Learning how to add elevation information and contours to your terrain will
allow you to create more realistic camera views of your project.
You can find the elevation data parent tool here under the terrain drop-down menu.
Under the elevation data parent tool,
you will find the elevation point, elevation line,
elevation spline, elevation region,
and terrain break child tools.
You can get easier access to all of the terrain tools by changing your toolbar
to the terrain toolbar configuration.
These five tools here at the upper right side are different toolbar configurations,
and will change the tools you see here underneath them when you select one.
When I click on the terrain toolbar configuration,
you will now have all of the landscaping and terrain tools available in the
toolbar. This one is the elevation data parent tool,
but start here with the elevation point child tool.
I'll place a point here which will locate the point and open the elevation
point specification dialog.
Here, the most important thing is to assign an elevation.
It's defaulting to the current terrain height at zero. However,
if I assign a different height, let's say 10 feet,
notice that it did not change the contour of the terrain.
It remains flat. In order to create rising or falling terrain,
multiple terrain data objects with different elevation values must be
used. If only one terrain data object is placed,
the terrain will be flat regardless of the object's specified elevation.
So let's place a second elevation point and assign the elevation to zero.
Remember that we assigned the first one 10 feet. Now,
in the camera view, you can see that it has contoured the terrain,
and notice that the contour is curved rather than a flat slope.
We'll explain this a bit more later.
An elevation point contains the absolute elevation data for one point in
the terrain model. Typically,
elevation points are imported rather than placed manually.
Chief Architect requires many points to make an accurate approximation of your site.
Even small sites may require over a hundred points to generate an accurate model
of the terrain if it's sloped.
You will notice too that now the terrain has rebuilt with the new elevation
information, you can see the contour lines in the floor plan view.
When terrain is generated,
the data is used to calculate the surface of your site and is represented by
contour lines in the plan view and a curved surface in a 3D view.
You can build the terrain by going to a camera view,
which will automatically rebuild the terrain, or,
use the build terrain tool here under the terrain tools parent tool if you want
to stay in the plan view. For ease of working with a terrain,
it is recommended to use the elevation lines, splines, regions,
or terrain breaks. So let's take a look at elevation lines.
An elevation line contains elevation data for all of the points along a
line at a constant elevation.
Elevation lines can be connected to create a polyline with many straight
sections. Here,
I'll click on the elevation line tool and draw two straight elevation
lines; one here and one here.
When you select an elevation line and use the open object tool to open the
specification dialog, you have the same option here to assign an elevation.
I'll leave this one at zero. Now,
I'll open the second one and assign a negative 10 feet.
You can use positive numbers to raise the elevation or negative numbers to lower
the slope. The elevation will always be relative to zero.
With only two lines with elevation data, you will get a straight slope.
Beyond each of the lines,
the slope will continue up or down past the elevation lines in the same relative slope.
But, let's add one more line here under the last one...
and assign a negative eight feet to it.
When we look at the camera view, you'll notice it is curved.
It's because elevation lines and points are creating what are called arc
points. Here in this plan,
you'll notice that I have added five elevation lines with elevations assigned,
as you can see here in the notes I've typed on the side.
Let's take a look at an elevation view of the side of this terrain.
I have added lines and text to show where I placed each of the elevation lines
in plan view and the effects they have on the terrain.
Notice that the terrain does not slope from zero here
straight down to a negative five here, and then straight back up to zero.
The slope will curve from one arc point to another so that
it can flatten out for a small increment right at the elevation line.
Then it will curve to be able to flatten out at the next creating an S
curve. Every elevation point and line will create an arc point.
So now, you might understand why the two elevation points that we had placed earlier
created a curved contour.
One thing you never want to do is cross or overlap two elevation
data points, lines,
or regions that have different assigned elevations. For example,
I will draw another elevation line crossing over both the zero line and the
10 foot elevation line. Open it up to assign the elevation.
Because it is different from the crossed lines,
you'll notice in the camera view that the terrain is pretty goofed up.
The overlapping and contradicting information is confusing the terrain.
Now we'll delete these lines and notice that the contour lines did not change.
We need to rebuild terrain to see the update or go back to a camera view to
regenerate the terrain.
Elevation splines are simply polylines that curve where you place the end point.
Now this curved polyline is an elevation line and behaves the same way.
When I draw another elevation spline and assign
a negative 20 feet and build the terrain,
you can see the contour results here with the contour lines,
and here in the camera view.
You may find it easier to create a simple sloped terrain by using the elevation
region tool. In this plan, I have created a building with a walkout basement.
This is meant to be on a sloped lot. I have already created the terrain.
And if I double-click on this terrain,
you can see that the height has defaulted to 20 and one eighth inches.
That means that the top of the first floor will be 20 and one eighth inches
above the level of the flat terrain.
You can raise or lower the entire terrain relative to the height of the building.
If I uncheck the automatic button and set this to zero,
the flat terrain will be even with the top of the floor platform on the first
floor level. That is what is referred to as absolute zero.
With this set at zero inches,
I find it easier to then figure out where I need each of the elevation regions
to be. Here in the floor plan view, I will create two elevation regions,
being careful not to overlap them or have them touch at all.
Click on the elevation region tool,
and then click and drag a rectangle approximately where you want the flat area
to be. This is a polyline-based object,
so you can resize it and reshape it using the edit handles and/or temporary dimensions.
Now I want to assign different elevations to each.
The one at the back of the house will be the closest to the first floor level,
so I will leave that at zero.
The one in the front of the house will be level with the basement floor level.
So, let's go down to level zero and check what that height is.
I'll double-click in one of the rooms here and go to the structure panel.
Here under absolute elevations,
note that the floor is a negative 108 and five eighths inches.
Absolute elevations are always relative to the first floor floor platform,
or absolute zero.
I'll cancel out of here and go back to the first floor level,
and double-click on the front elevation region.
I'll assign a negative 109 inches rounding up.
Let's take a look at the overview.
You can see now that it is pretty close to where we need it relative to the house,
but I may want to keep the elevation regions relative heights and lower the
whole terrain a bit. To do this,
I will double-click on the terrain itself and change the subfloor height above
terrain to four inches higher than what it is now. In other words,
I'm raising the house.
I also notice that my back deck is buried in the terrain. So,
let's lower only that elevation region. I'll go back to the floor plan view,
double-click on the back elevation region,
and change it to a negative 18.
Now my deck has room to build properly.
Let's add two more elevation lines to continue the slope from the front to the back.
Let's set the one in the rear higher than zero,
say 100 inches.
Set the frontline to lower than the basement floor at a negative 200.
Now let's take a look at an elevation view of the terrain.
Notice that where the elevation regions are drawn, the terrain is flat.
Then from the edge of the elevation region,
it is again creating an arc up to and past the elevation lines
at the high side, and here at the low side. Now,
what if you wanted a sudden drop from the back of the property to the front
instead of a gentle slope? Let's use the terrain break tool.
I'll go back to the elevation data parent tool and click on the terrain break
child tool. With this tool,
you will draw a line that creates a break, or a quick vertical drop in the terrain.
The elevations on each side of the terrain break will be controlled by the
closest elevation data on each side of the break.
This will set at a negative 18 inches according to the elevation region.
This side will set at a negative 109 because of this elevation region.
You can edit the terrain break much the same way as you do any line or
polyline-based object. For instance,
we can break it to create a polyline and use the edit handles to
reshape it. Or,
we can change the line to an arc with the change line to arc tool here in the
edit toolbar at the bottom.
The retaining wall will behave much the same way.
It is found under the terrain wall and curb parent tool.
Here on the other side of the house, I will create the retaining wall.
A retaining wall's height is determined by the elevation of the terrain on each
side. By default,
the height of the wall matches the terrain on the high side of the break,
and the bottom matches the low side.
Notice in the camera view that if I don't draw the retaining wall all the way to
the end of the terrain,
the terrain will drop immediately at the wall and then revert back to its
regular slope beyond the wall. Once drawn,
a retaining wall can be edited much like other walls.
I'll double-click on the retaining wall to open the wall specification dialog.
Here, you can change the wall type... add a cap... or remove the footing.
You can change the materials of the wall by changing the wall type or by using
the material paint tool.
By using the terrain elevation data tools,
you can sculpt your terrain to look more like a realistic contoured lot.