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Landscape Design Features
RainCAD™
X Series1.0 |
RainCAD™ X Series 8.0 |
Irricalc |
Photoscapes |
FAQ
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EcoCAD and RainCAD Suite include the tools necessary to
complete a landscape design including plant placement,
area/volume calculations and more.
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Plant Placement
There are three methods of plant placement in EcoCAD or
RainCAD Suite. You may place plants manually on the
screen, automatically within a boundary line or
automatically along an existing line or curve or a
temporary line on the drawing screen. In addition, the
Plant Search feature makes it easy to find the right
plant for the job.
Show Plants
The Show Plants feature will allow you to limit the
plant material available for selection in the Plant
Placement dialog box. There are thousands of plant
selections available in the Plants Database.
Therefore, the choice of plants may become
overwhelming. In some instances, you may want to limit
the number of choices to use on a regular basis to
speed up the selection process. For this feature to
work properly, you must first adjust the Visible in
Plant Placement setting for each nozzle in the Plants
Database.
Plant Search
The Plant Search feature allows you to quickly find
the right plant material. You can set the search
criteria based on the Species Data for each plant as
entered in the Plants Database. Simply click on the
Search button and all plant material in each category
that meet the requirements will be available for
placement.
Manual
Manual plant placement allows you to select a plant
from a database of over 2,500 plant selections. The
plant will appear on the design screen and you may
immediately move it to the desired location. When you
place the symbol on the screen, you can set a second
point to rotate the symbol in any direction. You will
see the symbol during the entire process allowing you
to accurately place the plant.
If hatching is selected as the plant symbol, you can
select from one of 123 different hatching patterns.
Simply outline an area to fill with the selected
pattern and press Enter.
Within a Boundary
You can place plant symbols automatically within a
boundary line. Simply select a plant from the database
and click on a boundary line. The plant symbols will
be placed within the boundary based on the desired
spacing and chosen pattern of square or triangular
spacing.
Along a Line or Curve
To place plant symbols along a line or curve, simply
select a plant from the database and click on the line
or curve on the design screen. You may accept the
calculated spacing to evenly space the plant symbols
along the line, or you may enter an exact spacing
requirement. Set a second point to determine the side
of the line on which the symbols will be drawn. If the
symbol offset is set to zero, the plant symbols will
appear directly on top of the line or curve.
Accessories
Simply choose an accessory from the database and place
the symbol on the design screen. You will see each
symbol as it appears on the screen. You can set a second
point to rotate the symbol in the desired direction.
Quantity Label
In addition to the Symbol Label command, the Quantity
Label indicates the number of selected plants, the
common or botanical name and the plant size.
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Area/Volume Calcs
Calculates an area and volume of fill material and
stores the information for the material takeoff. There
is no limit to the number of areas you may have per
design. Simply enter a depth of fill material and select
the material from the drop down menu. Outline an area or
enter a value in the Area text box. The total cubic
feet, yards and meters along with the total square feet,
yards and meters will be displayed in the dialog box and
stored for the material list. You can easily edit any of
the information if necessary.
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Preferences
The Preferences command will allow you to enter specific
information to avoid the repetitive input of data.
Select the units of measurement for the design in either
US Units or Metric Units. Select the Name Display Format
of either Common or Botanical. The command displays the
layer assignment for each category of plant material.
The Symbol Color feature will allow you to use the
actual colors in each symbol or to use the color
assignment for the symbol as selected in the Plants
Database.
Properties
The Plant Properties dialog box will allow you to adjust
the properties of one or more plant symbols. You can
adjust the size selection for the plant or the radius of
the plant canopy. In addition, you can replace all of
the selected plants with a new choice of material,
replace all of the plants on the drawing of the selected
type with a new choice, or delete all of the plants of
the selected type from the design screen. Simply make
the desired selections in the dialog box and click on
the Apply button.
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The databases of include more than 2,500 individual
plant listings divided into six different categories. In
most of the database commands, you can enter the List
Price for the material or equipment, the Discount Rate
received from a supplier and the Labor Rate required for
installation of the item. In addition, you can assign
the material or equipment to an Equipment Code to allow
for the quick adjustment of items such as the list price
and more. In addition, you can enter a Part Number and
select a Supplier Code and Tied Assembly.
The plant databases are now stored in a Microsoft Access
format for increased stability.
Plants
The Plants Database will allow you to enter or edit
information on the plant material such as the available
sizes, the symbol assignment, the symbol color and the
common and botanical name. You may assign a symbol to
each plant from more than 350 current symbol selections
or you may create your own symbols. Each plant may have
its own set of available sizes.
View in Plant Placement
To limit the number of plant selections shown in the
Plant Material command, disable the View in Plant
Placement check box by clicking on the selection until
the checkmark no longer appears in the box.
Species Data
The Species Data command will allow you to enter or
edit species data such as the climate zone, foliage
color, fall color and more for the selected plant
material. This data is used to assist in plant
selection using the Plant Search feature. The complete
list of species data includes the Climate Zone, Flower
Color, Foliage Color, Fall Color, Plant Type, Soil
Preference, Flowering Season, Maximum Height, Maximum
Diameter, Flower Size, Life Span, Growth Rate,
Fragrance, Fire Resistance, Exposure and the Water
Requirement.
General Notes
The General Notes command will allow you to enter or
edit general information such as prunning tips and
more for the selected plant material.
Fill Material
The Fill Material command will allow you to create a
database of fill material such as top soil and bark
mulch to be used in the Area/Volume command.
Accessories
The Landscape Accessories Database command will allow
you to edit a database of landscape accessory equipment.
Tied Assemblies and Supplies
A Tied Assembly is the combination of supplies that are
associated with the installation of a single piece of
equipment or plant material. Each assembly may be
assigned to one or more pieces of equipment or plant
material in the database selections. All of the product
in an assembly is counted in the Material/Estimate
command.
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There are hundreds of symbols included in the program.
There are 350 different symbols to represent plant
material. You may assign any of these symbols to one or
more plants in the database. You may create your own
symbols or edit any of the symbols included in the
program.
In addition to plant symbols, there are 123 different
hatching patterns you may use to represent plant
material. There are many different installation details
as well as symbols to represent furniture, rocks,
boulders, automobiles, north arrows, title blocks and
more.
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