Initial Requirements

If your project is empty it is better to import some additional materials before you start to draw initial objects.

Because it’s a bit tricky to evaluate the empty 3D space with the right scale and insertion point.

As an additional part of materials, you can have:

Boundaries as KMZ/KML files
Boundaries from CAD (made by AutoCAD/Civil 3D and imported as DXF)
Boundaries from an existing PVFARM project and exported as BIMASSET

How To Draw Boundaries

Open the Model Explorer and Object Details as an initial step
To set up a top-view
1. Press ‘2’ on your keyboard
2. or ‘7’ for Numpad
Plus Sign (+) on right side of screen → Boundary
Observe that the top of your screen now says "Add". The menu is ready for your very first point of Boundary
You can now begin adding points to make up your boundary
When you tick your very first point the Properties and Model Explorer data will be updated:
1. You’re still in the Edit mode even if you're first point isn't visible
  1. ’Add’ mode at the central top of your screen - to control the drawing process
  2. ‘Edit’ mode at the right top of your screen - to inform that points of boundary are only objects you can work with
2. Model Explorer shows every 3D object on the 3D scene - and your very first point starts a boundary-creation process
  1. The point is selected by default so that you can observe the Properties
3. Properties View shows parameters for your selected 3D object
  1. Every Boundary has the type (include or exclude). Initially, all boundaries are ‘include’
  2. Every 3D object has the ‘Dimensions’ section
    but for now ‘area’ and ‘perimeter’ are empty because there is no polygon yet.
Continue to add points to the View and observe the parameters are updated.
1. Zoom in/out if needed by mouse scroll
To undo a point
1. Use ‘CTRL +Z’ to cancel the very last point
To finish the Boundary creation or editing process press ‘OK’ on the ‘Add’ menu
1. or press ‘Cancel’ to delete all your points
The ‘Add’ mode is gone but the ‘Edit’ menu is still active
The ‘Edit’ menu means that you can edit a Boundary by point if needed
Press ‘ESC’ on your keyboard to exit the ‘Edit’ mode
To color a Boundary
1. Select a Boundary or multi-select (via ‘CTRL’)
2. Press the ‘color tint’ space
3. Select any color you like on the color palettes or use RGB values

How To Edit Boundaries

Select a Boundary from the 3D scene or Model Explorer menu
1. For multi-selection use ‘CTRL’ on your keyboard
Press ‘TAB’ on your keyboard to enter ‘Edit’ mode
1. ‘Edit’ mode means you can edit only points that are connected to selected objects
When the ‘Edit’ mode is active all points of selected Boundaries are active
Activate the Gizmo to control points
To select a Point tick on it left mouse click
1. For multi-selection use ‘CTRL’ on your keyboard
Use Red and Green arrows to move a selected point (X and Y axis)
1. Red - left and right (X axis)
2. Green - top and bottom (Y axis)
Use the blue corners to move in any X-Y direction you want
To remove a point you select the point and press 'delete' on your keyboard
To add a point
1. select the point to the left of where you want your new point to be with the gizmo activated
2. hold 'CTRL' and drag to where you want the new point to be
To elevate the boundary line up or down change a view from top to 3D - right mouse motion
1. So now you can see the 3D Gizmo
Select a Point or any of them (it doesn’t matter how many Points were selected)
Move the blue arrow up or down
Press ‘ESC’ on your keyboard to exit the ‘Edit’ mode

How To Copy Boundaries

Select a Boundary from the 3D scene or Model Explorer menu
1. For multi-selection use ‘CTRL’ on your keyboard
Activate the Gizmo (Press ‘T’ on your keyboard)
Press ‘CTRL’ on your keyboard
Use one of the Gizmo’s controls
1. The red arrow (X-axis)
2. The green arrow (Y-axis)
3. The blue arrow (Z-axis)

How To Delete Boundaries

Select a Boundary from the 3D scene or Model Explorer menu
1. For multi-selection use ‘CTRL’ on your keyboard
Press ‘Delete’ on your keyboard