Adding Terrain Features

Now we'll add a skirt, a beach, a water line, and a pathway to our plan. For more information about terrain features, see "Terrain Feature Tools".

To create a terrain skirt for the house

Close the overview to return to floor plan view.

Make Edit> Edit Behaviors> Concentric

the active edit behavior.

Select Edit> Preferences

and on the Edit> Behaviors panel of the Preferences dialog, change the concentric jump to 3 feet (3') or 36 inches (36"). Click OK.

While the Select Objects

tool is active, click just outside of an exterior wall to select the "exterior room". If another object is selected instead, press the Tab key or click the Select Next Object

edit button until the exterior room is selected. For more information see "The Exterior Room".

Click the Make Room Polyline

edit button.

While the room polyline is still selected, grab one of the resize edit handles at a corner and drag it out. The room polyline should resize to the concentric jump increment of 3 feet.

While the room polyline is still selected, click the Convert Polyline

edit button to open the Convert Polyline dialog. Select Terrain Feature and click OK to convert the room polyline into a terrain feature.

While the terrain feature is still selected, click Open Object

edit button to open it for specification.

On the Materials tab of the Terrain Feature Specification dialog, select the terrain feature and click the Library Material button to open the Select Library Object dialog. In the Landscaping category, select a material for the terrain skirt.

Click OK to close the Select Library Object dialog, then click OK to close the Terrain Feature Specification dialog.

Take a look at the skirt in a camera view. Create a Render Full Overview

While we're thinking about it, select Edit> Edit Behaviors> Default to turn off the concentric edit behavior and return to the default edit behavior.

To create a beach

Close the overview and return to floor plan view.

Select Window> Fill Window

then select Window> Zoom Out

to give us some working space outside the terrain perimeter.

Select Terrain> Feature> Spline Feature

and draw a spline feature that extends beyond the boundaries of the terrain perimeter.

Select the terrain feature and the Open Object

edit button to open the Terrain Feature Specification dialog.

On the General tab, the Height should be at 0 inches. On the Materials tab, select the terrain feature and click the Library Material button to open the Select Library Object dialog and assign a sand material from the landscaping library.

Click OK to close the Select Library Object dialog then click OK to close the Terrain Feature Specification dialog and return to floor plan view.

Take a look at our new beach in a Render Full Overview

. Notice that only the portion of the terrain feature that is included within the terrain perimeter is modeled.

To create a body of water

Return to floor plan view, select Terrain> Feature> Spline Feature

and draw another spline feature, within the existing spline feature (the beach).

Open the spline feature for specification:

On the Materials tab assign a water material.

On the General tab, raise the Height to 2 inches, this will raise the water above the beach.

Click OK and take a look in a Render Full Overview

To add a stepping stone pathway from the beach to the house

Return to floor plan view.

Select Terrain> Stepping Stones> Polyline Steping Stone

and draw a stepping stone just above the beach line, leading to the entrance. It may help to Zoom

in.

Select the stepping stone and open it for specification. On the General tab, change the Height to 1 inch. On the Material tab, select the terrain feature, click the Library Material button, and specify a different material if you like. Brick Pavers in the Masonry & Stone library make nice stepping stones.

Click OK to close the Select Library Object dialog then click OK to close the Terrain Feature Specification dialog and return to floor plan view.

Let's look at our stepping stone in a Render Full Camera

view.

In floor plan view, click the Select Objects

button, select the stepping stone, click the Copy/Paste

edit button, then click the Sticky Mode

secondary edit button. iiiiii

Click in floor plan view to paste copies of the group selected objects. Continue pasting copies until you have created a pathway that leads to the house.