Activity

Aurands “Fountains and Pools” is a basic reference.

Your state building code is critical. Over a certain water depth (in California it’s 17.9 inches) a fountain becomes a swimming pool with a whole different level of requirements (like fencing).

A water wall water thickness depends on the roughness of the surface and the effect/sound level you…[Read more]

It’s all about having a system, or multiple systems for processing different drawings.

Just the other day I was given two sketches of a planned community and asked to color it in less than an hour for a meeting. I colored it in photoshop in about twenty minutes and did a second alt plan in about the same time.

Knowing how to use masks and…[Read more]

Mike, good stuff and like this there is good information being formed by various engineers, we need to do this as Landscape Architects. The nice part of your recommendation is the green infrastructure examples are or can be work LA’s do as well. Thanks for giving your input.

Yup, I was “encouraged” to render that way when I started (draw a big thick line around a tree- it kind of looks like a drop shadow).

In my opinion, you can render a plan in a million different ways and have it turn out about the same, but what makes a plan good is the annotation. Notes have to be readable but not distracting, things should line…[Read more]

Thanks for the responses. Please keep them coming!

I think the tone of the article, and especially the graphic, is a little misleading. An 80/20% allocation of turf is certainly sufficient. This is not requiring people to dig up all of their lawn except for a 500 sf square. And if 500 sf fits 8 Mini Coopers, how many Expeditions could fit?

You could do some really neat stuff with 500 sf of lawn…[Read more]

Today I’m a ‘civil site designer.’ I think tomorrow I’ll be a planner..

Ben, my boss graduated college and went out on his own before the advent of photoshop and adobe software in landscape, early 90’s. He dose his illustrative plans including shdows and solid fill gradient hatches in autocad.

He ends up with HUGE cad files, but the plans look like basic photoshop rendering with gradient overlays and drop…[Read more]

I also agree that it is unwise to limit employees to a single program.

Nearly all of my planviews are either composed 100% in Autocad or a combination of Autocad and hand rendering. Just today I was required to render a plan in Photoshop. It’s a pain, but the result is good- until you have to go back to edit it! If only Autocad had transparency…[Read more]

You can add a lot of effects by simply using drop shadows and bevel and emboss , as well as making copies of layers and applying textures to them. Another very useful tip is copying and pasting layer properties.

For very illustrative, final plans use photoshop. For a design that is going to possibly change you can use photoshop but try to keep things simple, otherwise if the plan changes you just wasted a ton of time.

I personally like to use the combination of cad and photoshop.From cad I plot pdfs of certain elements, such as hardscape, trees, bldgs,…[Read more]

I’m no expert and I use both (like Nick). However, Illustrator has the vector goodness that is, in my opinion, easier to adjust later. You can also download a plug-in for Illustrator that will bring in all the CAD layers (not sure if there is a similar plug-in for PS). I’ve worked on a few plans in Illustrator (via CAD) that were changed a lot…[Read more]

I suppose limiting to specific programs is really no different than limiting to only pencils or only markers or what have you, and I’ve heard of (and worked under) both. Personally I’d say it’s unwise because you’re hobbling people to one specific tool when they may be better with others. The counter argument being that gets you a consistent look…[Read more]

Yes. It is unwise.

I use both photoshop and illustrator for most plans. I like to use photoshop with a wacom tablet. If a plan has to be done in twenty minutes, cad or hand drawn, I can ‘free color’ with a tablet on one layer to get it done quickly. Illustrator is good for vector shapes, diagramming, adding linework and linetypes, and labeling.

I have had a similar experience with ‘greywater’ systems in Portland, OR. These are usually part of the municipal systems and are classified as ‘non-potable’. I think that it is possible to use ‘greywater’ for irrigation on commercial projects – but my instincts tell me that arch / land arch don’t do it because the permitting process and long term…[Read more]

Interesting article. My parent’s yard doesn’t have much lawn. It was one of the few spots in the neighborhood where there were still tall trees and native plants. If my parents had torn out the trees and put in lawn, I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much. The dogs were fine, too. My parent’s neighbors have actually said they appreciate the…[Read more]

.. that is a definition that icludes everything and excludes nothing.