Landscape Architect Articles

LASN Technology April 200904-02-09 | News

Land F/X

By David Farmer, ASLA, CEO of EcograFX, Inc.
(Land F/X www.landfx.com is a product of Ecografx, Inc.))

There are a wide variety of tools to assemble your data and symbols, and to greatly speed up the process of producing plans or revisions. Plant labels and schedules are quick and automated, and plant palettes can easily be shared between projects.

Land F/X software works seamlessly within the industry standard AutoCAD environment, and allows AutoCAD to evolve to a superior professional level. The software uses state-of-the-art BIM technology and a robust database connectivity to automate professional landscape architectural documents.

The software requires Windows, and works with all versions of AutoCAD from 2004 through 2009, but not with AutoCAD LT.

Land F/X software is used daily by over 6,000 clients, from large firms such as Walt Disney Imagineering, to small landscape architectural offices and design/build firms. Many universities are now implementing the software in their coursework. Its simplicity and integration with AutoCAD are a natural fit for their technology courses, allowing them to focus on the subject at hand, and let the software take the tedium out of producing design and construction documents within AutoCAD.

The software allows the AutoCAD user to accurately and efficiently automate every aspect of the landscape architectural practice, from site design, schematic design, planting and irrigation construction documents, detail creation and classification, site construction graphics and 3D visualization. It does all of this with a library of thousands of symbols, a database of 15,000 plants, irrigation equipment from every major manufacturer and direct connections with major site amenities manufacturers.

The major components of the program:

Site Builder: Tools and symbols help you build your site from the zoning stage, site development, to placement of the site graphics of cars, people, furniture, etc., and it even has aids to help with site dimensioning.

Planting: Creative planting plans can be developed in one-third the time with a vast array of automation of symbols and data. Labeling is flexible and quick, with complete error checking to highlight any mistakes. Schedules are created instantly and in any variation you may want. Plans are produced with complete accuracy and revisions or changes are easily updated throughout the plan.

Details: The Detail Builder automates creating and saving details. Smart callouts allow for error free referencing of details by callout, Reference Note, or within a schedule. Detail takes care of scale, fonts, dimensions, materials, callouts, and even detail components in automating the detail creation process.

The Site Development tools were developed with input and ideas from landscape architects and planners to help organize site functions for the way designers work.

SketchUp Connection: The unique SketchUp Connection allows a direct relationship between AutoCAD and Google?EUR??,,????'?????<

Graphics: The Graphics Library provides a vast array of graphical symbols for all levels of drawing from Concept Plans, elevations, site design and construction documents. It also includes the most powerful Reference Note system in the industry, with notation organization relating notes, objects, site amenities, lengths, areas, electrical and even survey points.

Irrigation: Quickly and efficiently develop irrigation plans with a complete database of manufacturer?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Other Opinions

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Users familiar with AutoCAD will find it easy to incorporate the software in their work. Two impressive features that stand out are the ability to create customizable plant templates and generate automatic tables.

The initial time spent on creating accurate plant templates can save time in subsequent projects by reusing data for select materials, growers and other information associated with plant selection. Automatic tables quickly update and log any changes made to plant count. Similarly, users can verify plant labels to make sure they are accurate. The software will find unlabeled and/or multiple-labeled plantings, which allows for more accurate bidding and installation.

Although curricular restraints have probably impacted the teaching of Land F/X in educational settings, professionals seem to gravitate to its functional and practical long-term effects. Here at the University of Georgia, set up for the multiple user environment has proved challenging, but individual users have been successful in set up and use.

Via a local workshop, I was able to appreciate the value of the software to the profession but was disappointed in the lack of professional advertising (for the workshop) and unprofessional instruction.

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This is a great program to use to help speed up the production process. It especially helped with planting plans. Using the tools I was able to produce planting plans with schedule and quantities in a fraction of the time (I would venture to guess about one-quarter of the time). The other great advantage is the Details Builder. You can create a detail library from your own standard details. What makes it handy is the details are linked to the call outs. So, when you move a detail from one page to another the call-outs update with the click of a button. I didn?EUR??,,????'?????<

Although creating a detail library is great, it can be limiting. For example, editing details can be tricky. They are inserted as blocks not xrefs. So, you have to be very careful how you edit the standard details and that the ?EUR??,,????'?????<

Their customer service is excellent. They are very responsive and the owner, Dave Farmer, is a phone call away. He got on the phone with me a couple of times to help me figure things out. They also have a forum that is useful as well. You can usually get help with several hours of posting.

Carl Ziegler, a landscape designer, landscape contractor, project manager, construction administrator, comments:

I love it. (It?EUR??,,????'?????<

The best features are the abilities to use real products in the plan and have them go directly to the material list and details. A huge time saver for my firm.

For other comments, you can visit a forum discussion at www.land8lounge.com/forum/topics/2025679:Topic:923