CREATING A 3D VISUALISATION OF YOUR PLANS IN PLANSXPRESS AND CORTONA VRML CLIENT 20-25 Minutes This topic is for users of PlansXpress Total Toolkit Edition. To upgrade to PlansXpress Total Toolkit, call the HBXL Sales Team on 0870 850 2444. In order to use the 3D visualisation tool, you first need to install the 3D Viewer software, Cortona VRML Client. You should have received an email containing a link to download the 3D Viewer following your installation of PlansXpress. If you did not receive this link, or are having problems downloading the software, please call the HBXL Support Team on 0870 850 0199. There are three basic steps to creating a 3D visualisation from plans drawn in PlansXpress. Firstly, using the Level button on the Architectural Toolbar in PlansXpress, you need to set up a Level for each floor of the building so that the 3D Viewer can put together the floors to make a complete 3D view of the building. Secondly, you need to insert some standard Viewpoints from which the building can be viewed using the Viewer button on the Architectural Toolbar. Finally, you need to export the plans as a WRL file and open the file to view the 3D visualisation of your plans. This topic talks you through creating and viewing a 3D visualisation of the plans you drew in the PlansXpress Getting Started Tutorial so you need to ensure the Tutorial drawing, named Mr Oliver 5 Bedroom House, is open. In preparation for creating the 3D visualisation, let s ensure all the Layers (except the drainage and dimension) Layers are visible on screen. 1. Press the Layer button. The Layers dialog box pops up. 2. Work your way down the list of Layers, ensuring they re set to visible on screen by ticking the lightbulb tick box. Leave the visible on screen tickboxes for the Drain Runs and Drainage Layers unticked, and untick the Dimensions Layer. 3. Once complete, click OK. After a few seconds, all the Layers (including the roof) should be visible on screen. You need to move the first floor plan away from the ground floor plan so that there is plenty of space around each plan. This is an important step, as when you set out Viewpoints of the exterior of the house, if the Viewpoints are close to the building, you will only be able to see a small amount of the elevations. 1
Let s turn off the hatching so that the screen refreshes quickly when moving the plans. 4. Go to the View menu and ensure Hatching is unticked. The plans and elevations are shown without hatching. 5. Move your mouse above and to the left of the first floor plan. 6. Click and hold down the left mouse button. 7. Drag the mouse down and to the right until the entire first floor plan is encompassed by the selection rectangle. 8. Release the left mouse button. The entire first floor plan appears selected. 9. Hold your mouse over the first floor plan and click the middle mouse button. A menu pops up. 10. Click Move. 2
The instruction bar reads: Give Reference Point. 11. Hold your mouse over the bottom left point of the roof as you look at it on the page, until appears along with the message End. 12. Click the left mouse button to register the reference point of the first floor plan. The instruction bar reads: Give Point To Move To. As you move your mouse you ll see that it now controls the position of the first floor plan. 13. Hold down the Shift key. 14. Move your mouse down the screen until the first floor plan is just off the page. 15. Click the left mouse button to register the new position of the first floor plan. After a couple of seconds the first floor appears in its new position. You re now ready to set up a Level for each floor. First we ll set up the Level for the ground floor. 16. Press the Level button on the Architectural Toolbar. The Levels dialog box pops up. You ll notice that there are three input boxes in the Level dialog box. Base Height refers to the height at which the floor/storey starts. So for a ground floor, the Base Height would be 0, and for a first floor it might be 2500 (remember you re working in mm). Wall Height refers to the height of the wall of that particular floor/storey so the Wall Height might be 2500 or 2700. Level No refers to the Level this floor appears e.g. ground floor is 0, first floor is 1, second floor is 2 etc. 3
Let s enter the appropriate details for the ground floor. 17. Enter a Base Height of 0. 18. Enter a Wall Height of 2500. 19. Enter a Level No of 0. 20. Click OK. The instruction bar reads: Give Reference Point. When setting up Levels, you need to ensure you place the reference point on the same position on every Level you create, so that when the 3D Viewer software puts the Levels together, they appear stacked on top of each other (in a similar way to when you re creating elevation views using the Elevation button). 21. Hold your mouse over the bottom left corner of the ground floor plan (on the external side of the wall) until appears along with the message End. 22. Click the left mouse button The instruction bar reads: Give First Point. You re now being prompted to mark out a box to define the parameters of the 3D visualisation. The box needs to be fairly large so that when you later place your Viewpoints, they can be placed within the Level box, but a sufficient distance from the building to ensure they offer a good view of the house. 4
23. Move your mouse far above and to the left of the ground floor plan. 24. Click the left mouse point to register the first point of the box. The instruction bar reads: Give Second Point. 25. Move your mouse so that it s far down and to the right of the ground floor plan. 26. Click the left mouse point to register the second point of the box. A dashed box appears delineating the parameters of the Level. Don t worry if other items such as labels and elevations are within the parameters of the Level only the plan views of the walls, floors, windows, doors and staircases are exported into the 3D visualisation. You can now repeat this process to create a Level for the first floor. 27. Press the Level button. The Level dialog box pops up. Let s enter the details for the first floor. 28. Enter a Base Height of 2500 (Remember this floor stacks on top of the ground floor). 29. Enter a Wall Height of 2500. 30. Enter a Level No of 1. 31. Click OK. 5
The instruction bar reads: Give Reference Point. You need to place the reference point for the first floor Level on the equivalent point to the reference point of the ground floor Level. Therefore you need to place the reference point on the bottom left of the first floor plan. Take care not to click on the roof as then the walls will not line up. 32. Hold your mouse over the bottom left corner of the first floor plan (on the external side of the wall) until appears along with the message End. 33. Click the left mouse button The instruction bar reads: Give First Point. The parameters of the first floor Level don t have to be as large as the ground floor parameters because you won t be placing Viewpoints around the upper floor of the building (although in this example the first floor Level is the same size). 34. Move your mouse above and to the left of the first floor plan. 35. Click the left mouse point to register the first point of the box. The instruction bar reads: Give Second Point. 36. Move your mouse so that it s down and to the right of the first floor plan. 37. Click the left mouse point to register the second point of the box Now that you ve created a Level for the ground floor and the first floor, the 3D visualisation software will know how the floors fit together. 6
You can now create Viewpoints from which to view the house. Viewpoints allow you to jump to different views of the 3D visualisation. Let s start by creating a Front Viewpoint. 38. Press the Viewer button. The Viewer dialog box pops up. 39. Enter a name for the Viewpoint, such as Front. 40. Click OK. If you zoom into the Viewpoint, you ll see that the Viewpoint is actually a symbol of a person. You need to place the Viewpoint in front of the ground floor of the house, facing towards the house. The instruction bar reads: Place Item. 41. Hold your mouse towards the edge of the Level parameter box in front of the ground floor of the house. 42. Click the left mouse button to place the Viewpoint. 7
The instruction bar reads: Give Point To Rotate To. You now control the rotation of the Viewpoint which determines the direction of the view. 43. Move your mouse up the page so the cursor is near the front door. You ll see a dashed line appears indicating the direction in which the Viewpoint is looking. 44. Click the left mouse button to register the direction of the Viewpoint. Let s now place a Viewpoint for the rear of the house. 45. Press the Viewer button. The Viewer dialog box pops up. 46. Enter a name for the Viewpoint, such as Rear. 47. Click OK. The instruction bar reads: Place Item. 48. Hold your mouse towards the edge of the Level parameter box behind the ground floor of the house. 49. Click the left mouse button to place the Viewpoint. 8
The instruction bar reads: Give Point To Rotate To. You now need to tell PlansXpress the direction in which your Viewpoint is looking. 50. Move your mouse down the page so the cursor is towards the back wall of the house. You ll see a dashed line appears indicating the direction the Viewpoint is looking. 51. Click the left mouse button to register the direction of the Viewpoint. 52. Repeat this process to create a Viewpoint on each side of the house, naming them Side 1 and Side 2 (Remember the further the Viewpoint is from the house, the more you ll be able to see of the elevation). 53. Place a Viewpoint in the hall on the ground floor plan and on the landing on the first floor plan. 9
Once you ve placed the Viewpoints, you can export the drawing as a WRL file, ready to open using the 3D Viewer software. 54. Go to the File Menu and click Export. The Export dialog box pops up. 55. Enter a name for the 3D Viewer File such as Mr Oliver in the File name input box. 56. Select VRML World File (*.WRL) from the Save as type drop down box. 57. Click Desktop on the left hand side of the Export dialog box to save the file to your Desktop so you can find it easily later. 58. Click Save. The Texture Setup dialog box pops up. From the Texture Setup dialog box, you can set up colours and textures for the different elements of the 3D visualisation of the house. If you click on the Entity Type Window on the left hand side of the dialog box, you ll see that there are options for the Sub Entities of the Windows, the Glass and the Frame. This means you can set up a different textures or colours for the Glass and the Frame of the Window. 59. Click on Walls. 60. Click External-Outer (This is referring to the exterior of the external walls). 61. Click Apply Texture if it isn t already selected. 62. Double click on the texture preview box (the square showing the texture currently selected). 10
The Select Image dialog box pops up. Use the right hand scroll bar to scroll down the library of images. You ll see a number of textures for bricks, blocks and stone are included. 63. Locate and double click on the brick texture called ETRUSCAN_RED.GIF. You re returned to the Texture Setup dialog box where the brick you selected is now assigned as the texture for the External-Outer Walls. Let s now set up the colour for the interior of the external walls and the internal walls. 64. Click External-Inner (This is referring to the interior of the external walls). 65. Click Apply Colour. 66. Double click on the colour preview box. 11
The Colour dialog box pops up. You can either select a colour from the Basic Colours, or mix your own by clicking Define Custom Colours. 67. Click on an appropriate colour from the Basic Colour options. 68. Click OK. You re returned to the Texture Setup dialog box where the colour you selected is now assigned to the External-Inner Walls. Let s assign this colour to the Internal Walls as well. 69. Click Internal. 70. Apply Colour is already selected so double click on the colour preview box. The Colour dialog box pops up. 71. Click on the colour you selected for the External-Inner Walls. 72. Click OK. You ve finished setting up textures and colours for the walls. 73. Working your way through the Entities and Sub-Entities, set up textures and colours for the remaining elements of the house. Note: When setting up the colour/texture for the glass in the windows, you can also set the transparency level of the windows using the Transparency input box at the bottom right of the dialog box. 12
74. Once you re happy with the textures and colours, click Continue. Now all you need to do is open the WRL file. 75. Go to your Desktop and double click on the WRL file called Mr Oliver. After a couple of seconds, your default Internet Browser opens up, launching Cortona VRML Client and the 3D visualisation. If the 3D visualisation does not launch, your Internet Browser has blocked Cortona VRML Client. Click on the yellow bar which will have appeared towards the top of the Internet Browser, under the toolbar. Click on the option to Allow Blocked Content on the menu which appears. Click Yes to the dialog box asking if you re sure you wish to allow it. 76. You can now navigate your way around the house using the tools on the vertical toolbar of Cortona VRML Client. Walk mode allows you to move around the house, opening doors to enter rooms. Fly mode allows you to move around the house, walking through the walls you encounter. The horizontal toolbar contains tools for changing your position within the 3D visualisation. Clicking View brings up a menu containing the Viewpoints you set up earlier in PlansXpress, allowing you to jump to different vantage points. Alternatively, click the arrow buttons either side of View to scroll through the different Viewpoints. Restore returns you to the last Viewpoint, Fit makes the house fully visible in the window and Align restores the house to an upright position. 13
For more information about the tools available in Cortona VRML Client 3D Viewer, right click on the 3D visualisation and a menu pops up. Click Help and then User s Guide to open the Cortona VRML Client User s Guide. Here you will find explanations about the toolbar buttons and menu options. 14