Shade 9 RoomPlanner

RoomPlanner Overview

RoomPlanner is used to layout rooms in 2D (twodimensional plane), which can then be transformed into a 3D form (three-dimensional solid model). This plug-in is included in Shade 9 professional.

Although this plug-in currently supports the design of single-floor buildings, a future version will allow you to design a two-floor building, including the roof.

With RoomPlanner, all object data are created using polygon meshes, making them compatible with radiosity.

RoomPlanner Limitations

The RoomPlanner plug-in has the following limitations:

• Only one HomeBase (site) can be created.
• Designing in 2D (two-dimensional plane) is only possible in the top view.
• With RoomPlanner, the shape created in the top view cannot be rotated.
• With RoomPlanner, operations using control points are not possible in the top view.

Using RoomPlanner

The following floor plan of a small Japanese apartment will be used as an example of how to use RoomPlanner.

Starting RoomPlanner

1. Select View > RoomPlanner. to open the RoomPlanner palette.

2. Click the Basic Settings button on the palette to display the RoomPlanner Basic Settings dialog box. In this dialog box, enter values for the construction site and the building site. With RoomPlanner, this building site is called “HomeBase.”

The area for the construction site must be larger than the building site. You can specify a value for the Tatami size fieliving-dining room under the Size Setting label. The Degree fieliving-dining room under the Direction Settings group box allows you to specify the orientation of direction based on the angle. Refer to the Reference section below for more information.

3. When you click the OK button after entering all necessary values, the rectangular areas for the construction site and the building site appear in the top view. With the RoomPlanner plug-in, all modeling tasks shouliving-dining room be performed in the top view.

The areas for the construction and building sites are created in the top view.

Note: Rooms can be created only inside the area for the building site.

Creating Rooms

1. Click the Room Creator button on the RoomPlanner palette to draw a room in the top view.

2. Drag the mouse within the HomeBase area in the top view to create a rectangle.

3. A room is created and the Room Creator dialog box appears.

Select a type for the created room from the Type pulldown menu under the Room Creation label. Specify other parameters such as the width and height of the room. The title bar of the Room Creator dialog box shows the size of the created room, as measured in Japanese Tatami, or mats.

4. To change the size of a room, select the room you wish to change and click the Room Attribute button on the RoomPlanner palette. The Room Creator dialog box appears and you can alter the room size by entering appropriate values.

Note: With RoomPlanner, operations using control points are not possible in the top view.

In this example, it is assumed that the Western Style Room option is selected from the Type menu and 4750mm and 2800mm are entered for the width and height in order to create an 8 Tatami room. Other properties are left as defaults.

Important: When the desired type of room is not found in the Type pull-down menu, you can enter a custom type name in the Other Type textbox. The Type pull-down menu is ignored when a name is entered in the Other Type textbox. This name is reflected on the Home part.

5. Create another room. Click the Room Creator button and position the cursor within the HomeBase (building site) in the top view. This room shoulivingdining room be drawn so that it is adjacent to the Western Style Room just created. The size shoulivingdining room be set to 2800mm in width (horizontal dimension in Top view) and 5900mm in height (vertical dimension).

6. Choose the Living-dining room option (Living-Dining) from the Type pull-down menu in the Room Creator dialog box.

Once the Living-dining room room is created, draw and arrange other rooms and areas, such as an entrance, toilet and closet, in a similar manner.

Deleting a Wall

1. Remove the wall between the two rooms to make one suite of rooms. Select the Wall Cutter option on the RoomPlanner palette. Position the cursor on a point on a wall from where you will start removing and drag the mouse along the wall.

2. In this example you will remove the wall between the Entrance and the Living-dining room. You will also remove the wall between the Western Style Room and the Living-dining room in a similar manner.

Important: To cancel the deletion of a wall, select the room that contains the deleted wall in the Home group box of the Browser window, or click the room containing the deleted wall in the top view to activate the target room. Click the Wall Attribute button on the RoomPlanner palette to display the Wall Cutter dialog box. Enter “0” in the Size textbox and click the OK button. This is the only way to cancel the deletion of a wall in the current version.

Creating Doors

1. Click the Door Creator button on the RoomPlanner palette and add doors to the Entrance, Toilet and Bathroom.

2. To add a door to the Entrance, position the cursor at a point on the wall of the Entrance and drag along the wall. In a similar fashion, you can create a door to the Toilet and Bathroom.

3. To change the size of the door you created, select the room that contains the door in the Home group box of the Browser window, or click the room containing the door in the top view to activate the target room. Then click the Door Attribute button on the RoomPlanner palette to display the Door dialog box. Enter an appropriate value in the Size textbox to change the size of the door.

Note: To delete the door, enter “0” in the Size textbox in the Door dialog box. This is the only way to remove a door in the current version.

Converting to 3D

The layout design you have created in the top view is displayed as a 2D (two-dimensional plane) image, even when it is rendered in the perspective view.

1. To convert the 2D image into 3D (threedimensional model), click the Convert to 3D button on the RoomPlanner palette.

The current 2D image is converted into 3D.

Important: It is still possible to add rooms after the image has been converted to 3D. Once the conversion is done, a 3D Home section is created below the Home section in the Browser. The names of the created 3D image parts are displayed in this section. When you make additions or modifications to the 2D image, those changes will be automatically reflected in the 3D image.

An image in which quick rendering (Display Mode > Shading) has been applied in the perspective view

Creating Windows

1. Next, let’s add a window to this floor plan. Select the Window Creator option from the RoomPlanner palette. Position the cursor at a point on a wall at which you want to draw a window, and drag along the wall to create it.

In the perspective view, the window is rendered in 3D.

2. To change the size of the window you created, select the room that contains the window in the Home section of the Browser window, or click the room containing the window in the top view to activate the target room. Then click the Window Attribute button in the RoomPlanner palette to display the Window dialog box. Enter an appropriate value in the Size textbox to change the width of the window.

Note: To delete the window, enter “0” in the Size textbox in the Window dialog box. This is the only way to remove an existing window.

Height of the Entrance Floor

1. In general, the height of the Entrance floor is lower than the floors of other rooms. With RoomPlanner, the height of the Entrance floor is set to 300mm by default, the same default value for the floors of other rooms and compartments. This height can be changed using the dialog box for editing an Entrance object.

The Entrance floor height has been changed to 100mm

Removing Ceilings

Now let’s switch off the Create Ceiling check box.

1. Select one of the rooms displayed in the Home section of the Browser window. Click the Room Attribute button on the RoomPlanner palette to display the Room Creator dialog box. Click the Create Ceiling check box to deselect it and click the OK button. Repeat the same procedure for the other rooms. By removing ceilings, the details of the building become more visible in the 3D view.

Modifying Basic Settings

The basic settings of a floor plan designed with RoomPlanner, such as the Wall Thickness and Ceiling Height, can be modified even after the plan has been converted to 3D.

1. Click the Basic Set tings but ton on the RoomPlanner palette to display the RoomPlanner Basic Settings dialog box. Enter appropriate values in the Wall Thickness and Ceiling Height textboxes to change these basic properties.

In this example, the values for the Wall Thickness and Ceiling Height are changed to 300mm and 3500mm, respectively.

The 3D image changes as shown below after the Wall Thickness and Ceiling Height values have been updated.

RoomPlanner Reference

Below is the 2D (two-dimensional plane) image that contains the door, windows and the deleted wall.

The figure below shows the height of floors, the height of a ceiling, the width and the height of a window, all of which can be specified with RoomPlanner.

RoomPlanner Palette

Basic Settings Button

Clicking this button will open the RoomPlanner Basic Settings dialog box that allows you to configure basic settings such as the sizes of the construction and building sites.

RoomPlanner Basic Settings Dialog

Textboxes for the Construction Site

The textboxes let you specify the size of the land where the house is built by entering the width and height.

Textboxes for the Building Site

The building site is an area enclosed by external walls or their center lines. The building area is also called a floor space. If an eaves, veranda or other building component that protrudes from an external wall exceeds one meter in length, the land area between the wall surface and the component’s border that is located one meter from the outer edge of the component will be included in the building area.

RoomPlanner allows you to specify the building site size.

Building Properties

Wall Thickness Textbox

This textbox allows you to specify a default value for the thickness of walls of rooms. The default is 100mm.

Ceiling Height Textbox

This textbox allows you to specify a default value for the height of ceilings of rooms. The default is 2500mm.

Base Textbox

This textbox allows you to specify a default value for the height of floors of rooms. The default is 300mm.

Setting a Direction

Show Direction Check Box

If a check box is turned on, a compass appears in the top view.

Degree Textbox

Use this textbox to specify the orientation of the construction site and the building in the range from -360 to 360 degrees.

Customizing the Tatami Size

Size Settings Textbox This textbox allows you to specify a default value for the width of a Tatami mat. The height of the Tatami will be automatically calculated from the width. The height is calculated by multiplying the width by 2. The default is 910mm.

The size of the room, in units of Tatami mats, is displayed in the Browser window.

The example shows that the size of the Room is 7.8 Tatami

Room Creator Button

Click the Room Creator button to create a room inside the HomeBase (building site) in the top view. Position the three-dimensional cursor at a location where you want to create a room and drag diagonally to draw a rectangular room.

Tip: When you finish dragging, the Room Creator dialog box appears. Refer to the later section titled “Room Attribute button” for more information.

Wall Cutter Button

This button allows you to delete a portion of, or an entire external wall, or a common wall that separates rooms. To remove a wall, click the Wall Cutter button and position the cursor at a point on the wall and drag along it.

Tip: After the removal of a wall, click the room that contains the deleted wall and click the Wall Attribute button. The Wall Cutter dialog box appears where you can configure detailed settings for each wall. Refer to the section below entitled “Wall Attribute button” for more information on the Wall Cutter dialog box.

Window Creator Button

This button allows you to add a window to your floor plan. Position the cursor at a point where you want to create a window in the top view and drag the cursor.

Tip: After creating a window, click the room that contains it to select it, and click the Window Attribute button. The Window dialog box appears where you can configure detailed settings for each window. Refer to the section below entitled “Window Attribute button” for more information on the Window dialog box.

Door Creator Button

This button allows you to add a door to your floor plan. Position the cursor at a point where you want to create a door in the top view and drag the cursor.

Tip: After creating a door, click the room that contains it to select it, and click the Door Attribute button. The Door dialog box appears where you can configure detailed settings for each door. Refer to the section below entitled “Door Attribute button” for more information on the Door dialog box.

Room Attribute Button

Clicking this button will open the Room Creator dialog box which allows you to specify various settings for the room you created.

Room Creator Dialog

In the Room Creator dialog box, you can specify various options for the created room such as its name and size. Note that this dialog box is also displayed after you click the Room Creator button on the RoomPlanner palette and create a new room in the top view.

Configuring Room Settings

Type Pull-down Menu

The pull-down menu allows you to change the type of room you created.

Other Type Textbox

The name of an existing room can be changed by entering a new name in this textbox. The new name entered in this textbox is displayed in the Home section of the Browser, regardless of what is selected in the Type pull-down menu.

Width/Height Textboxes

The width and height can be specified by entering values in the respective textboxes. The size of the room is changed accordingly.

Base Textbox

This textbox allows you to specify the height between the ground level and the floor level.

Create Ceiling Check Box

This check box determines whether ceilings are created or not.

Wall Attribute Button

Clicking this button will open the Wall Cutter dialog, but only if a wall of the selected room has been cut.

Wall Cutter Dialog

Wall 1 (Top) Wall Cutter/Wall 2 (Right) Wall Cutter/Wall 3 (Bottom) Wall Cutter/Wall 4 (Left) Wall Cutter

Size Textbox

This textbox allows you to enter the width of the wall portion that will be removed.

Base Height Textbox

This textbox allows you to enter the height from the base. The portion of the wall above this height will be removed. The default is 0mm.

Note: To restore a wall or its portion that has been deleted, enter “0” in the Size textbox. This is the only way to cancel a wall removal operation.

Window Attribute Button

Clicking this button will open the Window dialog box, which lets you specify various options for a created window.

Window Dialog

In this dialog box, you can adjust the size and height of windows you have created. Windows are displayed for each wall in the top view in the sequence: Wall 1 (Top), Wall 2 (Right), Wall 3 (Bottom) and Wall 4 (Left).

Wall 1 (Top) Window/Wall 2 (Right) Window/Wall 3 (Bottom) Window/Wall 4 (Left) Window

Width Textbox

This textbox allows you to adjust the width of a window.

Height Textbox

This textbox allows you to adjust the width of a window.

Base Height Textbox

This textbox allows you to enter the height from the floor. The window is created with its bottom positioned at this height. The default is 700mm.

Note: To delete a window that has been created, enter “0” in the Size textbox. This is the only way to delete a window.

After the conversion to 3D, the label “Wall” appears for each room in the 3D Home section of the Browser window. Click this label to expand it and then click a wall (Wall 1, Wall 2, Wall 3 or Wall 4) to activate the corresponding wall object in the top view.

Door Attribute Button

When you click this button after the creation of a door, the Door dialog box will appear.

Door Dialog Box

In this dialog box, you can adjust the width and height of doors you created. Created doors are displayed according to each wall defined in the top view in the sequence: Wall 1 (Top), Wall 2 (Right), Wall 3 (Bottom) and Wall 4 (Left).

Wall 1 (Top) Door/Wall 2 (Right) Door/Wall 3 (Bottom) Door/Wall 4 (Left) Door

Size Textbox

This textbox allows you to adjust the width of a door.

Height Textbox

This textbox allows you to adjust the width of a door.

Base Height Textbox

This textbox allows you to adjust the height from the base. The door is created with its bottom positioned at this height. The default is 0mm.

Note: To delete a door that has been created, enter “0” in the Size textbox. This is the only way to delete a door.

Tip: After the conversion to 3D, the label “Wall” appears for each room in the 3D Home section of the Browser window. Click this label to expand it and then click a wall (Wall 1, Wall 2, Wall 3 or Wall 4) to activate the corresponding wall object in the top view.

Convert to 3D Button

Clicking this button will cause your 2D floor plan in the top view to be converted into a 3D image.

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