The new trend of CIM

In the last few years we have seen the trend of BIM (Building Information Modeling) where a building is represented using real-world entities instead of a bunch of lines.
This trend is now making a shift in the way architects present their ideas and interact with their models (using software like Autodesk Revit, ArchiCAD and Vectorworks instead of AutoCAD and Bentley Microstation).

BIM would be a great answer for Architects.

But more recently a new term was coined, CIM or the City Information model, which aims to transform the urban planners way of handling their plans just like architects.
Some little known applications has started to explore the concept of modeling the whole urban environment and how much information can we extract from such model, in essence how the model would reveal relationships previously little known to the planner or very complex to map such relationships.

CityCAD 
CityCAD from the British Holistic City Software aims to become the city planners main tool (where they previously relied on GIS systems, AutoCAD drawings or even paper maps and census tables).

See CityCAD Software: Stop Masterplanning! (from The Pop-Up City) and Visualizing and Analyzing Plans with CityCAD (from Planetizen).
CityCAD as a software is more into the space and green planning paradigm, and is currently less into the social, socioeconomic and demographic aspects of the city, but quite frankly these are very complex subjects that need much more research on how to model them and how to turn such issues into solvable questions that a model (and the dataset that we feed into that model) can answer.

CityEngine 
CityEngine from Procedural is more into visualizing the 3D city than assisting in the city planning tasks, but a city-optimized visualization tool is very beneficial to urban planners and would bring the city planners some part of the technology that they always wanted, that to visualize the city's current state to better understand it visually, and to visualize the post-plan state that represents their work (to analyze the plan visually).

See New York City In 2259 (from The Pop-Up City).
Some very irrelative point I like about CityEngine is that it uses the Eclipse RCP Platform (which I like but have nothing to do with the software itself).

Other attempts
Maybe one of the older attempts is the The Open Planning Project, it tries to use the Open Source model to create a community of contributers to create an open solution for city planning.

But this list is very incomplete and doesn't touch on the positive aspects of using a systematic way on handling city planning tasks verses the negative impacts using a limited mindset system to solve a very open-ended problem, and the subject needs many more posts other than this one.

[First Image from Wikimedia Commons]

VectorWorks Plants Irrigation

Irrigation Tools

The irrigation plans in VectorWorks can be created by placing the irrigation tools to the design.

The irrigation tools can be easily selected from standard pre-configured manufacturer’s irrigation products in the Irrigation tools libraries:

• 02_Sitewk_Irrigation heads
  
• 02_Sitewk_Drip Emitters
  
• 02_Sitewk_Irrigation Pipe
  

Alternatively, generic drip emitters, irrigation heads, and irrigation lines can be selected from the Site Planning toolset.

Irrigation Plans

Once the drip emitters, irrigation heads, and irrigation lines have been placed in the drawing, as required, irrigation plans are created by using the ID Label tool and worksheets together.

To create irrigation plans:

1. Select the ID label type and style. Place ID labels on the drawing with the ID Label tool.
   
2. From the Resource Browser, open the [VectorWorks]\Libraries\Defaults\Reports~Schedules\Irrigation Reports.vwx (Irrigation Head Schedule and Irrigation Line Schedule are included) and drag the selected worksheet to the drawing. An Irrigation Schedule worksheet, populated with information from the irrigation in the current drawing, is automatically created.
   
3. To show or hide the spray pattern of irrigation head objects, select View -> Show -> Show or Hide Spray Pattern.
   If the spray patterns are currently hidden, this command causes the spray pattern of all irrigation head objects to become visible. In the Object Info palette, Show Spray Pattern is selected automatically.
   

VectorWorks Plants Database

The VectorWorks Landmark plant database manages an extensive list of plant names and botanical information which can be used to associate specific plant data with plant definitions. 

Accessing the Plant Database

To Open the Plants Database select AEC -> Plants -> VW Plants Database, the dialog to choose plants database location shows, which you can select a User Folder or a Workgroup-shared location.

Once the plant database has been set up, it is accessed immediately when selecting the VW Plants Database. The plant database can also be accessed when creating a plant definition, by clicking Open VW Plants from the Get Plant Data dialog box.

Altering the Database

Using the standard methods to edit the database records, you can edit the Plants Library (using Add Record/Duplicate Record/Remove Record and edit the record contents directly in the Browse mode).

Getting Data from the Internet

By selecting View -> Go to Layout -> Web Data, the Plants Database turns into the Web Data layout, where it is set to search for the Latin name of the current plant in Google Images, Google Search, Wikipedia and USDA.

If you find any relevant data you can easily copy and paste in the database, whether text or imagery.

Searching for Plants

The plant database can be searched when in Find mode (by selecting View -> Find Mode) where flexible, sophisticated searches can be conducted by combining search criteria.

By entering the Find Mode a blank record will be displayed, where you can set the search data and click on Find in the left sidebar.

Plant Lists

Plant lists are the connection between the FileMaker plant database and VectorWorks. Creating plant lists in the plant database allows that data to be attached to plants in VectorWorks.

Create as many plant lists as necessary; the appropriate plant list is selected for the plant definition.

The data attached to a plant becomes part of the plant definition, and can be added to planting plans and displayed by plant ID tags.

To create a Plant List select File -> Create VectorWorks Plant List in the Plants Database application

The plant list file is a tab-delimited file saved in the location of the plant database.

Using Plant List Data in VectorWorks

Plant list information is available to plant definitions from the Plant Data tab, you can add plant data by right-clicking on any plant symbol and select Edit, then Definition.

In the Edit Plant Definition dialog box, click Get Plant Data, the Get Plant Data dialog box opens, where you can select the plant name and data to include in the plant definition, and click OK.

VectorWorks Plants Libraries

The VectorWorks Designer and Landmark come with a huge Plants library that provide a ready-to-customize plant symbols, which can used to build your own plants library in no time.

You can access the libraries from  [Vectorworks]\Libraries\Plants

Xfrog library

In the plant library from Xfrog, you'll find photorealistic and artistic images of plants in top, elevation and 3D views, in two seasonal views and two growth stages.

The Xfrog library provide plants imagery, this means it will give high realisticty to your design, but it will not benefit from some advanced rendering methods in Plant placement (like plant shadows in plan view, mass overlapping plants and vector outline controlling).

The Xfrog library provides:

• 1896 Photorealistic Color Images showing 195 Different Plants 
  
• 255 Artistic Images in 3 color modes showing 87 Different Plants
  
• 1270 Grayscale and silhouette Images showing 195 Different Plants 

Using Xfrog library

The Xfrog library can be easily used to create plant symbols:

1. Open any file from the Xfrog top symbols, and select the desired symbol to use
   
2. Insert the symbol in the Top/Plan view, this will form the 2D Graphics of the plant symbol
   
3. Open the corresponding file from the Xfrog IP symbols, and select the desired symbol to use
   
4. Insert the symbol, this will form the 3D Graphics of the plant symbol (it resembles a large plus sign in Top/Plan view)
   
5. Select the 2D symbol and select AEC -> Plants -> Create New Plant
   
6. Fill-in the plant details, then click OK
   
7. Select the 3D symbol of the plant, and select Copy
   
8. Right click on the new Plant symbol in the Resources Browser, and select Edit
   
9. Select 3D Graphics
   
10. You will be in the Isolated mode, select paste and snap the pasted symbol to the already-there 3D locus
    
11. Click Exit Plant
    

Use the plant as needed

Plant Objects 

While the Xfrog library is an imagery library, the Plant Objects library on the other hand is a vector library that provides advanced 2D plant symbols that take advantage of:

• 2D plant symbols rendering (plant shadows, mass overlapping plants and vector outline controlling)
  
• Classes capabilities (and how its settings can be applied globally)
  
• The customization options when viewed in different Viewports (using Class overrides)

It provides 50 different 2D plants symbols

Using Plant Objects library

By customizing a viewport visible and invisible classes and setting a class opacity, a single Design layer can be viewed in different states and presentations, as the sub-parts of the plants symbols belong to different classes, they are:

• Plant-Component-Outline: This class is used for the outside perimeter of the plant.
  
• Plant-Component-Color Fill: This class is used for the background color in shrubs and smaller plants.
  
• Plant-Component-Bloom: This class is used for plants that have a bloom. If the blooms are too bright they can be 'toned down' by reducing the class opacity setting in the Class Settings dialog.
  
• Plant-Component-Canopy: This class is used for the colored fill in tree canopies.
  
• Plant-Component-Interior Linework: This class is used to control the visibility of detail lines that are used in the interior of plants. At smaller scales it may become desirable that these lines are not drawn.
  
• Plant-Component-Tags: This class is used for plant tags (and polygons) and is set in the Place Plant Settings - > Edit Definition dialog on the default Prefs tab.
  

The Plant Objects library also suggests that when the plant symbols are placed in Design Layers they should be classified under the classes Plants-New, Plants-Remove, and Plants-Existing. These allow the user to discriminate between the plants based on the intent.

For instance class Plants-Remove will be invisible except on a Demolition Plan. Plants-Existing would be grayed on a Planting Plan but left visible on a colored presentation drawing.

The easiest way to browse the different effects on plants is to open the Plant Objects.vwx file in VectorWorks (not in the Resources Browser) and see the different viewports and their overriding effects on the classes.

VectorWorks Plants

Placing Plants 

Plants can be placed using the Place Plant tool, can create plants using: 

• Single Plant Placement 
  
• Poly-Vertex Placement 
  
• Poly-Edge Spaced 
  
• Rectangular Array 
  
• Triangular Array 

The following properties are important in Plant preferences dialog box: 

• Spread: the plant spread diameter (the maximum width of the mature plant, as drawn) 
  
• Height: the typical mature plant height 
  
• Spacing: Indicates the plant spacing distance for the Poly-Edge Spaced, Rectangular Array, and Triangular Array cluster placement methods 
  
• Polygon display: For multiple plant placements, selects the display type of the boundary or center polygon defining the plant cluster shape. 
  

Editing Plants 

You can use the Place Plant Preferences dialog box to edit plants definitions, by clicking on Duplicate and using the Edit Plant Definition dialog to set plant settings. 

Creating new Plants 

New plants can be created from duplicating previous plants and editing the changing parts only, or you can select any 2D geometry and selecting AEC -> Plants -> Create New Plant, this will open the Edit Plant Definition dialog with blank parameters where you can set the plant settings, then after clicking OK, a plant will be created in place of the first symbol. 

You can later Edit the plant 2D geometry and 3D geometry by selecting the plant symbol in the Resource Browser, right clicking on it and selecting Edit, this will show the Edit Plant dialog where you can edit: 

• 2D Graphics: that you started the plant with 
  
• 3D Graphics: where is initially have a 3D locus that you can consider as the lower center of the plant 
  
• Plant Definition: to open the Edit Plant definition dialog 
  

Alternatively you can right click on any instance of the plant in the active layer and selecting Edit to show the Edit Plant dialog. 

2D Plant Styles

The Render tab in the Plant definition dialog provide some advanced effects to set the 2D plant styles, these effects display in Plan view only.

These effects control plant shadows, mass overlapping plants and vector outline controlling.
They can be turned on after placement for selected plants by choosing Enable 2D Plant Rendering from the Object Info palette, or for all plants by selecting View -> Show -> Show/Hide Plant Styles.

Replacing Plants 

Plants can be replaced in the design process to better reflect your design decisions at every level of the design. 

To replace a selected plant or all plants with a single Plant-ID, select the plant and select Replace Plant from the plant context menu. 

Plant Clusters 

Plants placed in a multiple placement mode of the Place Plant tool are associated as a cluster.

The cluster moves together, and parameter changes affect all plants in the cluster. However, it is possible to dissociate the cluster to make individual plant changes. 

Clustering identical plants which are in close proximity can be desirable for labeling and identification purposes.

To disassociate a single cluster into multiple plants or group multiple plants into a single plant by selecting AEC -> Plants -> Change Plant Grouping (a remark about the cluster order is that plants are clustered based on their drawing order. If the joining polygon of the resulting plant is not as expected, change the drawing order of the plants prior to joining them)

Plant Lines

The Plant Line command creates a freehand plant line along a line, polyline, or polygon. It can be used to represent a single plant, line of plants, or general plant mass (it is not a plant symbol, but rather a 2D polygon).

To create a plant line select the object (line, polyline, or polygon), and select AEC -> Plants -> Plant Line

The Plant Line dialog box opens, the suggested values are based on the selection’s perimeter, most notably:

• Segment Length: Maximum length of each plant line segment; longer segments create a rougher plant line appearance
  
• Thickness: Maximum perpendicular distance of each segment; a higher thickness value results in a rougher plant line appearance

Plant List Worksheets

You can add Plant List Worksheets to any design by opening [VectorWorks]\Libraries\Defaults\Reports~Schedules\Plant Lists.vwx from the Resource Browser. Four types of worksheets are included (Basic, Colors, Costing, and Simple).

Select one of the worksheet symbols and choose Make Active from the Resources menu. Click to place the symbol in the drawing, and again to set the symbol rotation.

The worksheet, populated with information from the plants in the current drawing, is automatically created (Plants to be included in the Plant List must have On Plant List selected in the Object Info palette).

VectorWorks Site Analysis

Some analysis functions that can be done on a Site Model.

Slope Analysis

Select a 2D display Style of 2D or 3D Triangle (colored slopes) or 2D or 3D Triangulated Contours (colored slopes)

Elevation Analysis

Select a 2D display Style of 2D Contour (colored elevations)

Zone of Visual Influence Analysis

Creates representation of shadowed and lighted areas as seen from a specified point of view

Shadow Analysis

A shadow analysis can help determine the areas of the drawing that will receive less sunlight or remain in a shadow during a particular time of the year.

A shadow analysis is not a single command that can be used, but by inserting several directional light sources, each representing a different time of day (View -> Lighting -> Set Sun Position.), an overlapping range of shadows (by ensuring that Cast Shadows is

selected, and decrease the Brightness so that the combination of lights is not too harsh) is created which indicates the amount of time a particular area is in the shade over the course of the day.

RenderWorks is required to conduct a shadow analysis.

Solar Animations

A sun study is an animated movie of sunlight over a specified day of the year. It illustrates the way shadows are cast over a project as the sun's position changes.

By running Model -> Create Solar Animation and selecting day and Site details a movie can be created containing the sun study.

Site Model Profiles

A Site Profile can be created from existing or proposed Site Model, just select a polyline/polygon then AEC -> Terrain -> Site Model Section, A Site profile will be created on the selected sheet or design layer.

Sections can also be created from Viewports if a true section (and not just a profile) is needed, using View -> Create Section Viewport.

Determining the Elevation of a Point on the Site Model (Staking)

To display a point on the site model is to create an stake object and set its mode to "Set elev to site model", this will create a stake object with the current DMT height at that point.
The Stake is easily created using double clicking (to create the stake with rotation angle 0)

VectorWorks Site Modifying (2)

Roads from Stakes

A road object can be set to be a site model modifier, and changes the proposed DTM when the site model is updated.

To create a road:

1. The centerline of the road is defined with a polyline (with its interior vertices must be arc-smoothed)
   
2. Stakes are added (the elevation of the stakes are initially set to the surface of the site model) using AEC -> Roads -> Station on Polyline
   
3. The elevation can be modified before the road is created (by setting a the stake at one end of the road and running AEC -> Roads -> Align Stakes Vertically)
   
4. The Road object is created using AEC -> Roads -> Create Road from Stakes
5. Finally, the site model is updated and modified by the road object
   

NURBS Roadway

A Roadway (NURBS) object offers a simpler, but less exacting, way of inserting a road on a DTM.
It can be created using:

• Roadway (Straight)
  
• Roadway (Curved)
  
• Roadway (Tee)
  
• Roadway (NURBS)
  

Landscape retaining walls

A landscape wall object (retaining wall) can be set to be a site model modifier. It changes the proposed DTM when the site model is updated.

Landscape walls can be drawn using the tools:

• Landscape Wall
  
• Landscape Wall Arc
  
• Landscape Bez
  

A Noteworthy setting in the Landscape Walls is the Left and Right Pitch, which are the angels of the left and right faces of the wall and the Top Width which is the width of the upper face of the wall

Hardscape objects

A hardscape object is comprised of paved areas with joint patterns and optional borders

You can control the Hardscape:

• Name and Label
  
• If it is Boundary or Pathway mode
  
• Width and Offset from the centerline
  
• The Joint pattern (the main hatching pattern in 2D Display)
  
• The path border setting
  
• The 3D Display type (Slab, Pad or Texture Bed)
  

The Hardscape object is very versatile in that it can combine several objects in 2D and 3D (mostly a 2D Patterned polygon + Stipple + 3D slab/Site Modifier)

Enhancing Hardscape Visuals

To coordinate the joint patterns of several hardscape objects, configure the hardscape objects with the same settings and drag their main pattern origin control points (marked with the red locus) to a common location.

The angle or origin point of a hardscape fill can be adjusted. Move the control point at the center of the hardscape to control the origin point of the paving pattern (including a hatch) and change the Joint Pattern Angle value to adjust the angle.

Controlling Site Modifiers Visibility

View -> Show -> Show or Hide Site Modifiers

Property Lines

Property lines are similar to the COGO and Traverse Tools in ArcGIS and AutoCAD Map 3D, and I have little experience with them, so I think I would visit the manual again when I need this tool

VectorWorks Site Modifying (1)

After the site model is generated, two different display modes of the site model object are available - existing and proposed. The proposed DTM is a calculation of the existing data altered by site modifiers (where the site modifiers are specific objects with capabilities to modify the site model).

Site Modifiers:

• Pad: a 3D polygon representing the shape of an element which modifies the site model, and can be closed or open (open pads are called "break lines").
• Fence: a 2D polygon which limits the area of topographical transition between existing site data and site modifiers; outside the fence, the site remains unchanged, and within the fence, the site model is defined by the site modifiers (it can be created automatically using AEC -> Terrain -> Create Fence from Pad).
• Grader: helps to balance the cut and fill so that the site does not require earth to be moved in or out. A grader applies an even thickness of fill for the site over its area.
• Texture Bed: converts a 2D polygon into an area of the DTM that can be textured, and RenderWorks is required for creating and rendering texture beds.
  

Texture Beds

Te texture bed has a very weird behavior, and can be frustrating in the beginning, as its main role it to patch a part of the texture of the DTM with its own texture, so it should use its own assigned texture or its Class's texture, but that's not the case, what it really use is the Class property, not its own Class!

Under the Elevation setting there is another Class setting that you can't select a Class from interactively, its name has to be entered manually, that's where really the texture would be used, you set the texture for the Class, copy its name and then paste its name in the Texture Bed Class setting.

Also note the Texture Bed is a Site Modifier, it won't update the texture of the Site Model if not showing the Proposed model in the 3D display.

Site Model Updating

For the Site Modifiers to take effect, the DTM requires updating to reflect the modification. Select the site model and click Update from the Object Info palette (I think they should have an Auto-Update feature in the Site Model).

Massing Models

In Many occasions, you don't really need the overhead of creating a building where a building shell for illustrative purposes is all you need. The Massing Model is an easy way to create a representative or context building when a detailed building is not required.

You can specify it's:

• Name and Label
  
• Height and number of floors
  
• Wall and Roof Classes
  
• Roof properties
  
• Whether Site Modifiers are use, where a pad and control fence are added to the base of the building and allows the building to modify the site model
  

VectorWorks Sitework

The sitework-related commands allow the development of complex 2D and 3D models of site terrain in VectorWorks, it gives many features to do full Digital Terrain Modeling (DTM) using Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN).

Site Model Input

The data the Site Model accepts are:

• 3D Loci (and Stake objects)
• 3D polygons
  

Survey Input tools

The above data can be entered directly or using the Survey Input tools:

• Import Survey File (Convert a table of X, Y, Z coordinates into Stake objects)
• 2D Polys to 3D Contours (Convert a collection to 2D Polygons to 3D Polygons and enter their heights interactively)
• 3D Polys to 3D Loci (Convert the vertices of 3D polygons into 3D loci)
• Grid Method Entry (Create an array of Stake objects and enter their heights interactively)
  

Creating the Site Model

To actually create the DTM use AEC -> Terrain -> Create Site Model, this will show the Create Site Model dialog where you can select the Minor Contour Interval, the Major Contour Multiplier (how many minor contour lines will be counted to the major contour line), the Smoothing Interval (when selecting a triangulation method for 2D and/or 3D site model display, sets the distance for adding new points to the contours) and many others settings.

Editing the Site Model

After the DTM is created it can be edited using the context menu Edit (or double clicking on it) to show the Site Model Settings dialog, or selecting Edit Source Data from the Site Model context menu (which can also be done using Modify -> Edit Group or Ctrl+[).

Custom Boundary

To create a custom hull shape (the outer edge) for the DTM, select the site model and select Modify -> Edit Group. Using the 2D Polygon tool, draw the desired hull. Exit the group and update the site model; with a contour style of 2D display and the Draw Hull option selected, the custom hull displays.

Alternatively, can be specified at creation time by selecting a single closed 2D polygon when creating the DTM to be used as the hull shape.

Labels

Labels can be changed by selected the DTM and changing the desired text properties from the Text menu (Typeface, Size, Style, ...)

Sending objects to the Model Surface

A handy feature when working with DTM is the ability to send any 3D object to the surface elevation of it using AEC -> Terrain -> Send to Surface.