Additional features of cadvilla version 10 – 11

A convenient function has been added to the numerical positioning of interior walls. Since version 10, dimension chains with a button for numerically lengthening or shortening have been displayed when a wall is selected. Now walls also show a button as a double arrow. This button works alternately in the direction of the arrows.

By clicking on one of the arrows, the length dimensions of the selected wall disappear and one or more dimensions are displayed in the direction of the green arrow. The positioning of the wall is then carried out as usual by clicking on the +/- symbol and entering the desired dimensions.

A railing is inserted polygonally. After inserting the polyline, the railing dialog opens. Among other things, the desired standard segment for division along the polyline needs to be defined. The categories for defining the standard segment are divided into post, filling and handrail (link below).

After defining the railing segment, the railing is created along each polygon side. The division of the polygon sides into the desired segments is influenced by the input direction of the railing. At the end of each polygon side, a shorter segment is automatically added to fill the polygon side.

Alternatively, you can even the division of segments across the respective polygon sides. In addition to the segments with a specified length, 2 remaining segments of the same length are automatically created on each side of the railing. You can specify whether these should be shorter or longer than the standard segments (with a specified length).

Railing segments of an automatically created railing can be individually selected and edited. In this case that means giving a segment a length that deviates from the usual division or using other filling properties. Other elements such as posts or handrail apply to the entire railing instead.

The settings of a completely designed railing can be saved as a template in a separate catalog. Internally, these templates are referred to as “railing project”. This allows you to quickly load railing settings once you have defined them for use in future projects, without having to redefine everything beforehand. Of course, a created “railing project” can also be helpful in the same building project by using this template for other railings within the same project.

Some example railings are already included in the railing catalog.

In addition to the configurable railings, there is now also the option of creating a railing using a finished 3D object from the catalogue. To do this, you simply let the selected 3D object follow the defined course of the railing and line it up. When changing textures, however, this does not go beyond saving and loading the project. When loading, the original 3D objects are retrieved from the catalog and assembled into a railing based on the parameters.

Posts of the railings can be made of 2D profiles or posts from catalog 3D objects.

posts made of profiles:
For posts made of profiles a round or rectangular profile is predefined as an option. Alternatively, other profiles from the profile catalog can also be used. Creating your own profiles from closed 2D polygons is only possible from cadvilla professional plus.

Posts from 3D Objects:
When using the “Posts from 3D Objects” option, select a post from the 3D Objects catalog in the Components -> Railings -> Posts directory.

The mounting options “Standard” and “at the side” are available for fastening the profiles. The value in the “Distance bottom edge” definition field extends the post downwards, with the railing height remaining the same.

Handrails are created from profiles along the entire length of the railing. The shape of the handrail is determined by selecting a profile from the profile catalog. Of course you can also draw your own profiles from closed 2D polygons and use them in the catalog (from cadvilla professional).

“Standard” and “with handrail connector” options are available for fastening the handrail. The distance from the handrail to the post is specified by the “Connector Height” value. The overall height of the railing remains the same.

Fillings are available in three variants.

• Fillings with horizontal bars
• fillings with vertical bars
• so-called fixed fillings

In addition to the parameterized components of a filling made of horizontal or vertical bars, you can also choose ready-to-use 3D objects from our catalog under “Components → Railings → Bars”.

Fixed fillings consist of a simple 3D solid with a glass material by default. Of course, the material can also be replaced with another variants from the texture or material catalog using drag and drop.

Other possible materials also include so-called mask textures, some of which are located under the “mTextur -> Metal” directory. With such mask textures you can make a solid filling appear like a wire mesh, which is much more efficient than creating each wire individually as a 3D element.

The balconies in the group catalog consist of a base plate and a railing. The floor slab was assembled from two extrude solids (one as a “replacement” for the ceiling and one as a covering). A predefined railing was positioned on it.

The construction of the balconies is 16 cm thick of the floor slab, which corresponds to the standard thickness of our ceilings, 8 cm covering and railing height 1.10 m.
The level of the ceiling slab is – 16 cm relative to the floor level. So if you insert one of the finished balconies in a 2D plan view, ideally it will automatically position itself correctly.
As with all groups in cadvilla, the parameters used can be changed at any time after the group has been separated into its individual components

A new feature for creating plots has been added to the terrain tools. A property outline is entered as usual in the 2D view using a polygon, a rectangle or a spline. Multiple plots can be defined per project. Ideally, however, you should make sure that they do not overlap or lie edge to edge.

An plot always consists of a 3D solid whose surface follows the 3D terrain. Height points and height lines outside the plot (but within the defined terrain) are also taken into account.

Since plots and terrain have separate visibility, the plots can now also be displayed without the entire terrain.

An automatic border can optionally be defined for each plot. The border is all the way around and leaves no gaps for driveways or paths into the property. It is intended to better represent a plot in 3D.

Similar to the plot function, you can also have an automatic border created for beds and terraces, e.g. to display curbs. In the case of curbs, for example, you determine the profile of the curbs, define the width and height of the selected profile and also specify a segment length.

In the past, real walls (from the building ribbon) were occasionally used to design the garden, but this is generally unfavorable for a number of reasons. The reason for this lies in the properties of these walls. They always try to intersect with other walls, forming rooms with floors. This can lead to problems with space formation and other undesirable effects.

Now there is a new wall type for designing the garden on our “Terrain” ribbon. Whenever a wall is needed in the garden, a retaining wall should be used as standard. The only exception would be walls that also contain a door or window, or should be trimmed by a roof. In this case, the correct wall type to use would be a partition wall.

Retaining walls can be inserted polygonally or via a spline. After selecting the retaining wall function, open the properties dialog and first specify the wall width and height. If the retaining wall is made up of several individual wall segments, you can also specify a segment length for this. Other possible settings for the retaining wall are the generation of a retaining wall foundation and the automatic creation of a top slab. Retaining walls and foundations can also optionally follow the terrain.

Fences are essentially a variant of railings and contain similar creation options, but have different input tools and automatically follow the terrain surface depending on the input variant.

Similar to the railings, fences are also created in segments with adjustable length. At the end of each segment, i.e. where posts are typically placed, the fence determines the height of the terrain and adjusts the height accordingly.

With variant 1, the fillings are calculated accordingly and are given a gradient from segment to segment, so that the height of the fence is measured at each post position and the spacing of the fillings fit at the top and bottom of the segment.

In variant 2, the filling remains horizontal and instead the posts are extended downwards and upwards. A stair-like look is the result.

To give a 3D fence the appearance of wire mesh, it’s best to use mask textures (similar to railing fillings). For fences we have added an additional selection button for the texture catalog.

Now you can create further sub-layers in the Environment, similar to the project hiearchy. This is primarily used to sort elements without constructive influence. These include fences, retaining walls, plants and other 3D objects.

Note: Elements that have a constructive influence on the terrain – including height points, height lines, terrain shapes and areas, and properties – should not be sorted into sublayers. The visibility of such elements should be handled as before via the view’s visibilities settings and not via layers in the ENVIRONMENT.

So far, the north arrow could only be rotated and moved manually via its properties dialog – and only if the ENVIRONMENT layer on which it is located was activated beforehand. Now there is a separate dialog for the north arrow settings on our “Terrain” ribbon. The dialog contains different options for positioning, rotating and scaling the north arrow.

By the way: the alignment of the north arrow influences the calculation of shadows in 3D views, provided that the calculation of the position of the sun is activated in the settings for internal light sources.

Übrigens: die Ausrichtung des Nordpfeils beeinflusst die Schattenbildung in den 3D Ansichten, sofern in den Einstellungen für die internen Lichtquellen die Berechnung des Sonnenstands aktiviert ist.

• more than 500 new 3D objects, mainly for office furnishings
• more 2D symbols with filled display
• additional features in release 11
• more than 25 new interior doors