sun path

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Need to do a Sun Path analysis for my Uni project so clicked on Sun Path and its supposed to be set for the site I'm studying in Pittsburgh, USA.  I see you can do various studies ( 1 year, summer, etc ) but which one is best?  Also as you can see my site is large compared to the building, is the physical size of the sun path related to the overall site - I know you can change it from 100% to 150% but that just makes it bigger than the site. In the photo I have done a year study but with the sun being so high above the model its impossible to see the sorts of shadows that would occur.  Can I do anything about this?  What are the best settings for showing off the sun path - a plan view or 3D???  I take it the blue line is indicating the path teh sun takes and that with it being a year study that is why the yellow band is a certain width and why there is a blue circle under the sun?  Sorry, never done this before so needing some assistance please!!

[ToanDN]

Do an animation for 1-Year study and one for each Solstice and Equinox.  Make sure to include the timestamp when you export the animations.

[Anonymous]

Ok, but Timestamp?  Is that when it shows on the sun path the actual time/date?

Is there a `best view` I should be using to get the best effect of the sun path over the building?

[ToanDN]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Ok, but Timestamp?  Is that when it shows on the sun path the actual time/date?

Is there a `best view` I should be using to get the best effect of the sun path over the building?

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Timestamp is a piece of text embedded on each frame to indicate the date and time of the frame.   Let's say if you don't have it and someone asks you to pause an animation and tell what time it was, you probably answer it was around lunch time and it is not very persuasive.

"Best view" to get the best effect?  I don't know how to answer this one.  It depends on your buildings and what you want to show or prove.  If you are worry about a facade would get too much Sun or would get not enough Sun then use a View showing the facade.  If you want to prove the building wouldn't cast shadow on a children playground nearby then you need a view showing the playground clearly, I guess.

[FGPerraudin]

Hi @Anonymous,

If you want to have a better overview of your sun path, just use a section box around your model (tick it in the 3D view properties to activate it).

The sun path size will adapt to the visible 3D geometry.

About the studies, @ToanDN is right, but you need just one equinox, as by definition the sun is at the same height/hours ("equi"...).

François-Gabriel

[Anonymous]

How do I make the building much bigger in relation to the sun path?  Sun path is set to 100%, I have used the Section Box to define the portion of land I wish to show rather than the whole topography but the building is really too small to see the shadows.

Also, is there anyway of doing the same here with the Summer and Winter Solstice elevational views?

[ToanDN]

After turn on the Section Box and stretch it to your liking, right click on the Sun path and choose Fit to Model.

See images below for without Section Box versus with Section Box.

[Anonymous]

That's great.  Thanks.  One more thing ( for now!! ) - can the text be moved?  Its a bit messy being on the elevation.

Oh, and the actual sun path is quite faint.  Can that be beef'd up - had look in graphic override but can't see anything.

Any suggestions?

[ToanDN]

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@Anonymous wrote:

That's great.  Thanks.  One more thing ( for now!! ) - can the text be moved?  Its a bit messy being on the elevation.

Oh, and the actual sun path is quite faint.  Can that be beef'd up - had look in graphic override but can't see anything.

Any suggestions?

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Text on the Sun Path cannot be altered in any ways.  The orange Path itself should be visible enough if you print to PDF or export view to an image.  The path, however, will not show when you export the Solar Study to either a video or an image sequence.

For this kind of presentation I would not use a straight on elevation, it will be more appealing if you use a 3d view and Zoom in to a specific area of attention.

[Anonymous]

Ok, thanks.  I'm not doing a moving presentation as I have to show pictorially how the sun affects the building which is why I am showing the sun at the various Solstices......It will have to do I guess!!

On another project I haven't created a toposurface for it, just created the road and path using floors/materials.  Yes I know its wrong but for what I need it to do its ok for now.  However, is there anyway you can choose what parts should so a shadow or not?  See below.  I don't really want the path/road to have a shadow.

[ToanDN]

You can either change Ground level to right at the pavement/road level, or turn it off altogether.