Tools at Early Design

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
• Finding and Using a Satellite Image
• Zoning Tools
• Sheets, Templates, and Printing
• Concept Graphics

0:00 – 2:46: Intro/TOC

2:47 – 15:59: Finding and Using a Satellite Image

Satellite image resources:

• Google Maps
• Google Earth
• Google Earth Pro
• Sentinel Hub
• USGS Earth Explorer
• Zoom Earth

Two quick ways of grabbing satellite imagery (3:49)

• Take a screenshot.
• Google Earth Pro allows you to export an image of an area. This option allows for high-resolution images at any size.

Examples of satellite images (4:45)

For more in-depth information about using images in CAD, check out our Drawing Setup: Using an Image webinar.

Starting and setting up a drawing (units and scale) (10:05)

Importing an image (10:59)

Scaling the image (11:57)

Starting a project (15:04)

16:00 – 30:29: Zoning Tools

Adding Concept Lines to show usage paths such as roads, bike paths, etc. (16:00)

Adding viewpoints (example: reference images) (22:25)

Adding a Zoning area (24:23)

Placing a Zoning area (25:21)

30:30 – 42:15: Sheets, Templates, and Printing

Placing Zoning and Concept schedules (31:44)

Creating and using a project template to store your commonly used Zoning and Concept items (33:48)

Plotting (printing) (35:56)

Recommendations for Concept Graphics layers (37:15)

Overview of the Zoning Schedule (40:06)

42:16 – end: Concept Graphics

Attaching and scaling a satellite image (44:27)

Starting a new project (45:30)

Adding a Concept Area (46:18)

Placing one of our Plan Graphics as a reference for measurement (47:44)

Placing a Concept Area (example: a pool) (48:30)

Placing an outer area (example: a patio) and excluding an inner area from it (50:05)

Using our PHatch tool to paint a hatch pattern into your plan (51:35)

Adding and placing a Concept Line (example: a path) (54:00)

Adding and placing a Concept Node (example: a Node containing a note and photo for an outdoor kitchen) (55:45)

Setting up a sheet and placing a Concept Schedule (56:37)

Plotting the concept plan (59:23)

Moving from concept plan to preliminary design (1:00:14)

See our Concept Site Plan Tools webinar for a demonstration on how to transform your concept plan into a preliminary design.