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Andrew, I colored some of my symbols using a gradient fill. I put it on a separate layer to turn on when I want the color. I was pleased to see I can put them on my palette and still get the off layer into the dwg. With the layer on, the color doesn’t go to the back on the palettes–it shows up in dwg as saved, but not on the…[Read more]

There really are many ways to do things in AutoCad. I’ve gotten so many ideas from all of you, thanks to everyone who responded. I’ve created my schedule using a table in AC. I won’t be using a separate spreadsheet for now. I also won’t be using symbols with attributes because I still use so many that aren’t assigned to certain plants species or…[Read more]

not really a blog exactly, but i think its related. A bunch of people use the twitter hashtag #landarch. join the conversation! (not that I say all that much)

@thebigeyedfish

i think that environmental engineering would be a great complement to your undergrad LA degree. I too have often thought about pursuing this…i’ve wondered if having that ‘engineer’ title behind my name would give me more respect outside of our discipline!! Too often i voice ideas at project meetings but they get quickly dismissed by a…[Read more]

I really enjoyed this comment–

“So, we take the jungle gyms away from the fat, McDonald’s- Bloated youth of America and replace it with a place where the kids SIT and think about becoming architects and engineers? Isn’t this what Lincoln Logs and Legos do at a lot less cost? I also seem to remember Erector Sets and Tinker Toys in a world tha…[Read more]

If you’re interested in urban design don’t confuse urban design with “the politics and paperwork of urban and regional planning.” Urban design and urban planning are different things. While all environmental design fields overlap and build upon another, these are two different fields of study/practice.

I tried to fix my reply, but it didn’t save – Thomas – I realized that you were being facetious especially after I looked at the fish-eye view of the whole playground…

Pasting and editing a linework and text table is no different than pasting and editing an acad table if it is already in existence. There is no waste of time over the alternative in either case.

It is much like using the set up programs like Vectorworks or Landcadd in that you can jump through the hoops while being directed by the program up…[Read more]

Its not a teeter-totter, its a sand/water table. Good comments, but I personally despise poured in place surfacing (if thats what you meant by hardscape…). I did experience poured in place under sand. It was originally intended to provide an accessible surface, but got covered with sand. It was very interesting to walk on.

I would love to have more background in civil design.

We do alot of ‘community planning’ (ie subdivisions) and larger scale site and landscape planning/design and in all those types of projects I would like to have a stronger background in civil. That said, I don’t think I’d want to dig into all the minutiae of civil engineering — stromwater…[Read more]

Yeah, AutoCAD 2010 pretty much rocks! I’m trying to learn Vector Works right now and I think I’m just going to stick with AutoCAD. Vector Workds makes everything 3Xs as hard as it needs to be.

I’ve owned a MAC before and I just don’t see the advantage, other than it having pretty icons. It costs twice as much as a PC, isn’t compatible with 90% of…[Read more]

By the way, it won’t make your cell smaller if you make the symbol smaller. Just seems to enlarge the cell.

Yep, or just use the ribbon–did I ever mention I like the ribbon. Choose the cell, in the ribbon you’ll see an insert menu and click “block”. The insert block dialogue box opens. The fit options in 2010 are auto-fit or you can specify a scale value. So, if you want to keep the symbols the same size–to fit into the cell, use auto-fit. Or if you…[Read more]

There is a strong potential benefit in getting a B(S)LA over staying in the design/build that you started while in high school. As I close in on 50 having worked in many laboring roles from maintenance to hardscape and design build from small scale contractors to high end, working for others and myself in those roles, then going and getting my…[Read more]

I don’t have CAD open but if memory serves… select a cell by left clicking it, then right click it. Drop down menu appears. Select insert block. A dialogue box opens. Browse to select the block you want to use. Check the box that says “scale block to fit” or something close to that. The block will automatically fit the cell. If you later change…[Read more]

Great, Thomas. I’m working on my table right now and this is perfect. I was wondering how to do that without moving the symbols up and down.
I assume the cell is formatted for a block?

Ha! good comments! thanks! I always associate sand with dog doo..I think that is why they are uncommon, these days..

There is no such thing as “free”. The park cost $3.4mil to build and I guarantee that somebody got paid to design it. It might not have been a landscape architect but hey, really, if an architect can design a building, why can’t they design a park with nothing but hardscape? It did take five years after all…

The first picture in the article has…[Read more]

Insert block, for your symbols, saves you from having to copy, paste and scale the block from another drawing. It scales the block automatically for the “cell” size. If you change cell size, the block changes with it. Also, if you decide to change symbols, all you do is click on the cell, select another symbol and you’re done. No copy, paste,…[Read more]

I worked for a firm that had a really good construction administration person who had no LA degree – started out as a draftsman worked up to C.A.. With his knowledge he would be qualified for licensure, but he can’t sit for exams because he doesn’t have a degree and our state required a degree. He has been an incredible asset to the firm as a…[Read more]