House sits too low in site.

[4hotshoez]

I am not sure where to start with questions. I have seen all the videos that deal with terrain that I can find. None of them address my situation. I have a jpg of the site with 12" contours. I built a terrain and used a spline on every fifth contour. On the site, there is about 15 ft change in elevation from one end of the building to the other before I change anything. Can I set the first floor at 100'? and establish a contour line at 100' causing the site to "move" up and down in relation to the first floor. I would like to raise the house about 36" from the site. As it is right now every thing will be cut and no fill. I feel that I have no control over the building elevation.

 

[johnny]

In the terrain dbx under "general" you can set your 1st floor (0') to any corresponding elevation height you have in the model.  You will then probably need terrain elevation region or something to control specifically the building pad elevations.

 

Unfortunately, Chief's terrain tools aren't very easy to control in my experience. 

[HumbleChief]

Post the plan Todd, I'll see what I can do.

[lbuttery]

Todd:

 

place the house in a separate plan and then save it as a 3D symbol

 

then place the 3D symbol in the "master" plan that has the terrain

 

adjust the terrain as needed then place the 3D symbol as needed

 

with a complex building and complex terrain I find this method easier

 

Lew

[Kiwideziner]

Check the setting for slab off terrain (or something like that) I usually set mine to zero and then draw the terrain splines or lines to suit relative to the floor level.

If you need to adjust the level after you can then use the same setting to adjust everything.

[4hotshoez]

Thanks Johnny. Larry, I think I have it now, but I do have holes from overhangs on the first floor (see attached). How do I eliminate them?

[HumbleChief]

Un-check Hide Terrain Intersected By Building - or check it - can't remember.

[HumbleChief]

Nice work Todd. I did a video that might help others.

 

[dshall]

Todd:

 

place the house in a separate plan and then save it as a 3D symbol

 

then place the 3D symbol in the "master" plan that has the terrain

 

adjust the terrain as needed then place the 3D symbol as needed

 

with a complex building and complex terrain I find this method easier

 

Lew

Nuts.

[lbuttery]

Scott:

 

Nuts to you to

 

Lew

[dshall]

Check the setting for slab off terrain (or something like that) I usually set mine to zero and then draw the terrain splines or lines to suit relative to the floor level.

If you need to adjust the level after you can then use the same setting to adjust everything.

Hello, why doesn't CA realize a lot of us work this way? Why not have the option? I have been asking for this for 6 years now.

[dshall]

Scott:

 

Nuts to you to

 

Lew

Lew, do you really think converting his house to a symbol will solve his issue?

[glennw]

place the house in a separate plan and then save it as a 3D symbol

then place the 3D symbol in the "master" plan that has the terrain

adjust the terrain as needed then place the 3D symbol as needed

with a complex building and complex terrain I find this method easier

Lew

 

 

Lew,

This is probably the worst advice that you could give for this situation.

[johnny]

Isn't "nuts" a WW2 reference? 

[johnny]

Thanks Johnny. Larry, I think I have it now, but I do have holes from overhangs on the first floor (see attached). How do I eliminate them?

 

I've just manually filled those in with slabs or poly-solids before.  Not ideal but its quick.

 

I could be wrong, but I think if you set your "basement" level as an actual level then that goes away.

[lbuttery]

Scott/Glenn:

 

maybe yest - maybe no

 

making symbols is how I have handled these situations

 

since I haven't tried this particular scenario ???

 

its the method I use - if you don't like it - don't use it

 

Lew

[lbuttery]

Johnny:

 

yes, it is - something to do with a bulge

 

it's not really what was said - but the printable version

 

Lew

[glennw]

, but I do have holes from overhangs on the first floor (see attached). How do I eliminate them?

 

Todd,

 

There are a couple of ways to handle that.

 

You can uncheck "Hide Terrain Intersected By Building" in the Terrain Specification dbx.

You can then use a "Terrain Hole" to manually clip the terrain where you want. 

 

Or you can change the floor level that you draw the terrain on.

You will only get the terrain clipping if the terrain is drawn on the same floor as the overhang.

This option is not always possible though - because you may want the terrain drawn on the same floor as the overhang.

But keep in mind that the floor you draw the terrain on has no bearing on the height of the terrain.

You can draw the terrain on level 4 but have it display in 3D so that sits at the same height as level 1 floor.

[Chief16Designer]

Or you can select terrain , open it and change the Building Pad Elevation , you will want to uncheck Automatic then enter a new value for the Pad Elevation 

[country]

 

Or you can change the floor level that you draw the terrain on.

You will only get the terrain clipping if the terrain is drawn on the same floor as the overhang.

This option is not always possible though - because you may want the terrain drawn on the same floor as the overhang.

But keep in mind that the floor you draw the terrain on has no bearing on the height of the terrain.

You can draw the terrain on level 4 but have it display in 3D so that sits at the same height as level 1 floor.

Thank you Glenn. What a simple solution to something that was a major irritation with my exterior renderings.

[4hotshoez]

Todd,

 

There are a couple of ways to handle that.

 

You can uncheck "Hide Terrain Intersected By Building" in the Terrain Specification dbx.

You can then use a "Terrain Hole" to manually clip the terrain where you want. 

 

Or you can change the floor level that you draw the terrain on.

You will only get the terrain clipping if the terrain is drawn on the same floor as the overhang.

This option is not always possible though - because you may want the terrain drawn on the same floor as the overhang.

But keep in mind that the floor you draw the terrain on has no bearing on the height of the terrain.

You can draw the terrain on level 4 but have it display in 3D so that sits at the same height as level 1 floor.

Thanks Glenn. I think I may utilize the multi-floor option for the site and the roof. I have not thought of that before.

[4hotshoez]

Thanks for the video Larry! I have been hoping to have a real site plan that shows existing contours and new contours with cut and fill. It does not seem Chief is even close to being helpful in that area. With regions we can create 3D simulations that sort of behave like a real site. Tweaking is the key word.

[joey_martin]

Or you can select terrain , open it and change the Building Pad Elevation , you will want to uncheck Automatic then enter a new value for the Pad Elevation 

 

This is my method. I read through some of these posts and became instantly lost and confused. Once the terrain is added, it will reference 0'-0" so just un-check auto height and set the terrain to where it needs to be. In other words, if the 0'-0" (sub-floor) is 30" above the grade, you may need to adjust.

[sjalheim]

What would be a great feature (IMO) would be a checkbox in the Terrain DBX that you could select what floor you want to use. So regardless of what floor the terrain is on, you click "Hide terrain intersected by: Floor 0, Floor 1, etc"