Creating Still Solar Studies

Still solar studies produce single images that show the impact of sun and shadows at a project location for a specified date and time.

You can create these solar studies using the sun path and Sun Settings dialog, either individually or together.

To use the sun path

1. Specify the geographic location of the project.
2. Open a 2D or 3D view that supports the display of shadows.
3. Turn on the sun and shadows, and adjust their intensity.
   Note: When you are using a default template, the first time you turn on the sun path, the <In-session, Lighting> setting is specified and Relative to View is selected. When Relative to View is selected, the sun does not display. A dialog displays options for specifying sun settings.
4. Do one of the following:
   • If a dialog displays, click Yes to change the sun setting to <In-session, Still>.
   • If no dialog displays, in the drawing area right-click the ground compass, and click Still.

   The Still mode is now in effect, with the In-session preset specified.

   Note: Each solar study mode has an In-session preset. Using this preset, you can specify a temporary setting for the sun in the active view and see changes in shadow patterns. You can then save this sun setting as a preset, so you have easy, repeatable access to this project-wide setting across all views. Presets are available in the Sun Settings dialog. To access this dialog, right-click any element of the sun path, and then select Sun Settings from the context menu.
5. Use the following sun path controls to specify a sun position, either by dragging the sun within its range of movement or by entering different dates and times. For illustrations and descriptions of these controls, see Using the Sun Path.
   • Daily Path. Drag the sun along its daily path to the desired time. Use the hourly snap points and 15-minute interval marks as guides in setting the time.

     Or, drag the daily path to a new date on the analemma, thus changing the date while maintaining the same time of day.

     Tip: With the sun selected, hold down the left mouse button, and press the Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys to move the sun along its daily path. The Left Arrow key increases the time by moving the sun from east to west. The Right Arrow key decreases the time by moving the sun from west to east.
   • Analemma. Drag the sun along the analemma by moving it perpendicular to the daily path and along the figure-8-shaped path to the desired date. Use the snap points at the start of each month as guides in setting the date.
     Tip: With the sun selected, hold down the left mouse button, and press the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys to move the sun along the analemma. The Up Arrow key moves the date later in time; the Down Arrow key moves the date earlier in time.
     Tip: After you begin moving the sun, hold down the SHIFT key to constrain the sun's movement to the daily path, or hold down the CTRL key to constrain the sun’s movement to the analemma.
   • Time. Edit the time by clicking the time control and entering a new time.
   • Date. Edit the date by clicking the date control and entering a new date.
6. To save the current sun setting as a preset, see Using Sun Setting Presets.

You can now save or export the solar study image.

To use the Sun Settings dialog

1. Open a 2D or 3D view that supports the display of shadows.
2. Turn on shadows, and adjust their intensity.
   Tip: To view the sun position, turn on the sun path as well.
3. On the View Control Bar, click Sun Path Off/OnSun Settings.
4. In the Sun Settings dialog, under Solar Study, select Still.
5. Under Presets, select one of the predefined sun settings (such as Summer Solstice), and click OK. Or, select <In-session, Still>, and complete the remaining steps in this procedure to define your own sun setting.
6. Under Settings, specify a sun position:
   1. For Location, verify that the correct project location is displayed.

      To change the location, click (Browse), and specify the project location either by searching on the street address or longitude and latitude, or by selecting the nearest major city from the Default City List.

   2. Enter the date of the study.

      The date format specified for your computer’s operating system is applied to the date you enter.

   3. Enter the time of the study.
   4. If <In-session, Still> is selected, you can enable the current view to use a project-wide sun setting by selecting Use shared settings.

      When you select Use shared settings, the sun position is based on a project-wide sun setting, rather than a view-specific one. Therefore, when you adjust the sun position in a view that uses the shared setting, the sun position is updated in all other views that use the shared setting. The shared setting is not stored as a preset so, unlike presets which can be modified only in the Sun Settings dialog, the shared setting can be modified in the drawing area.

   5. To cast shadows on the ground plane, select Ground Plane at Level, and select the level at which you want the shadows to display.

      When you select Ground Plane at Level, the software casts shadows on the specified level in 2D and 3D shaded views. When you clear Ground Plane at Level, the software casts shadows on the toposurface, if one exists.

      Note: The ground plane is not used in rendered views. To cast shadows in rendered views, model a ground plane in the project.
7. To test the sun setting in the active view, click Apply.
8. To save the current sun setting as a preset, click Save Settings, enter a unique name, and click OK.
9. Click OK when done.

You can now save or export the solar study image.