD. Land F/X uses hatches for items such as groundcovers, Concept Areas, paving and surface materials, areas for dripline, etc.

 

Drawing setup (8:33)

Initial tasks:

• Work in a blank drawing file.
• Set the drawing units.
• Xref the Imperial decimal-feet base (not crucial to follow along).
• Set the plot scale.
• Create a new project.

 

Setting the units in a drawing (9:30)

 

Adding the Xref base (10:14)

 

Verifying the drawing units (11:45)

 

Setting a plot scale (12:30)

 

Creating a Land F/X project (13:40)

15:08 – 37:14: Tour of the Main Managers/Finding and Placing Items from the Content Library

The Land F/X managers are essentially palettes for the plants and materials you’ll use in a project.

 

The Reference Notes (RefNotes) Manager (15:40)

The RefNote Manager is for your site objects, amenities, and hardscape materials.

 

Adding RefNotes to a project (16:55)

 

The four RefNote types (17:08):

• Notation
• Amenity
• Length
• Area/Volume

 

Adding an Amenity RefNote to a project (example: a table) (18:15)

 

Selecting a specific amenity model from a manufacturer (19:05)

 

Placing an Amenity RefNote in a drawing as a block (22:00)

 

Adding an Area/Volume RefNote to a project (example: a concrete paving area) (23:00)

 

Placing an Area/Volume RefNote in a drawing as a hatch (24:50)

 

Drawing a hatch boundary on the fly (26:20)

 

Adding a Length RefNote to a project (27:44)

 

The Plant Manager (28:40)

Note that you can hover your mouse over any of our tool buttons to see a description of that tool and what it does. (29:00)

 

Adding a plant to a project (example: adding a tree) (29:30)

 

Editing and configuring the data attached to a plant, such as plant code, name, remarks, plant group, cost, symbol, etc. (31:00)

 

Selecting a 2D symbol to represent a plant in a drawing (32:00)

 

Placing a tree in a drawing (33:00)

 

Adding and placing a groundcover (33:20)

 

Filling in a pre-drawn area with a groundcover hatch (34:15)

 

The Irrigation Manager (35:11)

Specifying a water source for an irrigation design using the Source Data tool (35:50)

 

Setting the pipe classes and other data for your project using our Pipe Data tool (36:25)

 

For further information on our irrigation tools, see our Getting Started with Irrigation F/X webinar.

 

Adding irrigation equipment to a project (36:40)

37:15 – 45:59: Behind-the-Scenes Look at Land F/X Project Data and Content

Project data 37:15

 

A Land F/X project contains your plant palette, inventory of site amenities, irrigation equipment, and other important data you’ll use in your designs.

 

While the project data is part of a database and has no physical file, you can back up your data to a LFX (.lfx) file and get an idea of what’s going on within.

 

Text file of a LFX project before and after data have been added (37:58)

 

The LandFX folder (39:40)

 

The LandFX/Blocks folder (40:08)

Note that this folder will only populate with subfolders and blocks as you place items in your drawings. Our blocks download on demand.

 

Examining a block’s properties in the Properties panel (41:00)

 

Docking the Properties panel to the side of your CAD interface (42:30)

 

Color block layers (42:45)

 

Layers within a block (43:50)

 

Preview slide files (SLD/.sld) for each block (45:10)

46:00 – end: Tour of Some Basic but Important Tools

Options for placing plants (47:10)

 

Placing tree or shrubs one at a time (47:30)

 

Keyboard commands for placing plants (47:55):

• Placing different numbers of plants at a time
• Toggling to the previous/next plant
• Plant spacing
• Rotating plants
• Plant copying along a line, arc, or polyline
• Paint Mode

 

Demonstration of our Copy along Line tool, including plant spacing (48:55)

 

Demonstration of our Copy along Arc tool (50:20)

 

Demonstration of our Shotgun tool, which toggles between various numbers, patterns, rotations, and spacing of plants (50:45)

 

Using our Match Plant to copy a plant and place duplicates (51:15)

 

Using our Edit Plant tool to view and edit the data associated with a plant (52:00)

 

Using our Highlight Plant tool to locate all instances of a plant in your drawing (52:15)

 

Copying and placing a line, arc, or polyline of plants, without having to place a new plant, using our Copy Along tools (52:50)

 

Labeling plants (54:20)

 

Error checking your labels using our Verify Labels tool (55:35)

 

Placing a Plant Schedule (57:50)

 

Updating the labels and Plant Schedule to account for changes in plant numbers (59:00)

 

Question: How would you get a hardscape hatch to rotate and align to a path? (59:40)

Answer: We don’t offer that ability yet, but we certainly could. In fact, we base the development of new features on user requests like this one.

 

Question: How would you edit a Plant Schedule to reflect changes in plant sizes or other data? (1:00:25)

Answer: You would do so by simply regenerating the schedule.

 

Question: How would you have a hatch pattern ignore site furniture? (1:02:03)

Answer: We recommend using our P-Hatch tool to knock out the hatching within the tables.

 

You can also use the Hatch Multiple option. However, keep in mind that the actual paving or other hardscaping will likely go under the tables, so you’ll most likely want to count it (and therefore have it pass through the tables). (1:06:50)