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Visual Sun Chart > Tutorials > Define a Building & Tree

Getting Started
Creating a Building and Tree

In this tutorial, we will define the building and a tree, similar to those that are modelled on this web site's home page.

Start the Visual Sun Chart program, then select File > New.

Visual Sun Chart

Visual Sun Chart is a graphics
program for visualizing solar
shading from proposed buildings.
For more information see:

www.VisualSunChart.com

When prompted for a Latitude, enter 38° South. That is the latitude we will use in this example. Be sure to specify South. This example will be in the Southern Hemisphere, using millimetres.

After you specify the Latitude, this empty scene appears:

Now we will add a house to the scene. Each building is called an object. To define the house, click on the Objects button:

Then the Objects Menu appears. Click on New, then select Building.
The Edit Building/Structure menu appears. Enter these settings:

Object Name                      Main Wall Width = 8000
 House 1                        Main Wall Height = 2600

Offset from               Main Wall Gable Height = 4000 ON
Scene Origin
 X =  600 East (+)                 Depth of Object = 8000
 Y = 5000 North (+)                 Rotation Angle = 25
 Z =    0                              X CounterClockwise

                                     Roof:  ON
                               Eave Overhang = 700
                               Rake Overhang = 700
                             Vertical Height = 350

Click OK, and the Objects Menu appears, with your new object listed:

Click Close to close the Objects Menu.
The house now appears in the scene:

	Now let's save the work we've done so far. We will save the scene as a Sun Chart file. Click on the Save button:			This saves the entire Sun Chart to disk, including the chart's scene (all buildings and trees that are defined in the chart).
	Next, let's define a tree. Click on the Objects button (or select Edit > Objects):

Then click on Create, and select Tree.
The Edit Tree menu appears. Enter these settings:

Object Name                Height #4     Width #4
 Tree 1                      4700          4000

Offset from                Height #3     Width #3
Scene Origin                 3700          4700
 X = 7300 West(-)
 Y = 1600 North(+)         Height #2     Width #2
 Z =    0                    2700          4000

Tree Top    Trunk Base     Height #1     Width #1
Height:     Width:           2300           700
 5170        700

After creating the tree with those dimensions, save the file as we did before.

Now we're ready to define the solar collector at the scene origin. Click on the Edit Collector button:

Then enter these settings for the collector:

Vertical Tilt: 45 degrees
Horz. Rotation: 0
X ShowCollector

The scene should now appear as shown at right.

This concludes the first tutorial.
Save the file, and proceed to one of these tutorials:

Define Windows
If you want to add windows to the house. This is optional. You can skip this tutorial if you do not need to model doors and windows on your buildings.

View From Origin
View the scene from the position of the solar collector. This perspective view allows you to quickly visualize when the building and tree will shade the collector.


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Wednesday, 10-Mar-2010 05:28:08 GMT