Landscape Science & Techniques

Course code : ENVT1053
Course co-ordinator : Jamie Liversedge
Element: Digital Portfolio (40%)

Introduction

This course is in two parts. The first part is an introduction to AutoCAD and an exploration of 3D CAD techniques in general. The second part is specifically focussed on Digital Terrain Modelling, a very useful technique for landscape architects.

Course Diary

The course diary gives an overview of the timetable, weekly topics and submission dates for this course. There may be occasional changes, so check back frequently.

2009-10 Session
DateRoomTitle
2nd October 2009Lab CAutoCAD Concepts, Draw and Modify Tools
9th October 2009Lab CAutoCAD Drawing Aids, Layers and Layer Properties
16th October 2009Lab CAutoCAD Layouts, Viewports and Text
23rd October 2009Lab CAutoCAD, Digimap and Plotting to scale
30th October 2009Lab CIntroduction to AutoCAD 3D
6th November 2009Lab CMaterials and Rendering with AutoCAD
13th November 2009Lab CDTM with AutoCAD and Key Terra-Firma
20th November 2009Lab CCut and Fill techniques with Key Terra-Firma
27th November 2009Lab CSections and Landform Visualisations
4th December 2009Lab CLandfill exercise - Week 1
Creating terrain models/cut and fill calculations
11th December 2009Lab CLandfill exercise - Week 2
Landform design modification
18th December 2009Lab CLandfill exercise - Week 3
Completing and presenting the design
Christmas Break
22nd January 2010 Submission of project work

This course element consists of eleven workshops each of three hours in length. Each workshop will take place in T105 (Tower Lab A) on a Friday afternoon, starting at 2:00pm and concluding at 5:00pm.

Aims and Outcomes

Format

The element consists of eleven workshops each of three hours in length. All project work can be completed during the workshop sessions but extra time will be required for presentation. There is one assessed project.

Key Texts

AutoCAD 2010 & AutoCAD LT 2010 Bible by Ellen Finkelstein

AutoCAD 2010 & AutoCAD LT 2010 Bible

AutoCAD is a very popular professional software application and it is well supported by a large number or 3rd party manuals. In an ideal world, you should look at a variety of books and decide which is best for you. However, there is one book which is sufficiently generic and that most people seem to get on with that is worth a recommendation.

The AutoCAD 2010 & AutoCAD LT 2010 Bible by Ellen Finkelstein does two jobs. First, it teaches you how to use AutoCAD in the short term and second, it provides a reliable reference for you to keep over the longer term. The book begins with the basics of opening and saving drawings and moves on to an introduction of the basic 2D drawing commands and an explanation of the various interface components. At the other end of the spectrum, it covers customising menus and programming with AutoLISP. In between these two poles there is coverage of 3D modelling and rendering, plotting, data extraction etc. At over 1200 pages, it's not a pocket book but it is a book that can be relied upon to answer most questions across a range of levels.

The AutoCAD 2010 & AutoCAD LT 2010 Bible by Ellen Finkelstein is available from Amazon.co.uk

Avery Hill Library copies: 5 on order plus 14 copies of previous editions.

AutoCAD 2010 & AutoCAD LT 2010: No Experience Required by Jon McFarland

AutoCAD 2010 and AutoCAD LT 2010: No Experience Required

Another popular AutoCAD book that is particularly suited to beginners. It doesn't cover as much ground as Ellen Finkelstein's book but it covers all the basics in a very logical and thorough manner. Those who prefer a gentler style of teaching or those who are completely new to drawing with a computer may prefer this book as the author spends more time on each topic. In a sense, this is very much a learning book whereas Ellen's is a reference. You may find it useful to begin with this book and then graduate to the AutoCAD Bible when you feel ready. In this sense, the two books complement each other well.

AutoCAD 2010 and AutoCAD LT 2010: No Experience Required by Jon McFarland is available from Amazon.co.uk

Avery Hill Library copies: 5 on order plus 9 copies of the 2009 edition.

Photoshop CS3 Essential Skills by Mark Galer and Philip Andrews

Photoshop CS3 Essential Skills

This is a new book, first published in 2007 and has been written specifically for Photoshop CS3. It is a very good book with a great introduction to the application and to digital imaging in general. It is also copiously illustrated in full colour with excelent examples. It is clear, concise and easy to follow - exactly what a good textbook should be. There is very good coverage of selections and layers (two key skill areas) as well as all the other "essential skills". The book follows up with a series of projects that you can work through in order to practice the skills learned.

Photoshop CS3 Essential Skills is available from Amazon.co.uk where you can also use the "Search Inside" feature to take a closer look at it.

Avery Hill Library copies: 4

Online Resources

Course Documents

These documents contain all the information about the course, projects, briefs and tutorials. All documents are provided in PDF format. Some documents may also be provided in appropriate alternative formats. In order to view the PDF files, you will need the Adobe Reader.

There are currently 4 files in this section

File Listing
  Filename Size (KB) Date Modified
AutoCAD Revision Checklist 1 - Exercise.pdf 43.6 28th Mar 2009
AutoCAD Revision Checklist 1.pdf 17.4 28th Mar 2009
AutoCAD Revision Checklist 2.pdf 15.8 28th Mar 2009
Course Brief 08-09.pdf 82.5 28th Mar 2009

Assessed Elements

This course includes 3 assessed elements. Details of these elements are given below. Each of the elements has a slightly different weighting and this is indicative of the degree of difficulty and/or the amount of work required. The weighting is as follows:

This class is for the Digital Portfolio only. The other two elements are organised by Jamie Liversedge.

There is just one assessed project for this element of the course. This comes towards the end of the workshop sessions in weeks 9, 10 and 11. Details are given below and the project is designed to be completed within the workshop sessions so it is important that you attend all sessions in order to successfully complete the work.

Although the assessment project is design led, this is essentially a technical course and you will be assessed on technique and the accuracy of your results in addition to the normal design criteria.

Quarry Project Brief

Overview

Landscape architects are commonly involved with the design of restoration schemes for large quarries. This exercise has two purposes, firstly it is a vehicle for learning a number of ground modelling techniques including cut and fill, and secondly it allows you to demonstrate your design skill in manipulating contours to create new landforms.

The Brief

Your client, LandWreck is currently negotiating with the relevant planning authorities for the development of a large quarry in an upland area of northern England. Anticipating that the scheme is likely to go to public inquiry, your client has asked you to develop a restoration scheme for the site. At this stage, you are asked only to come up with a landform design. You may be asked to do a detail design for the scheme if this first stage is successful. LandWreck have calculated that 25% of the volume of material extracted from the quarry will be overburden and spoil. This material will be available to create a sympathetic landform for the restoration scheme.

Materials

Your client has supplied you with one AutoCAD drawing (gm-base.dwg). This drawing contains three sets of contours, one for the existing landform, one for the proposed quarry and one that is common to both. Each of the three sets of contours is on two drawing layers, one for the 25m index contours and one for all the other 5m contours. In addition to the contour information, the drawing contains a number of spot heights on the floor of the quarry; these will be required to create a successful ground model of the quarry. The spot heights are defined as blocks. The block name is "LEVEL" and each block is inserted at its appropriate elevation (Z value). Drawing units are in metres. All project materials are available from the Course Materials section.

Submission

You are required to submit a presentation of your work in the form of a PDF file (on CD ROM). You may construct your presentation using PowerPoint or any other suitable software. The presentation should show the landform as existing, the excavated quarry and your designed restoration. Use perspective views, sections etc. as appropriate. Cut and fill calculations demonstrating that your design utilises 25% of the total extracted material must be included. You may use AutoCAD, SketchUp, Bryce, Photoshop and any other useful tool in the preparation of your submission. Your work must be completed and handed in on or before the date given in the Course Diary.

Terrain Surface in AutoCAD

Submission Details

This project should be submitted as a .PDF file (maximum file size 2MB). The file must be named using the following format: Student Userid-quarry-project.pdf. For example, if your userid is ab123, your file will be ab123-quarry-project.pdf. Do make sure that all images used are correctly compressed for screen resolution - this will help keep file sizes down. Please ensure that your name is clearly shown on all submitted work.

Course Materials

Note: To download AutoCAD drawing files, right-click on the file link and select "Save Target As…"

There are currently 2 files in this section

File Listing
  Filename Size (KB) Date Modified
contours test.dwg 29.1 28th Mar 2009
gm-base.dwg 120.9 28th Mar 2009

Tutorials

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