Landshape Workflow Tutorial — Learn 3D Model Terrain in Sketchup — San Francisco Hillside

In this Landshape video tutorial, Anders and Felix from Holygon will show a real-world terrain design workflow from start to finish – right in Sketchup. Watch this tutorial to learn how to create terrain from a pointcloud, smoothen bumpy roads, accurately grade slopes and plateaus, control transitions, and style your terrain surface. You will learn how to combine Landshape commands into a workflow. This example features a San Francisco hillside, with five neigbouring houses on tight lots, divided by retaining walls, along a steep sloping road. While the example is specific, the methods shown are general. You can apply the same methods and workflow in your other landscaping projects. — Design beautiful landscapes! 💖 Download Your Free 30-day Pro Trial https://trial.holygon.com 🚀 Order Your Landshape License https://shop.holygon.com 🤔 Questions, Feedback, Suggestions for Holygon? Post your comments below! –––––– 🟢 Landshape Workflow Tutorial Series 🎓 This video is part of Holygon's tutorial series on Landshape workflows. Workflow videos show you how to chain commands, one after the other, to achieve your landscape design goals. – Think like a designer, not an engineer. –––––– 🟢 Model Along in Sketchup 🙂 Wish to model along in Landshape as you watch this video? First, make sure that you have Sketchup and the latest Landshape installed. Then, download the zip below, and unzip it. Inside the zip, you find 2 Sketchup models. Open the Sketchup model called "Start". It matches this video's beginning. Start the video, and try to model along, pausing as you go. When you're done, you may compare your results with the other Sketchup model, called "End". 🔽 Download the zip here: https://holygon.com/wp-content/upload... 😊 Happy landshaping! –––––– 🟢 Breakdown of Typical Landshape Workflow First, you Form new terrain from input elevations. Next, you use a 2D Siteplan to embed local edges, format and style your terrain. Intermittently, you run direct tools along the terrain surface, such as Draw tools and Brushes. To precision-shape local terrain features, use Gradegroups. By repeating this process, combining reusable control geometry and manual tools, you impose your vision onto your terrain. This tutorial shows how. –––––– 🟢 Breakdown of Typical Landshape Input 🏔️ 1. Existing-condition terrain elevations in 3D. These can be isolines, surveyed heights, scanned or photogrammetric pointclouds, or any non-landshape 3D geometry. All should be contained in one Sketchup group. This input forms your starting terrain. Optionally, you may use a second selected group, a Mask, containing a simple closed edgepath, defining the bounds of the terrain to be Formed. 🗺️ 2. A proposed Siteplan in 2D. A Siteplan is a completely flat group that contains only raw faces and edges. The Siteplan typically shows a proposed future state, but it can show any state. By painting your Siteplan's faces with distinct groundtype materials, you distinguish e.g. lawns, roads, curbs, building footprints, and so on. To fix issues automatically, run Landshape's command Clean. 📐 3. A Gradegroup with edges in 3D. A Gradegroup must always contain a closed edgepath perimeter, defining the area to be graded. It often also contains interior edges, which outline the forms to be shaped – for instance a plateau or sharp fold. Note that all edges within the gradegroup should be raw. When you select a Gradegroup and run Grade, Landshape will force the terrain to touch the edges. In areas between these edges, Landshape will make transitions smooth. –––––– 🟢 About Holygon Landshape Holygon Landshape is a user-friendly terrain modelling extension for the 3D modeling program Sketchup. Holygon Landshape is a holistic toolsuite for professionals. It brings a new paradigm for easy, accurate and fast terrain modelling. Landshape helps you create, edit and review real-world terrains of any size – from small backyards, to larger community housing plans, to vast landscapes. Think like a designer, not an engineer. Landshape suits landscape architects, architects, planners, visualizers and other professionals who regularly work with site grading, urban development, visualisation, and related challenges in digital terrain. Landshape's simplicity and ease-of-use also makes it loved by artists interested in creative landshaping. 🚀 Order Your Landshape License https://shop.holygon.com 💖 Download Free Landshape Trial https://trial.holygon.com 🥰 Learn about Landshape https://landshape.com 🔔 Get the Newsletter https://newsletter.holygon.com 💬 Ask the Forum https://forum.holygon.com 📗 Study the Userguide https://learn.holygon.com 📄 Read Release Notes https://release.holygon.com 📩 Contact Holygon https://contact.holygon.com 🌐 Discover Holygon's World https://holygon.com