Neighborhood
#1
Posted 01 May 2015 - 07:13 PM
#2
Posted 01 May 2015 - 07:28 PM
When I created my first neighbourhood, I realised something that may or may not work for you. The buildings are much better as separate projects, than they are being part of the neighborhood project. Now having said that, that's a very personal thing, so I may be wrong.
I would now create a neighbourhood without buildings as a separate project, and import the buildings from their own projects.
That way the buildings stand alone, I can always go to the individual building project and edit the it any way I want. Only when I open the neighbourhood project do I see everything. That way each section seems to keep it's own identity, and can be edited where I feel comfortable.
I'm still feeling my way with neighbourhood, and have a lot to learn, so I may be completely off base.
There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.
Softplan user since version 5.5.2.5
www.homehardwarekingston.ca
#3
Posted 02 May 2015 - 02:49 AM
i think i do neighborhoods similar to keith by created separate 3d models of each building
and than add the 3d models of each building to one separate site plan.
easy to rotate and place each model building.
i'm not saying the way i do it is the right way, it's just the way i can work.
i'm too impatient to really learn the neighborhood especially
since i haven't done a development yet.
note: i did try it a few times and sort of got it to work while
doing some consultation work with other softplan users
but in the end, used the separate 3d building method
or each building.
randy
v10 to future 2016+
#4
Posted 02 May 2015 - 12:37 PM
OK, so this originally worked for me with my first attempt. I had a host project site mode open, turned on neighborhood > add house > selected the project(.spp) and added to the site plan. I could open the neighborhood in 3D but then started having regeneration issues. As suggested, I just tried to create a separate Neighborhood (Vacant) Site Plan using the same steps as above and can't get any of my projects to attach to the site plan...I even tried creating a vacant lot with site lines thinking there had to be a host site for the others to join but that didn't work either. What am I missing? Is it necessary to add the .ssp file or should it be a 3D file?
#5
Posted 02 May 2015 - 02:55 PM
There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.
Softplan user since version 5.5.2.5
www.homehardwarekingston.ca
#6
Posted 02 May 2015 - 07:26 PM
I have only created them in the 2D site plan in neighborhood in site mode. Obviously they view in 3D, but I never work there.
So Keith, is there something magical about your naked site plan...how was it created? I'm embarrassed that I'm a dummy, but I can't get this to work. I created a separate project with an empty site plan. Then went into site mode, model, neighborhood, add house... at this point the folder opens and only allows me to select a project, that opens the project but only allows me to select the .ssp file., once that's selected and I click open nothing happens. Isn't this where the site plan from the selected .ssp file is supposed to load into the empty neighborhood site plan?
I went back to my original project, disassembled and reassembled the neighborhood using the same steps as I outlined above and it worked fine, the only difference being a host site plan is already there to establish the neighborhood. I'm curious as to what you're doing differently to make your empty site plan work...also read, extremely frustrated!
#7
Posted 02 May 2015 - 08:08 PM
I'm not on my office computer, and this one doesn't have Softplan. Don't think I did anything special. - it just worked, so I didn't take particular notice of the steps - I'll check it out on Monday when I'm back at the office. I know that doesn't help now, but it's the best I can do.
It was created in 2014 ... I suspect 2016 works the same way, but I don't know.
..... I click open nothing happens. Isn't this where the site plan from the selected .ssp file is supposed to load into the empty neighborhood site plan?
AJ, just re-read your post .....
You're not importing a site plan into the neighbourhood, just buildings. The site plan IS the neighbourhood.
Imagine your going to create a real subdivision ... You take the land, grade it, add the roads and infrastructure etc. Then you build the houses in it.
So in Softplan, build your site .... and then import buildings that have already been constructed as other projects. You don't import another Site Plan. Is that what you are doing, or am I misreading that?
There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.
Softplan user since version 5.5.2.5
www.homehardwarekingston.ca
#8
Posted 02 May 2015 - 09:28 PM
AJ, just re-read your post .....
You're not importing a site plan into the neighbourhood, just buildings. The site plan IS the neighbourhood.
Imagine your going to create a real subdivision ... You take the land, grade it, add the roads and infrastructure etc. Then you build the houses in it.
So in Softplan, build your site .... and then import buildings that have already been constructed as other projects. You don't import another Site Plan. Is that what you are doing, or am I misreading that?
Keith, maybe this will help. I need to show my client the same floor plan with different roof concepts. I created the 3 roof lines in one project then copied the main floor, foundation and site plan of concepts 'B" and "C" into a new folder then created separate projects from each. Then I used the original project "A" as the host site plan and added B and C.spp to get a side by side comparison. At this point, I'm not trying to develop a neighborhood as is evident by my inability to even properly contour the site...but I'm working on it.
I'm sure there's a better way to go about this, but developing the site first never came to mind. I just thought you included the site plan as part of the model.
...and thanks for all your feedback, it's really appreciated.
#9
Posted 03 May 2015 - 04:19 PM
You should still be able to do it like that, just remove the site plan from the model of B and C, and add them to the neighbourhood in the site plan created in A.
There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.
Softplan user since version 5.5.2.5
www.homehardwarekingston.ca
#11
Posted 04 May 2015 - 10:48 AM
AJ, I'm not sure why it's giving you so much trouble ...
I just opened a new project: Created a Site Plan
Opened a Second new project: Created Neighborhood House 1
Opened a Third new project: Created Neighborhood House 2
I then went back to the Site Plan - NEIGHBORHOOD > ADD HOUSES - Inserted 3 of House 1 and 4 of House 2
Obviously a very simple project - Less than 10 mins, but it seems to have worked fine for me. Take 10 mins. out of your day and try something similar to test the concept yourself.
Just gone back in added some site grades, changed the elevations of each house and moved them round a little. Everything seems to be working as expected.
There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.
Softplan user since version 5.5.2.5
www.homehardwarekingston.ca
#12
Posted 04 May 2015 - 11:34 AM
i'm curious guys and gals,
since each neighborhood house is it's own projects,
can i presume that it wouldn't matter how many floors
are in each project house, they'll all move up or down together.
and 2nd question -
since there's only one site plan for all the houses, how
would you tell each house with multiple floors to offset their
elevations differently in the "one" site plan.
drawing option /site options / building elevation.
randy
v10 to future 2016+
#13
Posted 04 May 2015 - 11:43 AM
Randy,
Yes, they all move up and down together so can be any design that you want.
For each individual house in the neighbourhood, you can RIGHT CLICK > EDIT > Go to COMMON TAB and adjust OFFSET as necessary. So every unit can be raised or lowered independently even if there are multiple copies of specific NEIGHBOURHOOD HOUSE projects.
Give it a try.
There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.
Softplan user since version 5.5.2.5
www.homehardwarekingston.ca
#15
Posted 05 May 2015 - 08:24 PM
keith,
i was asking about raising and lowering multi story building
when there's only one site because the way we raise and lower
a building when there's only one is to do it in the site mode
/ site options / building elevation / elevation offset
and do it in there.
i'm not sure how that would work in the neighborhood
with "ONE" site but many buildings with different elevation offsets
randy
v10 to future 2016+
#16
Posted 05 May 2015 - 08:54 PM
Randy,
In the example I posted, there is only ONE site, there are THREE of building One, and FOUR of Building Two ... ALL of them are at different elevations.
I'm not sure whether adjusting the elevation offset in neighbourhood mode, will conflict with the SITE OPTIONS > BUILDING ELEVATION > OFFSET ELEVATION if there is one set, but If we're working on a "VIRGIN" site without any buildings, and adding the buildings separately, then there probably isn't any Building Elevations set anyway. If there is a building on the site, with an elevation set, then I would imagine that NOT setting an OFFSET on the COMMON Tab should leave it in the right place anyway, and you would still be able to use the OFFSET on the COMMON tab to raise and lower any additional neighbourhood buildings anyway.
You like to experiment, I'm not sure what issues you'll encounter, but give a neighbourhood a try and see how it goes.
I sometimes get the feeling that I'm the only person who's used neighbourhood. There must be someone else somewhere who can give input here too. I just find that it works so well and so easily. Not sure why everyone's afraid of it. If anyone else has used NEIGHBOURHOOD, please feel free to chime in here .... please!
There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.
Softplan user since version 5.5.2.5
www.homehardwarekingston.ca
#17
Posted 05 May 2015 - 09:01 PM
keith
the reason i never use it is because i only do
ONE custom home at a time.
never had the opportunity to do a development.
my loss.
i have done consulting with a couple of people.
tried the neighborhood command but gave up
and used the "randy method"
that's creating separate softplan 3d models of
each building using the "symbol wizard"
and it works great, keeps the separate components
all together. can use different sidings on each project.
i like the fact that you can easily place the 3d buildings
any where you want without any reference points
and rotate them to any degrees.
also easy to raise and lower them as the site plan dictates.
randy
v10 to future 2016+
#18
Posted 05 May 2015 - 09:11 PM
Neighbourhood has all the same advantages Randy. Except you don't have to build the symbols. Every project keeps all it's own finishes colours and textures. Even if you have two IDENTICAL houses, copying one to another project allows you to edit all the exterior colours and finishes. I'll do a bit more playing tomorrow lunchtime and see what I can come up with.
There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.
Softplan user since version 5.5.2.5
www.homehardwarekingston.ca
#20
Posted 06 May 2015 - 11:52 AM
The other area where you should consider using neighbourhood is where you have a house with a detached garage, since the garage is usually a separate drawing to the house. You will still want to show them in relation to each other in the 3D's though.
There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.
Softplan user since version 5.5.2.5
www.homehardwarekingston.ca
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