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Any FenceBuilders Out there?

falcon409

falcon409

SOH-CM-2025
The Maine project I'm working on really required that I set some good fence-lines. Ones that hugged the contour of the hills the ranch sits on and that's not possible just using fence "objects". I bit the bullet and purchased FenceBuilder Pro. Of course the default fences that are standard with the program aren't what I need so I built my own. Therein lies the problem. . .basically getting what I've designed to show up in the program. Anyone else using the program and been successful in importing your custom fences so they are compatible with the utility?
 
I wish I could be more help with FenceBuilder Pro. I've used it in the past to good effect - the split-rail fences at KCMW were placed using it. It's been so long since I used it that how I did it has drained from memory, though. The hazards of aging, I guess.

One other option I wonder about is Instant Scenery 3's "lines of objects". You can place a line of any object you create, and each instance will be situated at the height of the terrain beneath it. It seems to me you could create, for example, an eight-foot fence section, then tell IS3 to place a line of them at 8' spacing, and you'd get something like the same effect. You'd have to cap it manually, of course, but it's something to try. In fact, I might just try it myself in a bit.
 
spotlope said:
I wish I could be more help with FenceBuilder Pro. I've used it in the past to good effect - the split-rail fences at KCMW were placed using it. It's been so long since I used it that how I did it has drained from memory, though. The hazards of aging, I guess.

One other option I wonder about is Instant Scenery 3's "lines of objects". You can place a line of any object you create, and each instance will be situated at the height of the terrain beneath it. It seems to me you could create, for example, an eight-foot fence section, then tell IS3 to place a line of them at 8' spacing, and you'd get something like the same effect. You'd have to cap it manually, of course, but it's something to try. In fact, I might just try it myself in a bit.
Click to expand...
lol, Bill, it would be my luck that it would work. . .that's the main reason I bought Fencebuilder, because I didn't think the latest IS3 build would allow the fence to "hug" the ground.
 
A straight line, up a hill works fairly well, but it does require some close tweaking to get every post overlapping the next. Close inspection would also reveal that each fence section is horizontal to the horizon, so that each successive section rises just a bit to match, so what you get at the bottom along the ground is a "stairstep" effect rather than ground hugging. Looking at the pic, you can see that taking the fence towards the stables will not look well, using the IS3 program.
 
Yeah, that's sort of what I expected it to do. Seems to me that FenceBuilder Pro will do something similar, but maybe I'm remembering that wrong.
 
spotlope said:
Yeah, that's sort of what I expected it to do. Seems to me that FenceBuilder Pro will do something similar, but maybe I'm remembering that wrong.
Click to expand...
Bill, FenceBuilder will hug the terrain, which is good and I verified that when I ran the Demo version using one of its default fences. Did a nice job, getting a model that I made in Sketchup to show has been less than successful. The default fences aren't the style I need and supposedly, I can use my fence design, but figuring out exactly what it is the program wants in order to get to that point has been a problem. Thanks for taking a look.:salute:
 
Not sure this is what you're looking for Ed, but when I was working on my log cabin in Sketchup I built the signs and fences for the perimeter and the corral areas. Creating the base fence form was fairly quick and easy, and I soon found myself creating different lengths so I'd have the ability of better fitment in different areas. Even the gates I had several sized increments. Considering the modeling program creates (unless you design specifically to inclination) the parts to X,Y,Z the placement will always be true to the world. Not thinking rotate in IS3. I knew this, and figured for areas being abnormal I would pull back into Sketchup and tweak (skew) them accordingly to get things dialed in and looking correct. Having to do it this way would be a PITA, but the end results would be as it should be.

That was about the time I made the transition to Gmax.:mixedsmi:
 
Thanks all. . .my mistake for assuming that what FBP was able to do was to set lines of 3D objects, in particular the 3D fence I built in Sketchup. . .it cannot. It can set lines of a 2dimensional representation of a fence, but not the 3D model itself. lol, lol, just took a shot of the results for this post and noticed something else (and why am I not surprised) the fence I just placed suppresses the autogen. Back to the manual to see how to eliminate that problem.
 
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