Edit Facades
The command Edit Facades on the context menu of the object „Building“ enables to edit in the graphics sound sources attached to building facades. In addition, bitmap textures can be assigned to the facades and the roof facilitating the data input and the generation of attractive 3D views.
After selecting the command, the dialog Edit Facades is displayed.
The dialog consists of a specific toolbar, a status bar and the following views of the selected building:
- top: front view of the all facades shown in-plane,
- bottom left: top view,
- bottom right: isometric view.
The scale of the front view can be changed using the toolbar (Zoom in/out, Zoom to Limits). By contrast, the standard of top view and the isometry cannot be changed.
Local Coordinate System u, v
On the status bar, the local coordinates u (increasing to the right) and v (increasing upwards) are displayed in a local coordinate system whose origin (u, v)=(0, 0) is located in the lower left corner of the front view (i.e. the base point of the building’s first polygon-point). When entering objects using the mouse or the keyboard, the object coordinates refer to the local coordinate system (u, v).
Note
Note that, by contrast, the source coordinates x, y displayed on dialog Geometry refer to the global coordinate system as already been used by the 2D plan view.
Note
The coordinates displayed on the dialogs Facade-Bitmap and Roof-Bitmap, however, always refer to the local coordinate system (u, v), although the designations „X (m)“ and „Y (m)“ are displayed for software related reasons.
Coordinated Display of the Mouse Pointer
When the mouse pointer is moved in the front view, CadnaA shows the corresponding point on both, the top view and the isometric as well. This feature enables to figure out the current cursor position in the uv plane and regarding the height. The input data of the entered objects can be edited by double clicking onto the object’s border.
Toolbar
The following objects and features are available from this toolbar:
- Edit mode
- Zoom in
- Zoom out
- Zoom to Limits
- Point Source
- Line Source
- vertical Area Source
- Facade-Bitmap *)
- Receiver
- Link to Roof-Bitmap *)
- Copy to Clipboard
- Print
- Close Dialog
*) These features are available only with the CadnaA option BMP.
After having entered a new object the respective edit dialog is accessed in the usual way (double-click on the object’s border while in edit mode, or click with the right mouse button while in input mode).
Context Menu
For entered objects, a context menu with the following commands is available (subsequent references refer to the manual „Introduction to CadnaA“):
- Edit (see Edit Object)
- Delete (see Delete)
- Duplicate (see Duplicating Objects).
Furthermore, all options for graphical editing of objects can also be used with the dialog Edit Facades (see Editing Objects in the Graphics in the manual „Introduction to CadnaA“).
Edit Objects
Point Source and Line Source
The same procedures as applied on the 2D-plan are used when defining the geometry of point and line sources in CadnaA (see Inserting Objects using the Mouse and Inserting Objects via the Keyboard in the manual „Introduction to CadnaA“). Each source dialog provides the edit boxes as usual (see Common Input Data).
vertical Area Source
When defining vertical surface sources, however, consider that also on the dialog Edit Facades just the upper edge is entered. The vertical extension of vertical surface sources is - as before - entered as a positive distance from the top („z-Extend“) to the bottom of the vertical area source.
Note
A conclusive example showing the input of sources is described in Editing Facades of the manual „Introduction to CadnaA“.
Receiver
Receivers are entered as point objects as conventional. The distance of the receivers from the facade plane is defined on the dialog Object Snap (see Object Snap).
Insert Bitmap
Note
The subsequent features require the option BMP!
... for Facades
This symbol enables to insert facade bitmaps for texturing each part of the building’s facade separately or, by using just a single bitmap which is repeatedly used for texturing of all facade sections of the building. This feature facilitates the positioning of sound sources on each facade section and, furthermore, offers to generate stunning 3D representations of buildings. Proceed as follows:
- Select the icon „Facade-Bitmap“ from the toolbar.
- Drag an area inside a facade section and click with the right mouse button on the border of the bitmap object. Alternatively, change to edit mode and double-click with the left mouse button to open the dialog Facade-Bitmap.
- Edit the bitmap’s coordinates on the dialog Facade-Bitmap (see Bitmap Dialog Options). When the real dimensions of the texture are known, enter it’s size starting from the lower left corner at (u, v) = (0, 0).
The following additional options are available on the dialog Facade-Bitmap:
- Repeat in X (i.e. in u-direction): With this option activated the bitmap addressed to this facade section is repeated in u direction to the edge of the facade section.
- Repeat on all facades: With this option activated the bitmap will also be used on all other facade sections.
- Repeat in Y (i.e. in v-direction): With this option activated the bitmap addressed to this facade section is repeated in v direction to the edge of the facade section.
The activation of the respective options „Repeat“ and „Repeat on all facades“ is symbolized by arrows on the bitmap edges:
| Symbols | Explanation |
|---|---|
| ← → | option „Repeat in X“ activated |
| ↞ ↠ | option „Repeat on all facades“ (in x resp. u direction) activated |
| ↑ ↓ | option „Repeat in Y“ activated |
The following options are just relevant for display of the facade bitmaps, and even then only when the building‘s height is changed after having assigned facades bitmaps. If the latter is not true, no changes are necessary. When changing the building‘s height subsequently, it has to be decided - with respect to the graphics - as to whether the facade bitmap remains at the previous base point (option „Save Heights relative to Ground of Point 1“) or whether it is moved upwards according to the building‘s new height (option „Save Heights relative to Roof (z) of Point 1“):
- Save Heights relative to Ground of Point 1: The vertical alignment of the facade bitmap refers to the height of the building‘s first polygon point.
- Save Heights relative to Roof (z) of Point 1: The vertical alignment of the facade bitmap refers to the building height z (building‘s upper edge) at the building‘s first polygon point.
Example
 |
Default situation: All facades have facades bitmaps assigned. As long as no change of the building‘s height occurs, it is irrelevant which of the two options is selected for the each facades bitmap. |
 |
When changing, however, the building‘s height (here: height + 5 m) is has to be decided with respect to the graphical representation whether the assigned bitmap remains at the height of building‘s first polygon point (right facade with option „Save Heights relative to Ground of Point 1“) or whether it is moved upwards according to the building‘s new height (left facade with option „Save Heights relative to Roof (z) of Point 1“). |
Note
The information regarding the size and the file path of the bitmap/s is stored in text variables of each building. Do not alter the text variables BMPxx (for facades) and BMPROOF (for the roof, see below) as incorrect assignments may result.
... for the Roof
This symbol enables to insert a roof bitmap for texturing the building’s roof. Proceed as follows:
- Select the symbol „Roof-Bitmap“ from the toolbar to open the dialog Roof-Bitmap.
- Edit the bitmap’s coordinates on the dialog Roof-Bitmap (see Bitmap Dialog Options). When the real dimensions of the texture are known, enter it’s size starting from the lower left corner at (u, v) = (0, 0).
The following options are available on the dialog Roof-Bitmap:
- Texture Alignment: This option determines how the loaded texture gets aligned on the roof’s surface.
- Gradient: With this option the texture starts at the highest point of roof surface. This option is useful to apply when the roof ridge is modeled using the object „Barrier“ with the option „Crowing: Roof Edge (3D)“ (see Barrier with special crowning). In this case, the roof texture extends starting from the ridge line to the eaves.
- Point 1 - Point 2: With this option, the texture starts from the first polygon point of the building, extending from point 1 to point 2 of the building’s polygon. Thus, the texture is arranged parallel to the first polygon part of the building.
Note
For non-rectangular shaped buildings the triangulation procedure applied may generate additional triangles on the roof surface which do not comply with the real roof shape. This effect is due to the triangulation procedure and cannot be avoided with non-rectangular shaped buildings.
Example 1
The texture of a glass facade will be assigned to facade section 1 using the following coordinates:
Assigning Facade Bitmaps
So, the facades bitmap represents a facade part with a width of 8 m and a height of 6 m, starting in the lower left corner at coordinates (u, v) = (0, 0).
Example
Path: Examples\Obstacles\Edit Facades\example 1a.cna
After activation of all three options („Repeat in X“, „Repeat on all facades“ and „Repeat in Y“) and closing the dialog Facade-Bitmap the texture is displayed on the dialog Edit Facades as shown below.
Close the dialog Edit Facades and select the command 3D-Special from the context menu of the building. The texture covers all sections of the facade based on that single texture patch being 8 m wide and 6 m high.
3D-Special view with textures on all sections of the façade
Assigning a Roof Bitmap
In addition, a roof bitmap is assigned to the flat roof of the building.
The roof bitmap represents a 3 x 3 m wide section of the roof, starting at the first house-point polygon.
Example
Path: Examples\Obstacles\Edit Facades\example 1b.cna
Select the option „Point 1 - Point 2“ and close the dialogs. Select the command 3D-Special from the building’s context menu to display the roof covered by the selected texture.
3D-Special view with textured facades and flat roof
Note
Regarding the use of textures to sloped roofs see Defining a Roof Ridge.
Example 2
In this example, instead of using a single facades bitmap, different bitmaps are assigned to each of the four facades. It should be noted that the coordinates represent local coordinates u, v.
Example
Path: Examples\Obstacles\Edit Facades\example 2.cna
- Select from the file selector symbol in row „File“ the appropriate bitmap.
- Enter on the dialog Facade-Bitmap the real dimensions of the facade section, starting in the lower left corner at coordinates (u, v) = (0, 0).
In this example, each facade sections is 21 m wide (in u-direction) and 9.5 m high (in the v-direction). Thus, the following coordinates for the first section are entered:
Subsequently, the texture of the first facade section is shown on the dialog Edit Facades:
- Now, enter the real dimensions of the second facade section.
Since all facade sections have a width of 21 m and a height of 9.5 m, the second section starts at the lower left corner u1=21 m and ends at u2 = 42 m. So, the following coordinates for the second section are entered:
- Continue with the remaining facade sections.
- Close the dialog Edit Facades.
- Press the key combination CTRL+3 to display the 3D-Special view showing the textured facade.
3D view of a building with a textured facade