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).