Massing a swimming Pool - help needed please?

I am trying to model a custom swimming pool and believe conceptual massing would be the best way, however I am having difficulty. I used a sweep to make the side walls and gutter. Then to make the bottom of the pool, I created a solid rectangular box then added profiles /edges which I modified to create the complex curves. This creates a very segmented form.

Is there a way to create new edges with the spline tool - basically I would like to create curving contours at different elevations to create the bottom of the pool. Then join geometry to link the bottom to the side walls.

Also - as it is now, the thickness of the bottom of the pool varies as the top edge fluctuates and the bottom edge is flat. Is there a way to keep the thickness consistent thoughout - ie - 6" of conc. ?

Note: scale is way off as I was just testing the forms.

See attached.

Thanks,
Tom

Hey, Tom.

May I ask why you are creating the walls and gutters as part of the mass? Those could be actual walls with sweeps or in-place masses for the gutter or something for the gutters.

As for the floor, I definitely see the use of the conceptual mass tools there. I'd recommend creating a solid form like in the attached image. When you bring that into your project, you can attach a roof to the surface (floors won't work). That should keep the thickness even.

I recently did an ADA swimming pool with a ramp going into it. I recommend doing the entire thing as a family, and whatever you do, do not attempt to model it in the project. I did mine with reference planes, extrusions, and sweeps, but after some research I found it might be better to use void sweeps, as I had trouble joining all the sweeps and extrusions into one mass.

Thanks for the replies.

Damon
- I like the idea of the walls/gutters being done NOT as a mass. Not sure why I didnt think of it.
- Creating a roof for the floor of the pool - also good idea.

- Now the hard part. The difference between your image and what I need to create: I need the nodes of the added profiles to be out of plane (like contours). ie - the bottom of the pool is not a consistent slope from one end to the other in both directions (complex curves).. Any ideas ?

1) I can make an edge with the spline tool but it doesnt effect the shape once created. I can't drag the spline to a different eleation.
2) If I add profiles and then modify from there, the shape becomes segmented.

Thanks,
Tom

You could create a face using spline through points if you approach it from another direction. You could create profiles of the cross section of the pool, from shallow toward deep end instead. Create a series of profiles and then select them all to create the form, choose face..or solid if that makes more sense?

Then again, if the section doesn't change (I didn't vary the section) much a regular extrusion would do it.

Tom, I think you are trying to do what Steve is suggesting, only you need more profiles to begin with. Taking exactly what you have, the attached is how many profiles you'd need to create what you're showing. If you create the profiles you think you need as References, then you can always copy a profile, edit it, delete the form, then recreate it.

His cross section is 90 degrees different than mine.

So it is! Yes, Steve, that makes perfect sense as long as Tom is only pulling those control points in one direction when he moves them out of plane. Otherwise, it's the same story in either direction. But yes, I missed that about your suggestion.

Thanks! The face using spline worked. And it worked in top view which is nice as I will be copying contours from an autocad file.

Now more questions - see below and attached.
- Making walls that join to the pool bottom as the pool bottom elevation varies.
- The connection between the pool bottom and the wall is a radius.
- This radius changes as the depth of the pool changes.
ANY IDEAS?

I initially thought different profiles for the walls and 'sweep-blend'... but it gave me the infamous 'unable to create form' error.

Again - thanks for all of the input.

Tom

Attachment 88721

What about it?