In part 3 of the tutorial, you use the Toposurface tool to create a site, add a building pad to provide a place for the building model, and use a section box to add depth to the toposurface.
This video demonstrates the following:
To create context for the project, you can use the Toposurface tool to add a site. Because visibility is turned off for the topography category in the standard floor plan view, you will want to open a site plan view so the toposurface will be visible once it is created.
Located on the Massing and Site tab of the ribbon, the Toposurface tool is modal, meaning that when the tool is selected, the ribbon displays a contextual tab providing the tools you need to create and edit the toposurface. To exit this mode, you must click either Finish Surface or Cancel Surface. You will create the toposurface by using the Place Point tool to place points in the site plan to represent spot elevations. The toposurface geometry is automatically generated using the points. A toposurface can also be created from imported CAD files that include 3D contour information, or from a points file which can be generated by certain civil design applications.
On the Options Bar for Elevation, enter 1000mm. A spot elevation of 1000 will now be established at each location where you click to place a point. Change the elevation value on the Options Bar, and place additional points. As you place the points, the toposurface is generated and contours are displayed. The sloping toposurface can be seen in a 3D view.
To modify the toposurface and provide a place for the building model, you can place a building pad in the model. The toposurface will react to the position of the pad element. To do this, click the Building Pad tool which is also modal like the Toposurface tool. A closed-loop sketch of the extents of the pad must be completed to generate the pad element. You can use the Pick Walls tool and the tab key to pick walls already modeled in the project.
Use the ViewCube to manipulate the view and make sure the sketch lines of the pad are on the inside face of the walls, using the flip controls to flip the sketch to the opposite side of the picked elements. When the sketch is completed, click the Finish edit mode check mark to complete the pad and exit the sketch mode.
To give the toposurface some depth, you can use a section box in the 3D view. To do this, click an empty part of the drawing area to select the view, and then on the Properties palette, under Extents, select the Section Box option. When you select the section box in a 3D view, you can move its shape handles so that the edge of the section box intersects the edge of the toposurface on all sides. The top of the section box is adjusted up so that when the roof is placed on the model it will not be cut.
With the section box still selected, right-click and select the Hide in View option to make the edges of the section box not visible in the view.
The material of the toposurface can be changed by selecting it and clicking the value for the Materials parameter on the Properties palette. In the materials dialog, a grass material is then selected for the appearance. Finally, on the View Control Bar, you can apply a shaded visual style to the view to get an idea of what the building will look like.