Intro to Site 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
• What’s New or Hidden
  • New Ribbon and New Look to Some of the Buttons
  • Additional Tool Sets Added to the F/X Site Ribbon
• Overview of the Site Ribbon in General
  • What Tools are Available, and When Should You Use Them?
    • Zoning Tool
    • Area Callout Tool
    • Concept Tools
    • Site Development/Estimator Tools
    • Site Amenities Manager
    • Reference Notes (RefNotes)
    • Area and Length Tools
    • Creating and Saving a Custom Hatch
    • Site Color Tool

0:00 – 5:24: Intro/TOC

5:25 – 11:59: What’s New or Hidden

New Ribbon and New Look to Some of the Buttons (5:20)

Snap Angle is now Xhair angle (6:50)

 

 

Additional Tool Sets Added to the F/X Site Ribbon (7:25)

Example: Callouts section in the Discipline Graphics in addition to the Callouts pull-down menu from the ribbon.

 

Creating a polyline boundary using the Boundary command – Bonus: The boundary comes in on the current layer! (10:40)

12:00 – end: Site Ribbon Overview

Zoning Tool (12:00)

Creating a new zone (12:20)

 

Importing zones from another project or template (13:25)

 

Placing zones (14:00)

 

Placing a zoning schedule for presentation purposes (14:55)

 

Area Callout Tool (15:25)

This tool allows you to call out a polyline area. The callout snaps to the center of the area and provides the square feet or meters in a multileader (MLeader) callout with a background mask.

 

 

Question: What’s the difference between the NCOPY and BOUNDARY commands? (17:12)

Answer: NCOPY pulls a polyline straight from the Xref, whereas Boundary requires the polyline boundary to be closed and can sometimes misfire as a result.

 

 

Concept tools (19:00)

Placing a Concept Viewpoint (19:00)

 

Placing Concept Nodes and Lines (19:15)

 

Giving a Concept Node a specific size (20:35)

 

Placing a Concept Schedule (21:25)

 

Calling out a Concept Viewpoint with a photo callout (22:45)

 

 

Site Development/Estimator tools (24:30)

These tools allow for a quick cost estimate of your site plan.

 

Placing Site Development/Estimator areas (25:24)

 

Placing an Estimator Schedule (25:35)

 

 

Site Amenities Manager (26:08)

Adding and placing site amenities from the Site Amenities Manager (26:08)

 

Adding site amenities from specific manufacturers (26:30)

 

 

Blocks Tools (26:50)

Our default block libraries are cloud based. When you place a block in a drawing, you download the block automatically.

 

Adding your own custom blocks using the Save Block tool (27:35)

 

Accessing your saved blocks from our blocks tools and placing them in drawings (28:40)

 

Using our Block Data tool to convert a “dumb” block into a “smart” Reference Note (RefNote) (29:10)

 

Calling out a RefNote (30:00)

 

Note: RefNotes are now Multileaders (MLeaders), allowing you to move them, add leaders, etc. easily (30:20)

 

Editing RefNotes (31:00)

 

Note on saving blocks: You can set the block’s scale, units, and rotation when you save it. (31:50)

 

 

Graphic Lines Tools (34:30)

The Custom Line tool (35:00)

This tool allows you to create a custom linetype and apply it to the current layer.

 

Editing the layer information for a custom line (37:20)

 

Using the Railing tool to place a railing or fence (38:10)

 

Using the Length RefNotes tool to convert a railing or other linear object into a “smart” object with data assigned (38:30)

 

 

Reference Notes (RefNotes) (40:00)

 

Placing a RefNote hatch, such as a mulch, using the Area/Volume RefNotes tool (40:00)

 

Drawing a RefNote hatch area on the fly (42:20)

 

Calling out a RefNote hatch (42:45)

 

 

Area and Length Tools (43:00)

These tools will calculate either the total area or length of a layer.

 

Using the NCOPY command to bring objects into the drawing and then using the Area or Length tool to quantify them (44:00)

 

Using the Multiple command to exclude internal areas from the hatch (44:45)

 

Changing the rotation of the hatch pattern and calling out the hatch (45:30)

 

Docking the RefNotes Manager (46:15)

 

Copying an Amenity RefNote along a line (47:00)

 

Using the Match Block tool to place additional copies of the Amenity RefNote (47:25)

 

 

Creating and Saving a Custom Hatch (48:40)

Note: You’ll need the .patt file for your hatch in order to save the hatch pattern.

 

Placing a hatch using the AutoCAD method (“the old way”) (49:40)

 

Saving a hatch using our Save Hatch tool (51:00)

 

Accessing a saved hatch in our hatch library (51:50)

 

 

Site Color Tool (52:24)

 

Adding color to your drawing using the Site Color tool (52:24)

 

Creating your own custom color palette (53:30)

 

Adding a color fill to an area in a drawing (54:15)

 

Placing dynamic blocks (55:00)

 

Converting “dumb” blocks into “smart” blocks (56:07)

 

Using Highlight to highlight and count all of one type of block (56:30)

 

Turning Site Color on and off (56:50)

 

Using the Color Render tool with RefNotes (57:15)

 

Running a print preview of a colorized site plan (57:50)

 

You can bring the print preview into Photoshop for further rendering if you want. For further information, see our Using Photoshop in Post-Production Renderings webinar.

 

Assigning different colors to colorized blocks and hatches, then running another preview (59:15)