[John.Dallinga]

I’m interested nonetheless in your process since I end up doing a lot of “from scratch” trees with random brushes, etc.

[John.Dallinga]

I know for sure of only one company that is currently using that package, being Laurel Hill Gardens in Chestnut Hill. From my understanding, it is aimed more towards residential design applications versus larger projects that might require more complex data input (i.e. grading, utilities, drainage, etc.). Are you using the software or just interested in how prevalently it is in use?

[John.Dallinga]

Jon,

When you rendered the trees, did you create them using a custom brush? Did you create several individual trees, render, and then disperse throughout the plan?

[John.Dallinga]

Lori,

This looks great! Can’t wait till they make it into the Northeast market as well. Thanks for bringing it to everyone’s attention.

[John.Dallinga]

Thanks all for the suggestions. Coincidentally, I currently work at a nursery and find local wholesale catalogs to be very helpful, though some are more informative than others. I will check out Still and Armitage for sure. Too bad so few include more than a couple hundred color plates.

[John.Dallinga]

Jason,

 

Thanks for bringing this forward. I have little familiarity with Hood’s work, but found a video of a talk he did at TEDxBerkeley (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBshFBR_fR4). I think he is a good example of what a “master builder” might look like today. Someone who might not have the expertise in all areas of design/engineering, but can intelligently communicate with not only lay individuals but governmental officials and professionals as well.

 

I’m now a fan.

[John.Dallinga]

Wyatt et. al,

 

Any known way to do multi-stem trees (i.e. Amelanchier, etc), in Tree[d]? If not, any known generators that might work well for such species?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

P.S. 3D, not Face-Me.

[John.Dallinga]

I’ve had good success with CG Textures and the freebies from Vyonyx.

 

David, you mentioned ImageCels and I’ve seen their stuff before. Anyone know of other companies that produce a good variety of plants that aren’t necessarily free?

[John.Dallinga]

My impression is that the law believes there to be a difference in the skill sets as well as the need to protect the profession from arch’s and eng’s who don’t have the diversity of schooling/training. The health and safety piece may be less the intent of the professional and more concerning the likelihood that they confront the exact types of situations that RLA’s face.

 

You have my sympathies. I’m a year’s worth of experiece out from being able to sit for the exam and the economy is the problem I’m facing.

[John.Dallinga]

Craig,

You make a good point. Someone who is working retail or food service is going to invite assumptions about what they’ve been doing during school or since graduation. Before I landed an internship as a E&S plan reviewer, I worked, you guessed it, in a coffee shop for three years. I wasn’t doing a lot of extra thinking about LA since I was just trying to pay rent, buy books and other design supplies. However, this time around working in a 25% design, 75% retail position, I’m able to use that no-longer-academically-aimed time towards further enrichment of skills and/or research. It does take an extra effort on the part of a non-firm employed LA grad to stay abreast of and prepared for the type of work they’ll encounter in a firm. I’m very fortunate to have a spouse that understands why I spend two or three hours a night after work reading articles or watching video tutorials for Photoshop or other softwares to position myself well for when the economy improves. I think that is one way you can encourage growth and avoid stagnancy in the upcoming crop of LA’s. I am hoping for the sake of myself and others it’s a method that works.

Please don’t take this as my opinion as to the only path to success, I’m very much living what others are experiencing. My hope is that more of us will be moved towards action versus retreading the same territory over and over again.

[John.Dallinga]

AR,

I like that kind of strategy. What have been the most valuable sources of data in your research?

[John.Dallinga]

I’m coming fresh into this topic so there is much I could respond to. To preface, I myself am in “landscape designer” status with 1 year of 2 needed to be able to sit for the LARE in Pennsylvania. Were I currently working in an LA firm, I’d be well passed that point. I am the only person at my job that holds a BLA so unless I switch jobs (which is a tough task during this season especially), I won’t garner any more experience on the books until I’m employed by a firm again…this isn’t news to anyone.

CLARB requirements and Practice Laws may appear to be exclusive to recent grads, but IMO it is for the safety and well-being of practitioners and their clients. This is why a doctor goes through a four-year residency before they are able to officially sign-off on certain things. Sure, they can make recommendations, but it isn’t set in stone. One could argue this is much like an intern landscape architect doing a grading plan that includes a retaining wall, but that plan will not and should not be built unless it is first reviewed and approved by a licensed professional, be they an LA or structural engineer who is assumed to have previously done similar work. If this were not the case, we’d be in danger of wrecking the profession having licensed LA’s fresh out of college and with no practical experience piling up lawsuit after lawsuit for errors and omissions that could easily have been avoided through a 2-year “apprenticeship” of sorts. That certain states allow this (no offense to people who HAVE succeeded as a result) is to put their citizenry at risk. Practice laws merely insure against the multitude of scenarios that simply cannot be addressed within a five year degree program, but can be through practical experience under the proper supervision.

Jonathan, I’m sorry you’re having difficulties growing your business right now and I’m sure in a town of only 30,000 people LA certainly does seem ‘weak sauce’, but that isn’t the case everywhere. Now that you are licensed, what are you doing to “take it by the balls”? As others have said, success takes many years and lots of hard work. Personally, I’m trying to figure out how best I can position myself to be able to do the work I want to do. If you want to “[design] the future of our towns, cities, regions”, how are you positioning yourself to gain that work? Are you talking to planners, city officials, and other LA’s about what the atmosphere is for that type of work in your area? Even if your aim is not to spend the rest of your life doing master plans, catch my drift?

There are still a lot of recent grads that are in it for the long haul. Times like these require some concessions, creativity, and strategy. The LA’s that end up at KFC or Starbucks may be there only for a year or two, but the ones that have no initiative and go no further aren’t really cut out for this business.

[John.Dallinga]

In my (very brief) experience, the effectiveness of GIS has everything to do with project type/scope and the availability/accessibility of data. For planning it can be a great tool; for a strictly landscape architecture practice, the potential is there unless you’re simply too small a firm to chase the big municipal projects that large multi-disciplinarypracticesare more adept to pursue. I like GIS as a pre-site survey tool, but it can be frustrating when trying to acquire publicly held data such as utilities or other sensitive infrastructure. Obviously, the biggest turn-off is its pricetag.

[John.Dallinga]

Sounds like a very tall order to me. Depending on your application (obviously a residential client is going to be more picky about certain distinguishing details), there are some great packages with realistic models. Vue Xstream and 3D Nature are closest I’ve seen to high quality models. The simple fact that there are probably a million-plus plants in the world means that it would be next to impossible to cover everything and do it well.

I like to be as accurate as possible in my own work, but sometimes its better to keep things like trees more abstract/interpretive. It fits better with the SketchUp Modeling/Rendering process. This subject was very intriguing to me today so I took a few rabbit trails. My best recommendation is to look into L-systems and perhaps take some time to think how that might apply to your individual plant needs. Otherwise, try to keep things simple. If a tree is opposite vs. alternate, apply that to the model. Apply the best applicable texture for bark. A good modeler is going to have a well-thought out system for organizing things to be interchangeable if need be (i.e. components within components). This could be amazingly helpful for things like leaf-shapes or simple versus, compound leaves. I’ve also seen some very creative uses like making leaf components “face-me” components.

Honestly, I’m not afraid to make use of multiple tools to create the best product possible. Sure, a plug-and-play program might save a lot of time in the long-run, but it’s not going to be cheap and not necessarily as easy to modify as creating your own custom models or modifying others.

Hope that’s helpful.

P.S. Wyatt, I second your recommend ofthe SketchUcation forum. Through some digging I’ve found some amazing there.

[John.Dallinga]

Andrew,

Thanks for your humorous take on it. There is always a hint of fear in breaking from the conventional, but most times that break is exactly what it takes to get the response your looking for.

[Author]

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