14 replies to this topic

[Michael Roman]

I am converting our company to using live elevations instead of doing line drawings to make revisions quicker.

I have attached an image of what I am trying to achieve.  Everything below grade comes through lighter than things above grade.

I was able to do this on the actual live elevation using shapes and changing their opacity.

The 2nd image is what I get when I insert the elevation onto a plan set page.  Above grade and below look exactly the same.

 

Does anyone have any ideas as to how to achieve this or perhaps an alternative to this?

 

Thank you in advance for your time and expertise!  Live Elevation 01.jpg   83.3KB   9 downloads  Live Elevation 02.jpg   72.66KB   3 downloads

[Mark Petri]

I use a separate drawing to show grade and notes on my elevations. That way I have control over those separate from the elevation and the notes are not directly on a plan set page (which I just don't like). Then, to mask the areas below grade you can draw whatever on the "notes" drawing". If you want you can use a shade paint or something else to block out below grade, or use crop to not show anything below grade if it is a flat line.

[Jon Davis]

You need to adjust your pen settings & colors. 

 

Put everything below grade on a separate layer and let that layer drive the pen settings, go into your options and set one of the pen styles to .05

and then apply that to the layer the foundation is on. Set it to light grey as well. 

[Dennis Hilborn]

You need to adjust your pen settings & colors. 

 

Put everything below grade on a separate layer and let that layer drive the pen settings, go into your options and set one of the pen styles to .05

and then apply that to the layer the foundation is on. Set it to light grey as well. 

He's using live elevations.  Can you change layers on live elevations? 

[Jon Davis]

He's using live elevations.  Can you change layers on live elevations? 

That's a good question. I'll have to try it at work tomorrow. I don't use live elevations very often.

[Warren Ducote]

Yes you can change layers on live elevations. But it does not change the layer color or pen on the elevation. It does on the floor plan.

[Heath Foster]

Yes you can change layers on live elevations. But it does not change the layer color or pen on the elevation. It does on the floor plan.

 

That is a shame it would be great to have control over this. You could even turn off things/lines by turning of visibility for the layer.

[Dennis Hilborn]

The floor plan is a real drawing with endpoints and lines between them.  The live elevation does not have lines between end point.  It is composed of a bunch of points all lined up.  It's like a jpg image.

[Mark Petri]

Michael,

 

Got your message. Figured I'd post in case anyone else is interested. Here are some examples of what I have done. I have used Joseph Smith's rendering settings, my own versions, and always tweak based on what I like or what the customer is like. Some builders we work with just want a set of drawings to get a permit and get a job going. Some customers want lots of detail. So, I cater to different needs, but most often keep them simple. My notes sheet is basically my drawing titles, elevation notes, grade lines, and anything else I want on live elevation pages. Then I just drag my elevations and set them where I want them. I adjust notes and grade lines (very approximate) per my liking or needs. When necessary I will use some guide lines to align grade appropriately, but often it is just approximate. Again, I try to keep it simple.

Attached Files

•  Elevation Sample 4.jpg   107.36KB   6 downloads
•  Elevation Sample 5.jpg   84.17KB   3 downloads

[Michael Roman]

Thanks Mark.  The image on the left is similar to what we have tried.  We may settle on doing like this unless Softplan gives us some better options.

Thanks everyone for the replies!

[Michael Roman]

Just a follow up.  After some experimentation I was able to get the look I wanted.  It is actually pretty quick and painless and still is a live elevation.

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated!

 Live Elevation Test.pdf   371.37KB   107 downloads

[Heath Foster]

Looks great! How do you do it?

[Michael Roman]

If you look at the attached picture you will see that I draw a box around the portion of the foundation that will be below grade.  I edit the box and change the texture drop down under 'Appearance' to show the angled hatch pattern.  Uncheck 'Show Border'.

I setup a pen (in this case pen 14) to show as pure white.  When you drag the live elevation into your plan set the hatched areas, because they use the same color as the paper, disappear, leaving you with what looks like a dashed line for everything below grade.

You will notice that I changed the fill increment to 1.5"  Use this to control how long the dashes are on your drawings.

 

For the sloped areas I drew a triangle and used the same settings when I edited it.

 

Attached Files

•  Live Elevation Setting.png   376.85KB   8 downloads

[Jon Davis]

Also, on your plan set page make sure you have it set to "display pen styles" or maybe it says "display as printed"

[Michael Roman]

Forgot to mention that you also have to edit the surface of your foundation walls and footings to make them white as well.  If you do not then the color or texture will show through.  It is not a bad look either, in my opinion......