Shadow issues

[STHRevit]

Hi all,
I have been searching the forum for a little while now and cannot find the exact answer I am looking for so I now ask for some insight form others.

I have two problems I need to fix for my Development Application regarding showing the shadows and the impact on the neighbours property.

1) In plan view, I need to show the overcast onto the neighbours land and building. The issue is that the walls of the neighbours building also cast shadows, which mix with the shadows of our new building which confuses the situation and effectively makes our shadow larger than it physically is.
Is there a way to tell an object not to cast a shadow? Is there a way to stop this from happening?

2) I want to show an elevation of the neighbours building to highlight the shadow extent, however because our new building is behind the camera it does not cast a shadow at all.
Is there a way get this to work?


How have others overcome this issue?

[trombe]

Hi all,
I have been searching the forum for a little while now and cannot find the exact answer I am looking for so I now ask for some insight form others.

I have two problems I need to fix for my Development Application regarding showing the shadows and the impact on the neighbours property.

1) In plan view, I need to show the overcast onto the neighbours land and building. The issue is that the walls of the neighbours building also cast shadows, which mix with the shadows of our new building which confuses the situation and effectively makes our shadow larger than it physically is.
Is there a way to tell an object not to cast a shadow? Is there a way to stop this from happening?

2) I want to show an elevation of the neighbours building to highlight the shadow extent, however because our new building is behind the camera it does not cast a shadow at all.
Is there a way get this to work?
How have others overcome this issue?


Hi,
for (1 - PLAN), you have several options, with one of them being to turn off the offending neighbour wall and replace it with detail lines so that it will not cast a shadow.
Revit can not stop shadow casting per individual element (although phasing can bet set to suit with some overrides as well) , and setting the neighbour wall to glass or another transparent material should still yield a shadow of some sort.
I am curious to know why the combined effects makes your shadow bigger overall. The effects of your proposal should result in a specific shadow shape and extent.


I have not had to worry about this case to date however, you can go about setting up one set of the neighbour stuff to cast a super light shadow (from in the graphic display options) and then set up one lot for a much darker shadow.
Exporting out (one as a jpeg and one as a png or both as png or tif), importing again to a suite of drafting views, and then either doing pairs alongside each other or, try on top to yield a semi superimposed condition.
(eg to show both conditions clearly)
You could do the same with Corel PSP or Photoshop etc. and tweak the transparency levels to suit (you can also use the Revit linework tool before export to further enhance a particular set of lines).

(2) something along same lines can work by superimposing however, you will need to turn off some elements to get it by the looks. Can you do a Sectional view for this because in reality, this condition is precisely what is required to illustrate the site condition accurately, so no one could say you were not presenting the correct conditions for assessment.

You could also use phasing and/or a suite of alternate camera positions along the same path to yield the graphics you seek. The above are just one option although agree its fiddly.
regards
trombe

[STHRevit]

Thanks Trombe.
Very helpfull and much appreciated.

I see your point regarding the combined shadow, a strange request from the council, not sure why but they really want to see the difference between the new and existing shadows.

[trombe]

Hi,
dunno about your local authorities, but over here, we use the existing and proposed conditions to leverage our proposal over neighbours, the local authorities, sometimes lawyers / attorneys , urban planners, and any other consultants who have been engaged to oppose the proposal.
Also it is so valuable for layout of any wall, roof and window / door elements as well as landscape planning, significant vegetation (we have a fair few protected and semi protected tree and shrub species + some of this has become a point of argument with some pressure groups (who are not environmental lobbyists even).

It is normal practice here to include any and all potentially positive, as well as potentially adverse effects upon the natural and physical environment surrounding any proposal, so shadow effects as existing and as proposed, are critical elements for planning permissions whether they be for urban use or residential / suburban uses.

Revit improvements since 2007 approx ?, have allowed us to predict more precisely and more easily what and where things will be however, your point is a timely and very important point to note - that we cannot control individual elements for shadow casting in terms of inclusion or exclusion in a set.
This would be a big advantage for a large range of proposals.

best
trombe

[SCShell]

Hey there,
Two very quick methods:
1. Select all walls which you don't want casting shadows and adjust graphic override to be transparent.

2. Duplicate your plan, crop the shadow view with your building and overlay that plan over the other non-shadowed plan which shows the neighboring buildinds.

Hope that helps
Steve

[STHRevit]

Thanks Steve and Trombe.

It is a funny situation actually. Upon further investigation we have discovered that the shadow cast on the neighbouring property is calculated on as cast on "the natural" ground level.
Strange, as the shadows are required to be provided to see how they interact with the existing neighbours building, but calculated as though that building is not there??

As they say, common sense is not really that common!!

I really don't want to say "in such and such program you can do this" but removing objects from casting shadows would be great (like MAX :) ) Perhaps an item for the ever expanding wish list.

Thanks for your help.

[dhurtubise]

Ecotect can also do that easily