Hello,

In hopes someone might respond to my plotting question; I'll be glad
to trade some tips.

On planting & irrigation:
We typically use legend templates that have been Cadded-up we have 3
or 4 boiler-plate files that the designer will 'save-as' to his/her
project folder and edit per project. The file is then xref'd into
paper space. Our sheet styles and formats are based off a 'typical'
building architectural sheet set up (plan drawing space to the left
side of the sheet with a 6" margin down the right for
legend/keynotes. We put legends on each sheet regardless if it's two
sheets of planting or twenty. Planting symbols for trees are
retreived from a block library as are shrubs. We've standardized
shrub symbol sets for 3',4',5',6',8',10' on-center spacing
regardless of scale.

Irrigation
We will usally do all our irrigation design in-house. Our typical
drill is to have the designer use both hand and cadd drafting.
Designer will 'head-out' the landscape areas with irrigation head
symbol blocks with a coverage radius we place on a layer that will
be frozen later..once complete and a hard copy plotted the designer
will circuit by hand, and rough in mainline alignments...then the
hard copy is input into the computer and pipe sized. All equipment
symbols are brought in via a 'master template block' with all
equipment symbol block and layers....this master symbol block is
then exploded in the drawing file to allow the designer access to
the individual block symbols.

Dwg formats
Since we landscape architects are typically at the bottom of the
consultant food chain...
We'll get a base map file and do a 'save-as' our project base file.
The drawing is 'conditioned' changing layer colors to our plotter
pen format information frozen or thawed and the file purged. The
cadd tech will then save the current layer-state in the layer
manager....a god send for a projaect manager when you get the
inevitable 11th hour file update from the civil or architect. The
base file is then xref'd into the irrigation plan, planting plan,
constuction plan etc. in model space. We do all plans in model space
then insert title blocks, legends etc. in paper space. We draft in
model space and plot in paper space.

Raster imaging

I've done two projects with a raster overlay as the base map.
Scaned the hard copy civil precise grading plan and cadded
irrigation and planting on top of the raster image that was asigned
a sreened pen weight...just like the good ol' days of pin-bar.
We've also done some 'gorilla-cad' base maps by scanning hardcopies
and cad-tracing over them.

All the best,
Phil
--- In autocad4landscapearchitects@y..., cadd4la <no_reply@y...>
wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
>
> For some unknown reason the member of this group don't know that
you
> sould be posting your question and/or experiences using autocad in
> the field of Landscape Architecture.
>
> So therfore, I will try to get the message posting going.
>
> 1. How do you place/make your planting legend in autocad?
>
> Do you just make a legend in autocad, do you using excel or
another
> program and bring it in as a OLM, or do you using a third party
> software that makes legend.
>
> 2. How do you do irrigation design?
>
> Do you print out the design, hand design it, scan it in and then
draw
> it in cad, do you do it in autocad, or do you do it in a third
party
> like landcadd
>
> 3. Plant blocks - do you have an master plant block file, so you
can
> always use the same block to be the same plant for all your
projects
> or do you just use any block for that project. I.E. a circle w/ a
> soild box is alway Rhaphiolepis indica?
>
> 4. How do you set up you drawings?
>
> Do you use xrefing, or do you just insert everything into the your
> drawing.
>
> 5. Have you made custom line types that likes like the old
formaline
> tape?
>
> 6. Do you do color rendering plots w/ autocad and m-color
software?
> How easily/hard is it to use?
>
> 7. Do you have any Lisp programs that will help you do grading,
> irrigation, or slope factoring for plant counts?
>
> 8. Have you used the raster design program from autodesk? How
> easily/hard is it to use?
>
> Please remember you deal w/ most of these questions on a daily
bases
> and I started this group to learn how other LA use autocad, so far
> all I have seen is people joining on day and quiting the next. So
> help us all out and lets start posting questions.
>
> Kyle C.
> cadd4la