A discussion on LAND F/X

By Scott Weinberg, Technology Editor, University of Georgia, Athens

Dialog boxes pop up quickly for easy selection of sports fields for use in any project. The fields are automatically scaled to the drawing upon insertion.

A conversation with David and Jeremiah Farmer, the creators of the newest landscape software package, LAND F/X. This system is targeted for use by the landscape architecture community.

The program automates the design of planting and irrigation projects.

The software is the latest entry into what seems to be a limited software market. The program utilizes AutoCAD as its engine and works seamlessly within that environment.

LASN: David, are you a Landscape Architect?

DF: Well, I have a degree in Architecture and Landscape Architecture from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and I worked in both fields. I started working with architects. Oddly, I worked in construction for about 22 years, which I think is a good thing to do. I took a huge pay cut and went to work for an architect back in 1978 or 1979. But, I was very interested in details and how to organize details. I was intrigued by how to automate and organize the system. I started my own landscape architecture firm after getting my license in 1982. I have been consistently employed in landscape architecture, since then.

When the Plant Info dialog pops up it shows the common, botanical and code names for the plant selected. It also shows which symbol was attached to the plant along with the planting size. It is in this box that you can select what size the plant will be drawn at for the final plan.

LASN: When did you start getting interested in using computers?

DF: In 1991 was my first CAD project. Jeremiah is a programmer and was living at home. I needed programming. AutoCAD just doesn?EUR??,,????'???t do what you want and Jeremiah picked up how to do things. Probably about 1995-96 we thought that this could be a program. We focused on this and in 1999 we incorporated and became serious.

LASN: I see that you provide tutorials in your package. Will you supply on site training support?

DF: We do offer that right now. That is what we prefer to do. Right now there is a wide range of what expectations and affordability. We are finding that a lot of firms are a little gun shy of software in general. To start with our software, you can purchase one server license and install it on 100 machines and one person can use it at a time each day. Our preference is to offer onsite training.

Automatic plant labeling works very quickly with LAND F/X. Plants are automatically labeled by selecting the labeling function off the pull down menus. It will also show which plants have been counted twice or not counted at all. This provides accuracy for the final plant count.

LASN: Your program is unique and it does some things other existing programs don?EUR??,,????'???t do. Who comes up with the ideas for the program enhancements?

DF: It is a very patient, long process. It really is Jeremiah and I brainstorming and we are always open to ideas. And in fact, it is always surprising that the ideas we get when we present the software to a company. It would be nice if it could do that or if users after 5-6 months would have ideas. I was sort of negative at first thinking that they would come up with things that are dumb.

I?EUR??,,????'???ll think of something and Jeremiah will say, no you can?EUR??,,????'???t do that. I have learned not to let that bother me. You can always move around the problem and attack it from a different angle. It is the nature of programming for the industry.

LASN: There are a lot of irrigation programs on the market. What makes your program different?

DF: What makes ours different is the speed at which you can build a palette of components to design your irrigation package. For example when you want a spray head, it lists the manufacturers. When you select the manufacturer you can see the series that they offer. When you select the series you can see all the models and you pick a model. When you do that it, adds all the models. When you select the design pressure it will automatically conform the heads for that specific pressure.

LASN: Do you think it will difficult to keep the manufacturers?EUR??,,????'??? data bases updated each year?

DF: It is not a big deal to keep them updated. It was a big deal to create them in the first place. It is really three data bases connected in various factions. It was a very big deal to make them happen. A lot of products don?EUR??,,????'???t change over time. You go through the whole process in LAND FX and we both said to keep the process simple. A classic example of this is when you design, the system itself will determine if you have a mainline loop as opposed to other programs out on the market where you have to tell it if there is a loop or not.

Just like the sports fields there are dozens of symbols that can be used to represent plant materials. A quick click and the user is ready to place each plant in the design.

LASN: Do you foresee adding a 3D modeling aspect to your program?

DF: I?EUR??,,????'???m under the assumption that there are programs out there that do this well. I do not want to have to reinvent the wheel on something like this. I don?EUR??,,????'???t want to compete with highly successful companies that have this done already. I think we have it in terms of planting and irrigation.

LASN: If you had to name three qualities that would make your software the one to purchase what would they be?

JF: I think simplicity is a key and that doesn?EUR??,,????'???t mean the program is simple. We have constantly looked at how people interact with the computer and have always tried to make that process simple. I would also say speed and accuracy are always what I am bringing to the table as a programmer. I like the triad of simplicity, speed and accuracy.

DF: The last one I would say is professionalism. I have tried to make this an industry standard, something to organize this profession in an organized fashion.

Details are available for all sorts of projects in both the planting and irrigation areas. Once selected and placed the details are easily edited to conform to local needs.

(Note: A full review of the software will be available in a future issue.)