Paint Effects tool comes with myriad editable, pressure-sensitive preset brushes. Vast range of realistic effects, including complete environments with trees, grass, and flowers. The new Mesh Brush Type creates organic or hard-edged geometry that are convincing even at close views.

LASN received input from three landscape architecture experts about the latest in technological developments and what the future holds for the industry. Madis Pihlak, Penn State Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture and Architecture; Scott Weinberg, FASLA, University of Georgia Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture; and James L. Sipes, Senior Associate at EDAW, Inc. participated.

 

Early on, software engineers thought they understood SketchUp?EUR??,,????'???s place in the landscape market. Some of the first users may remember the addition of palm tree components in SketchUp 1.0. Credit for SketchUp?EUR??,,????'???s growing use in landscape architecture goes to those early adopters who began incorporating SketchUp into their work flows.

What were some of the more innovative software programs you encountered this year and what made the programs so useful?

Pihlak: SketchUp 1.0 is really a simple design development 3D software. Extremely easy to use. EDAW and DesignWorkshop use this program. Nemetschek?EUR??,,????'???s VectorWorks Version 12 links to GIS without having to own or learn ArcGIS. Alias Maya Paint Effects has a non-DWG format CAD program owned by AutoDesk, which is the ultimate modeling program. Free download for learning. Paint effect three dimensional trees are amazing.

Sipes: ArcSketch and SketchUp provide the ability to conceptualize ideas.

Weinberg: Innovative or office valuable? In most cases these are very different programs. In some cases, it is not even a program, rather a service like what is provided through Pictometry. This program provides you with area specific aerials flown at different levels and gives the user up to date information. Unlike some photos that are taken by satellites, these provide the newest site information. This program/service falls into both categories. Land F/X is one of the newest entries into the landscape CAD market. The big plus with the program is that it integrates transparently into AutoCAD. Installation is simple and the program has a fairly short learning curve.

Landscape design software doesn?EUR??,,????'???t have to be too expensive or too difficult to use. A short learning curve, advanced 2D and 3D site design capabilities, automatic schedules and reports, a vast plant database, a suite of architectural building tools, free landscape and site object libraries, plus DXF/DWG and GIS compatibility will help you become more productive, more competitive and more profitable.

What developments have your observed in CAD, GIS, 3D or production?

Pihlak: Autodesk has just purchased Alias, the company that makes Maya Vectorworks 12. It?EUR??,,????'???s a major step forward with full GIS support and xfrog trees. The program ships with over 2,500 free symbols.

Sipes: Continued evolution and integration.

Weinberg: Very little in these areas. The big folks, such as AutoDesk and ERDAS, have maintained a comfortable lead in the industry. AutoCAD keeps on adding new pieces to their software and GIS is going overboard with new and what they seem to see as needed improvements. In fact GIS is very difficult to use at first.

Pictometry?EUR??,,????'???s digital aerial photos allow viewers to see detailed information of building and land attributes such as doors, windows, number of floors, building composition, roads, trees and many other neighborhood features.

Currently is the landscape architecture market saturated with too many or not enough software programs?

Pihlak: Not enough.

Sipes: At the low end, too many tools are not robust enough to use. There?EUR??,,????'???s not enough tools to allow us to expand what we do. We still have to adapt what others provide.

Weinberg: The current true landscape architecture market is fine. It is the $40 to $50 planting design programs that are making the industry look cheap and easy in the eyes of the public. Pick up a $40 program and do planting designs for a living. Give us professionals a break!

Because of their oblique nature, Pictometry images do not require advanced photo-interpretation skills in order to recognize features in the image.

How can students and Landscape Architects keep up with technology when the software changes and gets developed so quickly?

Pihlak: Subscribe to free online technology feeds. Empower someone in your office to track the technology.

Sipes: They have to be in a position where they can use digital tools on a regular basis.

Weinberg: So much of what students get is what they are exposed to by their faculty. They need to have access to the latest and most up-to-date software. It becomes problematic for the students when their faculties fall behind the software learning curve. It takes a dedicated faculty member to keep up with these upgrades.

What are some technological developments you would like to see next year?

Pihlak: Better file support between software programs. An open DWG standard. Maybe 3DS file format will do this. This is the 3D Studio Max file format.

Sipes: Better CAD/GIS integration.

Weinberg: I would like to see a total integration of the drawing files between GIS and CAD. I would like to see AutoCAD develop a walk-through module similar to that of SketchUp.

What are some of the trends you see happening in 2006?

Pihlak: More features and easier to use software.

Sipes: Increased integration, increased level of detail, great access to data (including processes).

Weinberg: I really don?EUR??,,????'???t see any specific trends on the near horizon. Landscape architecture software usually follows the software developments in both architecture and engineering. Very little has changed in those areas that are easily transferred to our field. So I really don?EUR??,,????'???t see much coming down for us right now. I think the challenge is to see what other software is out on the market and see how we may adapt it for Landscape Architects.

What technology areas are becoming phased-out or out-of-date?

Pihlak: Even Autodesk is pushing architects to Revit. Autocad is a legacy program. It is time to move on.

Sipes: Believe it or not, stand-alone-CAD will become a dinosaur. The new trend will be to georeferenced information.

Weinberg: Nothing is ever out of date or phased out. Most people will use programs that they are comfortable with indefinitely. The programs get better in small doses and never really go away. I am trying to think of a program I would use as a Landscape Architect that I have learned in the past and don?EUR??,,????'???t use anymore. I can?EUR??,,????'???t!