Hi, I have some acreage I am designing and planning landscape for. I enlarged the site boundary past the default, added some plateaus (land varies 1-2 feet in height in places) and turned the crop tool off.
No terrain past default in 3d view. I put some trees and a fence out at the edge of the site boundary and all are just floating in space with no terrain. I tried deleting the plateaus, still no terrain. Except for the default.
What am I missing? Any help appreciated! I've spent hours now trying to figure this out!
e3
Hi,
Welcome to the Forum.
You mentioned that you have enlarged the Site Boundary but you need to enlarge the Terrain itself. The Site Boundary is just a line on the plan for guidance in placing things. You will find the Terrain adjustments in Settings / Program Settings / Terrain. As soon as you extend the Terrain your plateaus (if they are still there) should reappear.
Allan
THANK YOU!!!!!
Individual plateaus did nothing. For the time being, making one big plateau did. It comes and goes in 3d view - I definitely do not have the hang of moving around in 3d view! But now my trees and fence are floating up at the 2nd floor level, instead of on the terrain. Yet, when I go back to 2d, they're on the ground level. At the moment, I am just leaving them alone.
I have the feeling TFPs learning curve is going to take awhile.... I had no problem with Better Homes and Gardens, save for that confounded limit of 3 levels unless I paid 2k for Chief Architect X1. Double that for the professional version of TFP. I figured out how to jury-rig the foundation level to act as a building level as long as I didn't add any landscape in BHG - but that still limited me to only 4 levels.
I love designing floorplans. I've been doing it since I was 15. They come into my head and just nag nag nag until I draw them. This treehouse has been nagging at me for almost a year - ever since I bought the property. And I also draw plans for friends who tell me what they want.
But in the 20 years I've been working with computers, there just doesn't seem to be anything out there that's affordable that let's me easily transfer what's in my head into the software. It's very frustrating. Especially trying to design things like treehouses, buildings that use alternative building techniques such as earthbags; or incorporate travel trailers or railroad cars!
I'm now attempting the treehouse. TFP, well, it REALLY didn't like empty space in between floors. I had rooms on 2, 4 and 6. TFP collapsed them down in 3d to levels 1, 2, 3. I then tried putting a very small round room about 2' in diameter on the empty floors 1, 3 and 5. Still showed the levels smashed together in 3d. So I deleted everything on all floors and started over with the small round room, sort of in the center of the 3 rooms of each level in the treehouse - to emulate a tree trunk. That actually worked - until I tried to add decks to the room levels and deck stairs to the so-called tree trunk levels. At the moment, I cannot even begin to describe in words the mess.
I truly appreciate your taking the time to answer questions on this forum. I've never had the opportunity to speak with an actual architect before. I envy you, and I hope it's a career you have and are enjoying.
~Ellen
If you are really deviating from traditional architectural & construction techniques and/or designs, then perhaps a more conventional 3D design program such as TurboCAD (or similar) or general purpose 3D program, such as Carrara Studio, may be more suitable.
I use these in conjunction with TFP and use whatever is appropriate to get the job done.
If you need more flexibility with component designs to use in these programs, something like Hexagon is also useful.
I'd also suggest you try SketchUp, free version from Google as the price can't be beat and it plays very well with TFP and can do most anything in 3D.
If you need plants or trees etc. Xfrog is excellent but Plant Studio does well and is free.
General purpose 3D programs can do anything....but it takes much longer because there is little automation (such as placing a roof) and manual labor is high....but then its a trade-off of time vs. capability to achieve final results.
Also consider you can import a terrain as a .3ds object rather than use the terrain tools.
Look here
http://forum.turbofloorplan.com/index.php/topic,248.0.html
Quote from: e3 on December 05, 2008, 11:00:37 AM
I truly appreciate your taking the time to answer questions on this forum. I've never had the opportunity to speak with an actual architect before. I envy you, and I hope it's a career you have and are enjoying.
Hi Ellen,
Sorry to dissappoint you but I am not an architect - just like you, interested in drawing plans! I am actually a web site designer!
Generally I find TFP will do almost anything -it is just a matter of getting used to it. I tried doing what you were talking about, three level around a central 'trunk'. It only took a few minutes and did not have any problem with it. I do not understand why the different levels collapsed in 3D view. Did you set the floor levels correctly? If you just create a new floor, the "floor level" will default to the same height above the terrain as the previous one. You must add the wall height and floor thickness each time. Generally the levels are independent of each other, so as long as the floor level is set correctly they should stay where you put them. I have attached the BLD file so you can see the floor level settings. (If you have applied the Update it may prompt you to convert it when you open it.)
Re moving in 3D - if you move so that you go
under the terrain it will be invisible - it is only 'one sided' - it is transparent from underneath. This may be why you think it is disappearing - if you moved inside the plateau.
Allan
As Allan has said, you must define Building Location settings to establish the level you are creating the floors on. Then use those locations to add the needed elements. A deck added to the Ground Floor will be on the ground, so add it to the 6' high floor (or whatever heigth you need).
Be creative and use short walls to represent tree branches and even add a tree image from Landscaping in the background.
A train car is just a simple rectangle with a curved roof and lots of same size windows. Put it way up on top for a great Penthouse treehouse topper :-)
Jack Zimmer